Inside AlES's Kaizen Push: From a Single 5S Pilot to a Plant-Wide Habit

How AlES Turned a 5S Pilot at CHPP-3 Into a Company-Wide Kaizen Habit

Kazakh power producer AlES has moved kaizen from a training concept into daily operating practice, beginning with a deliberately small test rather than a company-wide program. Consultant Madi Zaniginov first introduced lean manufacturing ideas to the company's leadership and production department directors. Instead of launching everywhere at once, AlES selected the relay protection and automation laboratory at CHPP-3 as a pilot site for 5S, the workplace organization method built on sorting, systematizing, cleaning, standardizing and sustaining improvement.

The pilot produced visible changes. Employees sorted equipment, introduced visual management and zone marking, and standardized workstations. According to Nurlan Zhakan, an industrial safety and labor protection inspector at CHPP-3, the result was better order, less time spent searching for materials and tools, and safer, more convenient working conditions. After reviewing those results, AlES Chairman of the Management Board Yerik Mashirov instructed the company to expand kaizen gradually into other departments.

The rollout was reinforced through small initiative groups made up of active employees who became internal advocates for the method. The company now counts 45 employees in those groups and says 379 employees have been trained in kaizen fundamentals. A second 5S pilot followed in the electrical workshop at CHPP-2, and the practice of gemba visits, or mutual visits to production units and other Kazakh enterprises using kaizen, helped overcome early resistance and skepticism.

AlES now describes continuous-improvement culture as part of its corporate thinking, with changes visible in workplace organization, discipline and employee engagement. The next phase includes expanding employee involvement, developing internal change leaders and introducing Total Productive Maintenance, a system for company-wide equipment care.

What AlES's Kaizen Rollout Shows About Lean Change in Kazakh Industry

A pilot-first rollout at CHPP-3 reduced the risk of a top-down initiative

AlES chose to test 5S in one relay protection and automation laboratory before attempting broader change. That sequencing gave management a concrete, visible result to evaluate and allowed the company to build support from a working example rather than from theory. The approach matters because lean programs often fail when they are imposed uniformly across a large organization without local proof.

Gemba visits converted skeptics into change leaders

The source identifies gemba visits as among the most effective tools for overcoming resistance. Employees visited other production units and Kazakh plants where kaizen was already working, which made the benefits tangible. Those early adopters then became the first change leaders inside AlES. The creation of small initiative groups, now numbering 45 employees, gave those advocates a formal structure rather than leaving enthusiasm scattered.

Kaizen before digitalization, not after it

AlES directors make a specific operational argument: first eliminate waste, standardize work and make processes transparent, then automate. The logic is that automating an inefficient process simply accelerates the same errors. Kapshagai HPP director Alibek Tastanbekov and Almaty CHPP-1 director Karim Sartaev both link kaizen to the company's digital transformation, presenting process discipline as the foundation for successful technology adoption.

The PRP repair shop shows an insourcing logic

Daniyar Batyrov, head of the high-voltage equipment repair shop, says the unit analyzed work previously performed by contractors and calculated the costs. The result was the creation of an internal workshop without additional investment. That is a concrete example of how kaizen is being used to reassess external spending, although the article does not provide the financial value of the savings.

What Operations Leaders Can Take From AlES's Kaizen Playbook

• Start with one measurable pilot area: AlES tested 5S in a single relay protection laboratory before expanding to other departments. Choose a contained work zone where before-and-after results can be seen quickly.
• Use gemba visits early in the rollout: mutual visits to other units and to Kazakh enterprises already using kaizen were among the most effective tools for reducing employee resistance at AlES.
• Put 5S and standard work before automation: AlES leaders argue that automating an inefficient process speeds up mistakes. Remove waste and standardize the process first, then digitize.
• Reassess outsourced work: the PRP repair shop analyzed contractor tasks and created an internal workshop without new investment. Apply the same cost review to high-frequency external work.
• Track before-and-after results visually: AlES ties its projects to the kaizen principle that what cannot be measured cannot be improved, using before-and-after comparisons to demonstrate progress.