Lean Manufacturing by Feld

The Lean Manufacturing by Feld is the book titled Lean Manufacturing: Tools, Techniques, and How to Use Them that has been authored by William M Feld and published as a part of the APICS Series on Resource Management.

• ABC material handling. The segregation of material based on replenishment lead-time, value, and part complexity. This is done to align planning and control approaches with certain types of parts for best utilization of resources. Not all parts are created equal.
• Autonomation. Offers the ability to separate man and machine, because such equipment has the capability to automatically shut down when it detects a defect or abnormality. The machine stays shut down until a human being intervenes, solves the problem, and starts the machine again.
• Back flushing. The deduction from inventory records of parts consumed in an assembly when the item is either booked into finished goods or sold.
• Block layout. A high-level view of the factory, where square footage has been allocated, or "blocked," for specific areas. A general description of what will happen in the area is understood in order to assist with the development of material and information flow in the future design.
• Cell (product cell). A clearly focused entity with the assigned resources necessary for it to control its own operational performance and satisfy customer requirements for its given products.
• Cell layout. A graphical representation of the equipment/processes in a cell, typically in a U-shape, with both the operator and material flow displayed.
• Cell leader. The individual selected to lead the day-to-day activities within a cell. It can be either a direct or indirect labor employee, depending on the level of cell complexity, types of decisions to be made, and capability of the workforce.
• Cell team work plan. A documented schedule (calendar) of activities for the week within a cell. It lays out the game plan and provides a common understanding for all cell members as to what events should take place each week.
• Cell workload analysis. An assessment of the effect of workload on equipment and processes in the cell to assure capacity to build future requirements; includes an analysis of the product demand behavior.
• Communication plan. A structured process by which communication is to take place throughout the organization. It includes a definition and description as to what message will go to whom when and by what method.
• Complex mix production scheduling. The same as Heijenka. The establishment of a level demand pattern sequence based on the mix of repetitive orders from the customer. For example, if demand was for 100 A units, 50 B units, and 50 C units, then the Heijenka pattern would be A, B, A, C, A, B, C, B, … .
• Concept design. The first stage of the future state design phase. Concept design establishes the high-level view of what the operation will look like when the lean program is implemented. It provides the foundation for detail design.
• Continuous improvement tools. Very simple tools that can be utilized by all employees to identify and eliminate waste in their process (five whys, histograms, cause-and-effect diagrams, frequency charts, Pareto diagrams, etc.).
• CpK. An index measure of the capability of a process to consistently produce parts. It compares the process width (standard deviation) with the specification width and location.
• Cross-training. Employees in a process being trained to perform multiple steps within the process, preferably all the steps.
• Current state gap phase. The second phase in the lean manufacturing program, it is designed to capture current operational performance, to lead to an understanding of the major operational processes as they are today, and to identify root causes as to why performance is what it is.
• Customer/supplier alignment. Documenting and understanding all the customer and supplier relationships that exist for part flow in the factory. It involves identifying each part and recording where it comes from and who it goes to in order to establish clear customer/supplier alignment.
• Cycle time (operational). The time required to complete one full cycle of an operation. An operation is a subset of a process.
• Cycle time (process). The time required to complete one full cycle of a process, made up of several operations.
• Design daily production rate. The production rate developed in order to satisfy customer demand. It takes into account the customer forecast and variations in that forecast. The cell is designed to produce at that rate for a given time frame.
• Detail design. The second stage of the future state design phase. Detail design analyzes what each individual cell requires for implementation during the Kaizen events — items such as takt time, equipment, demand mix, potential layout and staffing, routing analysis, etc.
• DFMA (design for manufacturing and assembly). A product development approach that involves multiple functions concurrently throughout the development process to ensure all requirements are captured. It also focuses, through the use of good lean design practices, on designing a product that is production friendly with a view toward reducing recurring total costs.
• Exit criteria. Quantitative and qualitative measures that are visible and can clearly show that success has been achieved. Examples of quantitative goals would include 98% on-time delivery, manufacturing lead-time of 2 days, productivity of 89%. Examples of qualitative goals would include having all A parts on Kanban, documentation of operating rules, 5S checklists, communication boards, training matrix, posted metrics, etc.
• finished-goods variation. A calculated level of finished goods based on demand variation and service level required. This finished-goods inventory is usually used for products utilizing Kanban replenishment with zero customer tolerance on delivery.
• five Primary Elements. A design and implementation approach that represents five primary facets of lean manufacturing. An approach that asserts that all facets are required in order to support and sustain a solid lean manufacturing program.
• 5S (housekeeping). A structured, five-step approach to housekeeping that engages both management and employees in the process. It is a matter of sifting, sorting, sweeping, standardizing, and sustaining the work environment.
• Flex-fence demand management. A planning and control technique whereby customer demand is released to the cells through a set of operating rules agreed upon by marketing and manufacturing.
• FMEA. A technique whereby risks in the process are analyzed for potential failure based on their effect and the required function of an item.
• Future state design phase. The third phase in the lean manufacturing program, it is split into two stages. The first is concept design, and the second is detail design. In addition, this phase includes the implementation plan, transition strategy, and plant communication for the program rollout.
• Graphic work instructions. A graphical representation of work instructions including work sequence, work content, verification checks, and source inspections.
• Holistic manufacturing. A view that there is interconnectivity and dependency among the five Primary Elements and that each element is critical and required for the successful deployment of a lean manufacturing program.
• Hoshin planning. A strategic decision-making tool that focuses company resources on a few (three to five) critical initiatives within the business and aligns these initiatives from top to bottom throughout the organization via specific goals, project plans, and progress reporting.
• Implementation plan. The schedule of events for implementing the lean manufacturing program. It includes a sequence of Kaizen events, deliverables, RAA, duration, etc.
• Kaizen event. A time-boxed set of activities carried out by the cell team during the week of a cell implementation. These activities include training, planning, design solutions, deployment, documentation, demonstrating performance, etc. The Kaizen event is the implementation arm of a lean manufacturing program.
• Kanban. A demand signal from the customer, the authorization to begin work. It controls the level of work in process and lead-time for products. It facilitates immediate feedback on abnormalities.
• Lean assessment phase. The first phase in the lean manufacturing program, it covers the initial assessment of the level of leanness of the business. It gathers external information to establish design criteria and determine market opportunities.
• Lean manufacturing audit. The result of reviewing a cell implementation to provide feedback through a standard scoring process to indicate the level of deployment achieved.
• Lean road map. The clarified statement, understood by all those involved, of the overall direction and steps or phases required for a particular lean manufacturing program.
• Level loading. Designing a level load of demand for a given cell in order to accommodate the mix of products required for that cell (based on product volume and work content).
• Line stop. Authority given to an operator to shut down the line and not produce any more product if a defect is found in the process.
• Loading chart. A chart used in conjunction with takt time to establish workload balance for the work content elements of a given cell and its product mix.
• Logistics element. The element that provides a definition for operating rules and the mechanisms for planning/controlling the flow of material.
• Lot size splitting. Dividing a lot into sub-lots to accommodate simultaneous processing of an order.
• Make-to-order production. A production architecture where products are made after the receipt of a customer sales order. Manufacturing flow element. The element that addresses physical changes and design standards to be deployed as part of the cell.
• Manufacturing lead-time. The elapsed time between when an order is released for production and the item is delivered into finished goods. Manufacturing strategy
• Material planning/control. The operating rules and systems support used for planning and controlling the flow of material to, through, and from one cell to the another.
• Material pull (inter-cell). A pull system for replenishing material within a cell.
• Material pull (intra-cell). A pull system for replenishing material between cells.
• Metrics element. The element that addresses visible results-based performance measures with targeted improvements and team rewards and recognition.
• Milestone plan. A tool that identifies major segments of a project, the time frame, sequence of major events, and associated management debriefs.
• Mix-model manufacturing. The ability to produce any product, any quantity, any time in order to respond to customer demand on a daily basis; designing a manufacturing cell that can produce any mix or volume of products on any given day.
• Muda. Japanese word for waste, or non-value-added.
• Non-repetitive Kanban. A Kanban that is used for one-off or low-volume products. It is introduced into the manufacturing process when there is a specific demand for a product. The signal is sent to the supplier for a quantity to fill the demand. After it has been consumed, it is taken out of the replenishment cycle until it is needed again.
• OEE (overall equipment effectiveness). A function of scheduled availability × equipment productivity × process yield; used to understand the effectiveness of equipment.
• Off-loading. Sending work to an outside supplier for a specific operation or set of operations due to a short-term capacity deficit.
• One-level BOM. All component parts are at the same level in the bill of material, with no sub-assemblies, no "goes into" relationships, no leadtime offset, no structured BOM.
• One-piece flow. Producing one part at a time at an operation and passing it on to the next operation after having received a demand signal.
• Operating rules. New documented rules for operating the cell as designed (Kanban card system, capacity loading to 90%, incoming/outgoing material handling, workable work, recording setup times, daily equipment checks, line stop, etc.).
• Operational roles and responsibilities. Documented expectations for individual positions describing what they are accountable to accomplish, specific duties to be performed, to whom they report, boundary of responsibility, direct reports, etc.
• Organization element. The element that focuses on the identification of people's roles and functions, training in the new ways of working, and communication.
• Pareto. The concept that a small percentage of a group has the most impact.
• Poka-yoke. A mistake-proofing device or procedure used to prevent defects from entering a work process.
• Policy deployment. See Hoshin planning.
• Process control element. The element that is focused on the monitoring, controlling, stabilizing, and pursuit of ways to improve the process.
• Process matrix. The graphical representation on a grid, with the manufacturing process across the top and part numbers down the side. Part flow is drawn inside the grid and used to reveal patterns of commonality, resource consumption, and reverse part flow.
• Product-demand behavior analysis. The segregation of products into one of three categories (runner, repeater, and stranger) based on their product-demand behaviors.
• Product-focused multidisciplined team. A team of people representing various functions within the organization, all of whom are focused on improving the end-product performance of a given set of products, no matter how many departmental lines those products cross.
• Product grouping. The segregating of end-product demand items (SKUs) in groupings, based on defined criteria.
• Product/quantity assessment. The P/Q analysis tool looks for natural breaks for product groupings by sorting the gathered data and determining a fit for product cells by their associated volumes and the product alignment characteristics.
• Project charter. A tool that defines and clarifies management's expectations in regard to the purpose, objectives, and expected outcome of a project. This document must be agreed to and signed off on by all parties before a project can begin.
• RAA (responsibility, accountability, authority). Implies complete ownership for a deliverable, or a process, or a performance outcome. An individual (one person) is answerable for all aspects of this assignment. This person may delegate tasks but does not share the rose that has been pinned to his or her lapel.
• Rate-based schedule. Used to establish the production quantity for rate-based products in a given cell. It is determined by establishing a daily build quantity from both forecasted and booked orders, which then becomes the work schedule for the cell.
• Repeater. These products have significant variety and will usually be produced across resources that are not dedicated to a specific flow line. Due to the lower volume amounts, variable order frequency and/or high variability in operational routings, these product-demand patterns will have to be managed as mix-model product and will require more production control support than a runner type of product.
• Routing analysis. The categorization of products based on their process flow, work content, and volume to determine the most effective way to manage them in a cellular manufacturing environment.
• Runner. These products are ordered in high volumes frequently from customers and have relatively stable demand patterns. The are often managed as rate-based products and dedicated to specific cells.
• Segregated production scheduling. The grouping of products around constraints (e.g., changeover); for example, all A products are scheduled to run on first shift, while B and C products are run in sequence during the second shift due to a 2-hour changeover time between mixes.
• Service cell. In contrast to a product cell, a service operation is focused on turnaround time and delivery reliability to the customer. Service cells do not have RAA for products but are held accountable for their performance to product cells.
• SIPOC (supplier-input-process-output-customer). A process-mapping methodology used to capture a process, its outputs, and the associated inputs that triggered the process, in addition to identifying the customer of the output and the supplier of the input. It also collects information about the process, such as lead-time, volume, delivery, quality performance, etc.
• SMED (single-minute exchange of dies). A structured improvement methodology for reducing changeover downtime on equipment to less than 10 minutes.
• SPC (statistical process control). The use of statistics and data gathering to monitor process output and to control the quality of the process.
• Standard work. Documentation of the agreed-upon, one best way to produce a product. It serves as the communication, training, and process improvement tool for the cell. It can include such information as cycle time, takt time, designed level of work in process, operator flow sequence, material flow sequence, staffing, etc.
• Stranger. These products are the miscellaneous items that are being produced within the plant as one-off items or have a very low-volume or infrequent (once per year) demand pattern. These items are usually best managed through MRP and can be segregated from the rest of the factory.
• Takt time. The rhythm or beat of demand for the cell. It represents the rate of consumption by the marketplace and is based on the scheduled time available for the cell divided by the designed daily production rate for the cell.
• TPM (total productive maintenance). A structured approach to equipment maintenance involving operators, maintenance personnel, and management, all of whom have specific roles and responsibilities to eliminate unplanned downtime on equipment.
• Transition strategy. Identification of specific actions required to support the implementation of lean manufacturing through Kaizen events with minimal impact on existing production (build ahead, bleed off inventory, prep work, etc.).
• Transportation pipeline Kanban. Used for A-type parts that are expensive and complex, with long lead-times. The method involves filling the pipeline with constantly flowing Kanbans, each with a certain number of days' demand that results in a specific number of Kanbans in the system. The Kanbans are held and released from designated points in the supply chain so as to minimize the replenishment time to the next customer.
• Visual control. The aspects of lean manufacturing that support line-of-sight management (e.g., cell name signs, painted floors, marked POU areas, performance metrics).
• Volume matrix. A grid that has the manufacturing process across the top and part numbers down the side. Part-number volume, in units and hours, is applied to the work content times (from the work content matrix) to segregate high- and low-volume products and determine the degree of variation and impact on the cell design.
• Work content matrix. A grid that has the manufacturing process across the top and part numbers down the side. Part-number work content for manhours, machine time, and setup time are loaded to understand variation from part to part and process to process.
• Workable work. A process to verify the availability of work elements identified as being necessary for a job to go into production.
• Workload balancing. Shifting the work content elements between operations in order to balance the workload for the cell to takt time.