Karakuri Kaizen, often understood as the art of improving something through the use of elaborate mechanisms such as levers, springs, and gears, is mostly known as a method of improvement through low-cost mechanical automation, especially in Japan. However, there is a lack of research on this phenomenon. With its basic idea of workers and team members developing creative solutions to manufacturing and logistics problems by themselves, the concept of Karakuri Kaizen, especially in combination with digital technologies such as Internet of Things, data lakes or machine learning, should be a viable and interesting path to improve manufacturing processes through mechanical, electrical, electronic, or even digital technologies. This paper attempts to address this lack of research, presenting the findings from three case studies and exploring how Karakuri Kaizen is interpreted, taught and implemented in different countries and companies. To develop new knowledge regarding the phenomena of Karakuri Kaizen, and especially with regards to methodology and interpretation, an inductive case study was carried out. Based on the practical examples of Karakuri Kaizen development, training of operators and engineers, knowledge sharing and the technologies where applied, two research propositions emerged with the aim of developing a framework adopting Karakuri Kaizen to a modern manufacturing environment.