Product Details - Print Edition Paperback: 456 pages; Dimensions 2" x 11" x 8.5" CD-ROM: Kaizen Tool Kit included with book Publisher: Lowrey Press, April 2003 ISBN: 0-9722810-4-5 LCCN: 2003101105 Buy:

Product Details - Electronic Book

Format: Acrobat Reader (PDF)
File Size: 7.5Mb (includes Kaizen Tool Kit)
Printable: No
Macintosh Compatible: No
Windows Compatible: Yes
Required Software: Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher
Publisher: Lowrey Press, March 2003
ISBN: 0-9722810-3-7
Price: $4.99

Kaizen Tool Kit Contents

The Kaizen Tool Kit is a set of 62 electronic tools that support your success in doing Kaizen. Some tools are static (e.g., handouts, guides, roles descriptions) for use in preparing yourself, educating others (e.g., the event coordinator or sponsor), and your Kaizen team. Some tools are dynamic meaning they are forms that you populate with information specific to your event and most of these perform useful operations (e.g., addition, subtraction, computation of value added and waste). The static tools are in PDF format. The dynamic tools are in MS Word and Excel formats. 20 of these tools may be tailored to your company's needs.

About the Authors

Raphael L. Vitalo received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has authored over 50 professional articles, technical reports, and chapters in the areas of psychology, organizational consulting, work process improvement, information systems, and artificial intelligence. Over his 25 years of consulting experience, he has designed, managed, and implemented over 350 projects serving public and private companies in the areas of organizational effectiveness, performance management, workforce productivity, business process reengineering, knowledge engineering, information systems design, and expert systems development. Dr. Vitalo has trained Kaizen leaders in the United States and Europe. He has been the lead consultant in designing and implementing a number of multi-year CI projects in human services and the private sector. One such project was a 10-year CI initiative using Working With Others productivity improvement sessions that yielded a return on investment of 9.6 to 1 in just its first year and was credited by the business itself for adding 5% productivity improvement every year of its operation. Another multi-year effort applied Lean/CI approaches in mental health treatment. This initiative improved the success of treatment outcomes by 31% (from 70% to 92%), reduced dropout from treatment by 50%, expanded the number of people served with the same level of staff by 20%, and produced a per unit cost of care that was 56% below the national average. Most recently, he was the lead consultant in designing and supporting the implementation of Lean/CI initiative in a 4 billion dollar (USD) business component of a Fortune 200 company. This global initiative yielded $7.6 million dollars (USD) in savings during its first year of implementation, $21.1 million in its second year, and over $40 million in its third year. Dr. Vitalo is currently the president of Vital Enterprises.

Frank P. Butz is a senior Lean/CI consultant with over 32 years in management roles with a Fortune 200 company including seven years as a manufacturing plant superintendent. His facility was responsible for the worldwide fabrication of equipment including liquefied natural gas heat exchangers, air separation plants, and other cryogenic storage equipment. Frank was chosen as the Corporate Senior Tool Expert for his company’s global Lean/CI initiative. There he managed a sixteen-person team for the worldwide application Continuous Improvement Tools. Since 1997, Frank has conducted over 120 lean tool events in Value Stream Mapping, Workplace Organization and Visual Control, Kaizen, Total Productive Maintenance, among others. He developed and implemented a comprehensive training and certification program which, to date, has prepared over 200 Lean tool facilitators. He is a co-author of the Kaizen Desk Reference Standard, the only complete and systematic guide to doing Kaizen. Events using this book’s methodology have produced bottom-line results for service and manufacturing companies worldwide.

Joseph P. Vitalo is a certified Kaizen leader and trainer who is also trained in demand flow technology and workplace organization and visual controls. He has planned and led Kaizen Events in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom. His last 23 events produced total annualized savings of $2.1 million. He has co-led Kaizen leader training events which have prepared more than 40 new Kaizen leaders. Mr. Vitalo is currently a lean consultant and trainer with Vital Enterprises. In addition to training in productivity improvement tools, Joe instructs teams in knowledge acquisition, best practice sharing, learning from performance, and working with others.