Customer Reviews

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If you can learn to dance by reading a book whose recommendation was to hold your partner and "move to the music", then you may find "Kaizen Event Implementation Manual" useful. This book talks about the history and terminology of lean manufacturing and does go into detail about team member selection. After that, this book shows blank forms of some of the data analysis forms often used during a kaizen event, but tells you nothing of how to complete the forms and analyze the results. Nor is there any "road map" or guidelines for conducting a kaizen event itself. There is information about how to contact the author in the event that you decide to hire him to "fill in all blanks" in person. The book is simply another info-mercial where in this case, you are paying for the advertisement.

WOW! Everything I needed to stay on track. Every detail of hosting a Kaizen Event is here! Nothing is left out. It gave me detailed instructions, with check sheets, from weeks before the event, to the follow-up activities. The simulation exercise was so life-like and real. It prepared our Team Leaders better than we had hoped for. What we learned from doing the simulation, was exactly what we needed to stage our event successfully. The extra material on the history of lean was informative and new to me.

I was disappointed with this book on a couple levels. First, I was expecting an "Event Implementation Manual." What I found was an exhaustive rehash of the history of not only Kaizen but a good chunk of the industrial revolution, a glossary of largely unrelated terms, about 50 pages of case study exercise, along with some tips and tricks for implementing a kaizen. The 70-some pages related to kaizen events is a good overview for someone familiar with this tool, but not geared for the beginner. The check sheets describing event preparation and follow up were most useful. On another level, I found the obvious lack of the use of an editor or proofreader very distracting. The kaizen event consulting rates listed in the back were the final straw. Stick to Laraia, Moody and Hall's "The Kaizen Blitz." <I>This review refers to an earlier edition.</I>

Just received the "Kaizen Event Implementation Manual" second edition. This is THE book you must have to properly conduct a Kaizen event! Throw away the other books, this one will guarantee that you stay focused and on track. It's clear Mika is a real Sensei.
Don't expect narrative or story telling, this book leads you, team leader, team member, facilitator or top management, through the details of a successful event. Sensei Mika has conducted hundreds of events and his organizational expertise shows!
Canada recommends this book!

By far the absolute best book on Kaizen! The simulation is right on target. This is all you need if you want to conduct your own events. Now I won't need some high priced consultant to train our group. We can do it ourselves. Kaizen Sensei Mika is the absolute authority on Kaizen He has also authored the "Ten Wastes" and the "Work Smart Production System."

We are a major supplier to Toyota Motor Car Co. and we know a lot about Kaizen; this is the absolute best guide for conducting Kaizen events! It leaves nothing to guess-work. Consistantly using this manual guarantees that each event will be exactly as is should be with nothing forgotten or eliminated. It is like a pilot's preflight check-sheet.
The most shop floor oriented Kaizen book in the world!

An essential reading for those that are attempting to hold Kaizen events.
It has check-sheets and lists that make it absolutely clear what must be done and in what sequence, so as to not leave anything out.
Much better than those books written by authors that have never been in a shop.
You can use this book!
Get copies for all Kaizen event participants. It really was helpful. Now we are consistant in the way we run our events. Things flow a lot smoother!
Great book!

If you've never participated in a Kaizen Event before, this manual does not give you enough information to come anywhere close to conducting one by yourself. There are some basic concepts that this manual leaves out. If you want it as a check list and as a place to get some of the forms, then it's a good tool to have. If you want it as a "must have" to conduct a Kaizen Event, then I think you'll be very disappointed. The manual is not bad. ....Also, it didn't look like the manual had been proof read. ....

Finally someone with actual hands-on experiance has written a how-to book. G. Mika uses a practical, been there, done that, approach.
The new material on explaining the "Toyota Production System" is great, as is the material about the secrets the Japanese use for training.
Well written and illustrated.
A true reference book for advocates of Kaizen

Finally a manual that guarantees a perfect Kaizen Event every time!
We thought we knew how to conduct a Kaizen event, but we were not consistant in our results. Now we are! Each time we hold an event the results get better.
This book is not going to tell you how to do a time study or cover the basic simple elements of a Kaizen event, it assumes that you are beyond that, but gives all the necessary forms, checksheets and advice necessary to maximize the results, consistantly.
Great book!