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1. Lean Six Sigma Improvement through Modular Kaizen
Are your employees constantly fighting fires? Are the
problems one-off events or predicable consequences of the
way you do business? Grace L. Duffy and John W. Moran
look at using Modular kaizen so that you can put out fires
while still supporting strategic, system wide process
improvement.
Introduction
Modular kaizen [1] is an organizational improvement approach designed for busy
workplaces with a high level of interruptions. The tools of Modular kaizen assist
improvement teams to gather and analyze data about disruptions to expected operations
and make informed choices about returning to a stable system. Modular kaizen has been
successfully applied through both the traditional Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle [2]
and the more recent Lean Six Sigma (LSS) family of improvement cycles.
Budgets have taken a significant hit during the recent economic downturn, causing a
reduction in workforce and an increase in workload to meet customer needs. This two-
edged sword of forced change has encouraged an interruptive, crisis approach to daily
work. The increasing use of mobile communications has further exacerbated this short-
term, “quickly-respond-to-crises” culture. Constantly responding to crises takes a toll on
the employees involved. Frequent crises increase employee stress levels by constantly
pulling staff away from daily work which must be accomplished to meet long-term
customer needs.
The Modular kaizen model using the concepts of Lean and Six Sigma starts with the
need for effective change management. The Define phase of the DMAIC (Define,
Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) is used to investigate the situation to see if a
disruption to the expected workflow has a special cause or whether it is a normal
variation of a standard process. Once the disruption is identified, the Limited Information
Collection Principle [3] guides data collection of performance measures to establish the
severity and urgency of the disruption identify who and what is impacted, and estimate
the disruption timeline. In the LSS DMAIC cycle, this monitoring is performed during the
“measure” phase of the improvement process.
The next step is “analysis.” Based on the data gathered in “measure,” the response team
does one of the following:
 Do nothing – continue to monitor the disruption until it has either dissipated or needs
more attention. If more analysis is required, investigate by establishing a team to
investigate the disruption (analyze) and report back. The information reported back to
process owners is in the form of a high-level scope document.
 Respond by taking short-term actions that apply all available resources to stabilize the
process. The full DMAIC cycle is employed to solve the disruption and bring it under
control.

2. Modular kaizen flow using the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC approach is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Modular
kaizen improvement
cycle flow [4]
A Modular kaizen
approach minimizes
disruptions by making
sure no ”analysis” is
executed until
“measure” has been
done to establish the
baseline measurement
of where a disruption
begins. When any
action is taken, it is
done in an informed
manner. The analysis is
short term, based upon
a comparison of
expected process
performance with data
gathered from the actual performance experienced. If the disruption is within the
expected variation of the process as it is defined, the incidence is documented and the
process either continued as defined, or improved within current criteria to prevent a
recurrence of the disruption.
Once the disruption is fully defined, if it is found to be a special cause outside the normal
criteria of the process, a team is chartered to develop a plan using the complete DMAIC
cycle. The Define phase of the DMAIC cycle identifies changes to the process intended
to prevent the disruption from occurring again. This second cycle of “measure,”
“analyze,” and “improve” validates (measures) the final improved outcome and employs
the control phase of the cycle to document the changes for future sustainability.
This small M, A, and I cycle is the basis of Modular kaizen within the Lean Six Sigma
improvement cycle. The sustainability function of a stable operating process includes
constant monitoring of performance to assure the process is still capable of meeting
customer requirements within normal limits. If customer requirements have changed to
the point where the existing process is no longer capable of meeting specifications, then
a full improvement study and DMAIC improvement process is employed.
Analyzing a System Disruption:
The Modular kaizen approach minimizes disruption by making sure no “improvement” is
executed until “measure” has been done and data has been “analyzed” to identify the
reality of the current situation. Modular kaizen is an approach that resists the urge to
panic in the face of a disruption. Once the process is stabilized, a full DMAIC cycle is
undertaken to develop a plan and action steps to proactively minimize the recurrence of
the disruption. The final step at the end of any Modular kaizen activity is to document
successes and lessons learned.
When a disruption occurs in a stable system, the impact it has caused must be defined.
One way to analyze the disruption is to identify what has been impacted in the overall

3. system using a Disruption and Impact Matrix as shown in figure 2. The first step is to
identify what areas were impacted in the current stable state. These impacted areas are
called Areas of Concern (AoC). AoC can be functional as well as system-level concerns.
Once the AoC are documented, a broad sense of how they are impacted is determined.
The next step is to analyze whether the impacted areas are under the control or
influence of the organization. If the organization controls the process under study, action
can be taken directly to minimize the impact. If the organization can only influence the
AoC, taking action might be slower since others need to be involved before making
decisions to stabilize the current state.
Figure 2: Disruption and
Impact Matrix
The AoC should be
prioritized within both
control and influence
categories. It is best to
start with the AoC that
have been most strongly
impacted. Prioritizing
stabilization efforts is most
valuable when faced with
limited resources.
Once the AoC are
prioritized, they can be
analyzed using a Force
and Effect Diagram + ca
[5] or Disruption and Impact Diagram. Both tools are useful as a response team analyzes
and makes small improvements to stabilize the situation. [6]
Example 1 - Disruption Caused by Budget Cut:
A disruption many organizations encounter is the reduction in budgets from one year to
the next and the impact it has on services which can be provided. The following example
shown in figure 3 is one in which a department has to cut its budget by 25%. Some
Areas of Concern (AoC) generated by a senior management team might be:
 Staff Loss
 Program cuts and degradation
 Loss of funds
 Loss of public support
 Media interpretation of the events
 Reduced customer satisfaction
The team should prioritize the AoC by those most likely to occur needing an immediate
response and those under department control. Understanding up front the most
important items over which they have control helps begin the Modular kaizen process.
The AoC over which they have influence also need to be prioritized. These areas must
be monitored to ensure they are not impacting those areas under department control.

4. Figure 3 shows AoC diagramed to illustrate how the Disruption and Impact Matrix can be
used to capture team analysis of a disruption.
Figure 3: Disruption
and Impact Matrix
The Disruption and
Impact Diagram shown
in figure 4 aids in further
analysis of the AoC. Two
of the AoC are shown in
figure 4. Things the team
might measure and
analyze under staff cuts
are:
 current morale of the staff
 who has seniority
 what skill levels that may be lost
 what union rules may be in force if layoffs were to occur.
The improve action would be to communicate with the staff about potential impacts as
soon as possible and compare the skill levels of those being cut with skill levels needed
for the services that will still be offered. If the department has a union, this information
would be important if a bumping process were considered.
Another AoC analyzed in figure 4 is Service Cuts. Some potential areas we would want
to measure and analyze are the services we currently offer, services we are mandated
to offer, and any duplication of services. The improve step would be to develop a priority
list of services to be
offered after the
budget cut and a
listing of those
services scheduled to
be cut. Another
measure and
analyze step could be
to detail the impact
and potential risks to
the community when
the services are cut.
Figure 4: Disruption and Impact Diagram

5. Example 2 - Disruption Caused by Server Crash
Figure 5:
Disruption and
Impact Matrix -
Server Crash
Summary:
These two examples show how the Modular kaizen Lean Six Sigma approach minimizes
disruptions by making sure no “improve” is executed until “measure and analysis”
have been done to establish the baseline measurement of where a disruption begins.
Doing measure and analysis first helps keep the team disciplined so that no rash action
is taken in an uninformed manner. When any action is taken, it is done in an informed
manner. Short-term minimization of disruption can be accomplished while still supporting
strategic, system wide process improvement.
References:
[1] Modular kaizen, R. Bialek, G. Duffy, and J. Moran, Public Health Foundation, 2011,
http://www.phf.org/resourcestools/Pages/Modular_kaizen_Dealing_with_Disruptions.aspx.
[2] The Essence of Modular kaizen, G. Duffy and J. W. Moran, ASQ Six Sigma Forum, as yet
unpublished, 2011.
[3] Hoffherr G, Moran J, Nadler G.Breakthrough Thinking in Total Quality Management.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PTR Prentice Hall, 1994.
[4] The tools of Modular kaizen, as listed in figure 1 are described in the full text: Bialek, R, Duffy,
G, Moran, J. Modular kaizen: Dealing with Disruptions. Washington, DC: the Public Health
Foundation; 2011
[5] Bialek, R, Duffy, G, Moran, J. Modular kaizen: Dealing with Disruptions. Washington, DC: the
Public Health Foundation; 2011., pg. 63
[6] Note that the Force and Effect Diagram + ca is titled to represent the “check” and “act” phases
of the PDCA improvement cycle. The tool is equally effective for improvement teams employing
the more robust DMAIC steps of “measure”, “analyze”, and “improve.”

6. About John W. Moran and Grace L. Duffy
Grace L. Duffy, CMQ/OE, CQA, CQIA, CSSGB, CLSSMBB provides
services in organizational and process improvement, leadership, quality,
customer service and teamwork. Her clients include government, health
care, public health, education, manufacturing, services and not-for-profit
organizations. Duffy holds a master’s in business administration from
Georgia State University. She is an ASQ Fellow and past vice president
of ASQ. Duffy can be reached at grace683@embarqmail.com.
John W. Moran, MBA, Ph.D., CMC, CMQ/OE, CQIA, is senior quality advisor to the
Public Health Foundation. He has over 30 years of quality improvement expertise in
developing tools and training programs, implementing and evaluating QI programs, and
writing articles and books on QI methods. Dr. Moran is a retired senior vice president of
information systems, administrative and diagnostic services at New England Baptist
Hospital. He was previously chief operating officer of Changing Healthcare, Inc. Dr.
Moran was employed for 21 years by Polaroid where he held various senior
management positions. His last position was director of worldwide quality and systems.
jmoran@phf.org.
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