Rapid Improvement Workshop / RIW

“Rapid improvement workshop” is another name for kaizen event or kaizen blitz. You may also hear it called rapid improvement project, or “RIP”.

This type of project is generally a week long and includes:

• A day of training
• A day of process walk / initial planning
• Two days of making improvements
• A morning of final improvements / wrap-up
• A report out

A rapid improvement project is done by a cross-functional team usually led by someone from the leadership team that oversees the process that is being improved. It is normally set with very aggressive goals and is championed by a senior leader in the organization.

See “kaizen event” for a more detailed explanation of this type of project.