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Literally translated, “gemba” means “the real place”. To experienced practitioners of Lean, this means the place where work is actually being done or value is being created. NOTE: You may also hear the term as genba, with an “N”. Those who focus more on the traditional manufacturing roots of Lean Read more…
In the medical world, a symptom is just the visible evidence of a disease or injury. For example, swollen painful joints may be a symptom of arthritis, or nausea might be a symptom of food poisoning. In continuous improvement, symptoms are similar. They are the “tells” that let you know Read more…
The 7 wastes is one of the most important continuous improvement terms you will hear. Most of the Lean tools, at their core, focus on reducing waste to improve flow. The seven wastes provide a systematic way to categorize problems and identify improvement priorities. When assessing a process, looking for Read more…
The definition of Activity-Based Costing: a means of attempting to accurately apply costs of running a business to a specific product or service. It entails identifying the “cost drivers”, or the things that drive the consumption of shared resources and using them to apply a logical proportion of overhead costs Read more…
Authority is a formally granted power to make decisions. Authority is generally bestowed upon a position rather than a person. It is different than accountability. For example, a police officer has legal authority while he holds that job. His authority ends when he retires. Authority differs from leadership in that Read more…
Accountability and authority are the yin and yang of leadership. Authority is the state of having power to give directions and make decisions. It is generally granted by an organization to individuals for the purpose of getting results in the areas they are responsible for. With authority comes the burden Read more…
The 8D problem solving methodology is similar to the DMAIC approach utilized by Six Sigma. Of note, 8D is a shortened form of the original name, ‘8 Disciplines’. The 8D’s are: Identify the problem Use a team approach/form an 8D team Describe the problem Interim containment Define the Read more…
The definition of consistency (for Lean) is the ability to repeat a process over and over and get the same results every time. Although it is not exclusively a Lean term, consistency is a critical component of Standard Work. Why is it important to continuous improvement? Consistency in processes is Read more…
The 9-square is a prioritization tool in Lean problem solving that helps you organize your improvement ideas. After completing a brainstorming session in which you compile a large number of viable options, you have to decide which ones to implement. To use the 9-square, rank each problem in two categories: Read more…
Precision is the state of having low variation. It is often incorrectly used synonymously with accuracy. Accuracy actually means being centered on the target, but can have a very wide spread. Precision is often much harder to achieve than accuracy. That is because variation can be much trickier to adjust Read more…
The definition of accuracy is essentially having results (data) that is centered on a target value. Statistically speaking, it is how correct the mean value is. It is often confused with “precise.” The layman’s definition of precision is “a measure of how little variation there is in your system”. Lean Read more…