“Lean Guru” Masaaki Imai to visit New Zealand

“Lean Guru” Masaaki Imai to visit New Zealand in March 2010
Founder of KAIZEN Institute to share LEAN management insights
at three major centres

AUCKLAND, 31 December 2009 – Masaaki Imai, founder of the KAIZEN Institute, will be visiting New Zealand from the 1st to 5th of March next year to visit the Kaizen Institute New Zealand team and some of their key clients. He will also share insights on the KAIZEN philosophy and LEAN Management principles at a public seminar in Auckland.

The KAIZEN Institute is a global specialist in consulting, training, benchmarking and qualification for companies and organisations throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and America. Based on the KAIZEN Management System – which is inspired by the standard-setting Toyota Production System (TPS) for organisational efficiency – the KAIZEN Institute aims to help clients improve short and long term flexibility, capacity and efficiency with a minimum of capital investment.

Starting in 1950 bringing Japanese managers on tours of American plants to learn strategies for high productivity, Mr Imai became the first corporate headhunter and consultant to major Japanese corporations striving for a competitive advantage. By the 1980s, Mr Imai became the world’s foremost international consultant in the Japanese advantage in manufacturing and business processes which propelled Japan to the forefront of the global economy.

Mr Imai pioneered the KAIZEN philosophy, which is to make simple, common-sense improvements and refinements to critical end-to-end business processes supporting the overall strategy of the organisation. Known as the “Lean Guru” and the father of continuous improvement (CI), Mr Imai has been a pioneer and leader in spreading the KAIZEN philosophy internationally.

In keeping with his philosophy of continuous improvement, Mr. Imai founded Kaizen Institute in 1985, now known as Kaizen Institute Consulting Group (KICG). He continues to play a significant role as the ambassador and visionary of the organization, while actively participating in conferences around the world to share the philosophy of KAIZEN LEAN.

Mr Imai’s visit to New Zealand will include stops at Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

ENDS