Assemble to Order: an environment where a product or service can be assembled or provided upon receipt of a customer's order. The product will usually consist of a number of modules that are assembled to the highest level possible and stored such that when the order arrives, it can be assembled quickly and to the customer's specifications.
Balanced Plant: a plant where all available capacity is balanced exactly to market demand.
Batch and Queue:
typical mass production method such that a part going through a system
will be produced in large batches to maximise “efficiency” and then sit
in a queue waiting for the next operation.
Bottleneck: an area or workstation in a manufacturing environment that limits throughput of the entire process.
Cell: layout of production machinery, devised for performing different operations in a fixed sequence in order to create a unit stream (one-piece flow). This production scheme's main advantages are: one-piece product flow and human work over different machines in a flexible distribution. Most common cell types are "U-", "L-" or "I-" shaped.
Change Agent: a person whose demonstrated mission is to move from the now state, or batch and queue, to the future ideal state: lean manufacturing. One who leads cultural change in an organization.
Cellular Manufacturing:
an alignment of machines in correct process sequence, where operators
remain within the cell and materials are presented to them from outside.
Cycle time:
the time it takes an operator to complete one full repetition of work.
Globally, it is the time it takes before the cycle repeats itself. Cycle
time is a fundamental indicator for the streamlining in a production
process: if cycle time for all the process operations can be reduced to
takt time, it is possible to establish a unit stream (one-piece flow).
Concurrent Engineering: a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes. It relies on carrying out the product development activities simultaneously in the areas of: product planning, design, process planning and manufacturing. This approach is intended to cause the developer, from the outset, to consider all elements of the product lifecycle from concept through disposal, including quality control, cost, scheduling and user requirements. Its main objectives are: reduction of the time needed for implementing of new product into production, reduction of the time-to-market, substantial improvement of product quality, quicker reaction to customer requirements, cost reduction, profitability improvement.
Continuous Flow: items
are processed and moved directly to the next process one piece at a
time. Each processing step completes its work just before the next
process needs the item.
Continuous Improvement: the commitment to creating a better product, work environment and business, every day.
External set-up: elements of tooling set-up that can be performed safely while the machine is still running.
Elemental Time: time allotted to a specific operational step, within standard work.
First Pass Yield: Percentage of units that meet specifications without any rework or repair.
Five S's: supporting technique used to an easy implementation of Lean Thinking model. It is composed by 5 phases aimed at the creation of a workplace suited for visual control and for Lean Thinking application. It is called Five S after the Japanese words of each phase: "Seiri" (organisation) means to select and divide necessary tools, materials and instructions from the unnecessary ones. The process ends up with elimination of the latter. "Seiton" (order) means accurately deploy tools and parts after their identification. This activity makes it easier their regular use. "Seiso" (purity) means cleaning, accurately. "Seiketsu" (clarity) means to execute the first three steps at pre-defined (and frequent) intervals. "Shitsuke" (discipline) means to build the routine of constantly performing the first four S's.
Group Technology: examines products, parts and assemblies. It then groups similar items to simplify design, manufacturing, purchasing and other business processes.Gantt Chart: is a type of bar chart implemented to visualise a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project.
Internal set-up: elements of tooling set-up that must be performed while the machine is not in motion.
Inventory: usually
the highest cost category, inventory is all raw materials, purchased
parts, work-in-progress and finished goods that are not yet sold to a
customer.
Inventory Turns: a measure to quantify the pace at which inventory rotates throughout a company. Inventory turns= annual cost of goods sold / average value of inventory during year.
Just in Time (JIT): manufacturing what is needed, when it is needed, in the quantity it is needed.
Kaikaku: Japanese work for radical improvement designed to quickly eliminate and/or add value to a value stream.
Kaizen:
a combination of two Japanese words: Kai (change) and Zen (good): a
continuous and gradual improvement in any activity, aiming at the
creation of more value with less waste.
Kaizen breakthrough: a time-sensitive, rapid-deployment methodology that employs a focused, team-based approach. Continuous improvement.
Kaizen event:
part of a continuous improvement program. A focused, dedicated and well
defined event that is used to get quick hit value by implementing
"do-now" solutions leading to waste elimination.
Kanban: kanban
forms an integral part of any Lean Manufacturing System and is classed
as a Pull system. Kanban as expected is a Japanese word: KAN meaning
CARD and BAN meaning SIGNAL. A Pull system is driven by actual customer
demand and material is only released into production as it is required,
when the parts are required. A Push system such as those driven by MRP
(Material Resource Planning / Manufacturing Resource Planning). It is
not a scheduling system but a production control system that will define
production using TAKT Times. One of the major Lean Manufacturing
Principles is the usage and control of materials.
Lead time:
this term can be used in different situations. In the manufacturing
jargon it is normally used to indicate (for a product) the time elapsed
from the raw materials arrival at the facility to the final product
release to the warehouse. In a customer-oriented perspective, however,
lead time is defined as the total time elapsed from the customer order
to the product delivery.
Lean Manufacturing:
using the minimum amount of total resources-man, materials, money,
machines, etc. — to produce a product and deliver it on time.
Lean Sigma : the essential concept in Lean Sigma is as follows: process routines cause quality issues in terms of time delays, but at the same time they offer the greater opportunities to decrease costs, improve quality, Return on invested Capitals and Lead Time.
Machine Cycle Time: the time it takes for a machine to produce one unit, including the time it takes to load and unload.
Muda: Japanese word meaning waste and it is used for any activity that adds costs and not value of the product.
Make to Order: items are produced as customer orders are received. Finished items are usually a combination of standard parts and custom-designed pieces. A make-to-order company generally does not inventory any finished products.
Make to Stock: product shipped from finished goods "off the shelf".
Non-value added: any activity that adds cost without adding value to the product or process.Pacemaker: a technique for pacing a process to takt time.
Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA):
an improvement cycle introduced to the Japanese in the 50’s by W.
Edwards Deming. Based upon proposing then implementing an improvement,
then measuring the results and acting accordingly.
Poka - yoke:
Japanese word used to identify a fool-proof tool or procedure. A poka
yoke device prevents mistakes affecting a machine or a productive
processes and should make it hard to make mistakes even for not fully
trained operators. Poka - yoke systems may be applied in several company
departments, such as order management, production, etc.
Policy deployment:
matching the strategic business goals of an organization to its
available resources. Communicating those goals throughout the
organization and linking everyone to the same objectives.
Product family: group of technically similar products that can be produced in a cell.
Pull:
material flow triggered by actual customer need rather than a scheduled
production forecast. Downstream processes signal to upstream processes
exactly what is required and in what quantity.
Push: the production of goods regardless of demand or downstream need, usually in large batches to ensure “efficiency”.
Set-up reduction: reducing the amount of downtime during changeover from the last good piece to the first good piece of the next order.
Spaghetti chart:
graphic representation of the physical movements of a product along the
value stream, in a large scale production company. The tangled shape
resembles a spaghetti course.
Standard operations: the best combination of people and machines utilizing the minimum amount of labor, space, inventory and equipment.
Standard work: pre-determined sequence of tasks for the operator to complete within takt time.
Stream:
the progressive execution of the operations, from raw materials arrival
to final product delivery. To call this sequence “stream”, the flow
must be forward-wise, thus free from stops and defects, toward the
customers.
Supermarket: a shop floor, line-side location where parts are sorted and made ready for presentation to operators.
Takt time
German
word to define the pace production in order to fully satisfy demand. It
is the amount of time available for production divided by demand – both
expressed in the same time frame.
TPM (Total Productive Maintenance)
Is
a maintenance philosophy designed to integrate equipment maintenance
into the manufacturing process. TPM is used to drive waste out of the
manufacturing process by reducing or eliminating production time lost to
machine failures. The goal of any TPM program is to ensure that
machinery and equipment is always available to manufacture products for
the end customer. By minimizing rework, slow running equipment and
downtime, maximum value is added at the minimum cost.
Value:
ability to provide to customers the wished product at the right time and
at the right price (as defined by the customers) or alternatively value
perceived by the customer - all the product / service features
considered as necessary and valuable by the customer.
Value analysis: evaluating the total lead-time and value-added time to identify the percentage spent in value added activities.
Value added: any activity that transforms a product or service to meet the customer need.
Value stream mapping:
a visual picture of how material and information flows from suppliers,
through manufacturing, to the customer. It includes calculations of
total cycle time and value-added time in order to indicate where the
business is moving forward.
Visual controls: creating standards in the workplace that make it obvious if anything is out of order.
Visual management: system enabling anyone to quickly spot abnormalities in the workplace, regardless of their knowledge of the process.
Visualisation:
the design of a workplace such that problems and issues can
be identified without timely and in depth investigation. Truly visual
work-place should be capable of assessment in less than 3 seconds.
Work Cells: an arrangement of people, machines, materials and methods such that processing steps are adjacent and in sequential order thus parts can be processed one at a time.
Work-In-Process (WIP): inventory waiting between operation steps.
Work sequence: the correct steps the operator takes, in the order in which they should be taken.
