Study on and Instrument to Assess Knowledge Supply Chain Systems Using Advanced Kaizen Activity in SMEs

This article discusses one knowledge supply chain system for effective kaizen activity in a small to medium-size enterprise (SME). It consists of two subsystems. The first subsystem is a team-building process. It supports a total management of kaizen activity from the viewpoint of team management by performing three phases, including an execution phase, a consultation phase, and a presentation phase. The second subsystem contributes to accumulate success factors in team management. A checklist style is applied as the accumulation methodology and an accumulation procedure consists of three steps: an attention step, a memorization step, and a confirmation step. A case study that was conducted over the course of a four-year period is presented to confirm the utility of the proposed system with the collaborative SME in Japan. As the result of this study, the proposed system delivers a visualization of valuable knowledge and a systematic skill succession of kaizen activity in a company that has limited human resources.