Jargon Buster
we have created this page to clarify some of the terms used in cutting edge production management. You can either search for a phrase or click on a letter to find all the phrases that start with that letter.
| Phrase | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Agile | Having production processes which can react quickly to variation in product design or demand. Lean has sometimes been perceived as building systems which work perfectly in constant production of a specific product but cannot react quickly to demand for different types of product to the norm. Therefore a term leagile has also been developed for processes which follow lean principles but are also agile. |
| Autonomous Maintenance | Systems of OIM supported by standard operating sheets. |
| Best Practice | The phrase "Best Practice" is frequently used and there are numerous other names for the same thing; therefore it is the concept that is important not the term itself. Best Practice can also be referred to by any of the following terms:- Kaizen, World Class Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, TQM. Best Practice involves the entire workforce in achieving defined business goals through a set of simple common sense tools and techniques. A successful implementation of Best Practice can only be achieved with the support, commitment and involvement of all employees. |
| Cellular manufacturing | Grouping together the facilities required to make a product (or closely related group of products) to reduce transport, waiting and process times. |
| Continuous improvement (Kaizen) | The continual pursuit of improvements in quality, cost, design and delivery. Requires a defined system for identifying improvements, carrying them out and feeding back results. |
| Critical success factors | Those elements that a business must focus on for its success. |
| Five 'S's of visual management, (The) | Basic housekeeping for lean manufacturing, quality and safety. SORT, SIMPLIFY, SWEEP, STANDARDISE, SELF-DISCIPLINE. |
| Gemba Kaizen | Workplace Continuous Improvement |
| Just in Time (JIT) | A JIT, product is "pulled" through the plant at a rate equal to the rate that sales are generated. A customer order creates demand for finished product, which in turn creates demand for final assembly, sub-assemblies, and so on up the supply chain to raw materials. This pull system significantly reduces the need for building inventory. |
| Kaikaku (Step Change) | Improvement of an activity to eliminate waste, through a step-change (as opposed to the incremental improvement approach of Kaizen). |
| Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) | The continual pursuit of improvements in quality, cost, design and delivery. Requires a defined system for identifying improvements, carrying them out and feeding back results. |
| Kanban | The Japanese word for signal or ticket. A system for producing only what is required, in the quantity that is require and only when it is required. |
| Key performance indicators | A set of measures that enable a business to benchmark its performance against others or against a set of internally defined targets. |
| Lean Manufacturing | A customer-focused approach to the effective production of goods involving the consumption of a minimum of resources. |
| Lean Techniques | A customer-focused approach to the effective production of goods involving the consumption of a minimum of resources. |
| Muda (Waste) | Any activity that consumes resources but adds no value. |
| OEE | OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. OEE combines Availability, Performance and Quality Measures for a particular department or machine to show exactly how much potential production opportunity is being lost. Whilst individual measures may appear to provide reasonable performance figures the combined effect of running with 80% Availability, with 80% Performance, with 80% quality gives a resulting figure of only 51% (i.e. for every 100 hours the machine is available to run it is only effectively producing good product for 51 hours). |
| OIM - operator involved maintenance. | An approach to asset care that transfers certain maintenance tasks from a dedicated engineering function to machine operators. Invaluable in freeing up engineers time for technically demanding tasks whilst operators conduct the routine clean, inspect & lubricate processes on their machines. Operators are ideally placed also for using their senses for condition monitoring (i.e. they should notice if the machine starts making an unusual sound or things look different to the norm) |
| PDCA - Plan, Do, Check, Act | Based on Deming principles of continuous improvement and the 'Improvement Cycle' |
| PPM | Planned Preventative Maintenance |
| Process mapping | Detailed mapping of the order fulfilment proves, including product flows and information flows. |
| Pull Systems | Systems developed to only produce product as it is required by the customer or as it is required by a subsequent process. |
| Seven wastes, (The) | Waste from overproduction, waste of waiting for materials, transportation waste, over processing waste, inventory waste, excessive movement of people and goods, waste from product defect. |
| Single piece flow | Where products proceed, one complete product at a time, through various operations in design, order taking and production, without interruptions, backflows or scrap. |
| Six Sigma | The Six Sigma process uses data and rigorous statistical analysis to identify "defects" in a process or product, reduce variability, and achieve as close to zero defects as possible. |
| SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) | Eliminating the delays in change over times on machines. |
| SOP - Standard Operating Procedure | A document that formalises a safe and most effective current means of carrying out a particular task or process. In developing SOP's pictures often work better than word heavy documents in making the procedure easy to understand and follow. Also these procedures work best when developed and agreed by those who regularly perform the procedure and displayed visually at the point of work. |
| Standard Work | Standard work is the best current method of safely combining process inputs in order to achieve repeatable Quality, Cost and Delivery. This method is captured in a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), a document that defines Standard Work. There are many benefits to defining and introducing operator developed and owned Standard Work: reduces waste (in all its forms), consistent approach across shifts, ensures current improvements are sustained, forms a basis upon which to further improve processes. |
| Step Change (Kaikaku) | Improvement of an activity to eliminate waste, through a step-change (as opposed to the incremental improvement approach of Kaizen). |
| Supplier development | Actively developing links with suppliers for mutual benefit. |
| Supply base reduction | Reducing the number of suppliers. |
| Takt Time | The rate at which product must be produced determined by actual available capacity and planned volume outputs. Used to determine resource bottlenecks as part of value stream mapping. |
| Total productive maintenance | Maintenance regimes aimed at improving the reliability, consistency and capacity of machinery. |
| TPM | Total Productive Maintenance |
| Value | Providing a capability to a customer at the right time to the specification defined by the customer at a mutually acceptable price. |
| Value Stream Map | Value Stream Mapping is a method of visually mapping a product's production path. It can serve as a starting point to help identify waste and its causes. The process includes physically mapping your "current state" while also focusing on where you want to be, or your "future state" map. |
| Visual Management | Using visual methods within the workplace to support shop floor decision making and activity incorporating visual displays, visual controls and failsafes. |
| Waste (Muda) | Any activity that consumes resources but adds no value. |