Month: October 2019

Walk a mile

Within Lean an important practice is to go and see. This should not only be used when there is a known problem. To observe teaches you many things about processes and practices in the organization.

Gemba Walk

“A practice of walking the gemba, the actual place where work is done. The purpose is to observe and learn the true conditions of a certain process.”



Excellence as a habit

A core practice of all Lean companies is to continuously evaluate and improve the practices of the company. It is a simple concept but takes discipline and perseverance to master.

Continuous Improvement

“Ongoing work to always look at ways of improving the processes and practices. The idea is that many small changes over time add up to big change/improvement.”




A milestone on our journey

To my great surprise I realised that the terminology section has grown to 75 words and phrases. That is quite a few and more are coming. I have also updated many of them but I don’t keep track of the number of modifications.

On the journey of learning more about Lean many of the words and phrases have been new to me and it has been my pleasure sharing them with you.

Thank you for stopping by!




For all to see!

What is hidden cannot be seen, it sounds simple but is actually profound. Bring all aspects of production to light and make everyone able to take part.

Visual Management:

It is using visual means to show the process, it’s flow and any deviations to the process. Thus making it easy to understand and bring to light any problems that need to be addressed.




Pasta for clarity

It can be hard to see patterns in the chaos. A way to start is by using a spaghetti diagram to show patterns of movement for the operator.

Spaghetti Diagram:

It is a diagram of all the movements of an operator during work. This way you can easily see patterns and wasted movement as a basis for improvement.




Getting to the bottom!

To solve a problem it is imperative to find the actual problem at the bottom of it all.

Root Cause:

The actual and initial cause of something happening. Used to describe the origins of errors in production or services to be sure you solve the source of a problem and not a symptom.




Smooth sailing!

Nagare:

Japanese for “flow of people/things/fluids/gasses”. It is the philosophy of creating a smooth production flow. See also One Piece Flow.




It’s about time!

One of the base pillars of the Toyota Production System. With everything in place at the right time and in the right quantity and quality the base requisites for a predictable and even process are set.

Just in Time:

Delivery of goods or services at the exact time they are needed, at the quantity and quality that is needed. One of the two base pillars of the Toyota Production System.




Communication is key!

First we observe the fact and report them, then we inform anyone concerned and finally we discuss to come to a consensus about how best to continue.

Hourensou:

A mnemonic used in Japan for Report, Inform, Discuss. Originally from Tomiji Yamazaki in 1982.




Pop goes the parts!

A common function in many machines. We take if for granted but it is very much and integral part in many types of production.

Hanedashi:

The mechanism that automaticly ejects a part from a machine, commonly used in injection moulding. Also an important part of a Chaku Chaku line. Japanese for “to jump” or “to leap”.