Lean vocabulary: the dictionary for your organization's performance

Master the meaning of lean terms and concepts. Get clear definitions that turn the language of management into practical results in your day-to-day work.

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C

1 term

Capital Linearity

A philosophy of designing and buying machinery that makes it possible to add or subtract small increments of capacity as demand changes. As a result, the amount of capital required per part produced can be kept nearly level (linear). See : Labor Linearity, Monument, Right-Sized Tools.

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D

1 term

Design-in

Collaboration between customer and supplier to design a component and its production process.

See : Resident Engineer.

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E

1 term

Efficiency

Meeting customer requirements exactly with the minimum amount of resources.

See : Overproduction, Seven Wastes.

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I

1 term

Information Flow

The movement of information from customers to the point where it is needed to trigger each operation. See : Value Stream Mapping and Product Family Matrix.

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L

3 terms

Labor Linearity

A philosophy for flexibly managing the amount of labor needed in a production process (particularly in a cell) so that the number of operators increases or decreases with production volume. See : Capital Linearity.

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LAMDA Cycle

The basic learning cycle of lean product and process development, comprising five classes of development activity: look, ask, model, discuss, and act.

See : Lean Product and Process Development.

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Lean Product and Process Development

A business system focused on eliminating waste in product and process development through the generation and application of useful knowledge.

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O

2 terms

Operational Availability vs. Operating Rate

Operational availability is the fraction of time a machine works properly when needed. Operating rate is the amount of time in a given period (shift, day, etc.) that a machine is used.

See : Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

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Overall Equipment Effectiveness

A total productive maintenance (TPM) metric that measures how effectively a piece of equipment is used.

See : Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

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P

3 terms

Plan for Every Part

A detailed plan for each part used in a production process, showing every detail relevant to managing the process without errors or waste. It is a fundamental tool of the Toyota Production System.

See: Material Handling, Pack-Out Quantity.

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Product Family

A product and its variants that pass through similar processing steps and common equipment just prior to shipment to the customer. The significance of product families for lean thinkers is that they are the unit of analysis for value stream maps, which are defined starting from the last step before the customer.

See: Product Family Matrix and Value Stream Mapping.

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Product Family Matrix

A chart created by lean thinkers to identify the appropriate product families. See : Product Family, Value Stream Mapping.

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S

1 term

Set-Based Concurrent Engineering

An approach to designing products and services in which developers consider sets of ideas rather than a single idea.

See : Trade-off curves.

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T

1 term

Trade-off Curves

Describes, in a simple and visual way, the performance limits that are possible with a given design approach.

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U

1 term

Usable Knowledge

The value created by lean product development processes. Because almost all defective designs result from not having the right knowledge in the right place at the right time, lean companies generally spend proportionally more development time creating and capturing knowledge, and less creating hardware.

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Frequently asked questions about the Lean Glossary

It is a glossary of terms and concepts used in lean management. It helps you understand lean terminology by aligning definitions and examples for study, reading and day-to-day application.

Use the search box to look for a specific term, browse by letter or filter by theme. Click the item to see a summary and open the full definition.

Some terms may have translations in other languages. When a translation is not available, the site may show the Portuguese version as a reference.

Yes. New terms may be added and definitions may be revised to keep the content clear, consistent and evolving over time.

Ao longo do Vocabulário, você encontrará links para conceitos relacionados e conteúdos do Lean Institute Brasil, como artigos, materiais da Central do Conhecimento, livros e capacitações.

A academia lean do Lean Institute Brasil oferece trilhas de capacitação EaD e presenciais, incluindo o Programa Prático de Formação Lean (PPFL), que ensina a utilizar frameworks consolidados e a aplicá-los resolvendo problemas de negócio reais.