Lean vocabulary: the dictionary for your organization's performance

A visual management tool that shows the status of operations in an area at a single location and signals when something abnormal occurs.

See : Jidoka, Visual Management.

Ensures that a production process stops whenever a problem or defect occurs. On an automated line, this usually means installing sensors and buttons that automatically stop the line when an abnormality is detected.

See: Error-Proofing, Fixed-Position Stop System, Jidoka.

A method of conducting one-piece flow in a cell in which the machines unload parts automatically, so that the operator (or operators) can carry a part directly from one machine to the next without stopping to unload it, thereby saving time and motion.

See : Cell, Continuous Flow.

Production time lost due to stoppages, whether planned or unplanned. Planned downtime includes scheduled stoppages for activities such as start-of-shift production meetings, changeovers and maintenance. Unplanned downtime includes stoppages due to breakdowns, machine adjustments, material shortages and absenteeism.

See: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

Methods that help operators avoid mistakes in their work, such as choosing the wrong part, assembling a part incorrectly, forgetting a component, etc. Also known as poka-yoke (defect-proofing) or baka-yoke (foolproofing).

See : Inspection, Jidoka.

A method of dealing with problems on production lines by stopping the line at the end of the work cycle, that is, at a set position, if a problem is detected and cannot be solved within the work cycle.

See: Andon, Automatic Line Stop, Jidoka.

Providing machines and operators with the ability to detect when an abnormal condition has occurred and immediately stop work. This enables operations to build quality into the product at each step of the process and separates people from machines for more efficient work. Jidoka is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System, along with Just-in-Time.

See : Andon, Error-Proofing, Automatic Line Stop, Inspection, Just-in-Time (JIT), Multi-Process Handling, Toyota Production System, Visual Management.

Tasks in processes with many operators that require him or her to interrupt the work rhythm or leave the area.

See : Standardized Work.

Tagging unnecessary items in order to remove them from a production area during a 5S exercise.

See : 5S.

Highly capable process equipment that is easy to maintain (and therefore available to produce whenever needed), allows quick changeovers, is easy to move and is designed to be installed in small increments of capacity, in order to facilitate labor and capital linearity.

See : Capital Linearity and Labor Linearity.
Compare with : Monuments.

An engineer and consultant whose books and teachings were key contributions to the dissemination of the Toyota Production System.

See: Setup Reduction, Single-Minute Exchange of Die - SMED.

Founder of the Toyota group, he invented a self-monitoring device for the looms in his factory in the early 20th century that stopped the machines if a thread broke. This innovation allowed one operator to run several machines and led to the concept of Jidoka, which means "automation with human intelligence." It is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System.

See : Toyoda, Kiichiro; Toyota Production System.

A production system developed by Toyota Motor Corporation to provide the best quality, the lowest cost and the shortest lead time through the elimination of waste. TPS is built on two pillars, Just-in-Time and Jidoka, and is usually illustrated by the "house" shown below. TPS is maintained and improved through iterations of standardized work and kaizen, following PDCA, or the scientific method.

See : Jidoka; Just-in-Time Production; Lean Production; Ohno, Taiichi.

Placement of all tools, parts, production activities and performance indicators of the production system in an easily visible location, so that the actual situation can be quickly understood by everyone involved.

See : Andon, Jidoka.