MSQPC drives lean with Kaizen Guru

Mr. Masaaki Imai, a pioneer and leader in spreading the KAIZEN philosophy in countries across the world, worked with MSQPC staff on October 4-5 and was provided a VIP tour of Graceland conducted by Elvis Presley Enterprises in Memphis.

 Mr. Masaaki Imai, founder of the KAIZEN Institute, and known as the “Lean Guru” and the father of Continuous Improvement, authored the seminal works on KAIZEN and is a global speaker on the implementation practices of sustainable continuous improvement.

His ground breaking books, KAIZEN: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, and Gemba KAIZEN: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management, have been translated into 20 languages and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. As a result of Imai’s work, innumerable companies and top executives have used this most effective management philosophy to attain world class success within industry, service and the public sector.

Smith and Nephew, Inc., provided the perfect backdrop for Masaaki Imai’s presentation on October 5, 2006. Imai elaborated on his perspective of a leadership driven continuous improvement strategy as he discussed how companies, such as Smith and Nephew, achieve World Class status through KAIZEN. Participants had first-hand Gemba KAIZEN experience walking through the Smith and Nephew facility with Imai, followed by an in-depth discussion of creating opportunities for improvement.

As Founder and Chairman of the KAIZEN Institute, Imai is frequently invited to be a keynote speaker at industry conferences world-wide. He also educates top executives on how to implement KAIZEN© techniques, concepts, and tools as a total system solution in their organizations, which is fully within their corporate strategies. Information on his 2007 visit to Memphis will be posted soon.