Lean Glossary

Cell: an arrangement of people, machines, materials, and equipment with the processing steps placed right next to each other in sequential order through which parts are processed in a continuous flow. The most common cell layout is a U shape.
Circle game: Draw a circle on the floor and observe an area or process with the intent of identifying waste.
Continuous flow: a concept in which items are processed and moved directly from one processing step to the next, one piece at a time. This concept is also referred to as "one piece flow" and "single piece flow."
Corrective Maintenance: Work on assets that have not yet failed, the need for which was identified by inspection.
Cycle time: the time required to complete one cycle of an operation. If cycle time for every operation in a complete process can be reduced to equal takt time, products can be made in single-piece flow.

See also Takt time.
Error proofing: a process used to prevent errors from occurring or to immediately point out a defect as soon as it occurs. If defects don't get passed down an assembly line, throughput and quality are improved.

See also Poka-yoke.
Flow: the progressive achievement of tasks along the value stream so that a product proceeds from design to launch, order to delivery, and raw materials into the hands of the customer, with no stoppages, scrap, or backflows.
Jidoka: one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System. Jidoka provides machines and operators with the...

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