A
5S or 5C
Method of good housekeeping made up of 5 disciplines - for example; sort, straighten, sweep, standardise and sustain.
5 why's
Method finding the root cause of a problem by asking "why?" a number of times and structuring the possible causes in a hierarchical event tree.
Art of War (The)
Writings by Sun Tzu 500BC on warfare adapted today by many writers to develop business strategies. See The Way of the Leader by Donald G Krause.
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B
Batch production
The production process whereby products/components are produced in batches and where each separate batch consists of a number of the same products.
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C
Capability
A method for determining if a process is able to work with specified tolerances measured by Cpk values.
Cause and effect
A method for finding the root cause of a problem. Using a cause and effect diagram also called fishbone diagram or Ishikawa diagram.
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D
Design of Experiments (DOE)
A rigorous method of simultaneously varying experimental factors and then mathematically determining the effect each factor had on the result. An efficient and fast method for running experiments.
DMAIC
An acronym of; Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control - a methodology used in six-sigma projects.
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E
External work
Work that is undertaken outside of a set-up procedure.
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F
Facilitator
A leader of a Kaizen event/lean workshop. One who guides and facilitates the team.
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G
Gauge R&R
A method for determining if a measuring system of repeatable and reproducible.
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H
Hidden Waste
Work that does not add value but is required under the current operating conditions.
Hoshin Kanri
Strategy deployment method for translating company strategy in to clear goals and measures and tracking them through to deployment of actions.
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I
Internal work
Work that is undertaken inside the set-up time.
Inventory
Inventory=Stock: Inventory conceals problems, makes control difficult and obscures the opportunity for improvement.
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J
JIT
Just-in-time manufacturing. The art of producing just what is needed, when it is needed.
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K
Kaizen
Pronounced Ky'zen means gradual unending improvements or continuous improvement.
Kanban or Kamban
A flag or system to say when stock needs to be reordered and used in just-in-time production systems.
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L
Lean
Word used to describe processes with no waste. See Lean Thinking - Banish waste and create wealth in your corporation by James P Womack and Daniel T Jones.
Learning Organisation
Book by Robert H Hayes et al called Dynamic Manufacturing - Creating a learning organisation and the Fifth Discipline - The Art & Practice of The Learning Organisation by Peter M Senge.
Line balancing
Where each operation in a process is designed to take the same time and balanced to meet the customer Takt time.
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M
Machine that Changed the World (The)
Book on the lean production revolution in the automotive industry by James P Womack et al.
MRP
Material Requirement Planning.
Muda
Japanese for waste.
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O
Obvious Waste
Work that does not add value and is not necessary: Overproduction, Waiting, Transportation, Process, Inventory, Operator Movements, Defects.
One-Piece-Flow
One piece flow or single piece flow means a batch size of 1 in a production system.
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P
Pareto
A philosophy that says 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of the issues. By arranging the problems in descending order allows selection of the top few items causing most of the problems. A method for prioritising improvement activities.
PDCA Cycle
Plan Do Check Act continuous cycle for developing and improving things. Also called the Deming cycle.
Poka Yoke
Poka Yoke means mistake-proofing and is a method made popular by Shigeo Shingo in his book Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka Yoke System. A Poka Yoke device will either warn of a failure or stop the process so the failure cannot be passed to the process step.
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S
Set-up time
The time from the last good piece of batch A to the first good piece of batch B.
Six-sigma
A data centric problem solving set of tools aimed at reducing variation and waste in processes. Uses the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) methodology to improve complex problems using data to guide and confirm solutions. The exponents of six-sigma a graded; yellow belt, green belt, black belt and master black belt.
SMED
Acronym for Single Minute Exchange of Dies first used by Japanese author Shigeo Shingo see his book A revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System. SMED is a quick tool change methodology.
Standard Operations
A method of capturing the current method of operating a process or carrying out a task to create consistency and repeatability.
Statistical Process Control (SPC)
A method of tracking a process through data to establish if it is in control.
Statistical Process Control PRE-control
A simplified method of tracking a process through data using tolerance limits to establish if it is in control.
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T
TAKT Time
Takt Time is the desired time between units of production output, synchronized to customer demand. "Takt" is the German word for the baton that an orchestra conductor uses to regulate the speed, beat or timing at which musicians play. So Takt Time is "Beat Time"? "Rate Time" or "Heart Beat".
TPE or OEE
Total Productive Effectivness or Overall Equipment Effectivness is a measure of Availability Rate x Performance Rate x Quality Rate.
TPM
Total Productive Maintenance aims at maximising equipment effectiveness throughout the entire life of the equipment - a cleaning and continuous maintenance regime.
TQM
Total Quality Management. A product-quality program in which the objective is complete elimination of product defects. Originated by Deming in the 1950's, and widely applied in the Federal government, where it was sometimes called Total Quality Leadership (TQL).
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V
Value Added Work
The part of the job the customer wants to pay for.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
A tool for mapping a process with metrics on inputs and outputs at each stage of the process. An enhanced form of process mapping.
Voice of Customer (VOC)
General term relating to capturing customer needs and wants. Some sophisticated tools have been developed to capture the voice of the customer and translate then in to measurable deliverables.
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W
Waste
Non-value adding activities that are not necessary. Muda in Japanese.
Warusa-kagen
A term meaning things that are not yet problems, but are still not quite right.
Workflow
The flow of work through a process. Should be smooth and without waste or interruptions. Related to one-piece flow and line balancing.
Workshop
A team based improvement activity lasting typically 2 to 5 days. Also known as a Kaizen blitz or lean event.
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