Lean Quality Management Flashcards

What is the primary goal of lean manufacturing?

Answer: Eliminating waste to deliver maximum value to the customer with minimum resources

Lean manufacturing focuses on identifying and eliminating all forms of waste (non-value-added activities) to deliver more value with fewer resources.

In the lean '5S' methodology, what does the first 'S' (Seiri) represent?

Answer: Sort — separate necessary items from unnecessary ones and remove the latter

The first S (Sort/Seiri) involves going through all items in the workplace and removing anything that is not needed for current operations.

'Value stream mapping' is used to:

Answer: Visualize all steps in a process — value-added and non-value-added — to identify improvement opportunities

Value stream mapping creates a visual representation of the flow of materials and information through a process, highlighting waste and improvement opportunities.

'Kaizen' in lean manufacturing means:

Answer: Continuous, incremental improvement involving all employees at all levels

Kaizen (Japanese for 'change for better') is a philosophy of continuous incremental improvement involving everyone in the organization, from management to front-line workers.

'Takt time' is calculated as:

Answer: Available production time divided by customer demand rate

Takt time = available production time divided by customer demand, setting the pace at which production must occur to meet customer needs.

'Poka-yoke' is a lean/quality concept that means:

Answer: Error-proofing or mistake-proofing mechanisms that prevent defects from occurring or passing undetected

Poka-yoke devices or methods make it impossible or immediately obvious when an error occurs, preventing defects from being produced or passing to the next step.