| 5S |
The principle of waste elimination through workplace organisation. Derived from the Japanese words seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. In English the 5S are sort, set in order, shine, standardise, and sustain. |
| 7 WASTES OF PRODUCTION |
There are 7 types of waste that describe all wasteful activity in a production environment. Elimination of the 7 wastes leads to improved profits. The 7 wastes are 1) Overproduction, 2) Materials Handling, 3) Motion, 4) Waiting, 5) Processing, 6) Inventory, and 7) Rework. |
| AUTONOMATION |
Machines are given ‘human intelligence’ and are able to detecting and preventing defects. Machines stop autonomously when defects are made, asking for help. Autonomation was pioneered by Sakichi Toyoda with the invention of automatic looms that stopped when a thread broke, allowing an operator to manage many looms without risk of producing large amounts of defective cloth. Autonomation is a pillar of the Toyota Production System. Also known as Jidoka. |
| BOTTLENECK |
A process in any part of the enterprise (office, production, sales, etc.) that limits the throughput of the whole process. |
| CONSTRAINT |
See bottleneck. |
| DIGITAL MANUFACTURING |
Digital manufacturing systems integrate advanced 3D simulation tools, virtual reality and collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) software to visibly manage a product through the manufacturing process. |
| FIRST IN FIRST OUT (FIFO) |
A system of keeping track of the order in which information or materials need to be processed. The goal of FIFO is to prevent earlier orders from being delayed unfairly in favour of new orders. |
| FLOW PRODUCTION |
A way of doing things in small quantities in sequential steps, rather than in large batches, lots or mass processing. Product (or service) moves (flows) from process to process in the smallest, quickest possible increment (one piece). Only acceptable quality products or services are accepted by the downstream customer. See also One-Piece Flow. |
| GEMBA |
Japanese for 'actual place'. The Gemba is where value is created; often the shop floor. |
| GEMBA PRODUCTION SYSTEM |
A manufacturing operations transformation strategy based on the Toyota Production System. |
| HEIJUNKA |
See Levelling |
| JIDOKA |
See Autonomation. |
| JUST IN TME (JIT) PRODUCTION |
A production system to make what the customer needs when the customer needs it in the quantity the customer needs, using minimal resources of manpower, material, and machinery. The three elements to making Just-in-Time possible are Takt time, Flow production, and the Pull system. |
| KAIZEN |
Japanese for 'change for the better' or 'improvement'. A business philosophy of continuous cost reduction, reducing quality problems, and delivery time reduction through rapid, team-based improvement activity. |
| KANBAN |
A Japanese word for 'sign', Kanbans are typically a re-order card or other method of triggering the pull system based on actual usage of material. Kanbans are attached to the actual product, at the point of use. Kanban cards have information about the parts (name, part number, quantity, source, destination, etc) but carts, boxes, and electronic signals can also be used. Squares painted on the floor to indicate storage or incoming areas are frequently, but mistakenly, referred to as kanbans. |
| LEAN MANUFACTURING |
A business practice characterised by the endless pursuit of waste elimination. A manufacturer that is lean uses the minimum amount of manpower, materials, money, machines, space etc to get the job done on time. |
| LEVELLING |
Smoothing out the production schedule by averaging out both the volume and mix of products. Production levelling allows a consistent workflow, reducing the fluctuation of customer demand with the eventual goal of being able to produce any product any day. Levelling is the foundation of a Gemba Production System. |
| MUDA |
Japanese for 'waste'. Any activity that adds cost without adding value to the product from the customer’s perspective. |
| OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS (OEE) |
A way to measure the effectiveness of a machine. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) rolls up the six major losses into an easily calculated and communicated figure. |
| ONE-PIECE FLOW |
One-piece flow production is when parts are made one at a time and passed on to the next process. Among the benefits of one-piece flow are 1) the quick detection of defects to prevent a large batch of defects, 2) short production lead times, 3) reduced material and inventory costs, and 4) design of equipment and workstations of minimal size. |
| PULL SYSTEM |
One of the 3 Elements of JIT. The pull system enables the production of what is needed based on a signal of what has just been sold. The downstream process takes the product they need and 'pulls' it from the producer. This 'customer pull' is a signal to the producer that the product is sold. The pull system links accurate information with the process to minimise overproduction. |
| SET-UP REDUCTION |
Reducing the amount of time a machine or a process is down during changeover from the last good piece to the first good piece of the next product. |
| SIX SIGMA |
A methodology and set of tools used to reduce quality problems to less than 3.4 defects per million or better. |
| TAKT TIME |
Takt time is the pace at which the customer is buying a particular product or service. Takt time is the total net daily operating time divided by the total daily customer demand. Takt time is not how long it takes to perform a task. Takt time cannot be reduced or increased except by changes in production demand or available time to work. Takt time is one of the 3 Elements of JIT. Takt is a German word for 'beat' or 'rhythm'. |
| THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS (TOC) |
The essential concept of TOC is that every organization must have at least one constraint. A constraint is any factor that limits the organization from getting more of whatever it strives for, which is usually profit. Click here for a related article on this topic. |
| TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM (TPS) |
A methodology that resulted from over 50 years of kaizen at Toyota, one of the most successful companies in the world. TPS is built on a foundation of Levelling, with the supporting pillars of Just-in-Time and Jidoka. See also Gemba Production System. |
| Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) |
Total productive maintenance aims at maximising equipment effectiveness and uptime throughout the entire life of the equipment. |
