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Tool 8 · Analyse

Place kaizen bursts

Stars on the process map where the problems pile up. The data in the data boxes points out the spot; you place the burst and write down what you want to investigate there. This is the same map as the Value Stream Map.

Kaizen Bursts
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Process a pension applicationMember(application)Member(decision)2 dReceive andregister applica…1Process time10 minRight first time95%2 d10 min3 dComplete the file2Process time30 minRight first time60%3 d30 min5 dMake thecalculation3Process time45 minRight first time17%5 d45 min1 dCheck by acolleague4Process time15 minRight first time80%1 d15 min2 dDraft and senddecision letter5Process time20 minRight first time90%2 d20 minLead time 13.3 d · process 120 min · wait 13 d · flow efficiency 1.9% · right first time through the whole process 7.0%Timeline: wait time high, process time low. Star = kaizen burst.leansixsigmagroep.nl/en/tools/value-stream-map/

Lead time

13.3 days (8 hours)

Of which waiting

13 days (8 hours)

Flow efficiency

1.9%

process time as a share of the lead time

Right first time, whole process

7.0%

all steps in a row

Process steps with data box

Start with the customer and work back; process time in minutes, wait time before each step in days.

1
2
3
4
5

Kaizen bursts: where we will investigate

  1. Complete the file: Missing documents: which ones, and why are they only discovered here?
  2. Make the calculation: Only 1 in 6 right first time: understaffing, turnover, no work instruction.

Take each burst to the Ishikawa diagram or 5 Whys to find the root cause.

The map is done, with 2 bursts.

Have the map validated by colleagues from the process who were not in the room, then investigate the bursts. After that: draw the future state without the waste.

  • Flow efficiency 1.9%: only 1.9% of the lead time is processing, the rest is waiting. That is normal for an office process, and it means working faster helps little. Look at the queues.
  • Only 7.0% gets through the whole process right first time. Every rework adds to the lead time; quality is the speed problem here.
  • Lead time 13.3 days against a target of 10 days. The difference is 13 days of waiting; that is where the gain is.

What a kaizen burst is

By collecting data on the Value Stream Map you see where the waste sits and why no flow emerges. In those places you put a star: the kaizen burst. It is not a solution and not a cause, but a marker: here we look deeper. The bursts are the bridge from Measure to Analyse, and the start of collecting data for the next "why".

Where do you put them?

  • Let the data choose. If the customer's problem is that it takes too long, put the bursts at the longest wait times. If it is about errors, at the lowest "right first time".
  • Two or three, not ten. A burst on every step is no focus. Pick the places where the customer's problem is biggest.
  • With a question attached. "Why is the quality here so much lower than elsewhere?" You take that question to the Ishikawa diagram and 5 Whys.

Example from practice

In a pensions department the team measured for every process step how often a file was right first time. Where that figure was lowest (in some places one in six) the bursts went. The investigation that followed gave the answers: understaffing, a focus on speed, high turnover, a lot of knowledge walking out the door, no training and no work instructions. With those root causes the team went into the Improve phase.

More about continuous improvement is in the knowledge-base article on kaizen.

All toolsFrom burst to root cause: 5 Whys Kaizen in the knowledge base