Kaizen costing is a cost reduction system used a product's design has been completed and it is in production. Business professor Yasuhiro Monden defines kaizen costing as
The Shogakukan Dictionary's original definition of Kaizen is translated as âÂÂThe act of making bad points betterâÂÂ. In English, the more popular definition of Kaizen is âÂÂChange for Better.â Many believe that the meaning of Kaizen is âÂÂcontinuous improvement,â but Kaizen is a result of continuous improvement. It exists at the employee level. The employee's goal is to reach their full potential, challenge the status quo and achieve continual improvement.
Prior to kaizen costing, when the products are in the development phase, target costing is applied. After targets have been set, they are continuously updated to display past improvements and the projected (expected) improvements.
Monden has described two types of kaizen costing:
Adopting kaizen costing requires a change in the method of setting standards.
Kaizen costing focuses on "cost reduction" rather than "cost control".
Kaizen costing takes into consideration costs related to the manufacturing stage, which include: