Lean Implementation and Continuous Improvement Flashcards

A lean transformation team is selecting which value stream to improve first. According to lean prioritization principles, they should choose the stream with the:

Answer: Greatest gap between current and ideal state lead time

The stream with the largest improvement opportunity (biggest gap between current and target state) typically delivers the highest impact from lean efforts.

Hoshin kanri (policy deployment) connects lean improvement efforts to strategy by:

Answer: Cascading organizational goals into aligned actions at every level through catchball dialogue

Hoshin kanri aligns improvement priorities from the executive level down to the shop floor through a two-way 'catchball' process of negotiation and commitment.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is calculated as:

Answer: Availability × Performance × Quality

OEE multiplies three factors—availability, performance rate, and quality rate—to give a composite measure of productive equipment utilization.

A process improvement team wants to test whether a proposed change actually reduces cycle time before full implementation. The lean-aligned approach is to:

Answer: Run a small-scale pilot (PDCA 'Do' phase) and measure against a baseline

Running a small pilot before full deployment is the 'Do' step of PDCA, allowing rapid learning with minimal risk.

In a lean environment, the concept of 'visual management' means that:

Answer: The status of any process should be understandable by anyone within seconds without asking

Visual management makes abnormal conditions immediately obvious to everyone so that problems can be identified and addressed quickly without verbal communication.

Which statement BEST describes the difference between a kaizen event (rapid improvement event) and continuous daily kaizen?

Answer: Kaizen events focus on specific, concentrated breakthrough improvements; daily kaizen involves small, ongoing improvements by all employees

Kaizen events are intensive, time-boxed team activities targeting a specific problem, while daily kaizen is a continuous habit of small improvements embedded in daily work.

A lean leader wants to understand current conditions before launching an improvement project. The principle of 'genchi genbutsu' advises them to:

Answer: Go to the actual place where work occurs and observe the process directly

Genchi genbutsu ('go and see') directs leaders to observe real conditions at the gemba (actual workplace) rather than relying on second-hand data or reports.