Progress is impossible without the ability to admit mistakes.

All of management's efforts for Kaizen boil down to two words: customer satisfaction.

Where there is no standard, there can be no improvement. For these reasons, standards are the basis for both maintenance and improvement

It is impossible to improve any process until it is standardized. If the process is shifting from here to there, then any improvement will just be one more variation that is occasionally used and mostly ignored. One must standardize, and thus stabilize the process, before continuous improvement can be made.

The standard is not writ on the stone. The definition of the standard is that it is the best way to do the job for now. It should be regarded as a next step to make further improvement.

Under the lean system, any tools which are required for solving problems are used.

Kaizen is like a hotbed that nurtures small and ongoing changes, while innovation is like magma that appears in abrupt eruptions from time to time

You can't do kaizen just once or twice and expect immediate results. You have to be in it for the long haul.

I believe that management should focus on two particular areas. One is Gemba (shop floor) and the other is customer (not the shareholder).