Effectiveness of Kaizen based on Informal Knowledge Management on the Improvement in Group Achievements

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the improvement of production time in the field of cell production systems in a flat organization without a leader. In this study, a performance-maintenance (PM) action discovery table, based on the PM theory, was used for appointing an informal leader. In addition, a worker-machine evaluation table, based on structured heuristic evaluation methods, was used for evaluating the usability of machines in the cell. The main results were that (1) production time decreased by about 7.5% and (2) knowledge management was achieved by sharing individual knowledge and information from the PM-action discovery table and the worker-machine evaluation table. These results show the effectiveness of knowledge management provided by an informal leader on the improvement in group achievements.