Tag: glossary

Kaizen

Kaizen – Change for better

Kaizen is the Japanese word for “Improvement”. The literal translation is “Change for Better”.

Within Lean is often referred to as Continuous Improvement, even though this is not in the literal translation is implied in its use. Continuous Improvement is one of the two base pillars of Lean, the other being respect for people (or respect for humanity).

The process of Kaizen is built around the philosophy that you should always strive to better yourself or better the processes of your business. Eliminating waste is the main focus of Kaizen and it is beneficial for both the workers and the company. One should always strive to root out waste and make daily improvements. The big improvements may be impressive, but the small improvements add up over time and make a culture of improvement present within all layers of the company. Each time an improvement is made it becomes deeper engrained in the culture of the company.

Exactly how these improvements are made differ through many different tools and methods. In the workplace the method of 5S is common to organize and set in order for an efficient work environment. When it comes to more advanced improvements it is common to work within the framework of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act).

No matter how you go about it you should always document the improvements made, this is important not only for benchmarking but also to learn and fully understand what has been done and why. Also, it is a great help if you are to spread a particular solution to other parts of the business. Due to the documentation some companies refer to form where you document your improvements as Kaizen and they are sometimes divided into different levels depending on the size of the improvement.




New Terminology

Added 3 new entrys and 2 abbreviations. Slowly but surely building the list, but there is still so much to learn.

5S

5S is a workplace organization (WPO) method in five steps, first conceived in japan as part of Just-in-Time (JIT). Sort (seiri), Set in order (seiton), Shine (seiso), Standardize (seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke).

First In First Out

A method of handling stock. It becomes particularly useful when the product handled has a expirationdate. Eg. rubber o-rings.

First Time Through

Indicating a product passing through all stages of production without any corrective meassures along its course. It is used as a meassure of built in quality. Often described as a percent eg. “FTT last week was 97%”




New in the Terminology Section

Updated Terminology:

Andon

Visual feedback system for the plant floor that indicates production status, alerts when assistance is needed, and empowers operators to stop the production process. Literally “Paper Lantern”

New Terminology:

Nemawashi

An informal process of getting support from coworkers and others before starting a project in order to increase the chances of success.

TPS

Toyota Production System. A manufacturing strategy developed by Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan over a period of many years. TPS focuses on the complete elimination of waste from the manufacturing process, and is the progenitor of lean manufacturing.

Yamazumi-chart

Stacked bar chart used to balance the workload of different operators/stations in a production line. Sometimes also called Yamazumi board.




New additions to the Terminology section

First of all I have updated the text on Heijunka adding a little more depth: “Leveling the flow. A form of production scheduling that purposely manufactures in much smaller batches by sequencing (mixing) product variants within the same process.”

And Also there are a few new words

Autonomation: “intelligent automation” or “automation with a human touch.” If an abnormal situation arises the machine stops and the worker will stop the production line.

Kanban: A method of regulating the flow of goods both within the factory and with outside suppliers and customers. Based on automatic replenishment through signal cards or containers that indicate when more goods are needed.

Takt-time: The pace of production (e.g. manufacturing one piece every 60 seconds) that aligns production with customer demand. Calculated as Planned Production Time / Customer Demand.

Poka-yoke: Design error detection and prevention into production processes with the goal of achieving zero defects.