Kaizen initiatives have proven their worth for any company who claims to be operating a Lean system whether in the service or manufacturing sector; however what happens to all of the suggestions that are produced?
Most organisations will produce some form or effort vs. impact analysis (you may do this under another name) which may include the use of Pareto charts; often those deemed to be 'business critical' or the improvement ideas with the highest impact for the lowest effort are selected with many of the alternative ideas being put on the 'back burner' for future review
My experience tells be than the 'back burner' of often the resting place for many great kaizen improvement initiatives (the crematorium). Realistically how often do we revisit some of the improvement initiatives we have saved for 'another time'?
Now I would never advocate deploying all of the kaizen improvement initiative generated as in the real world there is neither the time or the resource, however many of the ideas generated could provide very a very useful confidence building exercise for those newly inducted to lean.
In addition, accepting the ideas of certain members of staff can have a powerful motivational effect on the work force which should not be underestimated.
So why not develop a 'Kaizen Pool' of ideas for future implementation, allowing front row workers to directly manage their implementation? Empowering staff to deploy these non business critical projects now could help develop the 'black belts' or 'lean sensei' of the future within your organisation.
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