Lean Manufacturing & Waste Reduction Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Lean Manufacturing & Waste Reduction flashcards as text
Which lean metric directly measures the percentage of time a process produces defect-free products?
Answer: Quality rate
The Quality rate in OEE measures the proportion of total units produced that meet quality standards without requiring rework or being scrapped.
A lean team uses the '5 Whys' technique. What is its primary purpose?
Answer: Reach the root cause of a problem by repeatedly asking 'why'
The 5 Whys is a root cause analysis tool where teams iteratively ask 'why' (typically five times) to trace a problem back to its underlying cause rather than treating symptoms.
What is 'Nagara' in lean manufacturing?
Answer: The ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously without interrupting flow
Nagara refers to the concept of natural flow — performing different operations simultaneously so that production continues smoothly without interruption or queuing.
Which waste category does processing a form through six approval signatures when two are sufficient represent?
Answer: Over-processing
Over-processing occurs when more work, effort, or quality is applied than the customer requires, including unnecessary approvals, inspections, or process steps.
In a lean transformation, what does 'yokoten' mean?
Answer: Horizontally sharing and replicating successful improvements across the organization
Yokoten is the practice of proactively sharing best practices and successful kaizen improvements horizontally across other departments, lines, or plants.
A plant wants to implement one-piece flow. Which prerequisite is most critical?
Answer: Reliable, capable processes with low defect rates and short changeovers
One-piece flow exposes all problems immediately, so process reliability and quality capability must be high; unreliable processes will cause constant stoppages in a one-piece flow cell.
What is the lean concept of 'Genchi Genbutsu'?
Answer: Going to the actual place to see the actual situation firsthand
Genchi Genbutsu ('go and see') directs managers and engineers to observe problems at the actual workplace (gemba) rather than relying on secondhand reports or data alone.