Kaizen

A Japanese term meaning: Small, continuous improvement on everyone’s part. The word itself comes from the Japanese words “kai” (small, little, good) and “zen” (good, change for the better). The intent is to create a work environment that focuses each worker on waste elimination as a normal part of everyday work.

The term Kaizen is used throughout Lean and Operational Excellence. The most common usage is Kaizen Event (also known as a Rapid Improvement Event or RIE).