Wouldn’t it be great if there were a time-tested way to measurably improve the productivity, efficiency and, ultimately, the profitability of your company’s welding operations?

    And wouldn’t it be even better if it didn’t require large capital equipment purchases? Kaizen (Japanese for Continuous Improvement) is a management system that can do exactly that.

    Kaizen is an exacting and time tested method for helping a business focus its efforts in the areas that matter most. Its principal emphases are on long-term improvement over short term gains and optimizing an existing system rather than overhauling it with an expensive new one. Click here to learn more about applying Kaizen to a welding operation.  

    Implementing a Kaizen process to a welding operation relies on the adoption and implementation of standards. Twelve welders setting their own welding parameters and welding according to their own personal style will produce 12 different welds. Standardizing a welding operation means establishing set parameters and techniques so that every weld is nearly identical. Efforts to optimize the efficiency of an operation are bound for failure if there are not consistent and repeatable results in the weld cell.

    As demonstrated by the structural-steel bridge manufacturing contractor in the article listed above , establishing standards through a Kaizen process can yield dramatic increases in wire feed and travel speeds as well as high quality welds with fewer rejected parts.   

    Do you have a story to share about your company’s efforts at implementing Kaizen or a similar streamlining process? Do you believe that Kaizen can’t be applied to welding operations? Share your opinion by posting a comment below.