Lean Terms
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Lean Terms
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a US government organization that coordinates the creation of voluntary national standards. It is the official US representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). More detailed information is available at www.ansi.org. ANSI works towards promoting national standards. These standards help consumers in Read more…
Lean Terms
Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
The cost of poor quality (COPQ) is the aggregate impact of an organization’s errors and defects on the company. It includes costs associated with scrap, rework, inspection, data management, data collection, redesign, warranty claims, lawsuits, lost sales, loss of reputation, additional inventory, and any other expense that is incurred to Read more…
Lean Terms
Design for Manufacturing
When companies operate in silos, different groups do what is best within the confines of their own world. Design engineers may create products that are appealing to the customer, look amazing, and may even be built like a tank with bulletproof quality. But this otherwise outstanding design may be extremely Read more…
Lean Terms
Current State Map
A current state map is a snapshot of how a process is done today. It may be a current state process flowchart, or a current state value stream map (VSM), but the principle is the same. It shows the current methodology of how you produce products or perform services for Read more…
Lean Terms
Two-Bin System (Kanban)
A two-bin system is a kanban method used to simplify replenishment on a production line. The process is simple. An operator pulls from one bin until it is empty, and then, depending on how the kanban card is attached, either turns in the kanban card (if fastened by hook and Read more…
Lean Terms
Point-of-Use Inventory
“Point of use” is simply the practice of storing any inventory you have at the point where it will be used. This is in contrast to inventory that is stored in a warehouse, or at some other secondary location. In those cases, it can be difficult to see if there Read more…
Lean Terms
One-Piece Flow
One-piece flow is the method of production in which operators or machines work on single units and pass them along to the next process when requested. The most common example of one-piece flow is the assembly line. An operator at each station works on a unit. All of this work-in Read more…
Lean Terms
Nagara
Nagara is a Japanese term meaning “while doing something”. It simply means to do more than one thing at a time. For example, a person may be able to assemble two parts while walking. In practice, though, the application of the nagara principle is limited. In most cases, a process Read more…
Lean Terms
Muri
Muri is a Japanese term for a specific form of waste. It means unreasonableness or overexertion. It is often referred to with two other Japanese terms. Muda is the traditional view of waste in which resources are used without adding to output. Mura is inconsistency or unevenness, usually as a Read more…
Lean Terms
Mura
Mura is one of three Japanese terms meaning waste. The others are muda, the traditional form of waste in which resources are not effectively used, and muri, meaning overburden or overexertion. Mura means inconsistency or excess variation in either processes or demand. When processes can’t be standardized because of the Read more…
Lean Terms
Internal Setup
An internal setup is a task done to get a machine ready to switch from one product type to another that must be done when the machine is stopped. Obviously, the problem is that internal setup limits the time a machine can be running. As part of any setup reduction Read more…