Originally Posted by CourageOO7,Nov 25 2009, 11:53 AM

Kaizen does in fact mean 'improvement.' However, the term as it is used within the realm of manufacturing originated from the Toyota production system and Lean Manufacturing (ie. the elimination of waste). A Kaizen event is an event is basically an organized brainstorming session the purpose of which is to solve a specific problem or inefficiency. Designing a body kit is not a good application of this term because body kits built in very small production runs. A more appropriate contextual application of the term would be increasing utilization of a machine in a manufacturing line, decreasing time lost during the setup of a machine by increasing lot size, etc...

I did my MBA in Operations Management. I didn't like the way the post implied that they applied "Kaizen" to this kit. It just doesn't fit. But yes, the kit is a huge improvement to the car. However, designing this kit did not stem from the elimination waste of any kind or increase manufacturing efficiency in any way.