Engineering Organisational Efficiency and Improvement Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style practice flashcards covering quality assurance, lean manufacturing, production efficiency tools, and organisational management.

BS EN ISO 9001

An internationally recognized standard for quality assurance that brings together all activities supporting quality within an organisation.

Lean Manufacturing

A production practice aimed at eliminating waste of all kinds and improving efficiency.

8 Lean Wastes (TIM WOODS)

Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects, and Skills.

Kanban

A visual system used to control stock and workflow.

Just In Time (JIT)

A manufacturing principle where materials arrive only when needed to reduce stock, improve cash flow, and minimize storage space.

Kaizen

Continuous Improvement achieved by making small ongoing improvements.

5’S

A workplace organization method consisting of five stages: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, and Sustain.

SMED

Single Minuet Exchange of Die; a method used to reduce setup and changeover times.

Jidoka

A process of stopping production when a defect is detected to prevent them from moving through the process.

Heijunka

Production Levelling used to balance workload and demand.

Poka-Yoke

Mistake-proofing techniques used to prevent human error.

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

A method to monitor process performance and identify variation before defects occur.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A management approach focused on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction using the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle.

Fish Bone Diagram

A tool used to identify the possible causes of problems.

Pareto Analysis

A technique used to prioritize improvement effects.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

The process of finding the true cause of a problem.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)

A measure of reliability calculated as $\text{Total Operating Time} \times \text{Number of Failures}^{-1}$. Example: $1000\text{ hours} \times 5\text{ failures}^{-1} = 200\text{ hours}$.

Cellular Manufacturing

A layout design used to improve production flow and reduce Work In Progress (WIP).

Material Requirements Planning (MRP)

A system used to ensure the correct materials are available at the correct time.

Takt Time

The rate required to meet customer demand, calculated as $\text{Available Production Time} \times \text{Customer Demand}^{-1}$.

Gantt Chart

A tool used to plan and schedule tasks, providing a visual indication of production flow and resource use.

Mass Production

A production method characterized by producing large quantities of standardized products.

Quality

In a production context, this refers to 'fitness for purpose'.

Quality Control

The implementation of quality checks throughout all stages or when a product is complete to check against set standards.

Quarantine

An area where defective work is stored to allow the quality department to investigate further.

Productivity

A term generally relating to the amount produced by each operator.

Critical Path

The path in a product's manufacture where delays must be avoided.

Storming

The stage of team development characterized by disagreement and ideas generation.

Sector Skills Council

An organisation led by employers.

Data Protection Act

Legislation giving employees the right to see computer-held information about them, which must be provided within 1 month of a request.