Lean Glossary - Lean Terminology, Lean Definitions
6 Sigma: A scientific and data-driven approach for achieving 6 standard deviations between the mean and nearest specifications limit. Six Sigma methods can be applied to all aspects of manufacturing, transactional processes, and virtually any form of work or processing.
Andon: A system of flashing lights used to indicate production status and alerting team members to emerging problems in one or more work centers. The traditional colors and their meanings are:
green - no problems, yellow - situation requires attention, red - production stopped; attention urgently needed
Autonomation: Transferring human intelligence to automated machinery. See also Jidoka.
Batch and queue: The practice of making large lots of a part and then sending the batch to wait in queue before the next step in the production process as opposed to single piece flow.
Bakayoke: ”fool-proofing”, this term quickly fell into disuse as it was perceived by workers as being applicable to ‘fools’ (baka). A more descriptive term is poka-yoke.
Bottleneck: The slowest operation in a manufacturing process.
BTO (Build-to-Order): The manufacturing process where items are produced to order based on actual customer demand and configuration options. Another description is MTO (Make-To-Order).
BTR (Build-to-Replenish): The manufacturing process where items are scheduling for production based on actual shipment from finished goods inventory.
Capacity: The ability of a machine and its operator to complete the work required.
Changeovers: Switching from producing one part or product to another is known as a changeover.
Constraint: Taken from (TOC) “Theory of Constraints”. A constraint is anything that limits a system from achieving higher performance versus its goal.
Continuous Improvement: The ongoing process/philosophy of doing things better, faster and cheaper. Also linked to Deming Circle or PDCA.
Continuous Flow: Moving products through a production system without separating them into lots.
Current State: Taken from Value Stream Mapping (VSM) the “Current State Map” shows the value stream or process map as it is operating right now.
Cycle Time: The time it takes to do one repetition of any particular task typically measured from “Start to Start” the starting point of one product’s processing in a specified machine or operation until the start of another similar product’s processing in the same machine or process.
Demand Management (Demand Forecasting): Prediction of the levels of weekly or monthly product activity over a specified time (generally about two years).
Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP): Taking the needs of an entire organization into account ERP is essentially an extension of “MRP” “Manufacturing Resources Planning” which attempts to ascertain needs and abilities of a company system.
Heijunka: Japanese term for load smoothing, to eliminate peaks and values in production both in total daily production and in each of the various types of product.
Inventory (Finished Goods): This is the most expensive type of inventory as the materials have already traveled through the value stream and are now complete.
Inventory (Raw Material): Un-processed components waiting for work to be done on them. This is the least expensive form of inventory especially if suppliers will wait for payment until you begin using these materials.
Inventory (Work In Process or WIP): Materials that have had some work done to them but are not yet finished.
Inventory Turns: The number of times you can “Turn” (use and replace) your inventory/money over in a year.
Jidoka: Means “autonomation” or “automation with a human touch.” This is usually illustrated by example of a machine that will detect a problem and stop production automatically rather than continue to run and produce bad output.
Just-in-Time (JIT): The second main pillar of the Lean Enterprise System is “Just -In-Time.” This is the principle that the materials should be delivered to the job site in the correct quantities at the correct time. Production and conveyance of only what is needed, when it is needed, and in the quantity needed. This meets the exact demands of the customer in terms of product requirements, timing, volume, and variety.
Kaizen: Japanese word for continuous improvement.
Kanban: Visual tools that are based on actual usage. Kanbans provide production planning, they put a cap on inventory and insure that there will be sufficient parts. Kanbans can be cards, empty means of conveyance or colored ping pong balls. Kanbans are used to connect assembly lines to internal processes that require changeovers such as machining lines.
Lead-Time: The time required from receipt of order until products are shipped to a customer.
Lean Enterprise: An organization that is engaged in the endless pursuit of waste elimination in all of its’ activities.
Lean Manufacturing (Lean Production): A manufacturing/production system best characterized as relentlessly eliminating waste from all of its’ activities and operations. Lean strives to produce products On-Time, Using as few resources as possible, better than competitors, and faster & cheaper than competitors.
Manufacturing Execution System (MES): A networked computing system used to automate production control and process automation through intercommunication between production scheduling, work scheduling and production throughput to bridge gaps that might appear between these functions.
Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II): A computerized method for planning the use of a company’s resources, such as scheduling raw materials, suppliers/vendors, production equipment and processes.
Mass Customization: A production system that stresses the production of relatively small lots of customized or somewhat unique goods.
Mass Production: Large-scale, generally very standardized manufacturing practice with high-volume production and output.
Master Schedule: Overall sequenced schedule of multiple orders through a factory.
Materials Handling: The function of moving objects from one location to another.
Materials Requirements Planning (MRP): Using software, materials planning is accomplished through evaluating the Bill of Materials (BOM), Inventory Data, and the Master Schedule in order to stimulate replenishment of materials to be consumed and present purchase orders (PO’s) for future materials needed.
Muda (waste): Is traditional general Japanese term for activity that is wasteful and doesn’t add value or is unproductive. It is also a key concept in the Toyota Production System and is one of the three types of waste (Muda, Mura, Muri) that it identifies. Waste reduction is an effective way to increase profitability.
All activities that consumes resources but creates no value. All of these activities should be eliminated.
There are 7 categories of waste:
Overproduction, Tranportation, Waiting, Inventory, Motion, Defects (causes scrap and rework), Overprocessing
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness ): A metric that measures the availability, performance efficiency, and quality rate of your equipment.
Poka-yoke: “mistake-proofing”, a means of providing a visual or other signal to indicate a characteristic state. Often referred to as “error-proofing”, poke-yoke is actually the first step in truly error-proofing a system. Error-proofing is a manufacturing technique of preventing errors by designing the manufacturing process, equipment, and tools so that an operation literally cannot be performed incorrectly.
Product Quantity (PQ) Analysis: A tool that helps employees understand the types of products your organization produces and the volume that your customers demand..
Productivity: The scaled amount of benefit realized as derived from inputs.
Pull System: A production system in which goods are built only when requested by a downstream process. It is a manufacturing planning system based on communication of actual real-time needs from downstream operations ultimately final assembly or the
equivalent - as opposed to a push system which schedules upstream operations according to theoretical downstream results based on a plan which may not be current.
Push System: A production system in which goods are produced and handed off to a downstream process, where they are stored until needed.
Sensei: A personal teacher… one who provides a mastery of knowledge and information.Supply Chain Management: The tool used to pass data and expectations between suppliers and customers with the primary purpose for the customers being to have what is needed, in the quantity and quality needed, and at the lowest possible price.
Setup time: work required to change over a machine or process from one item or operation to the next item or operation; can be divided into two types:
1. internal: setup work that can be done only when the machine or process is not producing parts
2. external: setup work that can be done concurrently with the machine or process is producing parts
Takt Time: Matching the rate of production to the rate of sales or consumption.
Throughput: The rate at which work proceeds through a manufacturing system.
Total Quality Management (TQM): A Quality Control System focused on the correction of quality issues before they are permitted to subsequently be passed on for further processing. TQM systems are often “built-in” to manufacturing processes.
TPM (Total Productive Maintenance): TPM is an equipment maintenance system that proactively addresses maintenance issues before they become major problems and cause equipment downtime.