LEAN CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES (LCP®)
LEAN Glossary of terms
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Lean Glossary |
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A visual control device in a production area, typically a lighted overhead display, giving the current status of the production system and alerting team members to emerging problems. A type of visual control that displays the current state of work (i.e., abnormal conditions, work instructions, and job progress information). It is one of the main tools of Jidoka. |
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Automation |
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Automation with a human. Refers to semi-automatic processes where the operator and machine work together. Automation allows man-machine separation. Also referred to as Jidoka. |
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5S's |
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5S's are adapted from 5 Japanese words that start with 's' may be rewritten as Sift, Sweep, Sort, Sanitize and Sustain. Also CANDO - Clean-up, Arrange, Neaten, Discipline, Ongoing Improvement. |
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SORT |
The first stage of 5S is to organize the work area, leaving only the tools and materials necessary to perform daily activities. When sorting is well implemented, communication between workers is improved and product quality and productivity are increased. |
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SET IN ORDER |
The second stage of 5S involves the orderly arrangement of needed items so they are easy to use and accessible for “anyone†to find. Orderliness eliminates waste in production and clerical activities. |
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SHINE |
The third stage of 5S is keeping everything clean and swept. This maintains a safer work area and problem areas are quickly identified. An important part of shining is Mess Prevention. In other words, don't allow litter, scrap, shavings, cuttings, etc., to land on the floor in the first place. |
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STANDADISE |
The fourth stage of 5S involves creating a consistent approach for carrying out tasks and procedures. Orderliness is the core of standardisation and is maintained by Visual Controls. |
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SUSTAIN |
This last stage of 5S is the discipline and commitment of all other stages. Without “sustainingâ€, your workplace can easily revert back to being dirty and chaotic. That is why it is so crucial for your team to be empowered to improve and maintain their workplace. When employees take pride in their work and workplace it can lead to greater job satisfaction and higher productivity. |
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5 Why's |
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The five why's is a method of solving a problem by asking why the problem occurred, and then why did that cause occur, 5 times until you get to the root cause of a problem. |
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Balanced production |
All operations or cells produce at the same cycle time. In a balanced system, the cell cycle time is less than takt time. |
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Batch-and-Queue |
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Producing more than one piece of an item and then moving those items forward to the next operation before that are all actually needed there. Thus, items need to wait in a queue. |
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Benchmarking |
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The process of measuring products, services, and practices against those of leading companies within a sector. |
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Buffer Management |
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CCS Buffer Programme Management |
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Weekly Designer programme update (360 degree Communication) |
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Weekly Supply Chain programme update (360 degree Communication) |
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Supply Chain programme Challenge |
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Enabler for Designer programme Challenge |
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A method of single-piece flow, where the operator proceeds from machine to machine, taking the part from one machine and loading it into the next. |
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Checklist |
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A tool used to ensure that all important steps or actions in an operation have been taken. One of the Basic Seven Tools of Quality |
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Used to measure the progress of improvement-related activities between managerial levels. Check points represent process-oriented criteria. Control points represent results-oriented criteria. Check points and control points are used in policy deployment. |
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Check Sheet |
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A simple data-recording device, custom-made by the user, which allows results to be readily interpreted. Not to be confused with a Checklist (see above). |
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Common Causes |
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In statistical quality control, the causes of variation inherent in a process over time. |
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Company Culture |
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The informal way life is lived and the work is done, based on the values, beliefs, myths and stories played out in the organization. Over time, leaders shape the culture. (See KAIZEN Culture). |
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Control Chart |
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A chart with upper and lower control limits within which a machine or process is "in control". Frequently a centerline, midway between the two limits, helps detect trends toward one or the other. Plotting critical measurements on the chart shows when a machine or process has gone "out of control" and must be adjusted. One of the Basic Seven Tools of Quality. |
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Core Process |
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The process in a manufacturing or service organization that produces the goods or services for external customers on which the organization depends for its survival. |
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Cross-Functional Management |
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The inter-departmental coordination required to realize the strategic and policy goals of KAIZEN and Total Quality Management. Its critical importance lies in the follow-through to achieve goals and measures. |
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Constraint management |
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It’s a business philosophy which seeks to strive towards the global objective, or goal, of a system through an understanding of the underlying cause and effect dependency and variation of the system in question. |
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Identify Constraints |
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Customer, External |
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An end-user whom pays for the project or service delivered by a company, thus generating revenue for the company. The goal of world-class companies is to "continually delight" this customer, thus creating "an increasing affection" for its products and services. There may be several external customers, all of whom must be considered by the supplier. |
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Customer Surveys |
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Start with the end in mind. Make sure you understand why you're writing and creating a customer survey and what you're going to do with the results. How are you going to change your processes as a result of these customer satisfaction survey results? |
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360 degree Client feedback / review |
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Interconnected sequence for Problem Solving projects in Six-Sigma - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control, Transfer. Is very like the problem solving cycle PDCA. |
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Empowerment |
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People are a crucial part of innovation because they have the power to make it succeed or fail. Engaged employees are those who willingly share their ideas and actively work with others to explore and implement them. |
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Workforce Lean info Board |
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Workforce Feedback and review |
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Flow is the most effective and efficient way to deliver any good or service for a customer. The focus is on aggressively removing process waste. Using flow, you will reduce lead times, operating costs, and improve quality. Your customers will see better, more consistent service. Your operators will work at a steadier pace in a safer, more ergonomically designed environment. |
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Make Ready Lists |
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Look ahead Programmes |
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Or Genba - Workplace where Value is added and is created for the customer. The most important place in the organisation. |
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Genchi Genbutsu |
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Literally "Going to the Source" - Actual place, actual things, personal involvement in the actual condition of the process. Actually go and see yourself to understand, in-depth, the real facts, the true situation. This is the belief that practical experience is valued over theoretical knowledge. You must see the problem to know the problem. |
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Reflection - honestly and openly to continually learn from projects. |
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Heijunka |
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The overall leveling, in the production schedule, of the volume and variety of items produced in given time periods. Heijunka is a pre-requisite for Just-in-time delivery. |
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Hoshin Kanri |
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A strategic planning process to establish high agreement and align people in a common direction with agreed upon methods to improve. Goals (with targets) and means for achieving it to address business priorities to move the organisation to a new level of performance; variable from year-to-year; could also be multi-year; and is developed by executive management. |
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Management by Policy or Strategy Deployment. A means by which goals are established and measures are created to ensure progress toward those goals. HP keeps activities at all levels of the company aligned with its overarching strategic plans. HP typically begins with the "visioning process" which addresses the key questions: Where do you want to be in the future? How do want to get there? When do you want to achieve your goal? And who will be involved in achieving the goals? HP then systematically explodes the what's, who's and how's throughout the entire organisation. |
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Incentivisation |
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Awards usually tied to expected results identified at the beginning of the performance cycle. The plans can be individual, group, companywide, or a combination of any. |
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Jidoka |
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Also referred to as autonomation, it is adding the human element of being able to identify problems and either stop for correction or self-correct before moving onto the next step. One of the two main pillars of TPS. It refers to the ability to stop production lines, by man or machine, in the event of problems such as equipment malfunction, quality issues, or late work. Jidoka helps prevent the passing of defects, helps identify and correct problem areas using localization and isolation, and makes it possible to “build†quality at the production process. |
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Jishuken |
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Management driven kaizen activity where management members identify areas in need of continuous improvement and spread information through the organization to stimulate kaizen activity. |
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Lean Glossary |
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Jidoka |
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Also referred to as autonomation, it is adding the human element of being able to identify problems and either stop for correction or self-correct before moving onto the next step. One of the two main pillars of TPS. It refers to the ability to stop production lines, by man or machine, in the event of problems such as equipment malfunction, quality issues, or late work. Jidoka helps prevent the passing of defects, helps identify and correct problem areas using localization and isolation, and makes it possible to “build†quality at the production process. |
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Jishuken |
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Management driven kaizen activity where management members identify areas in need of continuous improvement and spread information through the organization to stimulate kaizen activity. |
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Just-In-Time |
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One of the two main pillars of TPS. It refers to the manufacturing and conveyance of only what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed. It is built upon three basic principles: |
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Kanban, often in the form of cards, are a signal that a downstream or customer process can use to request a specific amount of a specific part from the upstream, or supply, process. A small sign that is the key control for the Just-In-Time production; it serves as: |
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Kaizen |
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Kaizen is a structured process to engage those closest to the process to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Its goals are often to remove waste and add standardization. A system of continuous improvement in which instances of Muda (waste) are eliminated one-by-one at minimal cost. This is performed by all employees rather than by specialists. |
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Last Planner is the name for the LCI's system of production control. Production control governs execution of plans and extends throughout a project. "Control" first of all means causing a desired future rather than identifying variances between plan and actual. |
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Workforce Last Planner |
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Lead Time |
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The total time a customer must wait to receive a product after placing an order. When a scheduling and production system is running at or below capacity, lead time and throughput time are the same. When demand exceeds the capacity of a system, there is additional waiting time before the start of scheduling and production, and lead time exceeds throughput time. |
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Muda is traditional general Japanese term for activity that is wasteful and doesn't add value or is unproductive, etymologically none trivia or un-useful in practice or others. It is also a key concept in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and is one of the three types of waste (Muda, Mura, Muri) that it identifies. Waste reduction is an effective way to increase profitability. Toyota picked these three words beginning with the prefix mu-, which in Japan are widely recognized as a reference to a product improvement program or campaign. There are seven types of muda: (Overproduction, waiting, conveyance, processing, inventory, motion, correction). |
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Mura |
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Mura is avoided through Just In Time (JIT)systems which are based on little or no inventory, by supplying the production process with the right part, at the right time, in the right amount, and first-in, first out component flow. JIT systems create a pull system in which each sub-process withdraws its needs from the preceding sub-processes, and ultimately from an outside supplier. Japanese term for unevenness, inconsistency in physical matter or human spiritual condition. |
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Muri |
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Muri can be avoided through standardised work. To achieve this a standard condition or output must be defined to assure effective judgment of quality. Then every process and function must be reduced to its simplest elements for examination and later recombination. The process must then be standardised to achieve the standard condition. This is done by taking simple work elements and combining them, one-by-one into standardised work sequences. In manufacturing, this includes: Work Flow, or logical directions to be taken, Repeatable Process Steps and Machine Processes, or Rational methods to get there, and Takt time, or reasonable lengths of time and endurance allowed for a process. |
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Preliminary work to involve other sections/departments in discussions to seek input, information and/or support for a proposal or change (policy, etc.) that would affect them. |
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Opportunity Management |
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Seldom remembered that the whole point of managing Risk is to Mitigate and Create Opportunity. How many Risk Registers are populated with positive construction opportunity? - no many! - and therefore remain unmanaged by the Team. LEAN is such an Opportunity. |
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Overproduction |
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Producing more, sooner or faster than is required by the next process. |
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The synergistic affect from pooling of resources to work together toward a common goal. This reduces duplication of effort, helps ensure that the appropriate level of resources are available. The savings in time, money and expertise can then be reinvested into other projects. |
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Perfection |
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Perfection is a state of flawlessness. Something is called perfect when it has no flaws, or when it comes very close to this ideal |
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Parts of Programme Complete |
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Process Kaizen |
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Improvements made at an individual process or in a specific area. Sometimes called "point kaizen". |
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Enabler for Designer Feedback / review |
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Performance KPI’s |
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A significant measure used on its own, or in combination with other key performance indicators, to monitor how well a business is achieving its quantifiable objectives. |
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Implement CBB KPIs |
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Benchmark Supply Chain |
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Benchmark Designer |
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Benchmark Client |
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PDCA |
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Plan, Do, Check, Act - Problem solving cycle, which provides effective structure and is to be used iteratively for Continuous Improvement. PDCA - The Deming Cycle Kaoru Ishikawa expanded Deming's four steps into six: Plan-Do-Check-Act means that whether solving a problem or building a plan everyone should follow this process to ensure learning and success towards the goal. |
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Poke-yoke |
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Mistake-proofing. A way to prevent poor quality in a process. Low cost, highly reliable devices, used in the jidoka system, that will stop processes in order to prevent the production of defective parts |
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Problem solving Tools |
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To create and sustain problem solvers at all levels we need to link problem solving to core management systems and behavior. The explicit link between problem solving and lean activities such as policy management, standardised work, visual management, human resources management and “go see†(gemba) activities are explained. |
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Process mapping |
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Method for depicting a process, material or information flow in a diagrammatic form. Defines key process input and outputs. This structured process helps managers understand the flow of both material and information through their operation and develop plans to move them closer to the ideal state. |
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Repetitive Task analysis and optimisation |
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Map Supply Chain process |
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Map Designers Process |
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Map D&C Process |
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MAP Commissioning Process |
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PULL |
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Creating Level Pull moves beyond making improvements in the value stream of an individual product family. Address how to tie together the flow of all product families through a facility by implementing a lean production control system that establishes the conditions for superior performance. |
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Pull System |
Activity Unit analysis |
One of the 3 elements of JIT. In the pull systems, the downstream process takes the product they need and pulls it from the producer. This customers pull is a signal to the producer that the product is sold. The pull system links accurate information with the process to minimise waiting and overproduction. |
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Push System |
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In contrast to the pull system, product is pushed into a process, regardless of whether it is needed. The pushed product goes into inventory, and lacking a pull signal from the customer indicating that it has been bought, more of the same product could be overproduced and put in inventory. |
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A visual decision-making procedure for multi-skilled project teams which develops a common understanding of the voice of the customer and a consensus on the final engineering specifications of the product that has the commitment of the entire team. QFD integrates the perspectives of team members from different disciplines, ensures that their efforts are focused on resolving key trade-offs in a consistent manner against measurable performance targets for the product, and deploys these decisions through successive levels of detail. The use of QFD eliminates expensive backflows and rework as projects near launch. |
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Queue Time |
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The time a product spends in a line awaiting the next design, order processing, or fabrication step. |
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Quick Changeover |
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The ability to change tooling and fixtures rapidly (usually minutes), so multiple products can be run on the same machine. |
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The engine that drives Time-Based Competition. To gain speed, firms must apply the principles of reengineering to rethink and redesign every process and move it closer to the customer. |
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Risk management |
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Decisions to accept exposure or to reduce vulnerabilities by either mitigating the risks or applying cost effective controls. |
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Root Cause analysis |
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An effective Root Cause Analysis Process helps determine appropriate and effective corrective actions by identifying both an Immediate Corrective Action (what should be done today to resolve) and Long Term Corrective Action (what should be done to prevent recurrence). |
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Root Cause Analysis |
Pareto charts and other problem-solving techniques are taken to a new level of effectiveness when properly applied within the context of root cause thinking |
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Lean Glossary |
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An outside master or teacher that assists in implementing lean practices. Japanese title used to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers and doctors, politicians, clergymen |
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Seven wastes |
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Taiichi Ohno¹s original catalog of the wastes commonly found in physical production. These are overproduction ahead of demand, waiting for the next processing stop, unnecessary transport of materials, overprocessing of parts due to poor tool and product design, inventories more than the absolute minimum, unnecessary movement by employees during the course of their work, and production of defective parts. |
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Single Minute Exchange of Dies |
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(SMED): A series of techniques designed for changeovers of production machinery in less than ten minutes. Obviously, the long-term objective is always Zero Setup, in which changeovers are instantaneous and do not interfere in any way with continuous flow. |
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Six Sigma |
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Six Sigma is a method and a set of tools to reduce variation in processes, particularly quality, using mostly statistical tools. Its primary method is DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. |
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Skills Profiling |
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Can be used for self-assessment, individual/job match analysis, or multi-rater feedback. It identifies which skills are critical to satisfactory job performance, which have yet to be developed, and which are being underused. |
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Statistical Process Control |
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Statistical process control is the application of statistical methods to identify and control the special cause of variation in a process. |
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Standardisations |
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Standardised work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tool. By documenting the current best practice, standardised work forms the baseline for kaizen or continuous improvement. As the standard is improved, the new standard becomes the baseline for further improvements, and so on. Improving standardised work is a never-ending process. |
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Standardised Work |
The agreed best way to operate the process/ at the current point of time. It is dynamic and is the basis for improvement to a future better way. It represents the most efficient combination of man, machine and material, and requires 3 elements, which are Takt-Time, Work Sequence and Standard Work-In Process. It also contains care points and safety/ergonomic requirements. Provides basis for effective training too. |
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Sub-Optimisation |
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A condition where gains made in one activity are offset by losses in another activity or activities, created by the same actions crating gains in the first activity. |
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Supply Chain Integration |
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Methods of coordination and integration of processes within a traditional supply chain. Includes interesting practices regarding customers and suppliers, such as customers becoming co-producers |
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360 degree Designer feedback / review |
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360 degree Supply Chain feedback / review |
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Selection on Behaviour / Culture |
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Supply Chain Feedback / review |
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Supply Chain Early Contractor Involvement |
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System Kaizen |
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Improvement aimed at an entire value stream. |
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The rate at which customers are buying the product/service that you are supplying. It is calculated by dividing the total net daily operating time, by the total daily customer demand. This then represents the time within which processes need to be carried out to satisfy your demand. Takt-Time therefore varies with customer demand or available net time. |
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Team building |
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Team building is a planned effort made in order to improve communications and working relationships by way of any planned and managed change involving a group of people. Team building is most effective when used as a part of a long-range strategy for organisational and personal development. |
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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) |
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A series of methods, originally pioneered to ensure that every machine in a production process is always able to perform its required tasks so that production is never interrupted. |
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Training |
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It is a technique of training the employees by using the actual work site as a proper setting to instruct workers while at the same time engaging in productive work. |
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Designer Education |
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Supply Chain Education |
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Workforce Induction |
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Lean Toolbox Talks |
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Value-adding tasks are only those tasks which add value, the customer is willing to pay for which are done right the first time. |
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Value-Added Analysis |
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With this activity, a process improvement team strips the process down to it essential elements. The team isolates the activities that in the eyes of the customer actually add value to the product or service. The remaining non-value adding activities "waste" is targeted for eradication. |
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Value Chain |
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The set of activities required to design, procure, produce, market, distribute, and service a product or service. |
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Value Engineering |
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An analysis of materials, processes, and products in which functions are related to cost and from which a selection may be made so as to achieve the desired function at the lowest overall cost consistent with value performance. |
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Value Stream Map |
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Or VSM, or Material and Information Flow Analysis (MIFA) - A visual map, drawn at a point in time, showing the connection of activities from suppliers through Value-Adding processes to customers with data including Inventories, Cycle Times, Changeover times, reliabilities to allow understanding of the true Value Stream condition, and calculation of Lead-Time and percentage Value-Added. Map types include Current State, Transition States, Future State, and Ideal State. Allows targeted effective activities including Kaizen events, and provides a basis for people to discuss from. |
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Eliminating waste from the process is the goal of many lean tools and should be an on-going effort in itself. This comes in the form of the seven types of waste: overproduction, waiting, inventory, over processing, motion, transportation and defects. |
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Workforce waste Challenge |
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Enabler for Designer waste Challenge |
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Supply Chain waste Challenge |
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Waste |
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Non-Value Added. Muda. |
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Work in Progress (WIP) |
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Product or inventory in various stages of completion throughout the plant, from raw material to completed product. |
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Chart showing the stacked balance of workload elements within a process. Most often used for Line-Balancing of processes to meet Takt-Time. |
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Yaruki |
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The attitude of "Can do" - everything is achievable. |
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Yokoten |
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Way of ensuring that Learning is shared. Across everywhere. (Plant related activities and/or countermeasures that are communicated plant wide and with other company affiliates. |
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