Lean manufacturing

is a Japanese concept in business studies which asserts that significant positive results may be achieved due to the cumulative effect of many, often small (and even trivial) improvements to all aspects of a company's operations. Kaizen is put into action by continuously improving every facet of a company's production and requires the participation of all employees from the CEO to assembly line workers. Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain. Kaizen aims to eliminate waste and redundancies. Kaizen may also

workplace organisation method

lean methodology used to improve production time by reducing wastes

thumb|Electronics inventory Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation.

Kanban ( meaning signboard) is a scheduling system for lean manufacturing (also called just-in-time manufacturing, abbreviated JIT). Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, developed kanban to improve manufacturing efficiency. The system takes its name from the cards that track production within a factory. Kanban is also known as the Toyota nameplate system in the automotive industry.

is any mechanism in a process that helps an equipment operator avoid mistakes and defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. It is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention", and is also sometimes referred to as a forcing function or a behavior-shaping constraint.

iterative interrogative technique

systematic technique for identification of potential failure modes in a system and their causes and effects

integrated socio-technical system developed by Toyota

Lean Manufacturing Approach

lean production method for rapid and efficient changeover from making one product to the next product

measure of how well a manufacturing operation is utilized compared to its full potential, during the periods when it is scheduled to run

problem alert system in manufacturing

type of waste (of time or resources) in lean manufacturing caused by work that does not create value from the customer's point of view

Early business development tool

time between planning and starting something

ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes, by constantly evaluating and improving in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility

Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to effect the principle of used in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and lean manufacturing. It may be described as "intelligent automation" or "automation with a human touch". This type of automation implements some supervisory functions rather than production functions. At Toyota, this usually means that if an abnormal situation arises, the machine stops and the worker will stop the production line. It is a quality control process that applies the following four principles:Autonomation aims to:

subconcept of Inventory

translation of lean manufacturing principles and practices to the software development domain

manufacturing term describing the required product assembly duration in order to match product demand

Nemawashi () is an informal Japanese business process of laying the foundation for some proposed change or project by talking to the people concerned and gathering support and feedback before a formal announcement. It is considered an important element in any major change in the Japanese business environment before any formal steps are taken. Successful nemawashi enables changes to be carried out with the consent of all sides, avoiding embarrassment.

set of managerial and production principles

In agile principles, timeboxing allocates a maximum unit of time to an activity, called a timebox, within which a planned activity takes place. It is used by agile principles-based project management approaches and for personal time management.

board divided into steps in a process, used for coordinating work using the kanban project management methodology

use of lean thinking in project-based construction processes

approach to determine a product's life-cycle cost

flexible, scalable and mostly automated manufacturing process where a group of nearby machines complete different parts of the manufacturing process

methodology of systematically removing waste

type of waste (of time or resources) where unreasonable expectations or overburdening of a system results in substandard work; avoidable by standardizing work

business management / quality assurance strategy

initiative to increase government efficiency

Constant work in process or CONWIP are pull-oriented production control systems. Such systems can be classified as pull and push systems (Spearman et al. 1990). In a push system, the production order is scheduled, and the material is pushed into the production line. In a pull system, the start of each product assembly process is triggered by the completion of another at the end of production line. This pull-variant is known for its ease of implementation.

tool board with drawings showing where tools should hang

Obeya (from Japanese Ōbeya 大部屋 "large room") is a team spirit improvement tool at an administrative level, originating from a long history of learning & improving. It is considered a component of lean manufacturing. Obeya objectives are rapid decision-making, reduction in rework and reconsiderations, and reduction in unnecessary discussions. The Obeya Association enumerates 11 Obeya Principles that define Obeya and guide its improvement.

inventory strategy

type of waste (of time or resources) in lean manufacturing caused by unevenness or irregularities affecting manufacturing efficiency

prerequisite to allow 'flow' in the factory