lean glossary

2 - Bin: A type of pull system that uses two "containers", where container means a card, a sack, etc. The two containers of material are located in a work station along the process: when the first collector and is emptied, the operator sends the empty container to a location to fill it and starts working from the second container. The first container will return full before the second container is empty.
5S : Work tool and method used to get a job location organized, clean and with all strictly necessary things. The significance of the 5 S is: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain
A3 report: A practice in problem solving developed by Toyota to put the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions and the action plan on a single A3 sheet, often with the use of charts and illustrations.
A test error - mistake proofing: a process / tool designed so as not to allow the generation of defects (e.g. square pin and round hole)
ABC Analysis: It is used to order acquired parts and purchased materials on the basis of the annual cost and to focus on things that seriously affect the costs
Andon: (= Lantern) to indicate the bright billboards located in workshops or in the production departments in order to make all different kinds of information visible, related to the state of the system and manufacturing process
Balanced Score card: Performance measurement technique which considers 4 areas: customer satisfaction, internal productivity, innovation & continuous improvement and the financial aspect
Benchmarking: Comparison technique to balance your performance with that of your competitors, determine the gaps and the reasons behind it, and use the information to improve your performance. The object of benchmarking can be a strategy, a process, method, operation, etc.
Brainstorming: Group technique that aims to generate as many ideas as possible in order to investigate various aspects without the subsequent critical analysis.
Business Process Re-engineering: analysis, redesign and reorganization of the business processes of a company with the main goal of decreasing costs and increasing quality
Cause-effect diagram: also called the Ishikawa diagram, because Kaoru Ishikawa developed it, and the herringbone diagram, because the complete diagram resembles the skeleton of a fish. The diagram illustrates the main causes and sub-causes leading to an effect (symptom). The cause-effect diagram is one of the seven quality tools.
Cell: Group of workstations arranged according to the sequence of the operations of the production process of the product
Checklist: A tool used to ensure that all the phases or major operations in a transaction have been taken. Checklists contain items that are important or relevant to an issue or situation.
Concept Paper: Document that contains all useful information for the development of a new product: objectives, team, market analysis, target cost, base trade-off curves, etc. The concept paper, once approved, becomes the reference document for all team members and product and process development.
Continuous improvement: The continuous improvement of products, services, or processes through small incremental improvements and great steps forward
Corrective Action: Implementation of actions to reduce or eliminate the corresponding problem
Cost Drivers:Items that will significantly impact on the cost of the product
Cost of poor quality: The cost associated with the provision of goods or services of poor quality. There are four categories of costs: internal failure costs (costs associated with defects found before the customer receives the product or service), external failure costs (costs associated with defects found after the customer receives the product or service), control costs (costs incurred to determine the conformity degree to quality requirements) and prevention costs (costs incurred to contain the minimum costs of malfunction and control)
Cross-Functional Team: A team composed of representatives of all business departments: marketing, production, technical, research and development, administration, purchasing, quality, commercial, etc.
Customer Need: Need for product or services of the customer, that should be satisfied independent of the type of technology used
Cycle time interval:The time elapsed from when a product goes through a workstation to when the next unit of the same product goes through the same workstation. Describes the frequency with which a work order is issued in the factory. Depends on the size of the lot and is calculated = size of the lot x yield / demand
Defect: A non-compliance or the deviation of a quality characteristic from the required level
Direct Costs: Costs that can be attributed to the product directly
Direct labor: Definition for the employees, whose primary job is to work on a machine or on a workstation, performing value-added activities. In a project environment, direct labor is anyone who can lower the costs of their time directly supporting a specific project.

Feasibility: Feasibility of a product, from a technical and financial point of view
First Time Yield//Return to the first step: The percentage of units that are in accordance with the first step on the process and do not generate waste or rework. Is the product yield at each stage. For example, a process in 3 phases, each of which has a yield of 95%, has a cumulative yield of first step 0.95x0.95x0.95 =85.7%
Flow diagrams: A graphical representation of the stages of a process. The flow diagrams are drawn to better understand the processes. The flow diagram is one of the seven tools quality
Flowchart: A problem solving tool that describes a process; it shows what or how it should be for comparison purposes and waste identification.
Flow: Sequence of operations from raw materials to the delivery of the final product. The flow must proceed "forward" that is, from upstream to the customer without interruptions or rejects, and should have a "constant speed". The production flow can be a cell, a line or an island.
FMEA: Method that allows you to discover and analyze any potential failure of a system or subsystem and determine the effect of this on other elements and on product functionality.
FMECA: Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis. As FMEA, but it also includes critical analysis that is made to correlate the probability of occurrence of different failure modes compared to the severity of their consequences.
Genchi genbutsu: go and see for yourself." Part of the Toyota Production System which emphasizes the importance of acquiring the information personally and directly on-site, to avoid design errors.
Group problem solving: A problem solving methodology, in which a group of individuals will define the required outcome, identify the gap in relation to this and generate ideas by brainstorming. The end result is the definition of actions to be undertaken by the team to achieve the desired results.
hansei (self-reflection):Practice of continuous improvement that consists of looking back and thinking about how a process or a lack of personnel can be improved.
Heijunka: leveling process of production which seeks to minimize the impact of peaks and valleys in the client�s request.
Index Comunanza: Measurement of the possibility of a under-utilization to create more final products.
Indirect labor: Employees who do not perform any value added task on a product. In a project environment, indirect labor is defined as anyone whose time can not be allocated directly to a single project and must be allocated for multiple projects (e.g.: accounting)
Jidoka: Jidoka or automation - consists in automating the mechanical works, so that the machines are able to detect the production of defective parts, stopping immediately and waiting for the operator to fix it, avoiding the spread of the defect in time. This is a quality control process used in the Toyota Production System. It applies the 4 following principles: find and stop the abnormalities, fix or correct the condition, investigate the causes of the error and install a countermeasure.
Just-In-Time: A production method introduced by the Toyota Motor Company, where each workstation acquires the required materials by the stations upstream, precisely at the time when needed and in the required quantity
Kaikaku: Radical Change
Kaizen: Japanese term describing a gradual and endless improvement of little things and reaching higher standards every time. It creates more value and less waste
Kanban: A Japanese term for paper / card - is a communication method to unlock the movement of equipment when you can not have a "one piece" stream. It is also a need signal for the upstream process to produce material for the next step.
keiretsu: Company groups operating in different areas, linked by interrelated shareholdings, relational networks and other links in general. Their membership is not necessary legal but more ethical membership, in order to define and pursue common objectives.
kentou: phase of the study designs at the beginning of the process of developing a product
KozoKeikaku (K4): overview document that keeps together a set of individual designs of components studies. It is the implementation plan for the overall vehicle that contains all critical elements for the assembly and the requirements of the systems of the vehicle

Lead Time: Time needed to invest in the product from the client�s order to its delivery. In the production industry, this is the time between the arrival of raw materials and the payment for the final product.
Lean Production (Produzione snella): A production strategy in which, compared to the traditional (mass) production, less resources are used. The focus is on eliminating waste and non value-added activities present in the process.
Leveling: see Heijunka
LPPD: Lean Development of a product and a process (Lean Product Process Development)
Make or Buy: A tool for comparing the cost and strategic risks to the strategic benefits of creating an in-house product or service rather than buying from an external supplier.
MDT (module development team): The Development team is in charge of a subsystem of the vehicle and refers to the head engineers team (chief engineers team)
Mizen boushi: Design process for quality during which, you try to design, within the process, the countermeasures to possible problems
Muda: waste
Mura: waste due to abnormalities
Muri: waste due to stress or tension
nemawashi:Process of making decisions slowly by consensus and in depth consideration for all options and then quick deployment.
Obeya room: "Grand Room" where the project manager, chief engineer of the product development project and all the heads of engineering who work on the project are. It is a conference room where there are many visual management tools that serve to show the status of each area compared to the overall scheduling of the development.
Output:The amount of material which is produced by an operation with the least waste
Pareto Chart:A graphic technique for quantifying the impact of each problem using a common metric (occurrence, severity, generated downtime) so that efforts can be concentrated in solving the " few vital causes", ignoring the "many causes of little importance". The Pareto diagram is one of the seven quality tools.
PDVSM: Product Development Value Stream mapping. A method that helps improve the understanding of the company efforts to develop and implement the lean process principles
Poka Yoke: Error-proof System: a planning technique that makes it virtually impossible to produce a defective piece, even by an untrained operator.
Productivity: Measure used to represent the percentage of times when an operation is performed according to a standard. It can also be calculated by multiplying the utilization with the efficiency
Pull Production:Production systems where the client pulls the production, meaning that customers’ consumption activates the production, so that this is regulated downstream the production process. Therefore the product goes into production only after receiving a customer's order.
Pull Asynchronous: See 2 bin
Pull synchronous: Process in which products are assembled or in use when an item reaches a certain level of completion. Also referred to as ignition pull system
Pull supply system: a pull system in which the supply process is disconnected from the final user process through a buffer stock. The parts supply is based on the consumption of buffer stocks
Push Production: Production system where the processes are managed in advance, anticipating the needs of the customers. The push production is characterized by an input of materials in the factory anticipatively, to guarantee the time required by the market will be respected. This is done by using the sales forecast that, if erroneous, generates stock growth. In push production, the activities are pushed to the client on the basis of a forecast.

Quality Function Deployment: A structured method that is used to translate customer requirements into appropriate technical requirements for each product development phase and production phase. The QFD process is also defined as "listening to the Voice of the Customer"
Reliability: The probability that a product functions in the defined conditions for a specific period of time
Return on Capital (ROC):The annual income earned by the shareholder for the investment made. It is equal to the profit after tax / invested capital
Rework: Work that has no added-value, needed to correct a defect which is verified during the process
ringi system: A method used to reach consensus on new ideas - typical for Japanese companies. It is based on an extensive series of consultations between managers of different levels. The ideas start from the lowest level and rise when they are approved by the corresponding management level. The top management gives the final approval.
risk assessement: Quantitative and qualitative determination of the risk in regards to a project / idea or a known threat. The quantification is given by the loss entity and by the probability that the loss will occur.
S.B.C.E.: Set based concurrent engineering. Consider several design alternatives from the beginning, bringing them forward and selecting them on the basis of the emerging constraints and keeping the range of solutions that are consistent with the final product
SE (simultaneous engineering): Systematic approach for the integrated development of a product. This emphasizes the response to customer requirements and promotes the value of team cooperation, trust and information sharing between the various project groups
Seiketsu: 5S framework that describes the constant adherence to the first 3 phases and to security. It means "standardize".
Seiri: 5S framework that describes the segregation and elimination activity for unnecessary items. Defined also as "systemizing"
Seiso:5S framework that describes the daily cleaning process. Defined also as "polishing"
Seiton: 5S framework that describes the sorting and identification activities. Defined also as "ordering"
Shitsuki: 5S framework that describes the motivation to achieve constant adherence to the specifications and defined standards. Often defined as "support"
Sigma Quality level: A commonly used measure for the process capacity. It represents the number of standard deviations between the average of the process and the nearest specified limit.
SMED: Single minute exchange of Die. Method of rapid change from one product to another in the same production process with the goal of reducing the size of lots and therefore waste.
Supermarket:Location where a predefined standard stock is kept to supply the downstream processes
Takt Time: The takt time (in German takt = metronome) is defined as the ratio between the time available for products delivery and the volume of goods to be delivered in that defined time period. The takt time represents the delivery rate in a Lean company and thus determines the advancement speed of the flow, in establishing how long a product should take from one phase of the production flow to another so that the production and consumption are synchronized.
tear down: demolition of prior beliefs to start over
TIMWOOD:Acronym used to remember the seven waste categories (Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overprocessing, Overproduction, Defects).
Throughput Time: Time required for a product to proceed from concept to launch, from order to shipment and in the hands of the customer. Includes both the processing time and the time in the queue
Toyota Production System: A system or production philosophy founded by Kiichiro Toyoda. It is centered on the relationship between the cycle time, semi-finished stock, and size of the lot. Allows the elimination of waste in the way companies in regards to human resources, equipment and materials
Variety Matrix:Matrix that analyzes the percentage of commonality between the components / modules and the total number of models / versions of a range of product.
V.R.P.: Variety Reduction Program. Methodology that reduces the overall costs by implementing a rationalization of the products and process variety, in the project phases.
Value: The value of the product perceived by the client which is reflected in the selling price and market demand
Value-added Activity: Activity with value, for which the customer is willing to pay. The value-added activities in production are the mechanical processing. It is fundamental - in deciding whether an activity creates more or less value - to take into account how the end customer perceives it: the value that the customer associates to certain activities is the value he is willing to pay for the asset.
Value Stream Mapping: identification and graphic representation of all activities done along the value stream for a product or a product family.
wip: work in process. Details in production between the various steps of the process; in lean systems is equal to the minimum number of pieces needed to move in a process without interruptions

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