Lean Six Sigma Vocabulary

A problem solving technique where you repeatedly ask and answer the question "why?" 5 times to get to the root of the problem.

Production smoothing or leveling, absorbs fluctuations in demand, even output flow through very small production bathes throughout the manufacturing line.

Activity which is wasteful or unproductive, using more resources than necessary (7 lean wastes)

Inconsistency, excess variation, makes it hard to predict when a product will be finished

unreasonable overuse, people and machinery are pushed beyond their limits so they can not work to their full potential

Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain

eliminates waste that stems from poor management. create a strategic plan, develop tactics, take action, review and adjust

completing one single unit of production at a time as needed. allows companies to match demand with production

information tool that provides instant, visible, and audible warning to the operations team that there is an abnormality within that area

Transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over processing, over production, defects

radical overhaul of an activity to eliminate all waste and create greater value

converting a line or machine from running one product to another, achieved through SIngle Minute Exchange of Dies which identifies internal and external processes

place that matters most, describes where the action takes place, for instance the floor in manufacturing

"Go and see for yourself"

method that uses a continuous line to trace the path and distance traveled of an object or person throughout a process. trying to expose inefficient process layouts and unnecessary travel distance between steps

part of value-stream mapping. snapshot showing how materials and info flows from order to delivery

continuous improvement model that looks to plan ahead for change, execute the plan, check the results, and take action to improve the process again.

components are pulled from shelves to the assembly line, then are replenished

average number of defects per unit observed during an average production run divided by the number of opportunities to make a defect on the product normalized to one million

a precise description of each work activity specifying cycle time, takt time, the work sequence of tasks, and minimum inventory of parts on hand needed to conduct the activity, eliminates variance

intelligent automation, humanized automation. it will detect malfunction/defect, stop itself, and alert the operator

teacher or instructor, encourages individuals and teams to seek experts who can provide advice and coaching

continuous improvement

A method of JIT production that uses containers with a card attached, the card is used to signal when parts need pulled from other operations or suppliers

an exercise used to train one's eye to see unproductive activity and waste that cannot be recognized by a passer-by's untrained eye

eliminating waste/loss by maintaining your equipment

Japanese word meaning mistake proofing

process used to capture the requirements/feedback from the customer to provide customers with the best service/product quality

a qualitative and systematic tool used to help anticipate what might go wrong with a process or product. helps find the possible causes of failure and to detect when future failures may occur

a projection of how a value stream should look in the future, helps remove bottlenecks. analyze the current value stream and decide what changes to improve production

created total elimination of inventory and arranging parts for JIT production. Production boss and industrial engineer of Toyota