ValuCurve Management Systems

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

ADVANCED SHIPMENT NOTIFICATION—advanced shipment notifications (ASNs) are used to notify a customer of a shipment. ASNs will often include PO numbers, SKU numbers, lot numbers, quantity, pallet or container number, carton number. Advanced shipment notification systems are usually combined with bar-coded compliance labeling which allows the customer to receive the shipment into inventory through the use of bar-code scanners and automated data collection systems.

ANDON - A signal to a line stop. Typically, a cord or light mounted on a machine or line to indicate a potential problem or work stoppage; an example of jidoka. See Jidoka.

AUTONOMATION - English translation of Jidoka. Imparting human intelligence to a machine so that it automatically stops when a problem arises. In other words, the automatic control of defects.

B

BALANCED PLANT - A plant where capacity of all resources are balanced exactly with market demand.

BILL OF MATERIAL – A listing of materials (components or ingredients) required to produce an item including subassemblies and their components. Scrap may also be included in the BOM for use in materials planning and costing.

BOTTLENECK - Any resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the demand placed on it.

C

CAPACITY CONSTRAINT - Where a series of non-bottlenecks, based on the sequence in which they perform their jobs can act as a constraint.

CHAKU-CHAKU - A method of conducting single-piece flow, where the operator proceeds form machine to machine, taking the part from one machine and loading it into the next.

CHANGE AGENT - A person whose demonstrated mission is to be the catalytic force which moves firms and value streams from the now or current state, e.g. batch and queue, to the future or ideal state: lean manufacturing. One who leads cultural change in an organization.

CELL (ULAR) MANUFACTURING - The arrangement of people, machines, materials and methods such that processing steps are adjacent and in sequential order so that parts can be processed one at a time (or in some cases in a consistent small batch that is maintained through the process sequence). Typically, in a U-shaped configuration where operators remain within the cell and materials are presented to them from outside of the cell. The purpose of a cell is to achieve and maintain efficient continuous flow.

CONSTRAINT - Anything that limits a system from achieving higher performance or throughput.

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT - The commitment to create a better product, work environment and business, every day.

CONTINUOUS FLOW – In its purest form, continuous flow means that items are processed and moved directly to the next process one piece at a time. Each processing step completes its work just before the next process needs the item, and the transfer batch size is one. Also, known as one piece flow.

COQ - Cost of Quality, a quantification of the cost of poor quality.

CURRENT STATE - The current or existing view of the workflow.

D

DEFECT - process outputs that do not function properly or do not meet accepted standards or expectations. Often defects are those items that fall outside the tolerance or specification limits.

DFA/DFM - Design for Assembly and Design for Manufacturability techniques that improve manufacturing productivity.

E

EDI - Short for Electronic Data Interchange, the transfer of data between different companies using networks, such as the Internet.

ELEMENTAL TIME — Time allotted to a specific operational step, within standard work.

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING - ERP systems are usually broken down into modules such as Financials, Sales, Purchasing, Inventory Management, Manufacturing, MRP, etc.. The modules are designed to work seamlessly with the rest of the system and should provide a consistent user interface between them. These systems usually have extensive set-up options that allow you to customize their functionality to your specific business needs.

ERROR – The execution of a prohibited action, the failure to correctly perform a required action or the misinterpretation of information essential to the correct execution of an action.

ERROR PROOFING - (Japanese Poka-Yoke) also called Mistake Proofing. A system that addresses both the product and the processes to detect errors before they become defects.

EXTERNAL SET-UP - Elements of tooling set-up or machine changeover that can be performed safely while the machine is still running or in motion.

FIFO - First-in-first-out. In warehousing describes the method of rotating inventory to used oldest product first.

FIVE S'S - A method of workplace organization and visual controls developed by Hiroyuki Hirano. Japanese "S" Seiri (Organization), Seiton (Tidiness), Seiso (Purity), Seiketso Cleanliness), Shitsuke (Discipline) English "S" Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain.

FORECAST - A Forecast is an estimation of future demand. Some forecasts use historical demand to calculate future demand. Adjustments for cyclicity and trend are often necessary.

FUTURE STATE - A potential improved view of the workflow.

G

GEMBA – The real place or the specific place, usually to mean the shop floor and other areas where work is done or value is created.

GEMBUTSU - Tangible objects found at the Gemba.

GENJITSU- Japanese for 'the facts' or 'the reality'. The actual facts or the reality of what is happening on the shop floor and in the business.

GENCHI GENBUTSU - Tells us to go out there and see the world for ourselves and not to rely on reports that distance us from reality.

HANEDASHI - A device that allows a machine to automatically unload a part without waiting for an operator.

HEIJUNKA - Keeping total manufacturing volume as constant as possible (production smoothing).

HITO-ZUKURI - (Making good product is equal to making good people); Mutual trust of management and employees.

HOSHIN KANRI -The selection of goals, projects to achieve the goals, designation of people and resources for project completion, and establishment of project metrics.

IJO-KANRI - Being able to see and quickly take action to correct abnormalities (any straying from Standard Work). This is the goal of standardization and visual management

INTERNAL SET-UP - Elements of tooling set-up or machine changeover that is performed while the machine is not in motion.

INVENTORY - Usually the highest cost category, inventory is all raw materials, purchased parts, work-in-progress and finished goods that are not yet sold to a customer.

INVENTORY TURNS - How many times you can "Turn" your money over in a year. This is expressed as a ratio of the total inventory to the annual sales. Example: If the dollar value of the inventory is $5,000,000 and annual sales is $25,000,000 the inventory turns are five. If the inventory can be reduced to $1,000,000 the inventory turns become 25.

JIDOKA - Stopping a line automatically when a defective part is detected (autonomation).

JISHUKEN - Kaizen with outside help - a "fresh pair of eyes" approach to kaizen to complement the improvement ideas of those carrying out production tasks day-by-day. Outsiders (for example, from a customer) help the production team to eliminate waste. Process improvement engineers going into suppliers are sometimes described as "jishuken teams".

JUST IN TIME (JIT) -Manufacturing what is needed, when it is needed, and in the quantity it is needed.

KAIKAKU - Radical Improvement as apposed to incremental improvements resulting from Kaizen Teian.

KAIZEN- Continual incremental improvements which accumulate and significantly drive out waste.

KAIZEN EVENT - A time-sensitive, rapid-deployment methodology that employs a focused, team-based approach to small but non-ending incremental improvements.

KAIZEN NEWSPAPER - A tool for visually managing continuous improvement suggestions. Based on the PDCA cycle and designed to manage input by the workforce in an organized way.

KANBAN - Visual signal. Typically a small card, sign or signboard, an instruction to produce or supply something. A re-order card or other method of triggering the pull system, based on actual usage of material. A central element to JIT system. There are two types; production and withdrawal. It should be located for use at the point of manufacturing.

LEAD TIME - The amount of time required to produce a single product, from the time of customer order to shipping.

LEAN MANUFACTURING - Using the minimum amount of total resources (manpower, materials, machines, etc.), to produce a product and deliver it, on time.

LIFO, LAST-IN-FIRST-OUT - The method for using the newest inventory first.

MACHINE TIME - The time is takes for a machine to produce one unit, exclusive of loading and unloading.

MACHINE CYCLE TIME - The time it takes for a machine to produce one unit, including the time it takes to load and unload.

MASTER PRODUCTION SCHEDULE (MPS) - Production schedule specifying specific items, quantities, and dates at which production is expected to take place. The primary purpose of an MPS is to manage capacity when you have some time periods where demand is expected to exceed capacity. You will then use MPS to produce some products in advance of demand (forecasted or actual orders) during periods when capacity exceeds demand.

MILK RUN – The route of a material handler within a factory is called a milk run.

MONOZUKURI - Is a unique Japanese trait defined as "the art of making things and the spirit of research and creativity."

MONUMENTS - Equipment that is too costly or disruptive to move is considered a monument.

MRP/MRPII, MANUFACTURING RESOURCE PLANNING - The process for determining material, labor and machine requirements in a manufacturing environment. MRPII is the consolidation of Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP), and Master Production Scheduling (MPS). . When labor and machine (resources) planning were incorporated MRP became known as MRPII.

MUDA - Waste or any activity that adds to cost without adding to value of the product.

MURA - Variation or fluctuation in work, process quality, cost and delivery. A lean system seeks to reduce mura through heijunka.

MURI - means, difficult to do, unreasonableness; demand exceeds capacity.

NAGARA - Smooth production flow, ideally one piece at a time, characterized by synchronization [balancing] of production processes and maximum utilization of available time, including overlapping of operations where practical.

NEMAWASHI - The Japanese have very different ways of conducting business meeting. Before a formal meeting starts, participants have already drawn conclusions regarding information to be presented at the meeting. This is called nemawashi (prior consultation).

The original meaning of the word is to smooth around roots before planting.

This system was developed to avoid discrepancies, and gain agreement from everyone in advance, when making a decision in formal meeting. It is also to keep the relationship harmonious.

Nemawashi is best used to let people of differing opinions have time to adjust their opinions. When the principles of nemawashi are put into effect first, people have the time to adjust opinions beforehand without wasting time.

The main fear people have of nemawashi is its use in politics. People are worried that decisions are sometimes made behind the scenes, instead of out in the open. It is therefore seen as an undemocratic process.

NON-VALUE ADDED - Any activity that absorbs or consumes resources (e.g. material, time, equipment, people, paper, space, etc.) without creating value (muda).

ONE-TOUCH EXCHANGE OF DIES - The reduction of die set-up activities down to a single step.

ONE-PIECE FLOW - A manufacturing philosophy or concept which supports the movement of product from one workstation to the next, one piece at a time, without allowing inventory to build up in between.

OPERATOR CYCLE TIME - The time it takes for a person to complete a predetermined sequence of operations, inclusive of loading and unloading, exclusive of time spent waiting.

OPERATOR/MACHINE BALANCE CHARTS - A systemic method of measuring the work being done within the cycle time of the operation. The work is then divided into:

Value Added Time
Incidental Work
Waste (MUDA)

Then a conscious effort is made to eliminate the waste and reduce incidental work.

ORDER FREQUENCY - The frequency at which the consuming process will place orders to the supplying process for the production of a component or product.

ORDER FREQUENCY DETERMINATION - A method of establishing the net capability of a resource to produce. Also quantifies the time available at each machine center for set-up.

PACEMAKER - A technique for pacing a process to takt time.

PPM - (Parts per million) The number of defective parts the customer receives per million parts shipped. This can be used to measure your supplies as well as your customer use, to measure you.

PARADIGM SHIFT - Changing one's concept as what was believed to be correct. For example: A production machine must be kept running all the time to
it's ok for a production machine to be idle, but not ok for an operator to be idle. Waste is scrap and rework. Waste is anything that doesn't add value to the product or Waste is anything for which the customer is not willing to pay.

PILOT - An experimental task or exercise to demonstrate the success of a concept which is to be deployed throughout the organization.

PDCA - Plan - A change aimed at improvement. In this phase, analyze what you intend to improve, looking for areas that hold opportunities for change. Do - Implement the change you decided on in the plan phase. Check or Study - What was learned? What went wrong? After you have implemented the change for a short time, you must determine how well it is working. Is it really leading to improvement in the way you had hoped? Act - Adopt the change, abandon it, or run through the cycle again. After planning a change, implementing and then monitoring it, you must decide whether it is worth continuing that particular change. If the change led to a desirable improvement, you may consider expanding the change to a different area.

POLICY DEPLOYMENT - Matching the strategic business goals of an organization to its available resources. Communicating those goals throughout the organization and linking everyone to the same objectives.

POKA YOKE - A Japanese word for mistake proofing, literally translated means, “to avoid inadvertent errors”. An inexpensive poka yoke device prevents or eliminates the possibility of a human error from affecting a machine or process; prevents operator mistakes or errors from becoming defects.

POINT KAIZEN - An improvement activity focused directly on a single workstation, performed quickly by two or three specialists. Typically follows a full-blown kaizen event.

PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS - A formal, structured approach to solving a problem such as the 8-D Process or DMAIC (as used in 6 sigma).

PROCESS CAPACITY TABLE - A chart primarily used in a machining environment that compares machine load to available capacity.

PRODUCT FAMILY - Is a group of products that use similar processing methods.

PRODUCTION SMOOTHING - A method of production scheduling that, over a period of time, takes the fluctuation of customer demand out of manufacturing. “Produce every part, every day”.

PHYSICAL INVENTORY - This is the process of counting all inventories in a warehouse and plant. Operations are usually shut down during a physical inventory.

PLC - PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER - Computerized device used to control functions of machines.

PULL - To produce an item only when the customer asks for it. Typically, the customer withdraws the item and we “plug the gap” created thereby.

PUSH - To produce an item irrespective of actual demand; creates the muda of overproduction, among others.

QFD (Quality Function Deployment) - A customer-focused approach to quality improvement in which customer needs (desired product or service characteristics) are analyzed at the design stage and translated into specific product-and process- design requirements for the supplier organization.

Targeted customer needs may include product features, cost, durability, and other product characteristics.

QFD involves carefully listening to the customer's true unvarnished expression of their needs. Then those needs must be translated into engineering characteristics, competitive assessment, selection of critical/key characteristics, the product/process design, and follow-up.

Through this technique, product performance features and the characteristics that deliver them are determined by the customer and paid heed to by the producer (by listening and acting). The quality responsibility is then deployed throughout the organization by tying compliance activities directly to the fulfillment of these customer requirements.

REQUIREMENTS STUDY - The quantification and study of the amount of resource consumption necessary to satisfy the needs of a consuming process.

SAFETY STOCK - A quantity of inventory used in inventory management systems to allow for deviations in demand or supply. Safety stock calculations will take into account historic deviations and use a required service level multiplier to determine the optimal safety stock level.

SAFETY TIME - The time (inventory) allotted to compensate for the impact of waste on the supplying process.

SARAIMAN - Is a Japanese term for a white-collar worker. It derives from the Japanese pronunciation of the English salary + man. According to dictionaries, English language had recently got this word (salaryman) back from the Japanese.

SEIBAN - The name of a Japanese management practice taken from the Japanese words "sei", which means manufacturing, and "ban", which means number. A Seiban number is assigned to all parts, materials, and purchase orders associated with a particular customer job, or with a project, or anything else.

This enables a manufacturer to track everything related with a particular product, project, or customer. It also facilitates setting aside inventory for specific projects or priorities. That makes it great for project and build-to-order manufacturing.

SELF-DIRECTED NATURAL WORK TEAMS - Nearly autonomous teams of empowered employees, including hourly workers that share a common workspace and/or responsibility for a particular process or process segment.

Typically such teams have authority for day-to-day production activities and many supervisory responsibilities, such as job assignments, production scheduling, maintenance, materials purchasing, training, quality assurance, performance appraisals, and customer service. Often called "self-managed" work teams.

SENSEI - A revered master or teacher.

SET-UP REDUCTION - Reducing the amount of downtime during changeover from the last good piece to the first good piece of the next order; known as SINGLE-MINUTE EXCHANGE OF DIES (SMED).

SHOJINKA - Continually optimizing the number of workers in a work center to meet the type and volume of demand imposed on the work center; shojinka requires workers trained in multiple disciplines; work center layout, such as U-shaped or circular, that supports a variable number of workers performing the tasks in the layout; the capability to vary the manufacturing process as appropriate to fit the demand profile.

SKU, STOCK KEEPING UNIT - SKU refers to a specific item in a specific unit of measure. For example, if you distributed nylon 6-6 in both gaylords and bags you would maintain the inventory as two SKUs even though they are both nylon 6-6. Also refers to the identification# assigned to each SKU.

STANDARD COST - A costing method used in manufacturing environments that uses the materials costs in the bill of materials combined with the labor costs (based on standard labor hours and rates per operation) and machine costs (burden) in the routing to calculate the cost of the finished or semi-finished item.

STANDARD OPERATIONS - The best combination of people and machines utilizing the minimum amount of labor, space, inventory and equipment.

STANDARD WORK - Pre-determined sequence of tasks for the best way to get the job done in the amount of time available (within takt time) while ensuring the job is done right the first time, every time.

STANDARD WORK COMBINATION SHEET - A document showing the sequence of production steps assigned to a single operator. It is used to illustrate the best combination of worker and machine.

STANDARD WORK LAYOUT - A diagram of a work station or cell showing how standard work is accomplished.

STOP-THE-LINE AUTHORITY - Whenever abnormalities occur, workers have power to stop the process and prevent the defect or variation from being passed along. See Andon.

SUB-OPTIMIZATION - Optimizing each piece of equipment; keeping all machines running, no matter the cost or consequence. Typically this inflates the number-one cost of production: material.

SUPERMARKET - A storage location for inventory authorized by a kanban pull system.

TAKT TIME - The pace of production synchronized with the rate of sales. It is calculated based upon the total net daily operating time divided by the total daily rate of sales.

THROUGHPUT - The rate at which the entire system generates money.

TOTAL COST OF QUALITY - The aggregate cost of poor quality or product failures – including scrap, rework, and warranty costs – as well as expenses incurred to prevent or resolve quality problems (including the cost of inspection). In calculations for Best Plants entries, do not include costs of normal maintenance, quality training, or quality-related equipment upgrades.

TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTENANCE (TPM) – An integrated set of activities aimed at maximizing equipment effectiveness by involving everyone in all departments at all levels, typically, through small group activities.

TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM - The behavior of one of the world’s most successful companies. The foundation of TPS is production smoothing, the concepts which support it are just-in-time and jidoka.

TRADITIONAL MANUFACTURING - (Mass Production) Grouping like processes together (paint, welding fabrication, etc.) and then making large batches of a part and holding them in queue waiting for the next process. Also called "Batch and Queue".

UPTIME - The percent time a resource is actually available for production i.e. net available resource time divided by the gross available resource time.

VALUE ADDED - Any activity that transforms a product or service to meet the customer need.

VALUE ANALYSIS - Evaluating the total lead-time and value-added time to identify the percentage spent in value added activities.

VALUE STREAM MAPPING - A systematic method to identify all the activities (door-to-door) required to produce a product or product family. The "Map" will include both the flow of the material and the flow of information. It should first be used to describe the current state and then redone to depict the future state.

VISUAL CONTROLS - Creating standards in the workplace that make it obvious if anything is out of order and by displaying the status of an activity so every employee can see it and take appropriate action.

VISUAL MANAGEMENT - System enabling anyone to quickly spot abnormalities in the workplace, regardless of their knowledge of the process, i.e. manage by exception.

WASTE - Any aspect of a task or activity that does not add value.

WATER SPIDERS – Employees who deliver materials exactly on demand, at the frequency requested, in the right quantity with 100% reliability.

WORK-IN-PROCESS (WIP) - Items waiting between operation steps to be processed.

WORK SEQUENCE - The correct steps the operator takes, in the order in which they should be taken. See Standard Work.

YAMAZUMI - Meaning literally "to pile in heaps", a yamazumi board is a tool to achieve line balance, with strips of paper or card representing particular tasks.

Here is a description from a Toyota engine plant in the US:

"Magnetic strips of varying width are stacked one on top of the other forming several columns across the board. A scale of seconds is marked off beside the columns, and a pink thread is pulled taunt across the board at the 65 second level - the takt time. Each strip represents the time it takes for an assembly team member to complete a task; each column represents total time for a complete process.

Whenever process rebalancing needs to be done because of increased production or a new product introduction, tasks can be quickly rearranged. Also, any underutilization of a team member's time can be recognized immediately by seeing a column that does not make it up to the pink thread."

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