5S Organize the work area:

 Sort (eliminate that which is not needed)

 Set In Order (organize remaining items)
 Shine (clean and inspect work area)
 Standardize (write standards for above)
 Sustain (regularly apply the standards)
5S Organize the work area:  Sort (eliminate
that which is not needed)  Set In Order
(organize remaining items)  Shine (clean and
inspect work area)  Standardize (write
standards for above)  Sustain (regularly apply
the standards) Eliminates waste that results
from a poorly organized work area (e.g.
wasting time looking for a tool).
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.
Acts as a real-time communication
tool for the plant floor that brings
immediate attention to problems as
they occur – so they can be instantly
addressed.
Bottleneck Analysis
Identify which part of the manufacturing
process limits the overall throughput and
improve the performance of that part of
the process. Improves throughput by
strengthening the weakest link in the
manufacturing process
Gemba (The Real Place)-

A philosophy that reminds us to get out of our

offices and spend time on the plant floor – the
place where real action occurs. Promotes a deep
and thorough understanding of real-world
manufacturing issues – by first-hand observation
and by talking with plant floor employees.
Heijunka (Level Scheduling)-
A form of production scheduling that
purposely manufactures in much smaller
batches by sequencing (mixing) product
variants within the same process.
Reduces lead times (since each product or
variant is manufactured more frequently)
and inventory (since batches are smaller).
Hoshin Kanri (Policy Deployment)
Align the goals of the company
(Strategy), with the plans of middle
management (Tactics) and the work
performed on the plant floor (Action).
Ensures that progress towards strategic
goals is consistent and thorough –
eliminating the waste that comes from
poor communication and inconsistent
direction.
Jidoka (Autonomation)
Design equipment to partially automate the
manufacturing process (partial automation is
typically much less expensive than full
automation) and to automatically stop when
defects are detected.
After Jidoka, workers can frequently monitor
multiple stations (reducing labor costs) and
many quality issues can be detected
immediately (improving quality).
Just-In-Time (JIT) Pull parts through
production based on customer demand
instead of pushing parts through
production based on projected demand.
Relies on many lean tools, such as
Continuous Flow, Heijunka, Kanban,
Standardized Work and Takt Time. Highly
effective in reducing inventory levels.
Improves cash flow and reduces space
requirements.
Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)
A strategy where employees work together
proactively to achieve regular, incremental
improvements in the manufacturing process.
Combines the collective talents of a company to
create an engine for continually eliminating
waste from manufacturing processes.
Kanban (Pull System) 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 that
indicate when more goods are needed.
Eliminates waste from inventory and
overproduction. Can eliminate the need
for physical inventories (instead relying on
signal cards to indicate when more goods
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
Metrics designed to track and encourage progress
towards critical goals of the organization. Strongly
promoted KPIs can be extremely powerful drivers of
behavior – so it is important to carefully select KPIs
that will drive desired behavior.
The best manufacturing KPIs:
 Are aligned with top-level strategic goals (thus
helping to achieve those goals)
 Are effective at exposing and quantifying waste (OEE
is a good example)
 Are readily influenced by plant floor employees (so
they can drive results)
Muda (Waste) Anything in the
manufacturing process that does
not add value from the
customer’s perspective.
Eliminating muda (waste) is the
primary focus of lean
manufacturing.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Framework for measuring productivity loss for
a given manufacturing process. Three
categories of loss are tracked:
 Availability (e.g. down time)
Provides a benchmark/baseline and a means
to track progress in eliminating waste from a
manufacturing process. 100% OEE means
perfect production (manufacturing only good
parts, as fast as possible, with no down time).
PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)
An iterative methodology for
implementing improvements:  Plan
(establish plan and expected results)  Do
(implement plan)  Check (verify
expected results achieved)  Act (review
and assess; do it again) Applies a
scientific approach to making
improvements:  Plan (develop a
hypothesis)  Do (run experiment) 
Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)
Design error detection and prevention into
production processes with the goal of
achieving zero defects.
It is difficult (and expensive) to find all
defects through inspection, and correcting
defects typically gets significantly more
expensive at each stage of production.
Root Cause Analysis A problem solving
methodology that focuses on resolving the
underlying problem instead of applying quick
fixes that only treat immediate symptoms of the
problem. A common approach is to ask why five
times – each time moving a step closer to
discovering the true underlying problem. Helps to
ensure that a problem is truly eliminated by
applying corrective action to the “root cause” of
the problem.
Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)
Reduce setup (changeover) time to less than 10
minutes. Techniques include:
 Convert setup steps to be external (performed
while the process is running)
 Simplify internal setup (e.g. replace bolts with
knobs and levers)
 Eliminate non-essential operations
 Create standardized work instructions
Enables manufacturing in smaller lots, reduces
inventory, and improves customer responsiveness.
Six Big Losses Six categories of
productivity loss that are almost
universally experienced in
manufacturing:  Breakdowns 
Setup/Adjustments  Small Stops
Provides a framework for attacking
the most common causes of waste
in manufacturing.
SMART Goals
Goals that are: Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Relevant, and Time-
Specific.
Helps to ensure that goals are
effective.
Standardized Work Documented procedures
for manufacturing that capture best practices
(including the time to complete each task).
Must be “living” documentation that is easy
to change. Eliminates waste by consistently
applying best practices. Forms a baseline for
future improvement activities.
Takt Time
The pace of production (e.g. manufacturing
one piece every 34 seconds) that aligns
production with customer demand.
Calculated as Planned Production Time /
Customer Demand.
Provides a simple, consistent and intuitive
method of pacing production. Is easily
extended to provide an efficiency goal for
the plant floor (Actual Pieces / Target
Pieces).
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) A holistic
approach to maintenance that focuses on proactive
and preventative maintenance to maximize the
operational time of equipment. TPM blurs the
distinction between maintenance and production by
placing a strong emphasis on empowering operators to
help maintain their equipment. Creates a shared
responsibility for equipment that encourages greater
involvement by plant floor workers. In the right
environment this can be very effective in improving
productivity (increasing up time, reducing cycle
times, and eliminating defects).
Value Stream Mapping
A tool used to visually map the flow of
production. Shows the current and future
state of processes in a way that highlights
opportunities for improvement.
Exposes waste in the current processes
and provides a roadmap for improvement
through the future state.
Visual Factory Visual indicators, displays and
controls used throughout manufacturing plants to
improve communication of information. Makes the
state and condition of manufacturing processes
easily accessible and very clear – to everyone.