At Westinghouse, we believe that continuous improvement isn’t just a goal, it’s a mindset. That approach came to life during our recent President’s Kaizen Week, a dynamic, cross-functional initiative aimed at streamlining key business processes using Lean methodologies. Originated by Toyota Production System for manufacturing improvements, Lean helps deliver maximum value to customers by identifying and eliminating waste.
Six Focus Areas, One Unified Goal
Over the course of five days, teams from across Westinghouse’s Americas Outage & Maintenance Services (AOMS) group—the people responsible for outage, inspection, maintenance, welding and refurbishment services at nuclear power plants—came together to tackle six critical areas that impact our safety, quality, efficiency, collaboration and customer satisfaction. In addition, the approach also drives employee workplace engagement by finding and fixing problems – which makes everyone’s job easier.
Over 70 Westinghouse employees engaged to work on processes ranging from reporting to forecasting to tooling improvements. Team members were encouraged to analyze what’s really needed and suggest changes to processes that can have major impacts on improving operations. Teams applied Lean principles to identify inefficiencies, brainstorm solutions and map out future-state processes. The weeklong “blitz” was about empowering employees to become innovators—improving how we work, communicate and deliver value.
“Kaizen roughly translates from Japanese to “Make Better” in English and is the foundation of Lean Continuous Improvement. Continuous improvement is just that, continuous, thus the Kaizen Principle reminds us that improvement shouldn’t wait for the next big project.” says AOMS President Brian Smith. “Those closest to the work are the best equipped to identify and fix problems that effect Safety, Quality, Delivery, & Cost, and they are empowered to act. These changes, made by the people doing the work everyday, will lead to safer, faster, and better results for our customers and Westinghouse.”
Why It Matters
During nuclear plant outages, even a few hours saved can mean millions of dollars in avoided downtime. Kaizen-driven thinking helps identify improvements for faster, safer execution. These improvements aren’t just about fixing problems—they’re about preventing future challenges and making work better. By embracing Lean methodologies, Westinghouse AOMS is:
- Improving safety in the workplace
- Making employees’ jobs easier
- Reducing time spent on repetitive or inefficient tasks
- Enhancing cross-functional collaboration
- Fostering a culture of innovation and continuous learning that engages workers and attracts talent
Celebrating Success and Looking Ahead
President’s Kaizen Week wrapped up with presentations from each team, showcasing their findings and recommendations. Ready-now solutions are being implemented this week, and longer-term projects are defined for future improvements. Follow-ups will occur with 30/60/90-day sustainment checks to ensure progress and identify any help needed.
In short, the event helped illustrate how Kaizen is a mindset and practice of making small, continuous improvements every day by the employees closest to the work, to improve our services for our customers and the value delivered to Westinghouse.
