Glossaries

Leader standard work is a defined set of recurring checks and routines that managers carry out on a fixed cadence to keep a management system

A3 problem solving is a structured method for working through a problem on a single sheet of paper, moving from the current situation to a

FMEA, short for failure mode and effects analysis, is a structured method for finding the ways a product or process could fail before it does,

An Ishikawa diagram is a cause and effect tool that sorts the possible causes of a problem into categories branching from a spine, named after

A fishbone diagram is a visual tool for mapping the possible causes of a problem, grouping them into categories that branch off a central spine,

Pareto analysis is a prioritisation technique that ranks problems, or their causes, by size, so effort goes to the few that cause most of the

8D problem solving is a structured method for working through a serious defect or complaint in eight defined disciplines, from assembling a team to stopping

5S is a lean manufacturing method for organising a workplace so that everything the work needs has a place, is easy to find, and stays

Genchi genbutsu is the practice of going to the actual place to see the actual thing for yourself, rather than forming a judgement from a

Production monitoring is the continuous tracking of what a manufacturing line is producing while it runs, its output, rate, stoppages, and quality, measured against the

OEE, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness, is the standard measure of how much of the time a machine was scheduled to make good parts it actually

Hoshin Kanri is a strategic planning method that aligns an organisation’s few long-term breakthrough goals with the daily work of every level, by cascading objectives,

The PDCA cycle is a four-step method for improving a process by testing a change on a small scale before committing to it. Plan a

Kaizen is the Japanese practice of continuous improvement, and in lean manufacturing it means improving how work is done through small, steady changes made by

EHS incident management is the process a manufacturer uses to capture, investigate, and resolve environment, health, and safety events, from near misses to injuries and

The 5 Whys method is a simple root cause analysis technique that works by asking “why” a problem happened over and over, usually about five

Root cause analysis, usually shortened to RCA, is a structured way of finding the real reason a problem happened, rather than the symptom sitting on

Operational excellence in manufacturing is the state a site reaches when running well stops depending on a few heroes and becomes the way everyone works.

Continuous improvement in manufacturing is the practice of making small, steady changes to how a plant runs, instead of waiting for big one-off projects to

A gemba walk is a structured visit to where work actually happens, the production line, the lab, the packing hall, where a manager observes the

An SQDC board is a visual management tool that tracks how a team is performing across four key areas: Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost. Each

Obeya (大部屋) is the Japanese word for “big room.” In lean manufacturing, an Obeya is a dedicated space where a cross-functional team gathers, surrounds themselves

A tier board is the visual surface a team uses to run their daily meeting. It’s where the numbers, problems, and actions for the day

A tier meeting is a short daily huddle where a team reviews how the last shift performed, what’s planned today, and any problems that need

A daily management system, often shortened to DMS, is the way a manufacturing team runs its operation day by day. It keeps everyone aligned on

A production log is a written record of what a plant made, when it was made, and the conditions it was made under. It’s the

A shift report is a short summary that the outgoing shift writes at the end of their hours. It explains how the shift went, what

A shift log is the running record of what happens during a production shift. What ran. What stopped. What got fixed. What the next team

An electronic logbook, often shortened to eLogbook, is a software system used to record day-to-day activities and events in regulated industries. It does the job

A digital logbook is software that records what happens during operations, with every entry timestamped, attributed to a user, and stored where anyone with permission