The 8D methodology (Eight Disciplines) is a standardized approach for problem solving in teams. Popularized by Ford Motor Company in the eighties, 8D is practiced globally nowadays. Based on the PDCA philosophy as well as on the 8-step problem solving, it contains fundamental topics such as data-driven problem description, containment actions, root cause analysis, corrective actions and standardization for recurrence prevention. It is most commonly used for Quality issues whose symptoms have been identified but still the cause is yet to be determined.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic technique of Quality management, process improvement and product development that aims to identify all potential ways of failure of a process or a product, as well as to quantify their respective effects. It is based on the empirical assessment of aspects such as severity, frequency of occurrence, detectability and criticality of failures. The outcome is usually a prioritized set of actions for risk mitigation and process control improvement.
The Job Breakdown Sheet, JBS. was created under the TWI Training Withins Industry program and is a clear and simple tool, which aims to teach someone how to perform a certain task.
This document details the sequence of the steps of the task, shows how to do them, pointing out the key points and the reasons for each one of these steps. Its main advantage is its effectiveness in the training, in a short time, of inexperienced workers. The JBS is part of the JI Job Instructions component of TWI as developded by the War Manpower Commission and later adopted by Toyota as the basis of Standard Work.
From the japonese junjo you, sequence of processing, the order in which a part or product is produced. Junjo is a method of sequentially supplying components to an assembly line or cell. In opposition to kanban systems, in which there is a continuous replenishment of the stock level lineside, with junjo systems the parts may vary according to the next product to assemble and therefore must be supplied in the right sequence and in the moment they’ll be integrated in the process. It is a good solution for large or customized components.
Created in the 80’s by the Japanese professor Noriaki Kano, the Kano Model is a tool for understanding the Voice of the Costumer (VOC) that studies how product features affect customer satisfaction.
It usually starts with a specially designed customer questionnaire to identify unspoken expectations. Each feature is then classified as Basic, Linear, Delightful, Indifferent or Reverse to help prioritizing the product development roadmap.
These categories are not static though, as what is now considered to be attractive tends to become an expected requirement in the future.
First published in 1954 by John Little, professor of Operational Research at MIT, this law of the Queueing Theory domain states that: In a stable system, the number of clients is equal to the average processing rate of the system multiplied by the average time the customer passes through the system. Applied to an industrial production environment, we can formulate Little's law as follows: Lead-time = Stock in progress / Production Cadence. Basically what Little's Law tells us is that the lead-time of a process is directly proportional to the level of inventory in the same process, so reducing the inventory level in a production system will shorten its lead-time.
Measurement system analysis (MSA) is an experimental and mathematical method that assesses the adequacy of a measurement system for a given application by quantifying its stability, bias, linearity, repeatability and reproducibility.
MSA is a critical first step that should precede any data-based decision making. It answers questions such as: can the measurement system adequately discriminate between different parts? Is the measurement system stable over time? Is the measurement system accurate throughout the range of parts?
There are MSA methods for variable data (eg: GageR&R) as well as for attribute data (eg: Kappa Statistic).
In the context of proposing and developing new ideas, Nemawashi is the process of discussing them informally and individually with key stakeholders prior to presenting them in a formal meeting. The purpose is to gather feedback beforehand and start building consensus in order to improve the original idea and make it more likely to be accepted by the time it is formally submitted. It can be translated as “going around the roots” (in the sense of digging around a tree to prepare it for transplant) and it is the first step in the decision making process in Japanese companies.
Preventive Maintenance is one of the approaches to implement Planned Maintenance (see also Keikaku Hozen) in which repairing or replacement events are scheduled to take place before any significant failure occurs (as opposed to Planned Breakdown Maintenance). Maintenance interventions may be periodically scheduled (time-based maintenance) or triggered by prescribed criteria that point out when a problem is likely to occur (condition-based maintenance). If one can translate those criteria into reliability forecasting parameters and use them to optimize the cost-effectiveness of the interventions, then it’s called Predictive Maintenance.
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a maintenance strategy for mature industrial plants that focuses on preserving system functions, rather than preserving machines individually. Beginning with identifying the whole system failure modes, RCM objective is to deploy conjoint maintenance action plans (of corrective, preventive or predictive nature) for every equipment in order to provide a desired level of overall operability within an acceptable level of risk, in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
A Japanese word that means “stacking up”, Yamazumi is the method of balancing the workload between workstations of the same process. By leveling cycle times of all stations and matching them with the customer takt time, it greatly reduces unevenness, waiting times and overburden. This is usually made clear using a stacked bar chart – the Yamazumi chart.
Yokoten is a Japanese word meaning “horizontal deployment” which can also be translated as “across everywhere”. However, in Lean culture yokoten goes beyond the usual notion of communicating best practices. It is seen as a peer-to-peer (not top-down) transfer of knowledge in which people from one area of the organization are expected to go and see for themselves how another area is doing kaizen, so they can adopt it, adapt it and eventually improve it and share it forward. Within the PDCA way of thinking, yokoten happens in the Act stage and drives the spread of excellence, aiming to prevent valuable ideas to be only vaguely transferred or not transferred at all. When full knowledge conveying and refining is finally on everybody’s mind, yokoten becomes a cultural feature with tremendous potential for success multiplying. No wonder it has been dubbed as the really hard part of Lean Transformation.