Glossary

A3

A single page containing critical information about an issue, problem, or concern; specific elements may include a description, tentative date for completion, responsibility for completion, and any additional pertinent information.

Affinity diagram

The grouping of disparate items or elements into categories based upon some common criterion or criteria.

Andon

A visual status device, or some other medium, that indicates the status of a process and when a problem arises during its execution.

Assumptions

Suppositions or perceptions assumed to be facts until proven otherwise.

Autonomation

A machine, often using an intelligent agent, which enables it to detect a production problem, causes the process to cease, and alerts the need for assistance to resolve.

Backlog

Accumulating a workload with content that remains open, has not been prioritized, and scheduled for being addressed, for example, deployment of a fix.

Baseline

(1) A target used to compare current performance with a stakeholder (e.g., customer, expectations); (2) an agreement between two or more stakeholders on what constitutes something, such as a product or service description, schedule, or budget.

Batch-and-queue

Accumulating parts, products, and the like in large lots that will subsequently be placed in a queue for use in a future process.

Benchmarking

Comparing a company’s process performance with that of similar vein considered “best-in-class” and then improving its performance accordingly.

Best practice

A method or practice considered by peers (e.g., experts, organizations, etc.) as superior to other methods or practices and adopted within a given environment.

Brownfield

An existing facility and organization employing mass production processes, methods, and techniques.

Burndown

Accounting for completion rate of deliverables (e.g., products) over a given time period.

Burnup

Accounting for deliverables completed (e.g., products) over a given time period.

Business value

Also known as value-added; it is based upon what the customer deems worthwhile and for which it is willing to pay.

Cause-and-effect diagram

A tool that displays the relationship (e.g., casual or correlative) among two or more variables.

Cell

Also known as chaku-chaku; a method for arranging machinery in a U-shaped and counterclockwise manner, to take a part from one machine to the next, followed by another part.

Chaku-chaku

See cell.

Change management

(1) Policies, processes, and procedures to detect, analyze, evaluate, and implement changes to all baselines; (2) a disciplined approach toward recording, evaluating, and tracking changes.

Changeover

A machine transferring from a current operation to a new different one.

Check sheet

A log or form to record, compile, and analyze counts of data, items, and events, among others, for subsequent use in statistical calculations.

Closing

Concluding a project efficiently and effectively by ensuring all criteria have been met, archiving documents, and so on.

Consensus

Stakeholders understand, accept, and support a decision or action despite reservations.

Constraint

Any restriction that limits potentially higher performance of a process or operation.

Contingency plan

One or more alternative defined responses to issues, problems, risks, and the like that arise.

Continuous flow

Also simply referred to as flow, the ongoing uninterrupted execution of an element, for example, people or parts, within a process; often described as a process’s ideal state whereby no stoppages or scrap exists.

Continuous process improvement

Also known as process improvement, a perspective taken that through analysis of a process or operation, ongoing improvement can occur with the expressed purpose of satisfying the customer.

Control chart

A visual display of information showing patterns of behavior over a period of time.

Cost estimating

Determining how much a project, deliverable, tasks, and so on will cost based upon a set of assumptions, data, and calculations.

Cost-benefit analysis

Determining if the cost of improvement activities achieves sufficient benefit to warrant proceeding with a change.

Critical-to-quality characteristics

Activities or deliverables that the customer deems important to achieve satisfaction.

Current-state value stream map

A visual display of the sequence and interaction of elements of a process as they currently exist.

Customer

(1) The person or organization that receives the output (e.g., product or service) from a process; (2) a person or organization for which the project exists.

Customer satisfaction

The outcome of a process that provides a product or service meeting a recipient’s requirements.

Customer specification

A requirement identified by a recipient of a product or service.

Daily stand-up

A brief session that team members attend to discuss what happened since the previous session, what to do in the interim to the next session, and any impediments a team member faces.

Dashboard

A visual display providing reports on progress, trends, and other concerns, such as potential risks.

Data

Raw facts that have no meaning until converted into information.

Data flow diagram

A graphic displaying the movement of raw facts through one or more processes that generate output, such as raw facts or information, either to another process or an entity or both.

Data stratification

Dividing data into smaller populations to facilitate analysis and reporting.

Defect

A flaw in the output of a process, potentially resulting in not meeting customer expectations.

Defect rate

The number of rejected items in a product or service failing to meet customer expectations related to requirements or specifications.

Defining

Determining in advance what the project will achieve.

Deliverable

An artifact that may be included in the delivery of the final product or service to the customer.

Design of experiment

A technique used to show the relationship of two or more variables and the expected results of their interaction.

Design of Six Sigma

Abbreviated DFSS, the goal of this approach is to develop and design a new process using Six Sigma tools and techniques.

DMAIC

An acronym of a common Six Sigma approach to improve an existing process; define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.

Earned value management

A schedule and cost performance management technique comparing and monitoring planned and actual outcomes.

Executing

Implementing the plan for a project to achieve goals and objectives.

Facilitator

A neutral individual who helps team members to collaborate in an environment that enables open communications and trusting relationships.

Failure mode and effect analysis

A tool to determine what could potentially go awry with a process or product and the reason or reasons for its failure.

Five S (5S)

Removing waste from a process within an organization; it involves five activities: sort, straighten, scrub, systematize, and standardize.

Five Whys

A method to ascertain the root cause of a problem or issue by repeatedly, often five times but sometimes more, asking “Why?” and then developing and implementing a lasting solution.

Flow

Refer to continuous flow.

Frequency plot

A visual tool to display how often an event occurs.

Future-state value stream

A graphical flow depicting a process in an anticipated improved state which serves as a “stepping stone” leading to an ideal state in which perfect continuous flow occurs.

Gemba

Visiting the location of where the work is performed with the intent to understand the work and how to add or improve value for the customer.

Genchi Genbutsu

Refer to Gemba; translated from Japanese to mean “go and see.”

Greenfield

A new facility and organization employing best practices to processes, methods, and techniques.

Heijunka

Known as schedule leveling, a technique to produce parts, products, and the like that reduces variation in production, resulting in a smooth process flow.

Heijunka box

A tool to control production via Kanban at fixed time intervals.

Histogram

A series of bars, each reflecting the frequency of occurrence of a variable within a specific class or category.

Hoshin Kanri

A systematic approach for decision-making at the strategic and tactical levels of an organization to achieve business objectives via projects aligning with those objectives.

Ideal-state value stream map

A graphical flow depicting a process in a perfect state providing only value-added operations.

Impediment

A business or technical issue, problem, or other concern negatively affecting and restricting the continuous flow of a process.

Information

Data that have no value to a person or organization.

Information radiator

An informational display providing self-explanatory content about a project or a process.

Interrelationship digraph

A diagram showing the causal relationship and interaction among different variables, elements, processes, and so on.

Inventory

Parts, products, data, and other work items that remain incomplete.

Jidoka

See autonomation.

Just-in-time

A system that provides the right amount of resources (e.g., part) at the right time, at the right place, thereby reducing inventories, and so on and allowing for continuous flow.

Kaikaku

A radical version of Lean, such as what is referred to as breakthrough kaizen.

Kaizen

Continuous incremental improvement in a process or product in a way that increases effectiveness and reduces waste.

Kanban

A signal that manages or regulates the flow of resources through the value stream by notifying upstream, for example, production or activities.

Lead time

The cumulative time a customer must wait to receive the final product after submitting an order or request.

Leading

Motivating people to achieve the desired results of a project.

Lean

(1) A customer-focused approach that concentrates on providing value by eliminating waste and increasing quality; (2) a manufacturing philosophy consisting of concepts, principles, tools, and practices to improve supply chain performance based on meeting the requirements of the customer.

Lean Six sigma

The combination of Lean and Six Sigma techniques adopted by Motorola to reduce waste.

Lessons learned

A document containing a postevaluation of a project.

Level selling

Profiling a process to reduce surges in demand while at the same time satisfying its requirements.

Management

Stakeholders who participate in setting the strategic direction of a company.

Matrix

A table displaying the relationship between two or more variables or elements, such as condition and response.

Measurement plan

A document describing the approach to measure how to employ a tool or technique to analyze process performance.

Milk run

Using a transport medium, such as a van or truck, for multiple pickups at several locations.

Modeling

Constructing diagrams reflecting processes, procedures, and components of a system, and so on as a way to improve understanding and develop ideas.

Monitoring and controlling

Assessing how well a project uses plans and its organization to meet the project’s vision, goals, and objectives.

Monument

Technology or site, due to its unique requirements or characteristics, requiring resources or information to wait in a queue until needed for processing.

Muda

Any activity or item in a value stream that does not add value.

Multimachine working

Used to build cells by training workers to operate different types of equipment, usually through cross-training.

Mura

Unevenness or variation in flow, resulting in waste.

Muri

Stress on a system, such as people and equipment, resulting in waste.

Needs

Requirements that must be minimally met by a project.

Non-value-added

(1) Processes, operations, activities, or products that do not add value to the customer; (2) tasks and output that do not contribute toward achieving the vision of a project.

One-touch setup

Any changeover requiring a very short time to occur.

Open book management

All managerial information, such as financial, related to a process, operation, or activity, being accessible by all employees having an interest when providing value to a customer.

Operation

One or more activities that workers perform to execute a process.

Organizing

Employing resources efficiently and effectively to manage a project.

Outsourcing

Having vendors, buyers, and the like be responsible to produce part or all of the deliverables for a company.

Pareto chart

Graphically displaying the frequency of occurrence of an event or categories of events vis-à-vis other events or categories.

Pattern

Processes and practices, often referred to as best practices, identified to solve recurring problems.

Perfection

Seeking to eliminate waste to enable continuous flow in the value stream according to takt time.

Plan, do, check, act

(1) Abbreviated as PDCA, an iterative cycle to address problems, issues, and other circumstances to improve performance that results in better quality; (2) it consists of four phases: plan (objective), do (implement), check (verify), and act (revise).

Planning

Determining the activities to execute the vision of the project, assigning who will perform them, and identifying when they must start and stop.

Poka-yoke

Using a procedure or device to prevent an error or defect from moving forward in the value stream and being delivered to a customer.

Process

One or more operations to provide a product or service, for example, to a customer.

Process owner

The person responsible for executing and providing output for a process.

Process villages

A grouping of activities and machines to perform an operation within a process.

Processing time

The time that a product or service requested by a customer is being designed and built to requirements.

Product backlog

The incomplete, or remaining, work that piles up over time.

Product family

An interchangeable group of related products or services enabling the mix and match of elements during production.

Product vision

A brief description, usually one or two sentences, of a project deliverable using business terminology.

Project

A discrete set of activities performed logically to attain a specific result, for example, deliver a service or product.

Project champion

A person, usually at the executive level, setting and sustaining the direction and momentum throughout a project’s life cycle.

Project charter

A document defining the business and technical parameters of a project.

Project management

The tools, knowledge, and techniques to lead, initiate, plan, organize, execute, monitor and control, and close a project.

Project manager

The person having overall accountability to complete a project.

Project team

The people brought together to produce one or more deliverables.

Prototype

A model of the final deliverable or service to enable stakeholders to adjust accordingly to satisfy requirements.

Pugh matrix

A technique to determine the best solution to a problem or issue.

Pull

Moving information, resources, and so on from the end of the value stream (e.g., delivery to the customer) to the beginning of the value stream (e.g., request or order) upon receiving a signal to deliver a product or service.

Push

Moving information, instructions, resources, and so on from the beginning of the value stream (e.g., design) to the end of the value stream (e.g., delivery) based upon forecasting a customer’s need for a product or service.

Quality function deployment (QFD)

Decision-making involving a multidisciplinary team focusing on customer needs and expectations early on in the value stream as well as providing measurable consistent performance.

Queue time

The time a resource, part, or product waits to proceed forward in the value stream.

Requirements documentation

The criteria to deliver the final product or service to a customer.

Responsibility assignment matrix

A chart showing the assignments and level of responsibility of people assigned to tasks identified in a work breakdown structure (WBS).

Root cause

The real factor contributing to a defect; by addressing the root cause the defect disappears.

Scatter plot

Also known as a scattergram, a tool showing the relationship, causal or correlative, between two factors.

Schedule

A road map displaying the sequence and times to accomplish the vision of a project.

Scope

(1) The result of a project within the specifications or requirements; (2) anything not within the specifications or requirements is excluded from being produced.

Scope creep

A gradual uncontrollable expansion of features and functions of the product or service delivered to the customer.

Scope management

A disciplined approach to identify and focus on the vision for a project.

Seiketsu

Refer to 5S; translated as systematize, or maintain.

Seiri

Refer to 5S; translated as sort, or separation.

Seiso

Refer to 5S; translated as scrub, or clean up.

Seiton

Refer to 5S; translated as straighten, or arrange and identify.

Senior management

Superiors of a project manager.

Sensei

A master teacher, especially in the context of Lean, having mastery of relevant tools and techniques.

Seven forms of waste

(1) Identified by Taiichi Ohno: transportation, waiting, overproduction, defects, inventory, motion, excess processing; (2) recently, two more have been added to the list, unmotivated workforce and safety.

Shitsuke

Refer to 5S; translated as standardize, or consistent.

Single minute exchange of dies

Tools and techniques employed to reduce changeover times, also referred to as SMED.

SIPOC

A flowchart that describes the relationship of five elements within, for example, a value stream (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers).

Situation target proposal

Also referred to as STP, a report explaining the current circumstances, the desired end state, and the means to achieve the vision.

Six Sigma

A method applied among disciplines and organizations alike emphasizing quantitative measures to reduce variation in a flow; an example would be using a statistical process control chart.

Spaghetti chart

A diagram displaying the route a product proceeds along through a value stream, often revealing its circuitous travel from one operation or location to another.

Span of control

The number of individuals that a leader can effectively control to accomplish goals and objectives of a project.

Sponsor

A senior manager with single authority to ensure a project is properly supported.

Stakeholder

A person or organization having an interest in the outcome of a project.

Stakeholder analysis

Identifying and analyzing the individuals or organizations participating in current and future value streams.

Standard work

A description of an operation or activity consisting of information such as execution time, takt time task sequence, and parts inventory to complete an activity.

Statement of work

A detailed description of the functions and features of a final product and service for delivery to a customer.

Statistical process control

A method for tracking and monitoring performance of a process, paying particular attention to variation.

Subject matter expert

An individual who is an authoritative source for guidance, information, and problem resolution.

Supplier

An internal or external entity providing one or more inputs to a process that results in delivery of a product or service to a customer.

Takt time

(1) A German word meaning “beat”; (2) the production time divided by the rate of customer demand, or consumption; (3) ideally, production pace is aligned with customer demand.

Three (3) Gen

Three gen is a technique involving going to a customer’s site; observing activity; and obtaining reliable data to improve process performance.

Three (3) P

Three P is production, preparation, process, whereby a multidisciplinary team gathers together during the design phase of a value stream and identifies opportunities to remove waste.

Throughput time

The combination of processing and queue time for a product or service to be delivered to a customer.

Tollgates

Also referred to as check point reviews or simply gates, specific meetings with stakeholders at certain stages of a project to determine whether to proceed from one stage to another or make a change in direction.

Total productive maintenance

Also referred to as TPM, methods applied to machinery to ensure its ability and capacity to perform its purpose and ensure continuous flow.

Tree diagrams

A graphic to display the relationships among variables.

Turn-back analysis

Reviewing the flow of a value stream to determine at what point scrap or rework occurs.

Unit cost

The total money to produce, store, market, and sell a specific component of a product or service.

Validation

Determining a product or service satisfies customer requirements and expectations.

Value

A customer’s ascribed importance of a product or service for satisfying its requirements.

Value stream

The operations and activities from the beginning of a process, such as placing an order, to its completion, such as delivery to the customer.

Value stream map

A graphical display of the routing of materials, information, and other resources through the operations and activities of a process until a customer receives a product or service.

Value stream mapping

Actions taken to build a value stream map.

Value-added

The operations and activities within a value stream that a customer is willing to pay for, such as during design and delivery of a product or service.

Variance

The difference between planned and actual performance.

Verification

Testing a component, product, or service to determine whether it meets certain standards.

Visual control

Indicators, visible to stakeholders in the value stream, displaying the performance status of a system, operation, or product.

Voice of the customer

(1) Collecting the explicit and implicit needs, wants, desires, and expectations of the customer; (2) the results are then translated into requirements and specifications.

Wants

Nice to have requirements that are not necessary to achieve the vision of the project but would please a customer.

Waste

(1) Operations or activities generating output that provides no value to the customer; (2) refer to non-value-added.

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

A hierarchical decomposition of a deliverable or deliverables and activities performed on a project.

Work cell

A multidisciplinary, cross-functional arrangement of people, machines, and other resources to produce a product or service.

Workout session

A meeting held on a specific topic to develop solutions to a specific problem or problems affecting a process.

Zero setup

An instantaneous changeover that does not interrupt the flow of a process.