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In Lean, the term sensei means “expert” or “master” and highlights the Japanese origin of modern Lean practices. Its use shows great respect to the recipient. It is normally bestowed upon Lean practitioners who have shown extraordinary skill in Lean implementation and are exceptional at passing that knowledge on to Read more…
First pass yield (FPY) is a metric that indicates the percentage of items moving through a series of processes without any problems. The basic equation for first pass yield is: First Pass Yield = Process 1 Yield * Process 2 Yield *…*Process ‘n’ Yield As you can see, the more Read more…
Complex problem solving often require complex thinking to get to simple, effective, easy to implement solutions. When a team is very homogenous, they tend to think very rigidly and one-dimensionally. Consider a football team. Coaches understand the need for a well-balanced set of skills. A team needs big guys for Read more…
FIFO (First In, First Out) is most commonly known as an accounting term. It simply means that the first inventory into the accounting system is the first that is recorded as used. The opposite, LIFO, or “Last In, First Out” means that the most recently purchased materials are the first Read more…
Kaikaku is revolutionary change. Where kaizen is generally evolutionary in nature, Kaikaku requires radical shifts in thinking. Revolutionary changes tend to be far more challenging in nature and much less common than incremental improvement. Because of the broad, sweeping changes that kaikaku brings, it is generally driven by higher level Read more…
The fishbone diagram (a.k.a. cause and effect diagram, a.k.a. Ishikawa Diagram) is a way of linking the causes of a problem to the observed effect. The diagram groups the causes in categories along the spine. The distinctive shape of the tool gives the fishbone diagram its name. This is one Read more…
Continuous flow is the act of moving a product through the production process from start to finish without stopping. In pure continuous flow, the cycle time equals the lead time, as the product never sits in a queue waiting to be worked on. Contrast this to batch and queue production Read more…
Check Sheets are a means of tallying data. They are generally kept at the point of data collection, and every time a particular incident happens, a check is placed in the appropriate box. In many cases, the check sheet will be broken down into a grid. The columns most often Read more…
In traditional manufacturing, there is a tendency to run large lots, or batches. This occurs for a variety of reasons—large distances between processes, long setup times, or simply poor processes. When the batch is transferred to the downstream process, it sits in line. That is the ‘queuing’ part of batch Read more…
Autonomation is automation with a human touch. It essentially means that an automated machine has the built-in intelligence to identify when there is a problem, shut itself off, and signal the operator. This action prevents the machine from damaging itself or from producing more bad parts. See Also: Jidoka
Work instructions are the specific details on how to do a job. They go hand-in-hand with Standard Work. Standard Work lays out the big picture sequence of the work; work instructions spell out the step-by-step methods used to do a job. Work instructions are characterized by: Pictures of how work Read more…
Automation is the act of adding of a mechanical device to a machine that allows it to operate with reduced, non-continuous input from an operator. This allows the operator to do other tasks while the machine is running. In Lean, automation serves the same role it does in any other Read more…