Technology & Digital Tools Flashcards

Which cloud collaboration platform feature is most valuable for sustaining kaizen culture across geographically dispersed lean teams?

Answer: Shared idea boards with voting, status tracking, and linkage to measurable outcomes

Idea boards with outcome tracking make continuous improvement visible and measurable, sustaining engagement across locations by showing that ideas lead to real results.

A lean leader notices that production data from the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is not matching data on the physical Kanban board. What is the FIRST lean response?

Answer: Go to the gemba to observe the actual process and identify the source of the discrepancy

The gemba walk to observe the actual condition is always the first lean step when data conflicts arise, as root cause often lies in a process or behavior not captured by either system.

When implementing automated data collection to eliminate manual logging waste, a lean team should first ensure which condition exists?

Answer: The data being collected directly ties to a defined lean metric or problem-solving need

Collecting data without a clear purpose creates its own form of overprocessing waste; technology should be deployed to answer specific, value-adding questions.

In lean standard work documentation, what advantage does a digital work instruction system (e.g., Poka-Yoke Systems, AssemblyX) offer over printed binders?

Answer: It allows instant updates, multimedia content (photos/videos), and version control ensuring workers always follow the latest standard

Digital work instruction systems eliminate the waste of outdated paper instructions by pushing real-time updates to workstations and supporting visual guidance through images and video.

A lean leader is reviewing a proposal to use AI-powered demand forecasting. Which lean concern should be evaluated first?

Answer: Whether the improved forecast accuracy will enable a shift toward genuine pull production or simply improve push scheduling

Better forecasts can improve push efficiency but may still not achieve the responsiveness of a true pull system; the lean leader must evaluate whether the tool moves the organization toward customer-paced production.

Which of the following best describes the lean concept of 'yokoten' applied to a digital knowledge management system?

Answer: Systematically capturing and sharing best practices and improvements horizontally across all sites and teams

Yokoten means horizontal knowledge transfer; digital knowledge platforms accelerate this by making proven improvements searchable and replicable across the entire organization.

A company uses machine learning to optimize preventive maintenance schedules on lean production lines. This approach is an example of which advanced lean concept?

Answer: Autonomous maintenance supported by predictive analytics (a digital extension of TPM pillar)

Predictive maintenance powered by machine learning extends the TPM autonomous maintenance pillar by using data to determine optimal maintenance timing, reducing both breakdowns and unnecessary planned stops.