Module 1 — The Lean Foundation Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the pre-Lean era, TPS house, 5 Lean principles, and the 8 wastes (DOWNTIME) based on Module 1.

Craft Production

A pre-Lean era characterized by high-skill artisans, low production volume, long lead times, and custom products, which ended due to inconsistent quality and unscalable costs.

Ford Highland Park Plant

The facility where Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line in 1913.

Ford River Rouge Plant

The Ford manufacturing plant where Eiji Toyoda spent three months in 1950 studying mass production.

Eiji Toyoda

Japanese executive who spent three months at Ford's River Rouge plant in 1950 and concluded mass production was not suitable for Japan's market.

Taiichi Ohno

TPS pioneer who concluded mass production was unsuitable for Japan, adapted Lean principles, and originally identified the 7 wastes.

TPS House

An operational system framework featuring Just-in-Time as the roof, Jidoka and Standard work as pillars, and Heijunka plus stable, standardized processes as the foundation.

Heijunka

Level scheduling that forms part of the foundation of the TPS House.

Jidoka

A pillar of the TPS House and the Lean antidote to defects, defined as stopping the line to fix the root cause.

Value (Principle 1)

Product-specific, customer-specific, and time-specific quality that the customer is willing to pay for, defined strictly by the customer rather than the engineer.

Value Stream (Principle 2)

The set of all value-adding and non-value-adding actions required to bring a product from concept to customer, encompassing material and information flows.

Flow (Principle 3)

The synchronized and steady movement of remaining value-adding steps through the value chain without interruption, queues, downtime, or waiting.

Pull (Principle 4)

A system where nothing is produced upstream until the downstream customer signals a need, standing in contrast to forecast-driven push systems.

Kanban

Physical signal cards used to implement pull systems by indicating production and replenishment requirements from downstream steps.

Perfection (Principle 5)

The continuous, never-ending trajectory and process of waste reduction that creates a closed loop with the other Lean principles.

DOWNTIME

An acronym representing the 8 Wastes: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, and Extra-processing.

Defects (Waste #1)

Work that fails quality standards leading to scrap, rework, or warranty claims; caught late, a defect costs $10 \times$ more than one caught at the source.

Overproduction (Waste #2)

Producing more than, sooner than, or richer than what the customer wants; regarded as Taiichi Ohno's #1 enemy because it masks all other wastes.

Waiting (Waste #3)

Idle time experienced by people, machines, or materials, which accounts for the single largest share of unplanned production loss.

Non-Utilized Talent (Waste #4)

The failure to engage and utilize employees' skills, ideas, and creativity in operational improvements.

Transportation (Waste #5)

Unnecessary movement of materials between processes, creating risks of damage, loss, and prolonged lead times.

Inventory (Waste #6)

Excess raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), or finished goods that tie up cash and conceal operational defects.

Motion (Waste #7)

Unnecessary physical movement of people, such as walking, reaching, or bending, leading to ergonomic injury, fatigue, and wasted time.

Extra-Processing (Waste #8)

Performing more work than the customer values, such as over-specifying tolerances or requiring redundant approvals.