Lean Gold flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Takt time

Available production time divided by customer demand rate, expressed as time per unit. It sets the pace the process must meet; cycle time above takt time means demand cannot be satisfied.

Little's Law

Throughput time equals work in process divided by throughput rate. At a fixed completion rate, cutting WIP by half halves the time a unit spends in the system.

Value-added ratio

Value-added processing time divided by total lead time. It expresses how much of the elapsed time a customer would pay for; most streams score in the low single digits.

Rolled throughput yield

The product of first-pass yields at every step in a process. Because yields multiply, it reveals hidden rework that a simple average yield figure conceals.

Push versus pull

Push releases work according to a forecast and schedule. Pull releases work only when a downstream customer or process consumes it, capping inventory and shortening lead time.

Overproduction waste

Producing more, earlier, or faster than the next process or customer needs. It is considered the worst waste because it creates excess inventory and hides defects and imbalance.

Days of supply

On-hand inventory quantity divided by average daily demand. It converts stock counts into time, which is the measure that matters when comparing queues to lead time.

Seven wastes

Overproduction, waiting, transportation, overprocessing, inventory, motion, and defects. Many organizations add unused human talent as an eighth waste.

Cost of poor quality

Appraisal costs plus internal failure costs plus external failure costs. Prevention spending reduces the total, while inspection alone shifts cost without removing the defect source.

Spaghetti diagram

A drawing of the actual path people, material, or documents take through a layout. Distance and number of crossings are measured to target layout and flow improvements.

Current and future state maps

The current-state map documents existing material and information flow; the future-state map designs the improved flow. An action plan with owners and dates bridges them.

Process box on a map

A rectangle representing one process step, annotated with cycle time, changeover time, uptime, batch size, and available time. Inventory triangles between boxes record queue quantities.

Effective capacity

Available time multiplied by uptime, divided by cycle time. Comparing each step's effective capacity with demand identifies the real bottleneck rather than the slowest nominal cycle.

PDCA cycle

Plan establishes a target condition and method, Do runs the experiment, Check compares results with the target, Act standardizes or adjusts. No target condition means no improvement cycle.

5S workplace organization

Sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain. Sustain is the step most often lost; it requires scheduled audits, visible scores, and named owners for each area.

Standard work

A documented specification of takt time, work sequence, and standard in-process stock for a process. It provides the baseline against which any change is measured and evaluated.

SMED

Single-minute exchange of die. Setup steps are separated into internal, performed while the machine is stopped, and external, performed while it runs; internal work is converted then reduced.

Kanban rules

Downstream withdraws what it needs, upstream produces only what is withdrawn, nothing moves without a kanban, and the number of kanban cards caps total work in process.

Jidoka

Stopping the process immediately when an abnormality occurs so defective work is not passed downstream. Andon signals request help, and root cause analysis follows the stop.

Poka-yoke

Error prevention built into the process using contact, fixed-value, or motion-step methods. Prevention at the source is preferred over detection and over relying on operator training.

A3 problem solving

A one-page structure covering background, current condition with data, target condition, root cause, countermeasures, implementation plan, and follow-up. The format forces concise, evidence-based thinking.

Five whys

Repeatedly asking why a problem occurred until the systemic cause is reached, then countermeasuring that cause. Each answer should be verified against evidence at the process, not assumed.

Kaizen event

A focused improvement workshop, typically five days, that scopes and baselines the process, analyzes it, implements and trials changes, then standardizes results and reports them.

Hoshin kanri

Policy deployment that translates annual objectives into measurable targets at each organizational level, using catchball dialogue to negotiate and align targets up and down the chain.

Leader standard work

A defined daily and weekly routine for leaders, including gemba walks, tiered meetings, and escalation checks, that sustains improvement after a project team disbands.

Tiered daily management

Short stand-up meetings at successive organizational levels with a fixed agenda, visible metrics, and a defined escalation path and time limit for unresolved issues.

Value stream manager

A role accountable for end-to-end flow and lead time across a product family. It intentionally crosses functional boundaries, so its authority must be defined explicitly.

Gemba

The actual place where work is performed. Observing the real process there is treated as the primary source of truth; reports and dashboards are secondary evidence.

Respect for people

Engaging the people who do the work in designing standards, and leaders asking questions rather than imposing countermeasures. It is a mechanism for improvement, not a courtesy.

Local efficiency metric trap

Measuring each department on utilization or efficiency encourages building inventory and overproduction. Flow and lead-time measures align local behavior with end-to-end performance.

Pilot then replicate

Deploy Lean first in a constrained area, prove results with data, standardize the new method, then spread it to other areas with local adaptation rather than literal copying.

70-20-10 learning

A common Lean capability model: most learning happens on the job in a real improvement, some through coaching, and a minority through classroom instruction.