# LeanSuite > LeanSuite is lean manufacturing software for frontline operations. This is the full page index; the short version is at https://www.theleansuite.com/llms.txt. ## Key facts - LeanSuite is lean manufacturing software for frontline operations. - Uptime: 99.5% monthly uptime commitment. - Pilot: a 90-day pilot costs $3,000 per facility, and LeanSuite's team does the setup. The pilot fee is separate from the annual plan (it is not credited toward it), and Vision AI is not part of the pilot. - Pricing model: the facility plan is one flat price per facility with unlimited users, quoted per facility; no annual price is published. - Small business plan: $499 per month for one facility with up to 25 employees, with unlimited users and every module except Vision AI (the time and motion study, video analysis, line balancing and AI SOPs), which is priced separately. Small businesses apply for it with a short form, and the team chooses which applications fit the plan. The free Starter plan is the Idea Management System only. - Onboarding: the first module is live in under a week, and can be live as soon as the next day. - Response: enquiries are answered within one business day. - Compliance: SOC 2 Type 1 compliant. The report can be downloaded from /security/soc-2-report with a work email after accepting the confidentiality terms. - Hosting: secure cloud infrastructure (cloud hosted), with web, iOS and Android apps. - Single sign-on: SAML 2.0 / OAuth with Microsoft Entra ID and Okta. Operators can sign in with an employee ID, no email needed. - AI: the RCA Agent drafts 5 Whys, 4M1D and fishbone from a problem and attached documents; Vision AI builds time and motion, line balancing, SMED and ergonomic studies and SOPs from a process video; one-point lessons (OPLs) are built from before-and-after photos. - KPI data: scheduled pulls from Excel on SharePoint or OneDrive and Google Sheets, CSV upload with column mapping, manual entry, and embedded Power BI or Looker Studio reports. - Company: founded in 2021. Angad Singh is a co-founder. - Customer result: Whirlpool ran continuous improvement across 14 manufacturing plants on LeanSuite. Its Global Kaizen Power Pitch saw 84 Kaizen battles, 150 Kaizen presented, $14.8M in hard savings and $17.6M in soft savings, and Whirlpool won a 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Award (/case-studies/whirlpool). - Reviews: 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra, from 8 reviews. ## Start here - [Best lean manufacturing software (buyer's guide)](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-lean-manufacturing-software): For "what is the best lean manufacturing software": eight tools (iObeya, KaiNexus, L2L, LeanSuite, Redzone, Rever, Tervene, Tulip) compared from each vendor's public information; published by LeanSuite. - [Best continuous improvement software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-continuous-improvement-software): For "best continuous improvement software": six tools (i-nexus, KaiNexus, LeanSuite, Minitab Engage, Rever, Tervene) compared from each vendor's public information; published by LeanSuite. - [Free lean templates](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates): For practitioners: free 5S, gemba walk, A3, 8D, PFMEA, kaizen, TPM, safety and quality templates as PDF and Excel, each with how to fill it in and a worked example. - [Free lean calculators](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools): OEE, TEEP, takt time, cycle time, line balancing, SMED, downtime cost, FPY, COPQ, Cpk, DPMO, MTBF and MTTR, safety stock and more, each with the formula and a worked example. - [Small business plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/pricing): For small factories: $499 per month for one facility with up to 25 employees, unlimited users, every module except Vision AI. Small businesses apply with a short form linked from the pricing page. - [90-day pilot](https://www.theleansuite.com/pilot): For plants that want to test LeanSuite on their own lines: $3,000 per facility for 90 days, set up by LeanSuite's team, first module live in under a week, and at day 90 the plant decides. - [Book a demo](https://www.theleansuite.com/schedule-demo): Book a live demo with the LeanSuite team. - [Interactive demo](https://www.theleansuite.com/see-it-in-action): Try LeanSuite in the browser with sample data, no call needed. - [Whirlpool case study](https://www.theleansuite.com/case-studies/whirlpool): How Whirlpool tracked continuous improvement across 14 plants with LeanSuite, with the savings figures. ## Products ### Stabilize & Standardize - [Daily Issue Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management): Daily issue management software: anyone on the floor tags a problem in seconds, it goes to an owner with a due date, and it is tracked until it is fixed. - [Daily Issue Management For Autonomous Maintenance Tag](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management/autonomous-maintenance-tags): Daily issue management for autonomous maintenance: operators tag equipment issues, reliability improves and downtime drops through proactive care. - [Daily Issue Management For Environment Tag](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management/environment-tags): Daily issue management for environment tags: track environmental issues, improve compliance, reduce waste and support sustainability improvements. - [Daily Issue Management For Professional Maintenance Tag](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management/professional-maintenance-tags): Professional maintenance tags in LeanSuite's daily issue management: preventive maintenance, reliability work and maintenance tracking that cut downtime. - [Daily Issue Management For Quality](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management/quality-tags): Daily issue management for quality: find defects, resolve quality issues faster, make processes more consistent and keep product quality high. - [Daily Issue Management For Safety](https://www.theleansuite.com/daily-issue-management/safety-tags): Daily issue management for safety: find workplace risks, track safety issues, respond faster and strengthen compliance for a safer operation. - [Audit Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/audit-management): LeanSuite's Audit Management system helps you build, schedule, and act on findings to turn your compliance tasks into a powerful engine for improvement. - [CILR Checklists](https://www.theleansuite.com/cilr-checklists): Use LeanSuite's Lean Creator to build visual CILR checklists that empower operators to prevent breakdowns before they happen. - [Document Builder](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-document-builder): Stop wasting hours on manual data entry. Start building powerful, custom digital forms in minutes with LeanSuite's manufacturing document builder. - [Digital Checklist Builder for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-document-builder/checklists): Easily build interactive digital checklists for any factory process. Create visual guides for standard work, CILR, and daily tasks in minutes. - [Build Digital Inspection & Audit Forms](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-document-builder/inspections-and-audits): Easily build digital forms for your factory audits and inspections. Standardize your process, ensure compliance, and track corrective actions. - [Build Custom Surveys for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-document-builder/surveys): Build custom surveys for any manufacturing need. Gather employee feedback, measure customer satisfaction, and improve processes. - [Training Module Builder for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-document-builder/trainings): Easily build and deploy interactive training modules for your frontline. Create on-the-job training materials to verify comprehension and track skills. ### Empower & Improve - [Idea Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/idea-management): Idea management software for manufacturing teams: operators submit ideas from a phone, every idea gets an answer, and the best become Kaizen projects. - [Idea Management for HR: Employee Engagement](https://www.theleansuite.com/idea-management/for-hr): Idea management for HR: employees share ideas from a phone, see them acted on and earn points and prizes. Build engagement with a suggestion system. - [Idea Management Software for Quality](https://www.theleansuite.com/idea-management/for-quality): Idea management software for quality: collect improvement ideas, reduce defects, make processes more consistent and drive quality improvement. - [Idea Management Software for Safety](https://www.theleansuite.com/idea-management/for-safety): Idea management software for safety: capture safety improvement ideas from employees, reduce workplace risks and strengthen safety performance. - [Kaizen & Projects](https://www.theleansuite.com/continuous-improvement-software): Manage your Kaizen projects in one place. LeanSuite's Continuous Improvement Software helps you meet strategic goals and accelerate results. - [Continuous Improvement Tag](https://www.theleansuite.com/continuous-improvement-software/continuous-improvement-tag): Continuous improvement practices to optimize workflows, reduce waste, improve team performance and drive operational excellence across your plants. - [Continuous Improvement Engineering](https://www.theleansuite.com/continuous-improvement-software/for-engineering): Continuous improvement for engineering: methods, tools and frameworks to streamline processes, solve operational problems and build an improvement culture. - [Continuous Improvement Quality](https://www.theleansuite.com/continuous-improvement-software/for-quality): Continuous improvement for quality: strategies, tools and practices that improve product quality, reduce defects and strengthen compliance. - [Continuous Improvement Safety](https://www.theleansuite.com/continuous-improvement-software/for-safety): Continuous improvement for safety: practices, systems and methods that reduce workplace risk, improve safety performance and strengthen compliance. - [Competency Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/competency-management): LeanSuite gives you a live, visual skills matrix to close gaps, deploy the right people, and build a flexible workforce. - [Trainings (LMS)](https://www.theleansuite.com/lms-for-manufacturing): Empower your frontline with the exact skills they need to improve safety, quality, and productivity with LeanSuite's LMS for manufacturing. - [Job Cover Matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/job-cover-matrix): LeanSuite's Job Cover Matrix is a live, visual tool to help you fill staffing gaps in seconds and keep production running. ### Predict & Accelerate - [Loss & Cost Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/loss-and-cost-management): Loss and cost management software: import your loss data, get a loss tree that puts a cost on each loss, and track the savings as you remove them. - [KPI Dashboards](https://www.theleansuite.com/kpi-dashboards): LeanSuite transforms your shop floor data into live, intuitive KPI dashboards that empower everyone to make smarter decisions. - [Lean Studio](https://www.theleansuite.com/lean-studio): Lean Studio is LeanSuite's whiteboard: stickies, shapes and arrows, 15 data widgets from scorecards to kanban, and 30 ready-made lean board templates. - [Best Practice Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/best-practice-management): Best practice management software: capture a local win, approve it as a standard and share it with every plant, then track where each plant has adopted it. - [Quality Prioritization Matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/quality-prioritization-matrix): LeanSuite's Quality Prioritization Matrix uses your defect data to create a clear, financially-driven roadmap for your Kaizen initiatives. ### Vision AI - [AI Video Analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/ai-video-analysis): Upload one process video and LeanSuite AI generates time and motion studies, SMED analysis, ergonomic scores, line balancing and value stream maps. - [AI Root Cause Analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/ai-root-cause-analysis): AI root cause analysis for manufacturing: the LeanSuite RCA Agent drafts a 5 Whys, 4M1D and fishbone from your problem, SOPs and past issues. See a demo. - [Time & Motion Study](https://www.theleansuite.com/time-and-motion-study) - [Line Balancing](https://www.theleansuite.com/line-balancing): Upload a process video and let LeanSuite AI build Yamazumi charts, spot bottlenecks, and simulate line rebalancing — no stopwatch required. - [Ergonomic Study](https://www.theleansuite.com/ergonomic-study): LeanSuite AI reviews work videos to flag ergonomic risks in posture, movement, and workstation design so teams can make jobs safer. - [Value Stream Mapping](https://www.theleansuite.com/value-stream-mapping): AI value stream mapping from video: LeanSuite turns footage of each step into a current-state map with measured cycle times, inventory and lead time. - [SMED Changeover](https://www.theleansuite.com/smed): Cut changeover time with digital SMED—visual checklists, instant missing-tool alerts, and structured workflows that reclaim lost capacity. - [AI SOP Creation for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/sop): Create standardized SOPs faster: LeanSuite AI turns process knowledge into clear, structured instructions for consistent work. - [Standard Maintenance Procedures](https://www.theleansuite.com/standard-maintenance-procedures) - [Digital Work Instructions](https://www.theleansuite.com/digital-work-instruction): Film a task once and LeanSuite AI turns it into clear, step-by-step digital work instructions that standardize processes and reduce errors. - [AI One Point Lesson (OPL) Creator](https://www.theleansuite.com/opl): Highlight a 30-60 second moment in any video and LeanSuite AI turns it into a One Point Lesson, ready to post, share, and certify. - [AI Standard Maintenance Procedures (SMP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/smp): LeanSuite AI turns maintenance tasks into clear, step-by-step Standard Maintenance Procedures that improve consistency and cut downtime. ## Solutions by goal - [Safety Improvement](https://www.theleansuite.com/workplace-safety-in-manufacturing): Build a safer workplace. LeanSuite's platform provides the tools for proactive training, reporting, and corrective actions. - [Quality Improvement](https://www.theleansuite.com/quality-improvement-in-manufacturing): Discover how to standardize quality, reduce defects, and lower costs. LeanSuite provides the lean tools for true quality improvement. - [Operational Excellence](https://www.theleansuite.com/operational-excellence-in-manufacturing): Achieve true operational excellence. LeanSuite's platform helps you boost OEE, increase FPY, and standardize processes to eliminate waste. - [Cost Reduction](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-cost-reduction): Effectively manage your manufacturing costs. LeanSuite gives you the visibility to reduce spending and drive higher profitability. - [Workforce Enablement](https://www.theleansuite.com/manufacturing-workforce-development): Invest in your manufacturing workforce. Our platform helps you boost employee engagement, develop critical skills, and improve long-term retention. ## Industries - [Lean manufacturing software by industry](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries): How LeanSuite fits food and beverage, automotive, appliance and industrial or HVAC equipment plants: the problems each faces and the modules that help. - [Food and beverage](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/food-and-beverage): Lean manufacturing software for food and beverage plants: changeover and sanitation checklists, audit evidence, operator training and line losses. - [Lean playbook for food and beverage plants](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/food-and-beverage/lean-playbook): Seven problems food and beverage plants meet on the floor (changeovers, sanitation, short stops, giveaway, holds, new operators, audit evidence), the lean methods for each, a 90-day plan and the KPIs to track. - [Automotive](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/automotive): Layered process audits, standard work, skills matrix, 8D corrective actions and SQDC tier meetings for automotive and auto parts plants, in one system. - [Lean playbook for automotive plants](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/automotive/lean-playbook): Eight problems automotive and auto parts plants meet on the floor (downtime on a paced line, standard work drift, audits, repeat defects, line balance, certified operators, supplier changes, tier meetings), the lean methods for each, a 90-day plan and the KPIs to track. - [Appliances and consumer durables](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/appliances-and-consumer-durables): Lean manufacturing software for appliance and consumer durables plants: kaizen at scale, best practice sharing between plants, line balancing and quality. - [Industrial and HVAC equipment](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/industrial-equipment): Lean software for industrial and HVAC equipment makers: work instructions for complex assembly, skills, supplier quality, rework and near-miss safety. - [Lean playbook for industrial and HVAC equipment makers](https://www.theleansuite.com/industries/industrial-equipment/lean-playbook): Seven problems industrial machinery and HVAC equipment makers meet on the floor (high-mix flow, complex assembly, scarce skills, rework after test, bought-in parts, shortages, heavy-work safety), the lean methods for each, a 90-day plan and the KPIs to track. ## Use cases - [All use cases](https://www.theleansuite.com/use-cases): Explore LeanSuite use cases across safety, quality, operations, and workforce, and see how manufacturers digitize lean on the shop floor. - [Tiered Meeting Management](https://www.theleansuite.com/tiered-meeting): Run tiered meetings on live data, not whiteboards. Cascade shop-floor to top-floor dashboards that drive alignment and action every shift. - [Near Miss Reporting](https://www.theleansuite.com/near-miss): Capture near-misses in seconds on mobile, then track corrective actions to completion so today’s close calls never become tomorrow’s injuries. - [5S Workplace Organization](https://www.theleansuite.com/5s-page): Sustain 5S with digital audits, photo evidence, corrective actions, and live score dashboards that keep workplace standards from sliding after audits. - [LOTO (Lockout/Tagout)](https://www.theleansuite.com/loto-lockout-tagout): Digitize Lockout/Tagout with guided isolation steps and an unalterable audit trail—safer than paper LOTO binders, ready for inspections. - [NCR (Non-Conformance Reports)](https://www.theleansuite.com/ncr): Digitize NCRs and link defects to root-cause workflows so quality issues get fixed for good—not filed away and repeated next month. - [COPQ (Cost of Poor Quality)](https://www.theleansuite.com/copq): Cut Cost of Poor Quality by tracking scrap, rework, and returns—then prioritize the defects that hurt margins most with clear financial impact. - [Autonomous Maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/autonomous-maintenance): Roll out digital Autonomous Maintenance and CILR checklists so operators catch abnormalities early and prevent downtime before it hits production. - [Microstops Elimination](https://www.theleansuite.com/micro-stops): Stop micro-stops from killing OEE. Log brief jams on the floor while AI groups the data to reveal your costliest bottlenecks to fix first. - [Absenteeism Tracking](https://www.theleansuite.com/absenteeism): Manage unplanned absenteeism fast—find certified replacement operators, protect line coverage, and keep production running safely when key people are out. - [OJT (On-the-Job Training)](https://www.theleansuite.com/ojt-page): Standardize onboarding and OJT with digital training, skills tracking, and structured sign-offs that make new hires productive faster. - [Yokoten (Horizontal Deployment)](https://www.theleansuite.com/yokoten): Scale plant wins with digital Yokoten—capture local improvements and standardize them across sites so factories stop reinventing solutions. - [BBS (Behavior-Based Safety)](https://www.theleansuite.com/bbs): Digitize Behavior-Based Safety observations into trackable data, positive reinforcement, and micro-training that turns safety walks into lasting habits. - [Audit Readiness](https://www.theleansuite.com/audit-readliness): Stay always audit-ready. LeanSuite builds a verified digital trail of inspections and training for ISO, IATF, and customer audits—no paper scramble. - [Supplier Quality](https://www.theleansuite.com/supplier-quality): Digitize inbound inspections, flag supplier defects with photo proof, and score vendors automatically so bad materials stop hitting your line. - [Cross Training](https://www.theleansuite.com/cross-training): Use a live Skills Matrix to expose single points of failure and automate cross-training so one absence never shuts down a critical machine. - [Retention](https://www.theleansuite.com/retention): Boost frontline retention with a gamified idea system that gives operators a voice, rewards participation, and proves leadership listens. - [CI Portfolio](https://www.theleansuite.com/ci-portfolio): Prove CI ROI with a centralized portfolio that tracks Kaizen projects in real time and shows leadership the financial impact of every improvement. ## Problems we solve - [Problems We Solve](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions): The shop-floor problems manufacturers bring to LeanSuite, one page each: what it looks like on your floor, why the usual fixes fade, and how to close it for good. - [Frontline Worker App: No Company Email Needed](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/frontline-worker-app-no-email): Operators with no company email get locked out of your suggestion program. A frontline worker app that signs them in by employee ID, from any tablet. - [Create an SOP From Video](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/create-sop-from-video): You already filmed the line. LeanSuite can create an SOP from video: numbered steps, PPE, tools, and a clip behind every step. Book a demo. - [Current State Value Stream Map, Built From Video](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/current-state-value-stream-map): Your current state value stream map was drawn from memory and went stale in a week. Film each step and let cycle and lead times come off the video. - [Kaizen Cost Savings You Can Actually Prove](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/kaizen-cost-savings-tracking): Kaizen cost savings typed in on closing day never survive finance. Set the target when the project opens and watch the glide path month over month. - [Employee Suggestion Program That Actually Gets Answers](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/employee-suggestion-program-software): An employee suggestion program only works if someone answers. LeanSuite routes every idea to an approver and shows the submitter the decision. - [CAPA Effectiveness Check: Close It For Real](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/capa-effectiveness-check): Without a CAPA effectiveness check the cause never dies. Keep issues open until someone verifies them, lock endless reassignment, send repeats to Kaizen. - [Cost of Downtime in Manufacturing, Ranked by Line](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/cost-of-downtime-in-manufacturing): Your report ranks stops by minutes. See the real cost of downtime in manufacturing line by line, so you work what costs the most, not what looks longest. - [Cross Training Matrix for Shift Coverage](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/cross-training-matrix-shift-coverage): A cross training matrix shows who is qualified to run what, so one absence does not stall the line. Schedule by skill and train where you are one deep. - [Manufacturing KPI Dashboard That Fills Itself](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/manufacturing-kpi-dashboard): Stop retyping last week's numbers into a deck. A manufacturing KPI dashboard that reads your sheets, SharePoint or MES, so you act right on the board. - [SOP Compliance: Why Operators Ignore The Binder](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/sop-compliance-on-the-floor): Three versions in the binder, no name on any of them. See why SOP compliance slips and how owners, review dates and version control fix it. - [Daily Management System for Manufacturing Plants](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/daily-management-system-manufacturing): Your list stores tags but cannot say what is open or who owns it. A daily management system for manufacturing routes, tracks and verifies every tag. - [Skills Gap Analysis Software for Plant Floors](https://www.theleansuite.com/solutions/skills-gap-analysis-software): Your spreadsheet tells you who was qualified after the line stops. Skills gap analysis software shows the gap by level, station and shift, first. ## Learn and tools - [Learn Lean Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn): Everything LeanSuite publishes to help you run a better plant, in one place: blogs, e-books, case studies, problem guides, the ROI calculator and the newsletter. - [Lean manufacturing software: buyer's guide](https://www.theleansuite.com/lean-manufacturing-software): What lean manufacturing software is, what it should cover, and a 7-point checklist for choosing one, from frontline sign-in to security and pricing - [Lean management software: what it does and how to choose it](https://www.theleansuite.com/lean-management-software): What lean management software is (software for the daily management system: tier meetings, leader standard work, gemba walks, visual boards, actions and escalation), the jobs it does, a 10-point evaluation checklist with LeanSuite's answers, when a whiteboard is enough, rollout steps, pitfalls and free tier board and leader standard work templates. - [Standardized work software: what it does and how to choose it](https://www.theleansuite.com/standardized-work-software): What standardized work software is (software that builds, delivers, controls and audits the standard for each job: takt, work sequence, standard WIP, standard work sheets, combination tables and work instructions), a worked takt and line balance example, a 9-point evaluation checklist with LeanSuite's answers, when Excel is enough, rollout steps, pitfalls and free standard work templates and calculators. - [Connected worker platform for manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/connected-worker-platform): What a connected worker platform is, what LeanSuite connects on the plant floor (instructions, skills, issues, audits, tiered meetings, ideas), who uses it, and ready-made modules versus no-code app platforms - [Full library](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/library): Every article and e-book, listed - [Lean manufacturing glossary](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary): Plain definitions of the lean terms plant managers and CI leads use, from 5S and OEE to SMED, kaizen and takt time, with links to in-depth guides. - [Lean manufacturing acronyms and what they stand for](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms): What lean and manufacturing acronyms stand for, from WCM, OEE and TPM to DOWNTIME, RACI, PDCA and DMAIC, each with a plain meaning and a link to go deeper. - [Japanese lean terms: meaning and pronunciation](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms): Kaizen, gemba, muda, poka-yoke, nemawashi and 30 more lean terms: the Japanese, how to say each one, what it means word for word and in lean. - [The best lean and manufacturing improvement books, with honest summaries](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books): Lean, Toyota, kaizen, TPM, quality and strategy books chosen on stated criteria, each with a plain summary, its weak points and how to use it on Monday. - [The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-machine-that-changed-the-world): What The Machine That Changed the World shows, the 1989 plant numbers behind it, what critics dispute, and how to test its ideas on your own line. - [Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-thinking): Lean Thinking by Womack and Jones: the five principles, the action plan, what critics say it misses, and what to try in your first week. - [Lean Production Simplified: A Plain-Language Guide to the World's Most Powerful Production System by Pascal Dennis: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-production-simplified): Review of Pascal Dennis's Lean Production Simplified: the house of lean, what each edition covers, its limits and a first-week plan. - [Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/toyota-production-system-ohno): Review of Taiichi Ohno's Toyota Production System: the core argument, what it leaves out, critiques of the example and translation, and how to use it. - [Workplace Management: Special 100th Birthday Edition by Taiichi Ohno: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/workplace-management): Taiichi Ohno's Workplace Management: what it says about the gemba, honest critiques, a first-week plan, and whether to read it before his TPS book. - [The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-toyota-way): Liker's The Toyota Way: what the 14 principles say, what to try in week one, where the book is thin, and which edition to buy. - [Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success by Masaaki Imai: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/kaizen-key-to-japans-competitive-success): Imai's 1986 Kaizen: the management argument, how it differs from Gemba Kaizen, a first-week plan, honest critiques and which edition to find. - [Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy by Masaaki Imai: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/gemba-kaizen): Imai's Gemba Kaizen: the five gemba rules, 5S, muda and standardization, a first-week plan, Baudin's critique, and which edition to buy. - [Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor and Lead by John Shook: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/managing-to-learn): John Shook's Managing to Learn explained: how A3 mentoring works, where the book is thin, and a first-week way to run one A3 on a real problem. - [Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System by Durward K. Sobek II and Art Smalley: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/understanding-a3-thinking): What Sobek and Smalley's book teaches about A3 types and the seven elements, where it falls short, and how to review and write an A3 in your first week. - [Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results by Mike Rother: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/toyota-kata): Rother's Toyota Kata: the improvement and coaching kata in plain terms, a first-week plan, honest critiques, and why you also need the Practice Guide. - [Learning to See: Value-Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate Muda by Mike Rother and John Shook: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/learning-to-see): Learning to See by Rother and Shook: the eight future-state questions, where value stream mapping fits, what it misses, and a first-week plan. - [Making Materials Flow: A Lean Material-Handling Guide for Operations, Production-Control, and Engineering Professionals by Rick Harris, Chris Harris and Earl Wilson: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/making-materials-flow): Making Materials Flow by Harris, Harris and Wilson: PFEP, markets, delivery routes and pull signals, a first-week plan and honest critiques. - [Creating Level Pull: A Lean Production-System Improvement Guide for Production-Control, Operations, and Engineering Professionals by Art Smalley: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/creating-level-pull): Art Smalley's Creating Level Pull: what the 12 questions cover, a first-week plan for leveling a pacemaker, honest limits, and who should read it. - [Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation by Karen Martin and Mike Osterling: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/value-stream-mapping-martin-osterling): Review of Karen Martin and Mike Osterling's Value Stream Mapping: what it teaches, three-day method, limits, and how to use it on Monday. - [Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions by David Mann: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/creating-a-lean-culture): David Mann's four-part lean management system: leader standard work, visual controls, accountability and discipline. Summary, critique, and how to start. - [The Lean Manager: A Novel of Lean Transformation by Michael Ballé and Freddy Ballé: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-lean-manager): The Ballés' novel of a plant manager learning to coach rather than command: what it teaches, who should skip it, and how to use it with your team. - [Gemba Walks by James P. Womack: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/gemba-walks): Jim Womack's 72 essays on going to the gemba: what the book argues, what it lacks, how to apply a value stream walk on Monday, and who should skip it. - [Introduction to TPM: Total Productive Maintenance by Seiichi Nakajima: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/introduction-to-tpm): Nakajima's 129-page Introduction to TPM: what it argues, what is dated, the 85 percent OEE myth, and a first-week plan for one machine. - [Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/out-of-the-crisis): Deming's Out of the Crisis: the 14 points, variation and tampering, why the book is hard to read, and four first-week checks for a plant. - [Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System by Shigeo Shingo: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/zero-quality-control): Shingo's Zero Quality Control: source inspection and poka-yoke in plain terms, when to use it over SPC, honest critiques, and a first-week plan. - [Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/understanding-variation): Wheeler's Understanding Variation: routine vs exceptional variation, how to build the chart, what critics dispute, and a first-week plan for one metric. - [The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance by Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman and Roland R. Cavanagh: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-six-sigma-way): What The Six Sigma Way (Pande, Neuman, Cavanagh) teaches, where it is dated or contested, and what to do with it in your first week on the floor. - [Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Speed by Michael L. George: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-six-sigma): George's Lean Six Sigma: Little's law, cycle efficiency, what the book gets right, critiques from Graban and Flinchbaugh, and a first-week plan. - [The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-goal): Goldratt and Cox's The Goal explained for plant people: constraints, throughput, where critics push back, and a first-week plan to find your bottleneck. - [Getting the Right Things Done: A Leader's Guide to Planning and Execution by Pascal Dennis: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/getting-the-right-things-done): Pascal Dennis's strategy deployment book: what it teaches, where it falls short, and four steps a supervisor can take on Monday morning. - [Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise: Developing Competitive Capabilities and Managing Profit by Thomas L. Jackson: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/hoshin-kanri-for-the-lean-enterprise): Thomas Jackson's hoshin kanri workbook: what its X-matrix and value stream P&L add, where it is dated, and five Monday-morning steps. - [A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System by Shigeo Shingo: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/a-revolution-in-manufacturing-smed): What Shingo's SMED book teaches, what Toyota insiders and critics dispute, and a first-week plan to cut one changeover using internal and external steps. - [Factory Physics by Wallace J. Hopp and Mark L. Spearman: summary and review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/factory-physics): What Factory Physics teaches about WIP, variability and buffers, where its laws stop holding, and how to test Little's Law on your own line this week. - [Continuous improvement job descriptions and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers): Job descriptions, interview questions, skills, KPIs and career paths for seven continuous improvement roles, from CI engineer to operational excellence manager. - [Operational excellence manager: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/operational-excellence-manager): Runs the improvement system for a site or a business: strategy deployment, the CI team, standards and the results they deliver. - [Kaizen facilitator: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/kaizen-facilitator): Plans and runs kaizen events, keeps teams to the method and makes sure the actions get finished after the event. - [Continuous improvement manager: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/continuous-improvement-manager): Leads the CI program at a site: the project pipeline, the CI team, training and the savings it reports. - [Production supervisor with CI duties: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/production-supervisor): Runs a shift or an area to plan, and leads the daily improvement there: huddles, problem solving and standard work. - [Continuous improvement engineer: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/continuous-improvement-engineer): Leads improvement projects hands-on: analyses the process, finds the causes and puts in changes that cut waste and variation. - [Lean six sigma black belt: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/lean-six-sigma-black-belt): Leads complex, data-heavy improvement projects with DMAIC and coaches green belts. - [Lean coordinator: job description and interview questions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/ci-careers/lean-coordinator): Keeps the lean basics running day to day: 5S, visual management, audits, training and the idea program. - [Lean manufacturing statistics (2026)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics): 58 sourced statistics on downtime, maintenance, quality, safety, skills, engagement and digital manufacturing, each with its year and source. - [Kaizen ideas: 120 improvement examples by department](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas): 120 generic kaizen and continuous improvement ideas for production, maintenance, quality, warehouse and logistics, safety and the office, each with the problem, the change, the effort and the free template that helps put it in place. Filter by department, waste type and effort. - [The LeanSuite Podcast by Angad Singh](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast): Short episodes from LeanSuite's co-founder on what happens on a shop floor after the workshop ends - [Podcast episode 6: It Just Takes Forever for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/it-just-takes-forever-for-manufacturing): Angad on why most factories are still behind on anything digital, and why the answer is usually "we're able to do it on Excel." He walks through what he sees in discovery, why bigger companies take it on faster than small shops, and the three things a project needs to actually happen. He also lays out where a plant should start — visibility into daily in and out — and the employee count where this starts to pay for itself. Free resources for it: Digital manufacturing readiness assessment and Employee engagement survey template. - [Podcast episode 5: Corporate gives you 90 million and you find the other 10](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/corporate-gives-you-90-million-and-you-find-the-other-10): Angad walks through how plants get handed a year over year savings target, how the budget gets built ground up and then cut, and why the target should come from the bottom up instead of top down. He goes through the different types of savings — hard savings, virtual savings, cost avoidance — and how project work gets tracked month over month. He also covers the two questions he asks before building an ROI: what is your savings target for the year, and have you been meeting it. Free resources for it: Cost savings tracker and Kaizen savings calculator. - [Podcast episode 4: If the data isn't even there, there aren't any action items](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/if-the-data-isnt-even-there-there-arent-any-action-items): Angad talks about what he's seen on plant floors where lean work lives on spreadsheets, paper and whiteboards with tags pinned by hand. He covers why paper means there's no data, and no data means no action items to track, why homegrown fixes break down after a few years, and where he tells people to start instead. He ends with the question he asks to see if any of it is worth it: how much admin work is going into managing all this today. Free resources for it: Gemba walk questions poster and See it, say it, fix it safety poster. - [Podcast episode 3: Pick One Pilot Area, One Pain Point, And Start There](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/pick-one-pilot-area-one-pain-point-and-start-there): Angad talks about why continuous improvement rollouts stall when a company tries to open up everything at once, and what he tells clients to do instead. He covers the discovery conversation, the train the trainer approach, and staggering a rollout across facilities so the more advanced plants go first. Free resources for it: Idea suggestion form and 1-1-90 method worksheet. - [Podcast episode 2: Did We Put A Band Aid, Or Did We Actually Kill It?](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/did-we-put-a-band-aid-or-did-we-actually-kill-it): Angad talks about what happens when problems get logged, bounced around and closed without ever getting to the root cause. He covers capturing every problem in one place, tags that get reassigned instead of resolved, why a one point lesson expires after 60 days, and what it takes to make a fix stick. Free resources for it: TPM tag log and One point lesson (OPL) template. - [Podcast episode 1: Don't Work on Line Number Two, Work on Line Number One](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/podcast/dont-work-on-line-number-two-work-on-line-number-one): Angad walks through why two lines down for the same ten minutes can cost you completely different amounts of money, and why downtime minutes alone hide the resultant losses. He talks about walking the floor hour by hour as a data analyst, how causal and resultant losses and cost buckets get mapped onto MES data, and what a prioritized loss tree changes in a war room. He also covers what happens to that prioritization when the underlying data isn't clean. Free resources for it: Downtime cost calculator and Cost deployment matrix. - [The LeanSuite Crew (videos)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/leansuite-crew): Ten fictional plant characters take on one real shop floor problem a day: a full episode plus three Shorts, with the free templates and guides each one uses. The page introduces each character and lists the YouTube playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPxrRG1t_4MM - [What I'm Hearing in CI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/what-im-hearing): Short videos from our conversations with CI leaders and lean consultants: what they help with, why improvements fade, what gets harder across plants. - [Series 1: What I'm hearing from consultants](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/what-im-hearing/consultants): What lean and CI consultants do for manufacturers, and what happens to their work after they leave. Live: Ep. 01 What do consultants actually help manufacturers with? - [The 6 Ms of production (the 6M method)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/6ms-of-production): The six cause categories of a fishbone diagram (Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Mother Nature) on one page, with how to run a 6M session, an example and free templates. - [Poka-yoke: a guide to mistake-proofing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/poka-yoke): Poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) on one page: prevention vs detection, the contact, fixed-value and motion-step methods, how to design and test a device, and the guides that go deeper. - [Model area: a 90-day plan for each pillar, then expansion](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/model-area): What a model area is, how improvement pillars usually start, ten free 90-day pillar plans (safety, quality control, autonomous maintenance, professional maintenance, environment, focused improvement, logistics, people development, early equipment management, cost deployment) and how expansion works after day 90. - [Moving from Excel to one system: a checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/move-from-excel-to-one-system): A checklist for moving lean trackers from spreadsheets to one system: inventory every sheet, decide what moves, stays or is retired, clean the data, pilot one area, run old and new side by side for a set number of cycles, then make the old file read-only. - [Where to start reducing machine downtime: a worked month from one downtime log](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/reduce-machine-downtime): A worked month of downtime on one bottling line (37 stops, illustrative, with the log as a CSV): total lost time and availability, Pareto by minutes, stops and cost, short stops against long stops, an impact and effort table to pick the first loss, a 30, 60 and 90 day plan and how to re-measure. - [Andon and jidoka: stop, call, respond, with a response-time example](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/andon): How an andon system works on a real line: jidoka from the Toyoda loom, cord, light and board, the green, yellow and red states, stopping at once or at a fixed position, the escalation ladder by time, the measures (median and 90th percentile response, resolve time, pulls per shift, repeat reasons), one shift of 14 pulls worked through with a Pareto, the culture that keeps people pulling, and common mistakes. - [Cycle time, throughput time and lead time for one part, worked through](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/cycle-time-vs-lead-time): Practical guide: one steel shaft followed through six steps, with takt time, step cycle times and the bottleneck, throughput time, production lead time checked with Little's Law, order-to-delivery lead time, the value-added ratio and what each number tells you to do. - [Root cause analysis: which tool, in what order](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/root-cause-analysis): Which root cause analysis tool to use for which problem, the order to use them in, the evidence that ends each step, three tests that verify a root cause, and one weld leak problem worked through Pareto, is / is not, timeline, fishbone, fault tree and 5 whys. - [How many operators does this line need? Takt, work content, balance and relief](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/how-many-operators): How to work out how many operators a line needs: takt from demand and available time, total work content divided by takt, rounding, balance efficiency and balance delay, stoppages and allowances as factors you set, what to do with 4.2 operators, and the roster with absence cover, worked through on one assembly line. - [Why LeanSuite instead of spreadsheets, homegrown tools or a big suite](https://www.theleansuite.com/why-leansuite): Why plants choose LeanSuite over spreadsheets and paper, tools built in-house and big suites: any method and any project type, one place for improvement, audits, issues, skills and KPIs, and a 90-day pilot. - [Onboarding: what your first days with LeanSuite look like](https://www.theleansuite.com/services/onboarding): How LeanSuite onboarding works: set up by our team, online onboarding included in every order, first module live in under a week, check-ins every two weeks through the first 90 days, and one module and one area at a time after that. - [Moving from spreadsheets and paper to LeanSuite](https://www.theleansuite.com/services/migration): How to move 5S audits, kaizen trackers, skills matrices, action logs and KPI sheets from Excel and paper to LeanSuite: checklist upload, bulk user upload, CSV and native connectors, SSO and the templates library. - [Support and service levels](https://www.theleansuite.com/services/support): LeanSuite's service terms in plain language: 99.5% monthly uptime, a help desk 24 hours a day 5 days a week, response times by priority, maintenance windows, backups, security contact and data export. - [What is continuous improvement software?](https://www.theleansuite.com/what-is-continuous-improvement-software): A plain guide to the category: what continuous improvement software is, what it replaces, the core capabilities, who uses it, how to choose, build versus buy versus spreadsheets, and what it costs. - [Leader standard work: definition, examples and free templates](https://www.theleansuite.com/leader-standard-work): What leader standard work is, the routine and share of the day at each level (team leader, supervisor, production or value stream manager, plant manager), how to build it in five steps, one example routine per level, common mistakes, how to keep it going, and four free templates (PDF and Excel). - [Hoshin kanri: meaning, X-matrix, catchball and free templates](https://www.theleansuite.com/hoshin-kanri): What hoshin kanri (policy or strategy deployment) is, why companies use it, how a hoshin year runs, how to read an X-matrix, how catchball works, the monthly bowling chart review, how it connects to tier boards, kaizen and A3, hoshin kanri against OKRs, common mistakes, how KPIs, kaizen projects and A3 connect to the X-matrix in LeanSuite, and a free X-matrix template (PDF and Excel) and bowling chart. - [Lean in 7 days: a free email course on lean basics](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days): Seven short lessons by Angad Singh, Co-Founder of LeanSuite, one each working day and all readable on the site. Each ends with one action for the reader that day and a free template. - [Day 1: What lean is and the 8 wastes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-1-what-is-lean): What lean is, value against waste, and the 8 wastes you can spot on any floor (DOWNTIME). - [Day 2: Gemba walks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-2-gemba-walks): What a gemba walk is, why most of them change nothing, and the three parts of a walk that works. - [Day 3: 5S, done so it lasts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-3-5s): The five steps of 5S, why most 5S programs fade after the cleanup, and where to start. - [Day 4: Standard work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-4-standard-work): Standard work's three parts (takt time, work sequence, standard WIP) and what makes people actually use it. - [Day 5: Visual management and daily huddles](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-5-visual-management-and-daily-huddles): Making normal and abnormal visible at a glance, and a 10 to 15 minute daily huddle that acts on the board. - [Day 6: Problem solving: 5 whys, A3 and PDCA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-6-problem-solving): Root cause problem solving with the 5 whys, the A3 and PDCA, and the two traps that bring problems back. - [Day 7: Kaizen, and making it stick](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/day-7-kaizen): Daily kaizen and kaizen events, how to get ideas flowing, and how to make improvements last. - [Free Lean Basics certificate](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-in-7-days/certificate): A free certificate of completion for Lean in 7 days: pass a 14 question knowledge check (12 right to pass, retakes allowed), take the 24 statement lean maturity assessment, and get a public certificate page with a badge for LinkedIn. It is not an accredited qualification. - [The 1-1-90 method: 1 area, 1 pain point, 90 days, then expand](https://www.theleansuite.com/1-1-90-method): The 1-1-90 method, from Angad Singh and the LeanSuite team: a way to roll out continuous improvement by picking 1 area and 1 pain point, running it for 90 days and then expanding what worked. How to choose the area, write the pain point, run the 90 days and expand, with a free worksheet. - [Lean examples, sorted by type](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples): Illustrated galleries of lean examples, sorted by type, with what each example does and where you would see it, plus links to templates and guides. - [Poka-yoke examples from daily life and the shop floor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke): 28 illustrated poka-yoke examples from daily life and the shop floor, sorted into contact, fixed-value and motion-step methods, each marked prevention or detection. - [One point lesson examples for the shop floor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson): 20 one point lesson (OPL) examples sorted into basic knowledge, safety, problem case and improvement case, each with the mistake it heads off, the picture it uses and who it is for. - [DMAIC examples: 16 projects, phase by phase](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic): 16 illustrative DMAIC projects, from scrap and changeovers to invoices and clinic waiting times, each outlined phase by phase through Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. - [Employee rewards examples, sorted by type](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards): 24 employee reward examples sorted into intrinsic, monetary, non-monetary, incentive schemes and wellness, each with what it is good for and the usual pitfall. - [SMED examples: 16 changeovers, before and after](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed): 16 worked SMED changeover examples sorted by Shingo's stages and filterable by technique and machine, each with a before and after timeline of internal and external work. - [Autonomous maintenance examples: 24 tags, fixes and visual controls by step](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance): 24 illustrative autonomous maintenance examples sorted by the seven AM steps and filterable by equipment, each with the defect tag, the fix, a before and after drawing of the visual control, who checks it and how often, and the minutes it saves. - [A3 examples: three worked A3 reports, with a coach's notes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/a3): Three complete A3 reports (problem solving, proposal and status) laid out left side and right side, with a coach's note on every box and the weak spots reviewers see most. - [Gemba walk examples: what to look for and what to ask](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk): Twelve worked gemba walks, filterable by area (receiving to office) and purpose (safety, standard work, quality, 5S, flow, people), each with a route, what to look for and why, questions to ask, what not to do and a filled-in observation log. - [PDCA examples: six worked cycles from the shop floor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca): Six complete plan-do-check-act cycles from the shop floor, each with a baseline, a target, a prediction written before the trial, a small-scale test, the check against all three and the decision that followed. Two miss their target. - [Fishbone diagram examples: five worked manufacturing problems](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram): Five worked fishbone diagrams from plant problems, each drawn with its 6M or 4P bones, then the vote that set the order of checks, how each top cause was confirmed or ruled out with evidence, the action and the result, plus the five weak spots that make fishbones fail. - [5 whys examples: worked chains with the evidence for each why](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys): Ten worked 5 whys chains in manufacturing, quality, safety and maintenance. Each gives the evidence that checks every why, the verified cause, the countermeasure and how the fix was verified, with the wrong turn that was available. - [Lean manufacturing topics](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics): LeanSuite's lean manufacturing guides sorted into ten topics, from kaizen and root cause analysis to TPM, 5S, quality, safety and standard work. - [Whirlpool case study](https://www.theleansuite.com/case-studies/whirlpool): See how Whirlpool achieved $14.8M in hard savings and $17.6M in soft savings by transforming their CI program with LeanSuite. - [Waste and ROI calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/roi): See how digitizing frontline operations can return value across downtime, quality, and labor, then estimate your own ROI with LeanSuite. - [Manufacturing ROI Calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/roi/calculator): Answer a few questions about your shop floor, shifts, and downtime to estimate your potential ROI with LeanSuite. - [Free lean manufacturing calculators](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools): Free calculators for OEE, TEEP, OLE, downtime, SMED, takt, cycle and lead time, FPY, COPQ, Cpk, DPMO, MTBF, scrap, safety stock and TRIR/DART. - [OEE calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/oee-calculator): Calculate overall equipment effectiveness from shift time, downtime, ideal cycle time and part counts. See availability, performance and quality. - [Downtime cost calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/downtime-cost-calculator): Work out what unplanned downtime costs per hour, per event and per year from lost output, idle labour, restart scrap and overtime to catch up. - [SMED changeover calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/smed-changeover-calculator): Split changeover work into internal and external, see the time saved by moving steps to external, the capacity freed each week and the smaller batch size. - [Takt time calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/takt-time-calculator): Work out takt time from available production time and customer demand, in seconds and minutes per unit, with the formula and a worked example. - [Cycle time calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/cycle-time-calculator): Compare cycle time with takt time and see units per hour, capacity per shift and per day, and the gap to customer demand, with a worked example. - [Line balancing calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/line-balancing-calculator): Enter station times and takt time to get line efficiency, balance delay, idle time and the minimum number of stations, with a chart of each station. - [Bottleneck calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/bottleneck-calculator): Enter each step's cycle time, machines and uptime to find the bottleneck, line capacity per hour and per day, and the gap to customer demand. - [First pass yield (FPY) calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/first-pass-yield-calculator): Calculate first pass yield for each process step and rolled throughput yield (RTY) across all of them, and see which step loses the most units. - [Cost of poor quality (COPQ) calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/copq-calculator): Add up prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure costs to get your cost of poor quality and total cost of quality as a share of revenue. - [Process capability (Cp, Cpk) calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/process-capability-calculator): Calculate Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk from your spec limits and either a mean and standard deviation or pasted measurements, with a chart against the limits. - [DPMO and sigma level calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/dpmo-calculator): Calculate defects per million opportunities (DPMO), DPU, yield and the Six Sigma level from defects, units and opportunities, with a sigma table. - [MTBF and MTTR calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/mtbf-mttr-calculator): Work out mean time between failures, mean time to repair and availability from operating time, failures and repair time, with a worked example. - [Lead time calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/lead-time-calculator): Estimate manufacturing lead time from work in process and throughput with Little's Law, and see how much of it is value-added time. - [Throughput time calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/throughput-time-calculator): Add process, inspection, move and wait time to get throughput time, see process cycle efficiency, and work out throughput in units per hour. - [Kaizen savings calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/kaizen-savings-calculator): Turn a kaizen's time saved, scrap avoided and other savings into yearly savings, payback in months and first-year ROI, with a worked example. - [TEEP calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/teep-calculator): Calculate TEEP as OEE times utilization from calendar time, planned production time and the three OEE factors, with the formula and a worked example. - [Overall labor effectiveness (OLE) calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/ole-calculator): Work out overall labor effectiveness from paid hours, idle hours, the standard time per unit and good and total units, with the formula and an example. - [Inventory turnover and days on hand calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/inventory-turnover-calculator): Calculate inventory turnover and days on hand from cost of goods sold and beginning and ending inventory, with the formula and a worked example. - [Safety stock calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/safety-stock-calculator): Calculate safety stock and the reorder point from the service level, demand and lead time and their variation, with the formula and a worked example. - [Scrap rate calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/scrap-rate-calculator): Calculate scrap rate from units made and units scrapped, see what the scrap costs per period and per year, and what a lower target would save. - [TRIR and DART rate calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/trir-dart-calculator): Calculate TRIR and DART rates from OSHA 300A columns G to J and hours worked, per 200,000 or 1,000,000 hours, with a rolling 12-month table and an example. - [NIOSH lifting equation calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/niosh-lifting-equation-calculator): Revised NIOSH lifting equation calculator: recommended weight limit, lifting index and all six multipliers, in kg or lb, with the NIOSH tables and limits. - [Time study sample size calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/time-study-sample-size-calculator): How many cycles to time in a time study: paste your first readings, pick confidence and accuracy, and get n by the t, ILO and range methods, step by step. - [Maintenance strategy selector](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/maintenance-strategy-selector): Pick run to failure, time-based, condition-based, failure-finding or redesign for one failure mode, with the RCM reasoning, P-F and test intervals. - [Noise dose and TWA calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/noise-dose-calculator): Noise dose and 8-hour TWA from levels and times, under OSHA (90 dBA PEL, 85 dBA action level) and NIOSH (85 dBA REL), with the working shown. - [Repair or replace calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/repair-or-replace-calculator): Keep and repair an old machine or buy a new one? Compare equivalent annual cost at your discount rate, with economic life, break-even and the working. - [Compressed air leak cost calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/compressed-air-leak-calculator): Cost of compressed air leaks from hole size and pressure (US DOE table): cfm lost, kW and cost a year per leak, a ranked tag log and a leak test. - [Machine hour rate calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/machine-hour-rate-calculator): Machine hour rate from depreciation, interest, floor space, energy, maintenance, tooling and insurance, with and without labour, and cost per part. - [Lean maturity self-assessment](https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/lean-maturity-assessment): Score your plant on 24 statements across leadership, daily management, standard work, problem solving, CI culture, flow, quality and people. - [Free lean manufacturing templates](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates): Free lean, safety and quality templates: 5S audit, gemba walk, PFMEA, A3, 8D, CAPA log, NCR, JSA, risk matrix, LOTO, PM checklist, OEE. PDF and Excel. - [5S audit checklist template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/5s-audit-checklist): Free 5S audit checklist: 25 scored checks across sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain, a 1-5 scale and a score summary. PDF and Excel. - [1-1-90 method worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/1-1-90-method-worksheet): Free 1-1-90 method worksheet: score areas 1 to 5, write one pain point with a number, check days 30, 60 and 90, then plan the expansion. PDF and Excel. - [Gemba walk checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/gemba-walk-checklist): Free gemba walk checklist: a walk plan and route, 30 observation prompts on safety, quality, flow, standard work, 5S and people, and a findings table. - [Leader standard work template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/leader-standard-work-template): Free leader standard work template: a team leader's daily, weekly and monthly routine with a box per day, follow-ups and a weekly review. PDF and Excel. - [Supervisor leader standard work template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/supervisor-leader-standard-work-template): Free leader standard work template for supervisors: daily, weekly and monthly tasks, a box per day, an escalation log and a weekly review. PDF and Excel. - [Production manager leader standard work template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/production-manager-leader-standard-work-template): Free leader standard work template for production and value stream managers: daily, weekly and monthly tasks, escalation log, weekly review. PDF, Excel. - [Plant manager leader standard work template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/plant-manager-leader-standard-work-template): Free leader standard work template for plant managers: the top-tier meeting, gemba walks, audits and reviews by day, week and month. PDF and Excel. - [Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/autonomous-maintenance-checklist): Free autonomous maintenance checklist: 20 clean, inspect, lubricate and retighten checks with a box per day, an abnormality log and sign-off. PDF, Excel. - [A3 problem solving template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/a3-problem-solving-template): Free A3 problem solving template in PDF and Excel: the seven boxes from background to follow-up, and a filled-in worked example on scrap. - [PDCA template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/pdca-template): Free PDCA template: what happens at each stage, a one-page PDF, and an Excel cycle sheet and log that checks each result against the goal. - [5 Whys template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/5-whys-template): Free 5 Whys template in Excel and PDF: problem statement, branching why chain with evidence, checks for weak links, countermeasures and a worked example. - [5W1H template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/5w1h-template): Free 5W1H template in Excel and PDF: describe a problem with facts and evidence, build the problem statement, and plan actions with all six answered. - [8D report template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/8d-report-template): Free 8D report template: D0 to D8 with due dates and overdue flags, containment counts, verified occurrence and escape causes, and an effectiveness check. - [Poka-yoke worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/poka-yoke-worksheet): Free poka-yoke worksheet: what each error costs, prevention or detection, control or warning, contact, fixed-value or motion-step, payback, test log. - [Skills matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/skills-matrix-template): Free skills matrix in Excel and PDF: 0 to 4 levels as Harvey balls, coverage and gaps per task and per shift, a training plan and a filled-in example. - [Standard work sheet template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/standard-work-sheet): Free standard work sheet: takt time, work elements with manual, machine and walk time, a time chart against takt, key points and standard WIP. Excel, PDF. - [One point lesson (OPL) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/one-point-lesson-template): Free one point lesson (OPL) template in Excel and PDF: one point, wrong and right way pictures, checkable key points, sign-off record, register, example. - [SMED changeover worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/smed-changeover-worksheet): Free SMED worksheet: list changeover steps with times, mark internal or external, flag steps to move, note ideas and compare before and after totals. - [Kaizen event charter template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kaizen-event-charter): Free kaizen event charter in Excel and PDF: problem, goal, scope, boundaries, metrics with baseline and target, team, sign-off and a worked example. - [RACI matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/raci-matrix-template): Free RACI matrix template for kaizen events and CI projects: 17 project tasks by 10 roles, R, A, C, I drop-downs and a check for one accountable per task. - [Layered process audit (LPA) checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/layered-process-audit-checklist): Free layered process audit (LPA) checklist: 20 yes/no checks in four groups, a fixed-on-the-spot box, scores by group and a findings table. PDF, Excel. - [PFMEA template (process FMEA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/pfmea-template): Free process FMEA (PFMEA) template: failure modes, effects, causes, severity, occurrence and detection, RPN before and after action, and AP. Excel, PDF. - [5S red tag log and red tags](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/red-tag-log): Free 5S red tag log with six printable red tags per sheet: item, location, category, reason, decision and decide-by date. PDF, and Excel with counts. - [Shift handover template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/shift-handover-template): Free shift handover template in Excel and PDF: safety first, production vs plan, quality holds, downtime, people and open actions carried shift to shift. - [Kanban card template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kanban-card-template): Free printable kanban cards: six production and six withdrawal kanbans per sheet, the card-count formula and a register of every card in the loop. PDF. - [Pareto chart template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/pareto-chart-template): Free Pareto chart in Excel and PDF: tally, sorted chart with cumulative line and 80% cut, Other handled, count versus cost Pareto, and before and after. - [Control plan template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/control-plan-template): Free process control plan template: characteristic, specification, measurement method, sample size and frequency, control method and reaction plan. - [Corrective action request (CAPA) form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/corrective-action-form): Free corrective action form: problem, containment, occurrence and escape causes, actions, verification by period and a closure check. Excel and PDF. - [Idea suggestion form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/idea-suggestion-form): Free employee suggestion form: problem seen, idea, expected benefit, rough effort, supervisor response and points. PDF, plus an Excel idea log. - [Just Do It (JDI) card template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/just-do-it-card): Free Just Do It (JDI) cards for small fixes that need no project: before, what was done, after, who, date and cost. Six cards per sheet and a JDI log. - [Quick kaizen template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/quick-kaizen-template): Free one-page quick kaizen template: before and after photos, problem, root cause, countermeasure, results, standard updated and sign-off. PDF and Excel. - [Time study sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/time-study-sheet): Free time study sheet: elements, 10 observed cycles, lowest repeatable time, rating, allowances and standard time. The Excel version does the calculations. - [Spaghetti diagram template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/spaghetti-diagram-template): Free spaghetti diagram in Excel and PDF: squared paper, a trip log that works out distance and walking time from the layout, and a before and after. - [OEE tracking sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/oee-tracking-sheet): Free OEE tracking sheet: planned time, downtime by reason, ideal cycle time and counts per shift. Excel works out A, P, Q and OEE and charts the week. - [Near miss report form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/near-miss-report-form): Free near miss report form: what happened, where, potential severity, immediate action, root cause, corrective action, owner, due date and closure. - [Safety observation card template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/safety-observation-card): Free behavior-based safety observation cards: safe and at-risk checks by category, the conversation and follow-up. Four cards per sheet, plus a tally. - [Job safety analysis (JSA) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/job-safety-analysis-template): Free job safety analysis (JSA, JHA) template: job steps, hazards, risk before and after, controls by the hierarchy, PPE and sign-off. PDF and Excel. - [Risk assessment matrix template (5×5)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/risk-assessment-matrix): Free 5x5 risk assessment matrix: severity and likelihood guide, color-coded risk bands and a risk register scored now and after action. Excel and PDF. - [Incident investigation report template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/incident-investigation-report): Free incident investigation report: facts, timeline, immediate, underlying and root causes, actions by hierarchy of controls, OSHA recordkeeping screen. - [Toolbox talk template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/toolbox-talk-template): Free toolbox talk template: topic, key points, hazards and controls for today's work, questions raised, actions and an attendee sign-in sheet. - [Lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedure template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lockout-tagout-procedure-template): Free machine-specific lockout/tagout procedure: energy sources, isolation points, shutdown to restart steps, authorized employees and annual review. - [Forklift inspection checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/forklift-inspection-checklist): Free daily forklift inspection checklist: 23 pre-shift visual and operational checks, a week per page, a do-not-operate rule and a defect log. - [Non-conformance report (NCR) form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/ncr-form-template): Free NCR form: part, lot, quantity, the requirement vs what was found, containment, disposition, root cause, corrective action and closure. PDF and Excel. - [CAPA log template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/capa-log-template): Free CAPA log in Excel: source, problem, containment, root cause, corrective and preventive actions, owner, due date, effectiveness check and days open. - [Supplier corrective action request (SCAR) form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/supplier-corrective-action-request): Free supplier corrective action request (SCAR) form: problem with evidence, containment by a date, an 8D-style supplier response, verification, closure. - [First article inspection (FAI) report template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/first-article-inspection-report): Free first article inspection (FAI) report: part and revision, characteristics with tolerance, measured result and pass/fail, material certs, sign-off. - [Preventive maintenance checklist template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/preventive-maintenance-checklist): Free preventive maintenance checklist: PM tasks with frequency, method, standard, readings and sign-off, and a PM schedule that works out the due dates. - [Equipment downtime log (MTTR and MTBF)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/equipment-downtime-log): Free equipment downtime log: every stop with its cause and repair. The Excel works out MTTR, MTBF and downtime by machine and cause, with a Pareto chart. - [Environmental aspects and impacts register](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/environmental-aspects-register): Free environmental aspects and impacts register: activity, aspect, impact, condition, significance scoring, legal requirements, controls and owner. - [Manufacturing process instruction (MPI) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/manufacturing-process-instruction-template): Free manufacturing process instruction (MPI) template: steps with parameters, tools, quality checks, safety and PPE, photos, revisions and approval. - [Engineering process instruction (EPI) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/engineering-process-instruction-template): Free engineering process instruction (EPI) template: scope, parameters and limits, equipment and materials, validation, acceptance criteria, approvals. - [Training sign-off sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/training-sign-off-sheet): Free training sign-off sheet: course or procedure, revision, trainer, what was covered, signatures and a competence check, plus an Excel training log. - [On-the-job training (OJT) checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/ojt-checklist): Free OJT checklist for one trainee and one job: TWI get-ready checks, the four steps signed, every try recorded, a qualifying rule and follow-up checks. - [New hire onboarding checklist (manufacturing)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/new-hire-onboarding-checklist): Free manufacturing onboarding checklist: before day 1, day 1, week 1 and 30, 60 and 90 days, from safety induction and PPE to a buddy and reviews. - [Competency assessment form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/competency-assessment-form): Free competency assessment form: one person's tasks rated 0 to 4 from evidence, checks that each level is backed by what you saw, gaps and a training plan. - [Cross-training plan template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cross-training-plan): Free cross-training plan in Excel: current and target level by person and task, trainer, target date, status, and qualified people per task with flags. - [Absenteeism tracker template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/absenteeism-tracker): Free absenteeism tracker in Excel: attendance codes per person per day, absence rate by person and team, a daily count, and an optional Bradford factor. - [Engineering change request (ECR) form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/engineering-change-request-form): Free engineering change request (ECR) form: the change, reason, parts and documents affected, risk, approvals and implementation, plus an Excel ECR log. - [Design FMEA (DFMEA) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/dfmea-template): Free design FMEA template: function, failure modes, effects, causes, design controls, severity, occurrence, detection, RPN and actions. Excel and PDF. - [Process flow diagram template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/process-flow-diagram-template): Free process flow diagram template: flowchart symbols, a squared sheet to draw the flow, and a step table for operations, moves, checks, waits and storage. - [PPAP checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/ppap-checklist): Free PPAP checklist: the 18 PPAP elements with owner, due date and status, the five submission levels, readiness count, warrant and customer disposition. - [Process capability (Cpk) study sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cpk-study-sheet): Free process capability study sheet: 25 subgroups of readings, control limits, and Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk worked out in Excel, with a printable PDF. - [Office 5S audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/office-5s-audit-checklist): Free office 5S audit checklist: 25 scored checks for desks, shared areas, files and folders across the five S's, with a score summary. PDF and Excel. - [Floor marking color guide](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/floor-marking-color-guide): Free floor marking color guide: a color standard with swatches for aisles, equipment, materials, holds, scrap and keep-clear zones, plus a floor check. - [Shadow board planner](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/shadow-board-planner): Free shadow board planner in Excel and PDF: tool inventory, outline layout by tool size, daily checks with 5S audit evidence, and a missing tool log. - [Lubrication schedule template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lubrication-schedule-template): Free lubrication schedule: lube points, lubricant, method, amount, frequency, who does it, next due dates and minutes per week in Excel, with a PDF. - [TPM tag log](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/tpm-tag-log): Free TPM tag log: every abnormality tag with type, who fixes it, priority, due and closed dates, days open, and counts by type and week in Excel. - [Autonomous maintenance step audit](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/am-step-audit): Free autonomous maintenance step audit: criteria for each of the seven TPM steps scored 0 to 2, evidence, step result, decision and actions. PDF and Excel. - [Inventory cycle count sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/inventory-cycle-count-sheet): Free inventory cycle count sheet: blind counts, variance, tolerance by ABC class and record accuracy, with an Excel ABC classification and count schedule. - [Hour-by-hour production board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/hour-by-hour-production-board): Free hour-by-hour production board: hourly plan from takt time, actual, running totals, the reason for each miss and lost minutes, with an Excel version. - [Cost savings tracker](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cost-savings-tracker): Free cost savings tracker for kaizen and CI projects: hard and soft savings, payback, Finance sign-off and a glide path against target. Excel and PDF. - [CapEx request form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/capex-request-form): Free CapEx request form: need, options, costs from quotes, benefits, simple payback, NPV at your discount rate and approvals by spend level. Excel and PDF. - [Cost-benefit analysis template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cost-benefit-analysis-template): Free cost-benefit analysis template: up to three options with one-time and running costs, hard and soft benefits, payback, NPV and benefit-cost ratio. - [Cost of poor quality (COPQ) worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/copq-worksheet): Free COPQ worksheet: prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure costs line by line, totals as a share of sales and a monthly trend in Excel. - [Incoming inspection checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/incoming-inspection-checklist): Free incoming inspection checklist: paperwork, packaging, visual and dimensional checks, sampling plan and decision, plus an Excel inspection log. - [Supplier audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/supplier-audit-checklist): Free supplier audit checklist: 32 questions on quality system, process control, traceability, nonconformance and shipping, scored 0 to 3, with a rating. - [Supplier scorecard](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/supplier-scorecard): Free supplier scorecard: monthly PPM, on-time delivery, SCAR response and open SCARs scored against your targets, with a weighted score, rating and trend. - [Receiving log](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/receiving-log): Free receiving log: carrier, BOL, PO, quantities, damage, QC hold, putaway location and time, discrepancies and dock-to-stock hours. Excel and PDF. - [Warehouse safety inspection checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/warehouse-safety-inspection-checklist): Free warehouse safety inspection checklist: 30 checks on aisles, racking, docks, forklifts, PPE, fire exits and housekeeping, with actions. PDF and Excel. - [Pallet racking inspection checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/pallet-racking-inspection-checklist): Free pallet racking inspection checklist: checks per aisle for uprights, beams, locks and load signs, a green, amber and red rating and a damage log. - [Pre-shipment inspection checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/pre-shipment-inspection-checklist): Free pre-shipment inspection checklist: right part and quantity, lots, labels, packaging, paperwork, photos and release before the truck leaves. PDF. - [Material shortage log](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/material-shortage-log): Free material shortage log: part, quantity short, need date, line impact, reason, supplier, ETA and escalation, with status and counts by reason. - [Safety audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/safety-audit-checklist): Free safety audit checklist: 34 plant-wide checks from machine guarding to LOTO and exits, scored by area, with risk-rated actions. PDF and Excel. - [Ergonomic risk assessment checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/ergonomic-risk-assessment-checklist): Free ergonomic risk assessment checklist: screen tasks for 21 risk factors, score how long each lasts, rank by priority and plan controls. PDF and Excel. - [Maintenance work order form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/maintenance-work-order-form): Free maintenance work order form: request, priority, work type, LOTO, parts, hours, downtime and handback, plus a log with targets. PDF and Excel. - [Six big losses worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/six-big-losses-worksheet): Free six big losses worksheet: breakdowns, setups, small stops, reduced speed and rejects in minutes, ranked in a Pareto, with A, P, Q and OEE in Excel. - [Andon response log](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/andon-response-log): Free andon response log: time called, station, call type, response and fix minutes, downtime, cause and escalation, with targets and a summary. - [Changeover checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/changeover-checklist): Free changeover checklist: 25 checks before the stop, during the change, at first-off and after, a changeover record and an Excel log against target. - [Kanban sizing calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kanban-sizing-calculator): Free kanban sizing calculator: daily demand × lead time × (1 + safety factor) ÷ container quantity, rounded up, per part, with two-bin sizing in Excel. - [Kaizen event tracker](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kaizen-event-tracker): Free kaizen event tracker: status, process owner, facilitator, team, baseline, target, result, open actions and 30-60-90 day checks. Excel and PDF. - [Standard work audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/standard-work-audit-checklist): Free standard work audit checklist: 24 checks on documents, sequence, time, training, tools and safety, ten timed cycles and each gap's cause. PDF, Excel. - [Defect check sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/defect-check-sheet): Free defect check sheet: tally defects by type and day, units inspected, defects per 100 units, % defective, a location sheet and a Pareto. PDF and Excel. - [TWI job breakdown sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/twi-job-breakdown-sheet): Free TWI job breakdown sheet: important steps, key points and reasons, a worked example, the four steps of Job Instruction and a training timetable. - [Standard work combination table](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/standard-work-combination-table): Free standard work combination table: manual, machine, walk and wait time against takt, cycle time from the longest loop and a process capacity sheet. - [Lead time worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lead-time-worksheet): Free lead time worksheet: turn the inventory at each step into days of demand, add cycle times, and get production lead time and PCE. Excel and PDF. - [Waste walk checklist (TIMWOODS)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/waste-walk-checklist): Free waste walk checklist: 32 things to look for across the 8 wastes (TIMWOODS), where and how much, then a findings log with dot votes. PDF and Excel. - [Maintenance KPI tracker](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/maintenance-kpi-tracker): Free maintenance KPI tracker: MTBF, MTTR, availability and PM compliance per asset and month, planned % and backlog weeks, with targets. Excel and PDF. - [Daily huddle agenda](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/daily-huddle-agenda): Free daily huddle agenda: a 15-minute stand-up in six timed blocks, from safety and SQCDP results to actions and escalations, plus a log in Excel. - [DMAIC project charter template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/dmaic-project-charter): Free DMAIC project charter: business case, problem and goal statements, metrics, scope, team, phase plan, savings and a tollgate checklist. PDF and Excel. - [Water spider route plan (mizusumashi)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/water-spider-route-plan): Free water spider route plan: stops in order, what each gets, time at each stop, route time against the cycle, cart load and a trip log. Excel and PDF. - [Cost deployment matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cost-deployment-matrix): Free WCM cost deployment matrix: losses by process, causal and resultant losses, the cost of each loss, a Pareto and projects by benefit. Excel and PDF. - [Equipment criticality analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/equipment-criticality-analysis): Free equipment criticality analysis: score assets on safety, quality, output, failures, repair and spares, then weight and rank them A, B, C. Excel, PDF. - [Bottleneck analysis worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/bottleneck-analysis-worksheet): Free bottleneck analysis worksheet: each station's effective capacity from cycle time, parallel machines, uptime and yield, takt and a what-if. Excel, PDF. - [QA matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/qa-matrix-template): Free QA matrix template: defect modes against process stations, where each defect is made and caught, a weighted S × O × D score, AA to C class and Pareto. - [Fault tree analysis template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/fault-tree-analysis-template): Free fault tree analysis template: top event, AND and OR gates, basic event probabilities, minimal cut sets and the top event probability in Excel. - [Is / is not analysis template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/is-is-not-analysis-template): Free is/is not analysis template: what, where, when and extent, distinctions and changes, then each possible cause tested against the facts and ranked. - [5G investigation sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/5g-investigation-sheet): Free 5G investigation sheet: 5W1H, then gemba, gembutsu, genjitsu, genri and gensoku with 20 prompts, the gap, countermeasures and check. PDF and Excel. - [Yokoten tracker (horizontal deployment)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/yokoten-tracker): Free yokoten tracker: the source improvement, each candidate line with applicable, due, deployed, before and after and % of the source result. Excel, PDF. - [Coaching kata template (improvement kata storyboard)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/coaching-kata-template): Free coaching kata template: improvement kata storyboard with target and current condition, obstacles, PDCA cycles record and the five questions card. - [SMART goals template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/smart-goals-template): Free SMART goals template: test a goal against all five letters, set metric, baseline, target and deadline, and track progress against time. Excel and PDF. - [Lean readiness assessment template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lean-readiness-assessment): Free lean readiness assessment: 20 statements in four factors scored 1 to 5 by several people, factor averages, spread, bands and actions. Excel, PDF. - [Nemawashi template (stakeholder plan)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/nemawashi-plan): Free nemawashi template: stakeholders in talking order, influence, position before and after, concerns, changes to the proposal, follow-ups. PDF, Excel. - [Breakdown analysis report](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/breakdown-analysis-report): Free breakdown analysis report: phenomenon, repair, 5 Whys, the five causes of breakdowns, countermeasures and 30/60/90-day checks. PDF and Excel. - [Heijunka box planner (production leveling)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/heijunka-box-planner): Free heijunka box planner: takt, pitch and slots from weekly demand, a leveled product sequence, the box grid, a changeover check and EPEI. Excel and PDF. - [4M change management sheet (change point)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/4m-change-management-sheet): Free 4M change management sheet: log Man, Machine, Material, Method and Design changes, the extra checks after each one and when normal checks resume. - [Future state value stream map worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/future-state-vsm-worksheet): Free future state VSM worksheet: the eight Learning to See questions with takt, pitch, kanbans, EPEI and lead time before and after. PDF and Excel. - [Value stream plan (VSM action plan)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/value-stream-plan): Free value stream plan: the future-state map's loops with objectives and goals, kaizen bursts as owned projects on a 12-month timeline, status and metrics. - [Kaizen project plan (Gantt chart)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kaizen-project-plan): Free kaizen project plan with a Gantt chart: tasks by phase, predecessors, working-day dates, % planned against % done and a status rule. Excel and PDF. - [Histogram template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/histogram-template): Free histogram template: up to 125 readings, bins by the square root rule, counts, spec limits and share out of spec, plus six common shapes explained. - [Scatter diagram template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/scatter-diagram-template): Free scatter diagram template: 50 x and y pairs, correlation r, least squares line, quadrant count and r by group to stratify. Excel and printable PDF. - [Gauge calibration log](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/gauge-calibration-log): Free gauge calibration log: a register with next due dates and status, an as-found and as-left calibration record, out-of-tolerance steps and pass rate. - [Escalation matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/escalation-matrix-template): Free escalation matrix template: who is called for safety, quality, machine, material and people issues, after how many minutes, with an escalation log. - [Visual management audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/visual-management-audit-checklist): Free visual management audit checklist: 29 checks on the workplace, displays, controls, metrics, standards, safety and a 5-second test. PDF, Excel. - [Quality alert form](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/quality-alert-form): Free quality alert form: the defect with OK and not OK photos, what to check, what to do if found, suspect stock, shift sign-off and an Excel alert log. - [TQM self-assessment template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/tqm-self-assessment): Free TQM self-assessment: the 8 principles of total quality management in 24 statements scored 0 to 4 by several people, spread and top gaps. Excel, PDF. - [Employee recognition program template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/employee-recognition-program-template): Free employee recognition program template: points per action, six reward types, prize catalog, budget, points ledger, leaderboard and fairness check. - [Lean transformation roadmap](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lean-transformation-roadmap): Free lean transformation roadmap: six phases with exit criteria, workstreams by quarter over 24 months, model line choice, metrics, cadence and risks. - [Obeya room planner](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/obeya-room-planner): Free obeya room planner: what goes on each wall, wall owners, meeting cadence, a timed review agenda, roles and rules, plus a weekly KPI and action review. - [Paper forms inventory (paperless manufacturing worksheet)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/paper-forms-inventory): Free paper forms inventory for going paperless: hours a month per form, who acts on it and how long it waits, a priority score and a pilot pick list. - [Continuous improvement software evaluation scorecard](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/ci-software-evaluation-scorecard): Free scorecard for choosing continuous improvement software: must-have gate, weighted criteria scored 1 to 5, demo script, reference questions. Excel, PDF. - [Lean principles assessment template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lean-principles-assessment): Free lean principles assessment: 25 things to check on the floor under the 5 lean principles for one value stream, scores, next steps, trend. Excel, PDF. - [Employee engagement survey template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/employee-engagement-survey): Free employee engagement survey for shop floor teams: 14 statements in six drivers, two open questions, results by driver and team, and an action plan. - [Hansei reflection sheet (lessons learned)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/hansei-reflection-sheet): Free hansei reflection sheet: goals against results, what went well and fell short, causes not blame, lessons to keep or change, yokoten. Excel, PDF. - [Safety cross calendar](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/safety-cross-calendar): Free safety cross calendar: a month drawn as the green cross, an example color key, days since the last injury, month totals and a year log in Excel. - [Daily kaizen routine board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/daily-kaizen-routine): Free daily kaizen board: a 15-minute team routine, each small fix with an owner, done date and effect, a weekly count and share-out. PDF and Excel. - [Quality circle meeting record](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/quality-circle-meeting-record): Free quality circle template: charter, meeting record with attendance, agenda and actions, a problem register by stage and a worked example. PDF and Excel. - [Weekly maintenance schedule template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/weekly-maintenance-schedule): Free weekly maintenance schedule: ready jobs by craft and day, hours available against scheduled, over-load flags, schedule compliance and break-ins. - [Operational excellence assessment template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/operational-excellence-assessment): Free operational excellence assessment: the 10 principles as 30 behaviors you can see, scored 1 to 5 by several people, spread, rank, actions. Excel, PDF. - [Scrum meeting agenda template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/scrum-meeting-agenda-template): Free scrum meeting agenda template: timed agendas for sprint planning, daily scrum, review, retrospective and refinement, plus a burndown in Excel. - [Toyota Production System (TPS) house template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/tps-house-template): Free TPS house template: draw the Toyota Production System house for one plant, with 25 practices, a status and next step per element. Excel, PDF. - [EPEI and batch size calculator](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/epei-batch-size-calculator): Free EPEI calculator: time left for changeovers, every part every interval and batch size per part, now and after SMED, for up to 20 parts. Excel and PDF. - [People, process, technology (PPT) assessment](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/people-process-technology-assessment): Free PPT framework assessment for one change: 18 people, process and technology statements scored 1 to 4, the lowest element, balance gap and actions. - [Process capacity sheet template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/process-capacity-sheet): Free process capacity sheet: manual, auto and tool change time per step, capacity per shift, the limiting machine and a demand check. Excel and PDF. - [Jidoka worksheet (stop at abnormality)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/jidoka-worksheet): Free jidoka worksheet: for one line, each abnormality that should stop the work, how it is detected, how work stops, who is called and the fix. Excel, PDF. - [Team charter template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/team-charter-template): Free team charter template: purpose, scope, roles, the KPIs the team owns, decision rights, norms and meeting cadence on one page, plus a KPI tracker. - [Chaku-chaku line planner](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/chaku-chaku-line-planner): Free chaku-chaku line planner: time each station of a load-load cell, check every machine is ready when the operator returns, takt and operators needed. - [Standard operating procedure (SOP) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/sop-template): Free SOP template with hierarchical steps: purpose, scope, roles, safety and PPE, steps with key points, records, revisions and approvals. PDF and Excel. - [Process improvement method selector](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/process-improvement-method-selector): Free method selector: 8 questions about a problem point to lean, kaizen, PDCA, 5 Whys, TQM, Six Sigma, A3, 8D or just do it, with the template to start. - [X-bar and R control chart template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/control-chart-template): Free X-bar and R control chart: 25 subgroups of 2 to 10 readings, limits from A2, D3 and D4, out-of-limit and run flags, both charts and a reaction log. - [Gage R&R study sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/gage-rr-study-sheet): Free gage R&R template by the AIAG average and range method: 10 parts, 2 or 3 appraisers and trials, with EV, AV, %GRR and ndc worked out in Excel. - [Root cause analysis template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/root-cause-analysis-template): Free root cause analysis report: problem statement, containment, timeline, 5 Whys and fishbone, verified causes, owned actions and an effectiveness check. - [Safety pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/safety-pillar-90-day-plan): Free safety pillar 90-day plan for one model area: incident pyramid, near-miss reporting, risk assessment, safety cross, a day-90 gate and expansion waves. - [Quality control pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/quality-control-pillar-90-day-plan): Free quality pillar 90-day plan for one model area: QA matrix, defect mode analysis, conditions for zero defects, QM matrix, KPI board and expansion waves. - [Autonomous maintenance 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/autonomous-maintenance-90-day-plan): Free autonomous maintenance 90-day plan: AM steps 0 to 3 on one model machine, week by week, with a KPI board, a day-90 gate and expansion waves. - [Professional maintenance (PM) 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/professional-maintenance-90-day-plan): Free professional maintenance 90-day plan for one model machine: breakdown analysis, restoration, PM tasks, spares, PM calendar and expansion waves. - [Environment and energy pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/environment-pillar-90-day-plan): Free environment pillar 90-day plan for one model area: waste and energy maps, legal register, waste hierarchy, energy losses, KPIs and expansion waves. - [Focused improvement 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/focused-improvement-90-day-plan): Free focused improvement 90-day plan for one model line: OEE and six big losses, loss themes run with PDCA, savings checked by finance and expansion waves. - [Logistics and customer service pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/logistics-pillar-90-day-plan): Free logistics pillar 90-day plan for one value stream: value stream map, supermarket, kanban loops, water spider route, FIFO, KPIs and expansion waves. - [People development pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/people-development-90-day-plan): Free people development 90-day plan for one area: skills matrix, skill gaps from losses, job instruction trainers, breakdown sheets, KPIs and expansion. - [Early equipment management 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/early-equipment-management-90-day-plan): Free early equipment management 90-day plan for one equipment project: lessons from current machines, design checklist, reviews, acceptance and start-up. - [Cost deployment pillar 90-day model area plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/cost-deployment-90-day-plan): Free cost deployment 90-day plan for one area: loss map, causal and resultant losses, loss costing, ranked projects, savings with finance and expansion. - [Moving from Excel to one system checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/spreadsheet-migration-checklist): Free checklist for moving trackers from Excel to one system: file inventory with keep, move or retire, data clean-up, pilot and exit test. PDF and Excel. - [Prioritization matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/prioritization-matrix-template): Free prioritization matrix: score up to 20 ideas on weighted criteria, rank them, test the order with equal weights and plot effort against benefit. - [Cost per unit worksheet (manufacturing cost per good unit)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/manufacturing-cost-per-unit-worksheet): Free cost per unit worksheet: materials, labor, machine and overhead per good unit, the gap to target and a ranked list of cost levers. Excel, PDF. - [Digital manufacturing readiness assessment](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/digital-manufacturing-readiness-assessment): Free digital manufacturing readiness assessment: 24 statements on process, technology and people scored 0 to 4, balance checks and ranked gaps. - [Manufacturing KPI dashboard template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/manufacturing-kpi-dashboard-template): Free manufacturing KPI dashboard in Excel: 14 KPIs from weekly plant numbers, red, amber and green against targets, a 13-week trend and a one-page print. - [RCM worksheet (failure mode and task selection)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/rcm-worksheet): Free RCM worksheet: list failure modes, class each one, then pick a condition-based, discard, failure-finding, redesign or run-to-failure task. Excel, PDF. - [Error-proofing verification log (daily master-sample check)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/error-proofing-verification-log): Free error-proofing verification log: device register, pass, fail or not run check grid, compliance, and parts to contain when a device fails. Excel, PDF. - [Training matrix template with expiry dates](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/training-matrix-template): Free training matrix template in Excel and PDF: expiry dates from months valid, due and expired flags, missing training by role, cover gaps, renewal list. - [Downtime reason codes template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/downtime-reason-codes-template): Free downtime reason code list mapped to the six big losses, planned and unplanned. Excel log with drop-downs and a Pareto, plus a code card for the line. - [Defect catalogue template with boundary samples](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/defect-catalogue-template): Free defect catalogue in Excel and PDF: definitions, critical, major and minor classes, accept and reject limits by zone, boundary sample cards and Pareto. - [I-MR chart template (individuals and moving range)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/individuals-moving-range-chart-template): Free I-MR control chart template: up to 100 single readings, moving ranges, limits from 2.66 and 3.267 × MR-bar, five run-rule flags and both charts. - [Kaizen event preparation checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kaizen-event-preparation-checklist): Free kaizen event preparation checklist: 44 dated items from 6 weeks before to 30 days after, owners, go or no-go gates and a 5-day agenda. Excel, PDF. - [Attribute control chart template (p, np, c and u charts)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/attribute-control-chart-template): Free p, np, c and u control charts in Excel and PDF: a chart selector, limits for each subgroup when n varies, signal flags and four worked examples. - [Critical spare parts list and stocking levels](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/critical-spare-parts-list): Free critical spare parts list: rank assets, class each part, pick a stocking policy and set min and max from usage and lead time. Excel and PDF. - [Tier 2 meeting agenda and escalation sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/tier-2-meeting-agenda-template): Free tier 2 meeting agenda: 15 minutes in 10 timed blocks, roles, escalation triggers with time limits and a log that ages every escalation. Excel, PDF. - [HACCP plan template: hazard analysis and CCP worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/haccp-plan-worksheet): Free HACCP plan template: Codex 12 steps, hazard analysis, CCP decision tree, critical limits, monitoring, allergen matrix, verification. Excel and PDF. - [Forklift operator training and evaluation record](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/forklift-operator-evaluation-record): Free forklift operator training record and evaluation form in Excel and PDF: 3-year due dates, refresher triggers and a weighted practical scoresheet. - [REBA worksheet (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/reba-assessment-worksheet): Free REBA worksheet in Excel and PDF: posture drop-downs, Tables A, B and C built in, final score and action level, and a before and after comparison. - [Mock recall template: traceability exercise worksheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/mock-recall-template): Free mock recall template for food plants: trace a lot one step back and one step forward, reconcile the quantities and time it against your target. - [ISO 9001 internal audit checklist (production area)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/iso-9001-internal-audit-checklist): Free ISO 9001 internal audit checklist for production: 46 questions with clause, evidence to check and sample size, grades and a findings log. Excel, PDF. - [ISO 45001 internal audit checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/iso-45001-internal-audit-checklist): Free ISO 45001 internal audit checklist for the plant floor: 44 questions with clauses, evidence to check, worker interview prompts and a findings log. - [Plan for every part (PFEP) template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/plan-for-every-part-template): Free PFEP template: one row per part with ABC classes, kanban counts for the market and the line, lineside space and lift weight checks. Excel and PDF. - [Food plant GMP inspection checklist (21 CFR 117 subpart B)](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/food-gmp-inspection-checklist): Free food GMP self-inspection checklist: 55 checks citing 21 CFR 117 subpart B, what to look at, grades, owners, due dates and a walk route. Excel and PDF. - [Master sanitation schedule with pre-op verification](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/master-sanitation-schedule-template): Free master sanitation schedule: each cleaning task by equipment with frequency, chemical, owner and next due date, plus a pre-op log. Excel and PDF. - [Changeover matrix template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/changeover-matrix-template): Free changeover matrix: from-to changeover minutes, allergen and colour clean levels and a weekly planner that suggests a shorter run order. Excel and PDF. - [Overhead crane inspection checklist: frequent and periodic](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/overhead-crane-inspection-checklist): Free overhead crane inspection checklist per OSHA 1910.179: operator pre-shift card, frequent and periodic checks, deficiency log, due dates. Excel, PDF. - [Measurement uncertainty budget template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/measurement-uncertainty-budget): Free measurement uncertainty budget in Excel and PDF: Type A and B inputs, divisors, Welch-Satterthwaite, k from the t-table, U and a guard band check. - [Maintenance job plan template](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/maintenance-job-plan-template): Free maintenance job plan template: steps, craft hours, parts check, tools, lockout, permits and a ready check for the weekly schedule. Excel and PDF. - [Free training decks](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks): Free, editable lean training presentations: 5S, kaizen, 8 wastes, autonomous maintenance, TPM, gemba walks, root cause analysis, obeya and DMAIC. - [5S training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/5s-training-ppt): Free 5S training PPT for team leaders: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain in 16 editable slides with speaker notes, an activity and a quiz. - [Kaizen training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/kaizen-training-ppt): Free kaizen training PPT: what kaizen means, its principles, PDCA, daily kaizen vs kaizen events and 4 steps to a first improvement. Editable, with notes. - [Autonomous maintenance training presentation: the 7 steps](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/autonomous-maintenance-training-ppt): Free autonomous maintenance training PPT and PDF: the 7 steps of jishu hozen, operator and maintenance roles, step audits, an example and a quiz. Editable. - [8 wastes of lean training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/8-wastes-training-ppt): Free 8 wastes training PPT: value vs waste, TIMWOODS with examples, muda, mura and muri, and how to run a waste walk. Editable slides with speaker notes. - [Gemba walk training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/gemba-walk-training-ppt): Free gemba walk training PPT for leaders: go see, ask why, show respect, before, during and after a walk, and good questions to ask. Editable, with notes. - [Root cause analysis training presentation: 5 whys and fishbone](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/root-cause-analysis-training-ppt): Free root cause analysis training PPT: define the problem, contain it, the 5 whys, the fishbone (6M) diagram, verify the cause and check the fix. Editable. - [TPM training presentation: the 8 pillars](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/tpm-training-ppt): Free TPM training PPT: what total productive maintenance is, the six big losses, OEE, the 8 pillars on a 5S foundation and how plants start. Editable. - [Manufacturing excellence pillars training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/manufacturing-excellence-pillars-training-ppt): Free manufacturing excellence pillars PPT and PDF: the 10 technical and 10 managerial pillars, cost deployment, the 7 steps and audits. Editable. - [Obeya room training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/obeya-room-training-ppt): Free obeya room PPT: what an obeya is, what goes on the walls, how to run the meetings, project vs plant obeya and how to set one up. Editable, with notes. - [DMAIC training presentation](https://www.theleansuite.com/training-decks/dmaic-training-ppt): Free DMAIC training PPT: define, measure, analyze, improve and control, the main tools in each phase, DMAIC vs PDCA and a charter activity. Editable. - [Free posters](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters): Free printable posters for the shop floor: safety, quality, environment and lean. Vector PDFs from Letter to 24 x 36 in, plus a 300 dpi PNG to share. - [PPE by zone poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/ppe-by-zone-poster): Free printable PPE poster: the personal protective equipment typically worn in seven shop floor zones, as a chart. Vector PDF up to 24 x 36 in, plus PNG. - [Lockout tagout (LOTO) steps poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/lockout-tagout-poster): Free printable lockout tagout poster: the 8 LOTO steps from preparing to restoring, with one person, one lock, one key. PDF up to 24 x 36 in, and PNG. - [See it, say it, fix it safety poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/see-it-say-it-fix-it-poster): Free printable see it, say it, fix it poster for hazard and near miss reporting on the shop floor. PDF up to 24 x 36 in, and PNG. - [Safety pyramid poster (Bird's triangle)](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/safety-pyramid-poster): Free printable safety pyramid poster: Bird's 1-10-30-600 accident ratio, labelled as a model with its source, and why near misses matter. PDF and PNG. - [5 shop floor safety rules poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/shop-floor-safety-rules-poster): Free printable poster of 5 basic shop floor safety rules: PPE, guards, lockout, clear walkways and reporting. PDF up to 24 x 36 in, and PNG. - [Stop, think, act safety poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/stop-think-act-poster): Free printable stop, think, act poster: a two-minute safety check before any task or change. Vector PDF from Letter to 24 x 36 in, plus a 300 dpi PNG. - [Slips, trips and falls housekeeping poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/slips-trips-falls-poster): Free printable housekeeping poster to prevent slips, trips and falls: spills, walkways, cables, stairs, ladders and lighting. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Emergency response poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/emergency-response-poster): Free printable emergency response poster: six evacuation steps, the PASS fire extinguisher method and blanks for your emergency number and assembly point. - [PDCA cycle poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/pdca-cycle-poster): Free printable PDCA cycle poster: plan, do, check, act, with what to do in each step. Vector PDF from Letter to 24 x 36 in, plus a 300 dpi PNG to share. - [5 whys poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/5-whys-poster): Free printable 5 whys poster: Taiichi Ohno's machine example, from a blown fuse to a missing strainer, plus five rules for asking why. Vector PDF and PNG. - [8D problem solving poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/8d-problem-solving-poster): Free printable 8D poster: the eight disciplines plus D0, from forming the team to recognizing it, in one view. PDF up to 24 x 36 in, and PNG. - [Jidoka and quality at the source poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/jidoka-quality-at-source-poster): Free printable jidoka poster: don't accept, make or pass on a defect, and the four steps of stopping at an abnormality. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Poka-yoke types poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/poka-yoke-poster): Free printable poka-yoke poster: the contact, fixed-value and motion-step methods with examples, and control vs warning devices. PDF and PNG. - [7 basic quality tools poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/7-quality-tools-poster): Free printable poster of Ishikawa's 7 basic quality tools: check sheet, Pareto, fishbone, histogram, scatter, control chart, stratification. PDF and PNG. - [Defect escalation poster (red tag and stop the line)](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/defect-escalation-poster): Free printable defect escalation poster: stop, red-tag and contain, escalate and record, with an escalation ladder to fill in. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [First piece (first article) check poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/first-piece-check-poster): Free printable first piece check poster: when to check the first part, five steps before you run, and what to do if it fails. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Waste hierarchy poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/waste-hierarchy-poster): Free printable waste hierarchy poster: prevention, re-use, recycling, recovery and disposal, from the EU Waste Framework Directive, with plant examples. - [Energy waste at work poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/energy-waste-poster): Free printable energy saving poster for the workplace: idle machines, air leaks, doors, lighting, compressed air for cleaning and standby. PDF and PNG. - [Spill response poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/spill-response-poster): Free printable spill response poster: six steps from stopping the source to reporting, drains first, and blanks for your spill kit and emergency number. - [Waste segregation poster (bin colours)](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/waste-segregation-poster): Free printable waste segregation poster: six waste streams with examples and a box to write in your site's bin colour, since colours vary. PDF and PNG. - [Compressed air and water leaks poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/air-and-water-leaks-poster): Free printable leaks poster: where compressed air and water leaks hide, and five steps to find, tag, fix and re-check them. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Green lean poster: the 8 wastes and the environment](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/green-lean-8-wastes-poster): Free printable green lean poster: the environmental cost of each of the 8 wastes, based on the US EPA's lean and environment work. PDF and PNG. - [5S poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/5s-poster): Free printable 5S poster: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain, each with what to do and a question to ask. PDF and PNG. - [8 wastes of lean poster (DOWNTIME)](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/8-wastes-poster): Free printable 8 wastes of lean poster: DOWNTIME with a definition and example for each waste, plus muda, mura and muri. PDF and PNG. - [Kaizen principles poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/kaizen-poster): Free printable kaizen poster: six principles of continuous improvement and four steps to a first improvement. PDF up to 24 x 36 in, and PNG. - [Visual management poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/visual-management-poster): Free printable visual management poster: eight visual aids from floor markings and shadow boards to andon lights and min-max marks. PDF and PNG. - [Standard work poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/standard-work-poster): Free printable standard work poster: takt time, work sequence and standard WIP, plus four rules for keeping standards alive. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Gemba walk questions poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/gemba-walk-questions-poster): Free printable gemba walk questions poster: nine questions to understand the work, find problems and follow up, plus the rules of a good walk. PDF and PNG. - [TPM 8 pillars poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/tpm-8-pillars-poster): Free printable TPM 8 pillars poster: the TPM house on a 5S foundation, with a line on each pillar from autonomous maintenance to office TPM. PDF and PNG. - [Kanban rules poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/kanban-rules-poster): Free printable kanban rules poster: Taiichi Ohno's six rules of kanban in plain words, for pull systems and supermarkets. Vector PDF and 300 dpi PNG. - [Autonomous maintenance 7 steps poster](https://www.theleansuite.com/posters/autonomous-maintenance-poster): Free printable autonomous maintenance poster: the 7 steps of jishu hozen from initial cleaning to autonomous management. PDF and PNG. - [A whiteboard for lean teams, with live data on it](https://www.theleansuite.com/lean-studio): Lean Studio is LeanSuite's whiteboard: stickies, shapes and arrows, 15 data widgets from scorecards to kanban, and 30 ready-made lean board templates. - [Fishbone (Ishikawa) board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/fishbone-ishikawa): A fishbone (Ishikawa) board in Lean Studio: the problem at the head, six M bones for candidate causes on stickies, a sample board and when to use it. - [DMAIC Storyboard](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/dmaic-storyboard): A DMAIC storyboard in Lean Studio: five columns from Define to Control with the charter, data, analysis, changes and controls on one board. Sample and FAQ. - [3C Problem Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/3c-problem-board): A 3C problem board in Lean Studio: one row per concern with its cause, countermeasure, owner and status, for the daily huddle. Sample board and FAQ. - [SIPOC board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/sipoc-diagram): A SIPOC board in Lean Studio: five columns for suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers, to frame a process before mapping it. Sample and FAQ. - [Value Stream Map board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/value-stream-map-board): A value stream map board in Lean Studio: process boxes with cycle time and changeover, inventory between them and a lead-time ladder. Sample and FAQ. - [Swimlane Process Map board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/swimlane-process-map): A swimlane process map in Lean Studio: one lane per role, steps left to right, arrows for handoffs and diamonds for decisions. Sample board and FAQ. - [Kanban Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kanban-board): Kanban board (WIP board) for tasks: four columns, a card per item and a WIP limit per column. For printed shop-floor kanban cards, see the card template. - [Yamazumi Operator Balance board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/yamazumi-operator-balance): A yamazumi operator balance board in Lean Studio: a stacked bar per operator, work elements colour-coded, the takt line across the top. Sample and FAQ. - [SQCDP Tier Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/sqcdp-tier-board): An SQCDP tier board in Lean Studio: a ring of days per pillar, green on target and red when missed, plus KPIs and the day's actions. Sample and FAQ. - [Daily Huddle Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/daily-huddle-board): A daily huddle board in Lean Studio: attendance, today's KPIs, yesterday's wins and today's plan on one screen for a ten-minute stand-up. Sample and FAQ. - [Kaizen Action Tracker board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kaizen-action-tracker): A kaizen action tracker in Lean Studio: every improvement action with its owner, due date and status on one board reviewed weekly. Sample and FAQ. - [Kamishibai Audit Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/kamishibai-audit-board): A kamishibai audit board in Lean Studio: T-cards for daily, weekly and monthly audits, green when done and red when not. Sample board and FAQ. - [Hoshin Bowling Chart board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/hoshin-bowling-chart): A hoshin bowling chart in Lean Studio: a row per KPI with the monthly plan and actual side by side, green or red, for the monthly review. Sample and FAQ. - [Suggestion Board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/suggestion-board): An employee suggestion board in Lean Studio: ideas move from submitted to review, approved, in progress and done, with an owner per card. Sample and FAQ. - [Impact / Effort Matrix board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/impact-effort-matrix): An impact/effort matrix in Lean Studio: four quadrants (implement, challenge, possible, kill) to sort improvement ideas on stickies. Sample and FAQ. - [Affinity Diagram board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/affinity-diagram): An affinity diagram board in Lean Studio: brainstormed ideas on stickies, grouped in silence into themes, each theme named. Sample board and FAQ. - [Gap Analysis board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/gap-analysis): A gap analysis board in Lean Studio: current state, future state and the gap between them per area, with the actions that close it. Sample and FAQ. - [8 Wastes Walk board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/8-wastes-walk): An 8 wastes walk board in Lean Studio: a panel per waste, from defects to extra processing, filled with what the team saw on the walk. Sample. - [Hoshin Kanri X-Matrix board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/hoshin-kanri-x-matrix): A hoshin kanri X-matrix in Lean Studio: breakthrough and annual objectives, improvement priorities and metrics on four sides, linked in the corners. - [SWOT Analysis board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/swot-analysis): A SWOT analysis board in Lean Studio: four quadrants for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, filled with stickies by the team. Sample. - [Start / Stop / Continue board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/start-stop-continue): A start/stop/continue retrospective board in Lean Studio: three columns of stickies from the team, voted and turned into actions. Sample board and FAQ. - [Lean Coffee board](https://www.theleansuite.com/templates/lean-coffee): A lean coffee board in Lean Studio: topics on stickies, dot votes to order them, and to-discuss, discussing and done columns with a timebox. Sample. ## Comparisons - [Compare LeanSuite](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare): How LeanSuite compares with other lean and continuous improvement software, based on each vendor's public information - [LeanSuite vs KaiNexus](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-kainexus): LeanSuite vs KaiNexus compared on daily management, ideas and kaizen, audits, training, AI and pricing, from each vendor's public information. - [LeanSuite vs Tulip](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-tulip): LeanSuite vs Tulip: ready-made lean modules or no-code frontline apps? Compared on daily management, audits, training, AI and pricing. - [LeanSuite vs Redzone](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-redzone): LeanSuite vs Redzone compared on daily management, CI and ideas, audits, training, AI and pricing, based on each vendor's public information. - [LeanSuite vs Tervene](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-tervene): LeanSuite vs Tervene compared on tiered meetings, layered process audits, CI, training, AI and pricing, based on each vendor's public information. - [LeanSuite vs iObeya](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-iobeya): LeanSuite vs iObeya: shop-floor workflows or digital visual management boards? Compared on tiered meetings, CI, audits, training and pricing. - [LeanSuite vs Rever](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-rever): LeanSuite vs Rever compared on frontline ideas and kaizen, audits, training, AI, security and pricing, from each vendor's public information. - [LeanSuite vs L2L](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-l2l): LeanSuite vs L2L (Leading2Lean) compared on daily management, CI and ideas, audits, skills, AI, maintenance and pricing, from public information. - [KaiNexus alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/kainexus-alternatives): Six alternatives to KaiNexus with what each is best for, published pricing and a side-by-side table - [Tulip Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/tulip-alternatives): Seven alternatives to Tulip's no-code platform, from connected worker suites to lean software, with what each is best for. - [Redzone Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/redzone-alternatives): Seven alternatives to Redzone for OEE, downtime and frontline performance, with how each gets machine data and what each costs. - [SafetyCulture (Mitti) Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/safetyculture-alternatives): Seven alternatives to SafetyCulture (renamed Mitti in August 2026) for manufacturing inspections and audits, with published pricing and who each fits. - [L2L Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/l2l-alternatives): Seven alternatives to L2L (Leading2Lean) for downtime, OEE, maintenance and frontline work, with how each gets machine data and who each fits. - [Best Idea Management Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-idea-management-software): An honest buyer's guide to seven idea management tools, from frontline kaizen apps to enterprise innovation suites. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Kaizen Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-kaizen-software): A buyer's guide to five kaizen and continuous improvement tools, with selection criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Continuous Improvement Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-continuous-improvement-software): A buyer's guide to six continuous improvement tools, from CI project portfolios to shop-floor platforms, with criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Skills Matrix Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-skills-matrix-software): A buyer's guide to seven skills matrix tools for manufacturing, with criteria, a side-by-side table and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Audit Management Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-audit-management-software): A buyer's guide to six audit tools for manufacturing (LPAs, 5S, safety and quality audits), with criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Lean Manufacturing Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-lean-manufacturing-software): A buyer's guide to eight lean manufacturing software tools (iObeya, KaiNexus, L2L, LeanSuite, Redzone, Rever, Tervene, Tulip), with criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [MaintainX Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/maintainx-alternatives): Six alternatives to MaintainX: CMMS tools (Fiix, Limble, UpKeep), maintenance with OEE (L2L, Redzone), and LeanSuite, which is not a CMMS but works alongside one. - [Best Gemba Walk Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-gemba-walk-software): A buyer's guide to seven gemba walk tools for manufacturing (EASE, GoAudits, KaiNexus, LeanSuite, Mitti, Rever, Tervene), with how each handles findings and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Time and Motion Study Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-time-and-motion-study-software): A buyer's guide to six time and motion study tools, from MTM and industrial engineering software to AI video analysis (LeanSuite, AVIX, Invisible AI, Proplanner, Retrocausal, TiCon). LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Vision AI Manufacturing Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-vision-ai-manufacturing-software): A buyer's guide to eight vision AI tools for manufacturing process and people analytics: time studies, line balancing, ergonomics and safety (LeanSuite, Intenseye, Invisible AI, PowerArena, Protex AI, Retrocausal, TuMeke, VelocityEHS). LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Operational Excellence Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-operational-excellence-software): A buyer's guide to seven operational excellence software tools for manufacturing (LeanSuite, Fabriq, iObeya, KaiNexus, Minitab Engage, Rever, Tervene), with criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Connected Worker Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-connected-worker-software): A buyer's guide to ten connected worker platforms for manufacturing (LeanSuite, Augmentir, Azumuta, Dozuki, L2L, Operations1, Parsable, Poka, Redzone, Tulip), with criteria and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Lean Management Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-lean-management-software): A buyer's guide to six lean management software tools for tier meetings, daily management, standard work and kaizen (LeanSuite, Fabriq, iObeya, KaiNexus, Rever, Tervene). LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best A3 Problem Solving Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-a3-problem-solving-software): A buyer's guide to five A3 problem solving software tools (LeanSuite, i-nexus, iObeya, KaiNexus, Minitab Engage), with criteria, how each handles the A3, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Lean Six Sigma Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-lean-six-sigma-software): A buyer's guide to seven Lean Six Sigma software tools, from DMAIC project trackers to statistics packages (LeanSuite, EngineRoom, JMP, KaiNexus, Minitab Engage, Minitab Statistical Software, TRACtion), with published prices and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best COPQ Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-copq-software): A buyer's guide to four cost of poor quality (COPQ) software tools (LeanSuite, ComplianceQuest, DELMIAWorks, Manufacturo), with criteria, where each gets its quality costs, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best One Point Lesson Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-one-point-lesson-software): A buyer's guide to seven one point lesson (OPL) software tools (LeanSuite, Augmentir, L2L, Mitti, RamBase, REWO, Solvace), with criteria, how each creates, shares and tracks OPLs, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Tiered Meeting Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-tiered-meeting-software): A buyer's guide to seven tiered meeting software tools for tier 1 to 3 huddles (LeanSuite, Data Point, Fabriq, iObeya, KaiNexus, Poka, Tervene), with criteria, escalation between tiers, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Leader Standard Work Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-leader-standard-work-software): A buyer's guide to four leader standard work software tools (LeanSuite, KaiNexus, Tervene, UTrakk), with criteria, how each schedules routines and handles missed ones, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Root Cause Analysis Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-root-cause-analysis-software): A buyer's guide to four root cause analysis (RCA) software tools (LeanSuite, Causelink, Seeq, TapRooT), with the methods each supports, what its AI does, how actions are tracked, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best SMED Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-smed-software): A buyer's guide to six SMED and changeover software tools (LeanSuite, AVIX, Redzone, Shoplogix, Tulip, Vorne XL), with how each captures a changeover, splits internal and external steps and tracks it, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best 5S Audit Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-5s-audit-software): A buyer's guide to seven 5S audit apps for manufacturing (LeanSuite, EASE, GoAudits, Lumiform, Mitti, Rever, Tervene), with 5S templates, scoring and photos, scheduling, corrective actions, offline use and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Autonomous Maintenance Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-autonomous-maintenance-software): A buyer's guide to seven autonomous maintenance (TPM and CILR) software tools (LeanSuite, Augmentir, L2L, MaintainX, Mitti, Redzone, Solvace), with operator checks, abnormality tags, scheduling, work orders and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Digital Work Instructions Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-digital-work-instructions-software): A buyer's guide to eight digital work instructions tools for manufacturing (LeanSuite, Azumuta, Dozuki, Poka, Solumina, Tulip, VKS, Vuforia Expert Capture), with how each builds, translates and signs off instructions, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best LMS for Manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-lms-for-manufacturing): A buyer's guide to eight learning management systems for manufacturing (LeanSuite, 360Learning, Docebo, iSpring LMS, Mitti, Poka, ProProfs Training Maker, TalentLMS), with frontline access, on-the-job sign-off, skills, certificate handling and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Layered Process Audit Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-layered-process-audit-software): A buyer's guide to seven layered process audit (LPA) software tools (LeanSuite, EASE, GoAudits, Lumiform, Mitti, Omnex EQMS.AI, Tervene), with scheduling by layer, question rotation, failed checks, LPA reporting and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Manufacturing KPI Dashboard Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-manufacturing-kpi-dashboard-software): A buyer's guide to seven manufacturing KPI dashboard tools (LeanSuite, Data Point, Evocon, Fabriq, MachineMetrics, Tulip, Vorne XL), with where each gets its data, targets and alerts, roll-up, huddle boards, what happens when a KPI misses, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Near Miss Reporting Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-near-miss-reporting-software): A buyer's guide to eight near miss reporting tools for manufacturing (LeanSuite, Benchmark Gensuite, Cority, EHS Insight, Intelex, Mitti, VelocityEHS, Voxel), with how a report is made, anonymous reporting, routing, investigation and CAPA, analytics and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Value Stream Mapping Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-value-stream-mapping-software): A buyer's guide to seven value stream mapping tools (LeanSuite, Data Point, iGrafx, Lucidchart, Microsoft Visio, Minitab Workspace, Miro), with how each builds the map, what it calculates, future-state maps, export and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best CAPA Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-capa-software): A buyer's guide to six CAPA software tools for manufacturing (LeanSuite, ComplianceQuest, Intellect, MasterControl, Octave Reliance, Qualityze), with how each captures a problem, runs root cause and the CAPA workflow, checks the fix, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Tervene Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/tervene-alternatives): Six alternatives to Tervene for gemba walks, layered process audits, leader standard work, tiered meetings and escalation (LeanSuite, Data Point, Fabriq, KaiNexus, Mitti, Rever), with a side-by-side table and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Standardized Work Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-standardized-work-software): A buyer's guide to seven standardized work software tools (LeanSuite, Augmentir, AVIX, Azumuta, Dozuki, Poka, Tulip), with how each builds the standard, handles times and line balance, controls versions and gets operator sign-off, and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Andon System Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-andon-system-software): A buyer's guide to eight andon system and issue escalation tools (LeanSuite, Amper, Fabriq, L2L, Mitti, Poka, Tulip, Vorne XL), with how a call is raised, machine signals, routing to an owner, escalation and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Dozuki Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/dozuki-alternatives): Six alternatives to Dozuki for digital work instructions (LeanSuite, Augmentir, Azumuta, Poka, Tulip, VKS), with authoring and AI, translation, sign-off and skills, pricing and security side by side, Dozuki vs Tulip and Dozuki vs Poka, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [Best Line Balancing Software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/best-line-balancing-software): A buyer's guide to six line balancing software tools for assembly lines (LeanSuite, AVIX, Proplanner, Retrocausal, Siemens Teamcenter Easy Plan, TiCon by MTM): how cycle times get in, Yamazumi and takt, what-if and automatic balancing, mixed-model lines, constraints and pricing. LeanSuite publishes it; its line balancing is part of Vision AI, priced separately. - [iObeya Alternatives](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/iobeya-alternatives): Six alternatives to iObeya for digital obeya, tier boards and visual management (LeanSuite, Data Point, Fabriq, KaiNexus, Miro, Tervene), with iObeya vs Miro and iObeya vs Jira, boards, KPI data, escalation, integrations, pricing and security side by side, and who each fits. LeanSuite publishes it. - [LeanSuite vs spreadsheets and paper](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-spreadsheets): When Excel, SharePoint lists, whiteboards and paper are enough for a lean program, where they break down, and how to move over. - [LeanSuite vs homegrown software](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-homegrown-software): Build vs buy for continuous improvement software: the real costs of an in-house tool one person built and maintains, when building makes sense, and what LeanSuite gives instead. - [LeanSuite vs Power Apps and SharePoint lists](https://www.theleansuite.com/compare/leansuite-vs-power-apps): Power Apps and SharePoint lists as a homegrown kaizen, audit or issue tracker compared with LeanSuite: what Power Apps does well, what you take on when you build it yourself, and when each fits. ## Company - [About us](https://www.theleansuite.com/about): Our mission is to empower manufacturers with a single, connected platform that unlocks the full potential of their frontline workforce. - [Pricing](https://www.theleansuite.com/pricing): The plans: a free Starter plan (the Idea Management System, for teams of 25 and under), a small business plan at $499 per month for one facility with up to 25 employees (small businesses apply with a short form linked from the pricing page, and the team chooses which applications fit; Vision AI is priced separately), a 90-day pilot at $3,000 per facility, and the facility plan with unlimited users, quoted per facility because no annual price is published. - [Security and trust](https://www.theleansuite.com/security): Learn about how LeanSuite's SOC 2 compliance, data encryption, and world-class infrastructure protects your operational data. - [Partner network](https://www.theleansuite.com/partners): The digital toolkit that makes your Lean methodologies stick, proves your ROI, and creates powerful new revenue streams for your consultancy. - [Contact us](https://www.theleansuite.com/contact-us): Need to get in touch with LeanSuite? Contact our sales team for a demo or reach out to our support experts for assistance. We're here to help. - [Book a demo](https://www.theleansuite.com/schedule-demo): Book a live LeanSuite demo and see how frontline teams manage safety, quality, and continuous improvement in one platform. - [90-day pilot](https://www.theleansuite.com/pilot): Test LeanSuite on your own lines: $3,000 per facility for 90 days, set up by LeanSuite's team, first module live in under a week. The fee is separate from the annual plan. - [Interactive demo](https://www.theleansuite.com/see-it-in-action): Try LeanSuite in your browser, self-directed, with sample data: daily issues and escalation, ideas and kaizen, audits, skills, safety, AI tools, boards and KPIs. - [Live teardown](https://www.theleansuite.com/teardown): A free 30-minute live session in which LeanSuite's co-founder rebuilds one plant's daily meeting board and shows an issue tag escalating to Tier 2. Template included. - [Implementation](https://www.theleansuite.com/implementation): How LeanSuite gets a plant live: set up by LeanSuite's team, first module live in under a week, more modules added one at a time. - [SOC 2 Type 1 report](https://www.theleansuite.com/security/soc-2-report): Download LeanSuite's SOC 2 Type 1 report on its Security and Confidentiality controls with a work email, after accepting the confidentiality terms. - [Sustainability](https://www.theleansuite.com/sustainability): How lean and going paperless cut scrap, energy, paper and emissions, what LeanSuite records for ESG reporting, and a sample Lean Impact report. - [How LeanSuite estimates environmental impact](https://www.theleansuite.com/sustainability/methodology): The published emission factors, unit conversions and assumptions behind LeanSuite's paper and electricity CO2e estimates, and what is not counted. - [Kaizen Kickstarter pilot](https://www.theleansuite.com/kaizen-kickstart): A 90-day pilot that moves your continuous improvement program from spreadsheets to LeanSuite, using the framework proven at Whirlpool. - [Kickstart Partnership Program](https://www.theleansuite.com/kickstart-partnership-program): Consultants: introduce your clients to LeanSuite's 90-day Kickstarter Pilot and earn a referral commission. Free to join, with no quotas or fees. - [Become a partner](https://www.theleansuite.com/partners-sign-up): Apply to join the LeanSuite partner network and bring lean manufacturing software to your clients as a consultant or implementation partner. - [Press](https://www.theleansuite.com/press): We're honoured to be recognized for our mission to revolutionize manufacturing. Explore our latest features, articles, and company news. - [Newsletter](https://www.theleansuite.com/newsletter): Subscribe to the LeanSuite newsletter for practical lean manufacturing tips, continuous improvement ideas, and product news. - [LeanSuite on LinkedIn](https://www.theleansuite.com/linkedin-updates): Every post from the LeanSuite company page and from co-founder Angad Singh, with links to the originals on LinkedIn. ## Authors - [All authors](https://www.theleansuite.com/authors): Everyone who writes for the LeanSuite blog - [Aileen Nguyen](https://www.theleansuite.com/authors/aileen-nguyen): 155 articles on lean manufacturing education, employee retention and engagement, continuous improvement and project management, maintenance & equipment reliability - [Vibhav Jaswal](https://www.theleansuite.com/authors/vibhav-jaswal): Content Architect. 132 articles on lean manufacturing education, lean tools and methods, quality management & corrective actions, safety management & compliance - [Angad Singh](https://www.theleansuite.com/authors/angad-singh): 13 articles on employee retention and engagement, lean manufacturing education, continuous improvement and project management ## Topics - [Lean manufacturing fundamentals](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/lean-manufacturing-fundamentals): Lean manufacturing is a production method, first put into practice in the Toyota Production System, that delivers more value to the customer by removing waste from every process. Its five principles are to define value, map the value stream, create flow, establish pull and seek perfection, and its eight wastes (remembered as DOWNTIME) name the activity that uses time and resources without adding value. These guides cover the principles, the Toyota Production System behind them, the wastes, and how to run a lean transformation that lasts. - [Kaizen and continuous improvement](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/kaizen-and-continuous-improvement): Kaizen means “change for the better”: the ongoing improvement of processes, quality and working conditions by everyone in the organization, run as a management system rather than a one-off program. It ranges from small daily improvements by individual operators to focused kaizen events run by a cross-functional team, and it runs on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle so every change is tested, checked and made the new standard. These guides cover the principles, the types of kaizen, how to run events and projects, and how to build a culture where improvement lasts. - [Root cause analysis and problem solving](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/root-cause-analysis): Root cause analysis is the structured investigation that finds the underlying condition behind a manufacturing problem, so the fix removes the cause instead of the symptom and the problem stops coming back. It starts with a precise, factual problem statement and then uses the tool that fits the problem: the 5 Whys for a single chain of cause and effect, a fishbone diagram when causes sit in several areas at once, and A3 or 8D for larger, cross-functional problems. These guides explain each method, when it works and when it does not, and how to move a plant from daily firefighting to real problem solving. - [Quality management](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/quality-management): Quality management in manufacturing means building quality into every process and role, so defects are prevented or caught where they are made instead of found by inspection at the end of the line. Total quality management, quality at the source and poka-yoke prevent defects, FMEA ranks the risks before they turn into failures, and non-conformance reports and CAPA make sure every failure is traced to its root cause and fixed for good. These guides cover each of those practices and how to measure quality with first pass yield and the cost of poor quality. - [TPM and maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/tpm-and-maintenance): Total productive maintenance (TPM) makes equipment reliability a shared job between operators and maintenance staff, instead of leaving it to the maintenance department alone. It is built on eight pillars that rest on a 5S foundation, with autonomous maintenance at its core: operators clean, inspect, lubricate and tighten their own machines and catch small problems before they become breakdowns. These guides cover TPM and its pillars, the maintenance strategies it works alongside, and how to measure and reduce downtime with OEE and the six big losses. - [5S and visual management](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/5s-and-visual-management): 5S is the five-step workplace organization method (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) that removes waste from the work area and sets the visual standards every other lean tool depends on. Visual management builds on it, making the state of the work readable at a glance, from andon signals and kamishibai boards to the tier boards used in daily management meetings. These guides cover how to implement and audit 5S so it does not slide back, and how to build a visual factory. - [Value stream mapping and flow](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/value-stream-mapping-and-flow): Value stream mapping draws the whole flow of material and information needed to deliver a product, with the cycle times, inventory and lead time at each step, so you can see where waste builds up and where flow stops. The current-state map shows how the process runs today and the future-state map designs how it should run, with continuous flow and pull. These guides cover mapping, pull systems and just-in-time, and the practical levers on lead time, throughput, bottlenecks, line balance and changeovers. - [Standard work, SOPs and training](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/standard-work-and-training): Standard work is the documented, current best way to do a job, built from takt time, work sequence and standard in-process stock, and it is the baseline every improvement is measured against. SOPs and work instructions carry that standard to the floor at different levels of detail, and training methods such as TWI Job Instruction and one point lessons make sure people can actually do the job the way it is written. These guides cover all three, plus how to find and close skill gaps so one absence does not stop a line. - [Safety management](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/safety-management): Safety management in manufacturing works best when it is proactive: finding and removing hazards before anyone is hurt, instead of investigating after an incident. Near-miss reporting is its most useful early signal, but only when each report leads to a removed hazard and people can see that it did; otherwise they stop reporting. These guides cover common shop floor hazards, near-miss reporting, safety culture, ergonomics and audit preparation. - [Lean leadership and employee engagement](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/topics/lean-leadership-and-engagement): Lean leadership is the practice of developing people's capability, judgment and ownership while guiding them toward continuous improvement, and it decides whether lean tools produce lasting change or results that fade when attention moves on. Leaders connect strategy to the shop floor through hoshin kanri, go to the gemba to see real conditions instead of managing from reports, and keep people engaged through recognition and a working system for their ideas. These guides cover strategy deployment, leading at the gemba, and employee engagement, recognition and suggestion systems. ## Lean manufacturing statistics (2026) ### Unplanned downtime Unplanned downtime is the most expensive routine failure in manufacturing. Siemens puts the bill for the world's 500 largest companies at almost $1.4 trillion a year, 11% of their revenue, and an hour at a large car plant now costs about $2.3 million. Plants have cut the number of stoppages since 2019, but each one takes longer to recover from, so the time between a machine stopping and someone fixing it matters more than ever. - [$1.4 trillion](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-cost-global-500): The world's 500 largest companies lose almost $1.4 trillion a year to unplanned downtime, equal to 11% of their revenues. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [$2.3 million](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-cost-automotive-hour): An hour of unplanned downtime at a large automotive plant costs about $2.3 million, twice what it cost in 2019. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [$36,000](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-cost-fmcg-hour): Even in fast-moving consumer goods, the lowest-cost sector in the Siemens survey, a lost hour of production costs about $36,000. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [27 hours](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-hours-per-month): A large plant loses an average of 27 hours a month to unplanned downtime, down from 39 hours in 2019 but still more than a full day of production. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [25 a month](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-incidents-per-month): Plants average 25 unplanned downtime incidents a month, 41% fewer than five years earlier (42 a month in 2019). Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [81 minutes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-recovery-time): Getting production running again after a stoppage now takes 81 minutes on average, up from 49 minutes five years earlier. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [$125,000](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-cost-per-hour-median): The typical industrial business puts the cost of one hour of unplanned downtime at close to $125,000 (median). Source: ABB, "ABB survey reveals unplanned downtime costs $125,000 per hour (Value of Reliability survey)" (2023), https://new.abb.com/news/detail/107660/abb-survey-reveals-unplanned-downtime-costs-125-000-per-hour - [Over 2 in 3](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#downtime-monthly-outages): More than two-thirds of industrial businesses have an unplanned outage at least once a month. Source: ABB, "ABB survey reveals unplanned downtime costs $125,000 per hour (Value of Reliability survey)" (2023), https://new.abb.com/news/detail/107660/abb-survey-reveals-unplanned-downtime-costs-125-000-per-hour ### Maintenance strategy Most plants still fix machines after they break. NIST found reactive work is the largest share of maintenance at U.S. discrete manufacturers, and the plants that rely on it most have 3.3 times the downtime of those that rely on it least. Preventable maintenance problems cost those manufacturers $119.1 billion in 2016, about twice what they spent on maintenance itself. - [45.7%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-reactive-share): On average, 45.7% of maintenance at U.S. discrete manufacturing plants is reactive, against 31.8% preventive and 17.3% predictive. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf - [3.3×](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-reactive-downtime): Plants in the top quarter for reliance on reactive maintenance had 3.3 times more downtime than plants in the bottom quarter. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf - [$119.1 billion](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-preventable-losses): Preventable maintenance problems cost U.S. discrete manufacturers $119.1 billion in 2016, against $57.3 billion spent on machinery maintenance. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf - [87%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-predictive-vs-preventive): Among plants that rely mainly on planned maintenance, predictive maintenance was associated with an 87% lower defect rate and 15% less downtime. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf - [21%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-run-to-fail): 21% of industrial businesses still rely on run-to-fail maintenance. Source: ABB, "ABB survey reveals unplanned downtime costs $125,000 per hour (Value of Reliability survey)" (2023), https://new.abb.com/news/detail/107660/abb-survey-reveals-unplanned-downtime-costs-125-000-per-hour - [2×](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-pdm-teams): Almost half of the large manufacturers Siemens surveyed now have a dedicated predictive maintenance team, twice the share in 2019. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf - [87%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#maintenance-condition-data): 87% of major manufacturers already collect data that makes predictive maintenance possible, yet almost three-quarters still rely on factory historians. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf ### Quality and the cost of poor quality Most organizations cannot say what poor quality costs them: only 31% of respondents to ASQE's 2025 research feel they fully understand it. The evidence that does exist points to maintenance and people as big levers. NIST links heavy reliance on reactive maintenance with 16 times more defects, and Gallup finds highly engaged work units have 32% fewer defects. Quality is also where manufacturers most want to apply AI. - [31%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#quality-cost-understanding): Only 31% of respondents feel they fully understand how quality costs affect their organization's financial performance. Source: ASQ, "What is Cost of Quality (COQ)? (citing the 2025 ASQE Insights on Excellence Cost of Quality Report)" (2025), https://asq.org/quality-resources/cost-of-quality - [16×](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#quality-reactive-maintenance-defects): Plants that rely most on reactive maintenance had 16 times more defects than those that rely on it least. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf - [32%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#quality-engagement-defects): Work units in the top quarter for employee engagement have 32% fewer quality defects than bottom-quarter units. Source: Gallup, "The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes: Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th edition" (2024), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/employee-engagement-meta-analysis-brief.aspx - [50%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#quality-top-ai-use-case): Quality control was manufacturers' top AI use case for the second year running, with 50% planning to apply AI or machine learning to product quality in 2025. Source: Rockwell Automation, "Ninety-Five Percent of Manufacturers Are Investing in AI (10th annual State of Smart Manufacturing report)" (2025), https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/company/news/press-releases/Ninety-Five-Percent-of-Manufacturers-Are-Investing-in-AI-to-Navigate-Uncertainty-and-Accelerate-Smart-Manufacturing.html - [33.3%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#quality-genai-root-cause): 33.3% of manufacturers in MLC's 2026 survey have implemented generative AI for root cause analysis and diagnostics, and 30% for quality improvement. Source: Manufacturing Leadership Council (NAM), "Survey: GenAI Adoption Surges In Manufacturing" (2026), https://manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com/survey-genai-adoption-surges-as-manufacturers-continue-to-grapple-with-data-skills-issues-39942/ ### Safety Manufacturing is still more dangerous than the average U.S. workplace. In 2024 it recorded 2.7 injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers against 2.3 for all private industry, 332,600 cases in total, and 353 deaths. Lockout/tagout, forklifts and machine guarding, all everyday plant hazards, are among OSHA's ten most-cited standards. - [2.7](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-manufacturing-injury-rate): Manufacturing recorded 2.7 nonfatal injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in 2024, against 2.3 across all private industry. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 1. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2024" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables/table-1-injury-and-illness-rates-by-industry-2024-national.htm - [1.7](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-manufacturing-serious-cases): 1.7 cases per 100 manufacturing workers were serious enough to cause days away from work, job restriction or transfer in 2024, against 1.4 across private industry. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 1. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2024" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables/table-1-injury-and-illness-rates-by-industry-2024-national.htm - [332,600](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-manufacturing-case-count): U.S. manufacturers reported 332,600 recordable injury and illness cases in 2024, about 13% of all private-industry cases. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 2. Numbers of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2024" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables/table-2-injury-and-illness-counts-by-industry-2024-national.htm - [353](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-manufacturing-fatalities): 353 manufacturing workers died from work injuries in 2024. Contact with objects and equipment was the most common event, with 104 deaths. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table A-1. Fatal occupational injuries by industry and event or exposure, all United States, 2024" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/iif/fatal-injuries-tables/fatal-occupational-injuries-table-a-1-2024.htm - [104 minutes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-all-industry-fatalities): Across all U.S. industries, a worker died from a work-related injury every 104 minutes in 2024, 5,070 deaths in total. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2024" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm - [#4](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-osha-lockout-tagout): Lockout/tagout (control of hazardous energy) was OSHA's 4th most-cited standard in fiscal 2025. Powered industrial trucks ranked 8th and machine guarding 10th. Source: OSHA, "Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards, fiscal year 2025" (2025), https://www.osha.gov/top10citedstandards - [63%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#safety-engagement-incidents): Work units in the top quarter for employee engagement have 63% fewer safety incidents than bottom-quarter units. Source: Gallup, "The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes: Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th edition" (2024), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/employee-engagement-meta-analysis-brief.aspx ### Frontline workforce and skills The labor gap is structural, not cyclical. Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute project that U.S. manufacturing could need 3.8 million more workers by 2033 and that 1.9 million of those jobs could go unfilled. The fastest-growing need is for technicians, and people who can see a path to new skills are far less likely to leave, which makes training and cross-training a retention tool as much as a capability one. - [3.8 million](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-jobs-needed): U.S. manufacturing could need as many as 3.8 million additional employees between 2024 and 2033. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, "Manufacturers Need as Many as 3.8 Million New Employees by 2033" (2024), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/manufacturers-need-as-many-as-3-8-million-new-employees-by-2033/ - [1.9 million](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-jobs-unfilled): About half of those jobs, 1.9 million, could go unfilled if manufacturers cannot close the skills and applicant gaps. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, "Manufacturers Need as Many as 3.8 Million New Employees by 2033" (2024), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/manufacturers-need-as-many-as-3-8-million-new-employees-by-2033/ - [580,000](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-job-openings): U.S. manufacturing had 580,000 job openings in July 2026, a job openings rate of 4.4%. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, Table 1: Job openings levels and rates by industry (July 2026, preliminary)" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t01.htm - [6×](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-technician-growth): Manufacturing technician employment could grow six times faster than production jobs between 2025 and 2030, with 2.3 million openings across manufacturing and adjacent-industry technician roles. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, "Deloitte and MI Study Shows Potential for AI to Accelerate Manufacturing Skills Training" (2026), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/deloitte-and-mi-study-shows-potential-for-ai-to-accelerate-manufacturing-skills-training/ - [43.9](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-median-age): The median age of employed U.S. manufacturing workers was 43.9 in 2025, against 42.1 for all industries. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Current Population Survey, Table 18b: Employed persons by detailed industry and age (2025 annual averages)" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm - [47.0%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-top-challenge): 47.0% of manufacturers named attracting and retaining a quality workforce as one of their biggest challenges in Q2 2026, behind raw material costs (83.1%) and trade uncertainty (71.8%). Source: National Association of Manufacturers, "NAM Manufacturers' Outlook Survey, Second Quarter 2026" (2026), https://nam.org/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2026/06/NAM_2026_Q2_Outlook_Survey_Writeup.pdf - [2.7×](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-skills-retention): Employees are 2.7 times less likely to leave in the next 12 months if they feel they can gain the skills that will matter in future. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, "Manufacturers Need as Many as 3.8 Million New Employees by 2033" (2024), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/manufacturers-need-as-many-as-3-8-million-new-employees-by-2033/ - [48%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#workforce-hiring-production-roles): 48% of large manufacturers report moderate to significant challenges filling production and operations roles. Source: Deloitte, "2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey" (2025), https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing-industrial-products/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html ### Employee engagement and frontline ideas Only one in five employees worldwide is engaged at work, and the gap between engaged and disengaged teams shows up on the shop floor: fewer accidents, fewer defects, less absence and more output. In manufacturing, frontline workers feel far less involved in decisions and problem solving than their leaders do. Toyota's suggestion system shows how far the opposite can go. - [20%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-global): Only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, the lowest level since 2020. Source: Gallup, "State of the Global Workplace 2026" (2026), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx - [$10 trillion](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-cost): Gallup estimates low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity in 2025, 9% of global GDP. Source: Gallup, "State of the Global Workplace 2026" (2026), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx - [22%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-managers): Manager engagement fell five points in one year, from 27% in 2024 to 22% in 2025. Source: Gallup, "State of the Global Workplace 2026" (2026), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx - [31%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-us): 31% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2025, unchanged from 2024 and down from 36% in 2020. Source: Gallup, "U.S. Employee Engagement Declines From 2020 Peak" (2026), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/701486/employee-engagement-declines-2020-peak.aspx - [14%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-productivity): Work units in the top quarter for engagement are 14% more productive on production measures and 23% more profitable than bottom-quarter units. Source: Gallup, "The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes: Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th edition" (2024), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/employee-engagement-meta-analysis-brief.aspx - [78%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-absenteeism): Top-quarter engagement units have 78% less absenteeism than bottom-quarter units. Source: Gallup, "The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes: Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th edition" (2024), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/employee-engagement-meta-analysis-brief.aspx - [67%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-frontline-involvement): 67% of frontline manufacturing workers said they have enough chance to take part in decision making, problem solving and goal setting, against 96% of senior leaders. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and American Psychological Association, "Manufacturing Engagement and Retention Study" (2020), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/APA-Study_final.pdf - [250,000+](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#engagement-toyota-suggestions): Historical benchmark: in 1973 Toyota expected more than 250,000 improvement suggestions from its 43,000 employees, with more than 70% adopted. Source: Toyota Motor Corporation, "Toyota Company Suggestion Program Vigorously Supported by Employees" (1973), https://global.toyota/en/detail/7756353 ### Digital manufacturing and AI Manufacturers have moved from asking whether to digitize to making it pay. Rockwell finds 90% call digital transformation essential and 59% already use smart manufacturing technology in operations, and Deloitte's respondents report 10-20% more output from it. The constraint is execution and people: only 43% of collected data is used effectively, most rate their AI maturity as low, and four in ten give frontline workers no AI training. - [90%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-transformation-essential): 90% of manufacturers say digital transformation is now essential to staying competitive. Source: Rockwell Automation, "90% of Manufacturers Say Digital Transformation Is Now Essential (2026 State of Smart Manufacturing report)" (2026), https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/company/news/press-releases/90-of-Manufacturers-Say-Digital-Transformation-Is-Now-Essential-According-to-New-Global-Study.html - [59%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-smart-manufacturing-in-use): 59% of manufacturers actively use smart manufacturing technology to support operations; only 18% are still in pilot mode. Source: Rockwell Automation, "90% of Manufacturers Say Digital Transformation Is Now Essential (2026 State of Smart Manufacturing report)" (2026), https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/company/news/press-releases/90-of-Manufacturers-Say-Digital-Transformation-Is-Now-Essential-According-to-New-Global-Study.html - [43%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-data-used-effectively): Only 43% of the data manufacturers collect is being used effectively. Source: Rockwell Automation, "90% of Manufacturers Say Digital Transformation Is Now Essential (2026 State of Smart Manufacturing report)" (2026), https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/company/news/press-releases/90-of-Manufacturers-Say-Digital-Transformation-Is-Now-Essential-According-to-New-Global-Study.html - [34%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-ai-augmented-operations): About a third of operations (34%) are AI-augmented today, and manufacturers expect more than half to be AI-supported by 2030. Source: Rockwell Automation, "90% of Manufacturers Say Digital Transformation Is Now Essential (2026 State of Smart Manufacturing report)" (2026), https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/company/news/press-releases/90-of-Manufacturers-Say-Digital-Transformation-Is-Now-Essential-According-to-New-Global-Study.html - [10-20%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-smart-manufacturing-gains): Manufacturers using smart manufacturing report average gains of 10-20% in production output, 7-20% in employee productivity and 10-15% in unlocked capacity. Source: Deloitte, "2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey" (2025), https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing-industrial-products/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html - [92%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-competitiveness-driver): 92% of manufacturers surveyed believe smart manufacturing will be the main driver of competitiveness over the next three years. Source: Deloitte, "2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey" (2025), https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing-industrial-products/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html - [78%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-improvement-budget): 78% of large manufacturers put more than 20% of their overall improvement budget into smart manufacturing initiatives. Source: Deloitte, "2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey" (2025), https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing-industrial-products/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html - [70.9%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-genai-use): 70.9% of manufacturers surveyed use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Copilot in manufacturing operations, up from 46% in 2024. Source: Manufacturing Leadership Council (NAM), "Survey: GenAI Adoption Surges In Manufacturing" (2026), https://manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com/survey-genai-adoption-surges-as-manufacturers-continue-to-grapple-with-data-skills-issues-39942/ - [Over 75%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-ai-maturity): More than three-quarters of manufacturers rate the maturity of AI in their operations below 5 on a 10-point scale. Source: Manufacturing Leadership Council (NAM), "Survey: GenAI Adoption Surges In Manufacturing" (2026), https://manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com/survey-genai-adoption-surges-as-manufacturers-continue-to-grapple-with-data-skills-issues-39942/ - [41.4%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-no-frontline-ai-training): 41.4% of manufacturers give frontline workers no AI-related training. Source: National Association of Manufacturers, "NAM Manufacturers' Outlook Survey, Second Quarter 2026" (2026), https://nam.org/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2026/06/NAM_2026_Q2_Outlook_Survey_Writeup.pdf - [54%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#digital-frontline-leader-ai-readiness): 54% of manufacturing leaders have low or very low confidence that their frontline leaders are ready to lead AI-driven change. Source: PwC and The Manufacturing Institute, "New Study from PwC, MI Finds Frontline Leaders Play a Key Role in Manufacturing AI Adoption" (2026), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/new-study-from-pwc-mi-finds-frontline-leaders-play-a-key-role-in-manufacturing-ai-adoption/ ### Productivity and management practices U.S. manufacturing productivity has barely grown this business cycle: 0.5% a year from late 2019 to mid-2026. The biggest differences between plants are not only technology. Census data on 32,000 U.S. plants shows structured management practices (targets, monitoring and incentives) explain about a fifth of the productivity gap between plants, as much as R&D and twice as much as IT, and 40% of the variation sits between plants of the same company. - [0.5%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#productivity-business-cycle): U.S. manufacturing labor productivity has grown at an annual rate of just 0.5% from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2026, Revised" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm - [2.4%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#productivity-q2-2026): Manufacturing labor productivity rose at a 2.4% annual rate in the second quarter of 2026, and 1.1% on a year earlier. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2026, Revised" (2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm - [About 1/5](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#productivity-management-practices): Differences in structured management practices account for about a fifth of the spread in productivity between U.S. manufacturing plants, as much as R&D and twice as much as IT. Source: NBER (with the U.S. Census Bureau), "What Drives Differences in Management? (Working Paper 23300, Bloom et al.)" (2017), https://www.nber.org/papers/w23300 - [40%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#productivity-within-firm-variation): 40% of the variation in management practices is between plants belonging to the same company. Source: NBER (with the U.S. Census Bureau), "What Drives Differences in Management? (Working Paper 23300, Bloom et al.)" (2017), https://www.nber.org/papers/w23300 ### Benchmark charts (downloadable PNGs) - [World-class OEE is 85%](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-world-class-oee): Bar chart of world-class OEE targets: availability 90%, performance 95%, quality 99%, giving OEE of about 85%. A reference line marks 60%, where OEE.com says most plants are. Source: OEE.com (Vorne Industries), "World-Class OEE, citing Seiichi Nakajima, Introduction to TPM (Japanese original 1983; English edition 1988)" (page read October 3, 2026), https://www.oee.com/world-class-oee/. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-world-class-oee.png - [Fewer stoppages, slower recovery](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-downtime-2019-vs-2024): Paired bar chart. Downtime incidents a month fell from 42 in 2019 to 25 in the 2024 report. Hours lost a month fell from 39 to 27. Minutes to get production running again rose from 49 to 81. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-downtime-2019-vs-2024.png - [What unplanned downtime costs a large plant in a year](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-downtime-cost-per-plant): Bar chart of the yearly cost of unplanned downtime per large plant: automotive $695 million, the average across four sectors $253 million, heavy industry $59 million, fast-moving consumer goods just over $10 million. Source: Siemens, "The True Cost of Downtime 2024 (Senseye Predictive Maintenance)" (2024), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/tcod-2024_original.pdf. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-downtime-cost-per-plant.png - [Plants that rely most on reactive maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-reactive-maintenance): Bar chart. Manufacturers in the top quarter for relying on reactive maintenance had, compared with the bottom quarter, 16.0 times more defects, 4.9 times more inventory increases due to maintenance, 3.3 times more downtime, 2.8 times more lost sales due to defects and 2.4 times more lost sales due to delays. Source: NIST, "Economics of Manufacturing Machinery Maintenance: A Survey and Analysis of U.S. Costs and Benefits (NIST AMS 100-34)" (June 2020), https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ams/NIST.AMS.100-34.pdf. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-reactive-maintenance.png - [Injury and illness rates in manufacturing, 2024](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-injury-rates-2024): Bar chart of recordable injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024: motor vehicle manufacturing 5.6, beverage and tobacco products 3.7, food manufacturing 3.3, transportation equipment 3.2, motor vehicle parts 2.9, all manufacturing 2.7, HVAC and refrigeration equipment 2.4, machinery 2.3, all private industry 2.3, electrical equipment and appliances 2.0. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 1. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2024" (table updated January 22, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables/table-1-injury-and-illness-rates-by-industry-2024-national.htm. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-injury-rates-2024.png - [What highly engaged teams do differently](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-engagement-outcomes): Bar chart. Work units in the top quarter for engagement, compared with the bottom quarter, had 78% less absenteeism, 63% fewer safety incidents, 32% fewer quality defects, 23% higher profitability and 14% higher productivity on production records. Source: Gallup, "The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes: Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th edition" (2024), https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/employee-engagement-meta-analysis-brief.aspx. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-engagement-outcomes.png - [Frontline workers feel less involved than their leaders](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-frontline-involvement): Paired bar chart comparing senior leaders and frontline workers at five manufacturers. Enough opportunity to take part in decision making, problem solving and goal setting: 96% of senior leaders, 67% of frontline workers. Enough opportunities for internal advancement: 85% against 70%. Satisfied with training and development: 94% against 66%. Source: The Manufacturing Institute and American Psychological Association, "Manufacturing Engagement and Retention Study" (2020), https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/APA-Study_final.pdf. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-frontline-involvement.png - [How Toyota's suggestion system grew, 1951 to 1973](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-manufacturing-statistics#chart-toyota-suggestions): Bar chart of employee suggestions at Toyota each year: 789 in 1951, the first year; over 20,000 in 1967; 40,000 in 1969; 50,000 in 1970; 168,000 in fiscal 1972; and over 250,000 expected in 1973. Source: Toyota Motor Corporation, "Toyota Company Suggestion Program Vigorously Supported by Employees" (October 22, 1973), https://global.toyota/en/detail/7756353. PNG: https://www.theleansuite.com/assets/benchmarks/chart-toyota-suggestions.png ## Kaizen ideas: 120 improvement examples by department ### Production - [Shadow boards at the station](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#shadow-boards-at-the-station): Problem: Operators walk to a shared toolbox or search for hand tools during the shift. Idea: Hang the tools each station uses on a shadow board at that station, with an outline for each tool so a missing one is obvious. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: Shadow board planner. - [Parts and consumables at the point of use](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#point-of-use-storage): Problem: Operators leave the station to fetch parts, gloves, labels or tape from a central store. Idea: Store what each station uses at the station in labelled bins sized for a shift or less, and have a material handler refill them on a set route. Waste: motion. Effort: medium. Template: Water spider route plan (mizusumashi), Kanban card template. - [Hour-by-hour board at the line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#hour-by-hour-board): Problem: Nobody knows the line is behind until the end of the shift, when it is too late to recover. Idea: Post an hour-by-hour board with the planned and actual count for each hour, and write a reason next to every missed hour. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Hour-by-hour production board. - [Stage the next job before the changeover](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#stage-the-next-job): Problem: The machine stops while tools, dies, paperwork and material for the next job are found and brought over. Idea: List everything the next job needs on a changeover checklist and stage it at the machine before the current run ends, so those steps happen while the machine still runs. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: SMED changeover worksheet, Changeover checklist. - [Quick-release fasteners on change parts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#quick-release-fasteners): Problem: Changeovers lose minutes to undoing and refitting many bolts that are only loosened to swap a part. Idea: Replace them with quarter-turn fasteners, clamps or locating pins, after engineering confirms the new fixing holds. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: SMED changeover worksheet. - [Film one changeover before changing anything](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#film-a-changeover): Problem: Nobody agrees how long a changeover really takes or where the time goes. Idea: Film one changeover, list every step with its time, and mark each step as done with the machine stopped or running before choosing what to improve. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Time study sheet, SMED changeover worksheet. - [An andon call with an agreed response](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#andon-call): Problem: Operators who hit a problem wait until a supervisor happens to walk past. Idea: Give each station an andon signal (a light, cord or button), agree who responds and within how long, and log every call with its response time. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Andon response log, Escalation matrix template. - [Rebalance work across stations](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#rebalance-the-line): Problem: Some stations are overloaded while the operators next to them wait for parts. Idea: Time each work element, stack the elements by operator against takt time, and move work from the busiest station to the lightest. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Time study sheet, Standard work combination table. - [Standard work posted at the station](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#standard-work-at-the-station): Problem: Each shift runs the same station a slightly different way, and quality varies with it. Idea: Agree the best current method, write the sequence, key points and timing on a standard work sheet, post it at the station and check it is followed. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Standard work sheet template, Standard work audit checklist. - [First-piece sign-off after every changeover](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#first-piece-sign-off): Problem: A wrong setting after a changeover is found only after a batch has been made. Idea: Check the first good part against the specification after every changeover or adjustment, and do not release the run until it is signed off. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Changeover checklist, Control plan template. - [Kanban between two cells](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#kanban-between-cells): Problem: An upstream cell builds to its own schedule and piles work in progress in front of the next cell. Idea: Link the two cells with kanban cards so the upstream cell only builds what the downstream cell has used. Waste: overproduction. Effort: medium. Template: Kanban card template, Kanban sizing calculator. - [A marked limit for work in progress](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#marked-wip-limit): Problem: Work in progress spreads over the floor between stations with no limit. Idea: Mark a fixed WIP square between stations sized for the agreed amount. When it is full, the upstream operator stops and helps elsewhere. Waste: inventory. Effort: low. Template: Floor marking color guide. - [Smaller batches once changeovers are shorter](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#smaller-batches): Problem: Large batches mean long waits between operations and a lot of stock to clear when the product changes. Idea: After changeover time comes down, cut batch sizes step by step and recalculate how often each product can be made (EPEI). Waste: overproduction. Effort: high. Template: EPEI and batch size calculator. - [A cell for one product family](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#product-family-cell): Problem: Parts travel between distant departments for each operation and wait at every stop. Idea: Draw the current flow of one product family, then group its machines into a cell in process order. Waste: transportation. Effort: high. Template: Spaghetti diagram template, Process flow diagram template. - [Trace an operator's walking path](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#trace-the-walking): Problem: Operators walk a lot during each cycle, but nobody has measured how far or why. Idea: Trace one operator's path for a full cycle on a layout drawing, count the trips and move the most-visited items closer. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: Spaghetti diagram template. - [Parts and tools in the easy reach zone](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#parts-in-the-reach-zone): Problem: Operators bend, twist or stretch for parts and tools many times an hour. Idea: Rearrange the workstation so frequently used items sit between waist and shoulder height within easy reach, using angled or gravity-feed racks where they help. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: Ergonomic risk assessment checklist. - [Stop the machine at the first fault](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#stop-at-the-first-fault): Problem: A machine keeps running after a fault and makes a run of bad parts before anyone notices. Idea: Add a sensor or limit that stops the machine at the first abnormal condition and signals for help. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Jidoka worksheet (stop at abnormality). - [Cross-train for single-skill stations](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#cover-single-skill-stations): Problem: When one experienced operator is absent, a station stands idle or runs slowly. Idea: Use a skills matrix to find stations with fewer than three trained people and schedule cross-training for those first. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Skills matrix template, Cross-training plan template. - [A written shift handover](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#written-shift-handover): Problem: The next shift starts by rediscovering problems the last shift already knew about. Idea: Use a short handover sheet at the line covering safety, quality issues, machine status and open actions, signed by both shift leads. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Shift handover template. - [A 10-minute start-of-shift huddle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#start-of-shift-huddle): Problem: Operators hear about targets and problems second-hand, if at all. Idea: Stand at the team board for ten minutes at the start of each shift: yesterday's results, today's plan, safety and one problem to work on. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: Daily huddle agenda. - [An idea board in the team area](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#team-idea-board): Problem: Operators' ideas get lost because there is no simple way to raise them and no reply when they do. Idea: Put an idea board or card box in the team area, review new ideas at the daily huddle and answer every one within a week. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: Idea suggestion form, Just Do It (JDI) card template. - [Machine status you can see from the aisle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#machine-status-lights): Problem: Supervisors cannot tell from the aisle which machines are down or why. Idea: Fit a stack light or status card to each machine showing running, stopped, waiting for material or waiting for maintenance. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Visual management audit checklist. - [Kit parts for each unit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#kit-parts-per-unit): Problem: Assemblers pick dozens of small parts from bins for each unit and sometimes miss one. Idea: Deliver the parts for each unit in a kit tray with a place for every part, so a missing part shows before assembly starts. Waste: motion. Effort: medium. Template: Water spider route plan (mizusumashi), Poka-yoke worksheet. - [Drop steps the customer does not need](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#drop-steps-the-customer-does-not-need): Problem: Parts are polished, deburred, inspected or packed to a higher standard than the customer asks for. Idea: Walk the process with engineering and quality, check each step against the drawing and customer requirement, and remove the ones that add nothing the customer needs. Waste: extra processing. Effort: medium. Template: Process flow diagram template. ### Maintenance - [A daily operator care routine (CILR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#operator-cilr-routine): Problem: Small problems such as loose bolts, leaks and dirt build up until the machine fails. Idea: Give operators a short daily routine to clean, inspect, lubricate and retighten their machine, with a picture for each check. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist. - [Tag every abnormality](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#tag-abnormalities): Problem: Operators notice leaks, noises and loose guards, but the information never reaches maintenance. Idea: Hang a tag on each abnormality, log it on a tag board and review open tags with maintenance every week. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: TPM tag log. - [Colour-coded lubrication points](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#colour-coded-lubrication): Problem: Lubrication points are missed or get the wrong lubricant. Idea: Colour-code each lubrication point to match its grease gun or oil can, and list every point with its interval on a lubrication schedule. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Lubrication schedule template. - [Normal ranges marked on gauges](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#mark-gauge-ranges): Problem: Operators cannot tell whether a pressure or temperature reading is normal. Idea: Mark the normal range on each gauge face with a green band so an out-of-range reading stands out at a glance. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist, Visual management audit checklist. - [Match marks on critical bolts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#match-marks-on-bolts): Problem: Bolts loosen on vibrating equipment and nobody notices until something fails. Idea: Paint a line across each critical nut and the surface behind it, so a nut that has turned is visible during daily checks. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist. - [Log every stop and its cause](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#log-every-stop): Problem: Breakdowns are fixed but not recorded, so the same failures keep coming back. Idea: Record every stop with the machine, start and end time, cause and fix, and review the top causes each week. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Equipment downtime log (MTTR and MTBF). - [Rank equipment by criticality](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#rank-equipment-criticality): Problem: Every machine gets the same maintenance effort, whatever a failure would cost. Idea: Rank equipment by what a failure would do to safety, quality and output, and set preventive maintenance and spare parts by that rank. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Equipment criticality analysis. - [A preventive maintenance checklist per machine](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#pm-checklist-per-machine): Problem: How well preventive maintenance is done depends on which technician does it. Idea: Write a checklist for each machine with the tasks, intervals, tools and acceptance values, and record each completion. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Preventive maintenance checklist template. - [Track preventive maintenance compliance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#track-pm-compliance): Problem: Preventive maintenance slips when the schedule is busy, and nobody notices until something fails. Idea: Track the share of PM work done on time each week on the maintenance board and review every missed job. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Maintenance KPI tracker. - [A why-why analysis after major breakdowns](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#why-why-after-breakdowns): Problem: Big breakdowns are repaired quickly, but the cause is never investigated. Idea: For every breakdown longer than an agreed time, run a short why-why analysis with the technician and operator and record the countermeasure. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Breakdown analysis report, 5 Whys template. - [Minimum stock for critical spares](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#critical-spares-list): Problem: A failed part has to be ordered and the machine waits for days. Idea: List the spares for critical machines, set a minimum stock for each and use two bins so reordering starts before the shelf is empty. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Inventory cycle count sheet, Kanban card template. - [5S in the maintenance store](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#5s-the-maintenance-store): Problem: Technicians spend time looking for parts and tools in the maintenance store. Idea: Red-tag obsolete parts, label every location and put shared tools on a shadow board. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: 5S red tag log and red tags, 5S audit checklist template. - [One queue for maintenance requests](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#one-work-order-queue): Problem: Requests arrive by radio, phone and sticky note, and some are forgotten. Idea: Use one work order form for every request, with the machine, priority and description, and one queue the planner works from. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Maintenance work order form. - [Plan next week's maintenance with production](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#plan-next-weeks-work): Problem: Technicians spend the day reacting and planned work never starts. Idea: Agree next week's maintenance work with production every Friday and protect the time for preventive maintenance and backlog jobs. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Weekly maintenance schedule template. - [Standard procedures for frequent repairs](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#standard-repair-procedures): Problem: The quality of a repair varies between technicians doing the same job. Idea: Write step-by-step procedures with photos for frequent repairs and rebuilds, starting with the jobs behind the most repeat failures. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Standard operating procedure (SOP) template, One point lesson (OPL) template. - [Share a fix as a one-point lesson](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#one-point-lesson-for-fixes): Problem: A fix one technician found is unknown to the others, so they solve it again from scratch. Idea: Capture the fix on a single page with photos and go through it at the next shift meeting. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: One point lesson (OPL) template. - [MTBF and MTTR for the top ten machines](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#mtbf-mttr-trend): Problem: Nobody can say whether maintenance is getting better or worse. Idea: Work out mean time between failures and mean time to repair each month for the ten machines that stop most, and post the trend. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Equipment downtime log (MTTR and MTBF), Maintenance KPI tracker. - [Inspection windows instead of bolted covers](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#inspection-windows): Problem: Covers are slow to remove, so inspections inside the machine get skipped. Idea: Fit clear inspection windows or hinged covers where a check needs a view inside, after a safety review of the guarding. Waste: motion. Effort: medium. Template: Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist. - [Contain contamination at the source](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#contain-contamination): Problem: Dust, chips or leaks keep fouling a machine, and cleaning takes longer every week. Idea: Find where the contamination comes from and contain it with shields, drip trays or new seals instead of cleaning more often. Waste: extra processing. Effort: medium. Template: TPM tag log, Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist. - [A weekly backlog review](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#weekly-backlog-review): Problem: The maintenance backlog keeps growing and old jobs are never closed. Idea: Review the backlog every week, close jobs that are no longer needed and give the rest a priority and a planned date. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Maintenance KPI tracker. ### Quality - [Count defects on a check sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#defect-check-sheet): Problem: Defects are fixed on the spot and never counted, so nobody knows which ones are common. Idea: Keep a check sheet at the station listing the common defect types and tally each one by hour, so the pattern shows by the end of the week. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Defect check sheet. - [Work on the biggest defect, not the loudest](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#pareto-the-defects): Problem: The team chases whichever defect was complained about last. Idea: Make a Pareto chart of last month's defects by count and by cost, and pick the top one or two for a root-cause project. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Pareto chart template, Cost of poor quality (COPQ) worksheet. - [Make the part fit one way only](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#fits-one-way-only): Problem: A part can be fitted the wrong way round, and sometimes is. Idea: Change the fixture or the part so it only fits one way, for example with a pin, a notch or an asymmetric shape. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Poka-yoke worksheet. - [Present the exact number of fasteners](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#count-the-fasteners): Problem: An assembler sometimes misses a screw or a clip. Idea: Give out the exact number of fasteners per unit in a tray, or use a counter on the tool, so a leftover or a short count stops the unit. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Poka-yoke worksheet. - [Boundary samples for cosmetic defects](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#boundary-samples): Problem: Inspectors disagree on what counts as a cosmetic defect, so the same part passes on one shift and fails on the next. Idea: Make good, borderline and reject samples with photos for each defect type, post them at the inspection point and train every inspector on them. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: One point lesson (OPL) template, Defect check sheet. - [A quality alert at every affected station](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#quality-alert-at-the-station): Problem: An escape is found, but other shifts and lines keep making the same mistake. Idea: Post a one-page alert with photos of good and bad at every affected station within the shift, and take it down only when the fix is confirmed. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Quality alert form. - [Contain first, investigate second](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#contain-first): Problem: Suspect product keeps moving while the cause is being investigated. Idea: Agree a containment routine (stop, quarantine, sort, record quantities) that runs before any root-cause work starts. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Non-conformance report (NCR) form, Corrective action request (CAPA) form. - [Root-cause analysis for every repeat defect](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#root-cause-for-repeats): Problem: Corrective actions treat the symptom and the defect comes back. Idea: When a defect returns after being closed, run a 5 Whys or fishbone session with the people who do the work before agreeing a new action. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: 5 Whys template, Root cause analysis template. - [An 8D for customer complaints](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#8d-for-customer-complaints): Problem: Customer complaints get a quick reply but no proof that the fix worked. Idea: Answer complaints with an 8D report that covers containment, root cause, corrective action and a check that the action worked before closing. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: 8D report template. - [One log for corrective actions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#one-capa-log): Problem: Corrective actions agreed in meetings are forgotten. Idea: Keep one log with an owner, due date and verification step for every action, and review overdue items weekly. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: CAPA log template. - [Layered process audits on critical steps](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#layered-process-audits): Problem: Process checks drift once the launch team moves on. Idea: Run short audits of the critical process steps, with supervisors, managers and plant leaders each auditing on a set frequency. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Layered process audit (LPA) checklist. - [A control chart before adjusting the machine](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#control-chart-before-adjusting): Problem: Settings are adjusted after every measurement, which adds variation instead of removing it. Idea: Plot one critical dimension on a control chart and adjust only when a point falls outside the limits or shows a non-random pattern. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: X-bar and R control chart template. - [Check the gauge before trusting the data](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#gage-rr-on-critical-gauges): Problem: Two inspectors measure the same part and get different results. Idea: Run a gage R&R study on the gauges used for critical checks and fix the measurement before acting on its data. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Gage R&R study sheet. - [Calibration due dates on every gauge](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#calibration-due-labels): Problem: Gauges go out of calibration and nobody knows which parts they measured. Idea: Label each gauge with its calibration due date and keep a calibration log, so an overdue gauge is taken out of use. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Gauge calibration log. - [Update the PFMEA after every escape](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#keep-the-pfmea-live): Problem: Process risks are reviewed only when a new product launches. Idea: Update the process FMEA whenever a defect escapes or the process changes, and work down the highest-risk failure modes. Waste: defects. Effort: high. Template: PFMEA template (process FMEA). - [Incoming inspection for the worst parts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#incoming-inspection-for-worst-parts): Problem: Bad supplier parts are found on the line instead of at receiving. Idea: Inspect the parts with the worst history at receiving, with a sampling plan and a clear routine for rejects. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Incoming inspection checklist. - [A monthly supplier scorecard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#monthly-supplier-scorecard): Problem: Suppliers hear about quality problems only when there is a crisis. Idea: Send key suppliers a monthly scorecard on quality, delivery and response time, review it with them each quarter and raise a SCAR for repeat problems. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Supplier scorecard, Supplier corrective action request (SCAR) form. - [Check at the station where the defect is made](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#check-where-it-is-made): Problem: Defects are caught only at final inspection, after more work has been added to the part. Idea: Move simple checks to the station that makes the defect and give operators the authority to stop and fix it there. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Control plan template, Jidoka worksheet (stop at abnormality). - [Put a cost on scrap and rework](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#cost-the-scrap): Problem: Scrap and rework are counted in units, so their cost is invisible to management. Idea: Each month, cost scrap, rework, returns and extra inspection on one worksheet and share the total with the plant team. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Cost of poor quality (COPQ) worksheet. - [Flag changes of person, machine, material or method](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#flag-4m-changes): Problem: Defects rise after a new operator, a new material lot, a repaired machine or a changed method. Idea: Record every such change on a change-point board and add extra checks on the first parts after it. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: 4M change management sheet (change point). ### Warehouse and logistics - [Fast movers closest to the pick start](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#fast-movers-up-front): Problem: Fast-moving items are stored at the back, so pickers walk furthest for the most common picks. Idea: Rank items by how often they are picked and move the fastest movers closest to where picking starts and ends. Waste: motion. Effort: medium. Template: Inventory cycle count sheet. - [A labelled home for every item](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#a-home-for-every-item): Problem: Pickers hunt for items that have no fixed location. Idea: Give every item a labelled location and update the location list whenever an item moves. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: 5S audit checklist template. - [Daily cycle counts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#daily-cycle-counts): Problem: The system shows a part in stock, but the shelf is empty. Idea: Count a few locations every day, the fastest movers most often, and fix the cause of each error you find. Waste: inventory. Effort: low. Template: Inventory cycle count sheet. - [Two bins for consumables](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#two-bin-consumables): Problem: Consumables run out on the line because nobody noticed they were low. Idea: Use two bins per item. When the first is empty it goes back to stores as the reorder signal while the second is used. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Kanban card template, Kanban sizing calculator. - [Log every delivery at receiving](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#log-every-delivery): Problem: Deliveries sit on the dock because nobody knows they have arrived. Idea: Log each delivery with time, supplier, order number and status, and track the time from dock to stock. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Receiving log. - [Delivery time slots for suppliers](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#delivery-time-slots): Problem: Trucks arrive together and queue at the dock, while other hours are quiet. Idea: Give suppliers and carriers delivery slots and track arrivals against them. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Receiving log. - [A milk run to the lines](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#milk-run-to-the-line): Problem: Material reaches the line in large, irregular forklift loads. Idea: Set up a fixed route with a tugger or cart that visits each line at a set interval and replaces what was used. Waste: transportation. Effort: high. Template: Water spider route plan (mizusumashi). - [Marked aisles kept clear](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#clear-marked-aisles): Problem: Pallets and carts left in aisles block forklifts and walkways. Idea: Mark storage, work in progress, walkways and forklift lanes with one colour code and keep marked areas clear. Waste: transportation. Effort: low. Template: Floor marking color guide. - [Log every material shortage](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#material-shortage-log): Problem: Line stops for missing material are blamed on purchasing with no detail. Idea: Log each shortage with the part, time, line affected and cause, and review the top causes with purchasing and planning. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: Material shortage log. - [A check before the truck is loaded](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#pre-shipment-check): Problem: Wrong items or quantities reach the customer. Idea: Check labels, quantities and packaging against the order before loading. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Pre-shipment inspection checklist. - [Red-tag slow and obsolete stock](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#red-tag-slow-stock): Problem: Racks are full of stock that has not moved in a long time. Idea: Tag items with no movement in an agreed period and decide with finance whether to use, return, sell or scrap them. Waste: inventory. Effort: medium. Template: 5S red tag log and red tags. - [Line-ready packaging from suppliers](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#line-ready-packaging): Problem: Parts arrive in packaging that has to be opened and repacked into line bins. Idea: Agree returnable containers or line-ready packs with key suppliers, so parts go straight to the point of use. Waste: extra processing. Effort: medium. Template: Kanban card template. - [A signed pre-shift forklift check](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#signed-forklift-check): Problem: Forklift faults are found only after something goes wrong. Idea: Make the pre-shift inspection a signed checklist and take a truck out of use when a safety item fails. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Forklift inspection checklist. - [Scheduled racking inspections](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#racking-inspections): Problem: Damaged racking goes unreported until it gets worse. Idea: Inspect racking on a schedule, mark damage by severity and unload damaged bays until they are repaired. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Pallet racking inspection checklist. - [Pick lists sorted by walking route](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#sort-pick-lists-by-route): Problem: Pick lists are printed in order-line order, so pickers zigzag through the warehouse. Idea: Sort each pick list in the order of the walking route through the locations. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: Spaghetti diagram template. - [A staging lane per carrier](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#staging-lanes-per-route): Problem: Finished goods wait in random places before shipping and some go on the wrong truck. Idea: Mark a staging lane for each carrier or route and stage shipments in loading order. Waste: transportation. Effort: low. Template: Floor marking color guide. - [Reset old reorder points](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#reset-reorder-points): Problem: Reorder points were set years ago and no longer match demand. Idea: Recalculate minimum and maximum levels or kanban quantities from current usage and lead time, starting with the items that run out most. Waste: inventory. Effort: medium. Template: Kanban sizing calculator. - [Record every case of handling damage](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#record-handling-damage): Problem: Goods are damaged in handling and the cause is never found. Idea: Record each case with a photo, location and handling step, and chart the causes monthly. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Defect check sheet, Pareto chart template. - [Minimum and maximum lines on racks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#min-max-lines-on-racks): Problem: Nobody can see at a glance which items are running low or overstocked. Idea: Mark minimum and maximum levels on the rack or bin with coloured lines. Waste: inventory. Effort: low. Template: Visual management audit checklist. - [A weekly warehouse safety walk](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#weekly-warehouse-safety-walk): Problem: Housekeeping and safety in the warehouse slip between formal audits. Idea: Walk the warehouse weekly with a short checklist and fix the findings before the next walk. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Warehouse safety inspection checklist. ### Safety - [Make near-miss reporting quick](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#quick-near-miss-reporting): Problem: Near misses go unreported because the form is long or people fear blame. Idea: Use a one-page form or a QR code in each area, allow anonymous reports and tell people what changed after each one. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Near miss report form. - [Short safety observations](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#safety-observations): Problem: Unsafe habits are addressed only after someone gets hurt. Idea: Have supervisors and peers make short observations, talk with the person observed and record safe and at-risk behaviours. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety observation card template. - [A job safety analysis before non-routine jobs](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#jsa-before-non-routine-jobs): Problem: Non-routine and high-risk jobs start without anyone reviewing the hazards. Idea: Fill in a job safety analysis with the crew before the job, listing each step, its hazards and the controls. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Job safety analysis (JSA) template. - [Machine-specific lockout procedures](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#machine-specific-lockout): Problem: Lockout relies on general rules, but the isolation points differ from machine to machine. Idea: Write a lockout procedure for each machine with a photo of every energy isolation point, and post it on the machine. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedure template. - [Five-minute toolbox talks on today's work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#five-minute-toolbox-talks): Problem: Safety briefings are generic and people stop listening. Idea: Start the shift with a five-minute talk on one hazard that applies to that day's work. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Toolbox talk template. - [Score hazards before working on them](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#score-hazards): Problem: Every hazard on the list gets the same attention. Idea: Score each hazard for severity and likelihood on a risk matrix and work on the highest scores first. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Risk assessment matrix template (5×5). - [Fix the hardest lifts and reaches first](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#fix-the-hardest-lifts): Problem: Lifting, twisting and repetitive motions cause strain and fatigue. Idea: Assess the stations with the most complaints with an ergonomic checklist and fix the riskiest tasks first, for example with lift assists or height-adjustable benches. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Ergonomic risk assessment checklist. - [A safety cross on the team board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#safety-cross-at-the-board): Problem: The team does not see safety performance from day to day. Idea: Keep a safety cross calendar on the team board and colour each day by what happened: nothing, a near miss, first aid or a recordable injury. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety cross calendar. - [Investigations that go past operator error](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#past-operator-error): Problem: Incident investigations stop at "operator error" and nothing else changes. Idea: Use a structured report that asks why the error was possible and records a change to the job, the equipment or the system. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Incident investigation report template, 5 Whys template. - [Separate walkways from forklift lanes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#separate-people-and-forklifts): Problem: Pedestrians and forklifts share the same aisles. Idea: Separate them with floor marking and barriers, and add crossing points with clear sight lines. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Floor marking color guide. - [A monthly safety audit of each area](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#monthly-area-safety-audit): Problem: Safety checks are irregular and depend on who is on shift. Idea: Audit each area monthly with the same checklist and track every finding to closure. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety audit checklist. - [PPE stations at the area entrance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#ppe-at-the-entrance): Problem: PPE is not where it is needed, so people skip it for short tasks. Idea: Put a PPE station at the entrance to each area that needs it, with a sign showing what to wear. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Visual management audit checklist. - [Spill kits where the liquids are](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#spill-kits-nearby): Problem: A spill sits on the floor while someone looks for the right materials. Idea: Place labelled spill kits near where oils and chemicals are used and add them to the area audit. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety audit checklist. - [Guard checks at start-up](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#guard-checks-at-start-up): Problem: Guards are removed to clear jams and not always put back. Idea: Add guard and interlock checks to the operator's start-up checklist, and treat frequent jams as a problem to fix. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist. - [An end-of-shift clean-up standard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#end-of-shift-clean-up): Problem: Clutter, cables and offcuts on the floor cause slips and trips. Idea: Run a 5S sort and shine in the area, then agree a short clean-up standard for the end of every shift. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: 5S audit checklist template. - [An area safety walk for every new starter](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#area-safety-walk-for-new-starters): Problem: New and temporary workers start on the line before they know its hazards. Idea: Add an area-specific safety walk and sign-off to onboarding before anyone works unsupervised. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: New hire onboarding checklist (manufacturing), Training sign-off sheet. - [A hazard hunt in someone else's area](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#hazard-hunt-in-another-area): Problem: Teams stop noticing hazards they walk past every day. Idea: Send small teams on a short hazard hunt in an area that is not their own, and act on what they find. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety audit checklist. - [Test emergency stops on a schedule](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#test-emergency-stops): Problem: Emergency stops are hard to reach or have not been tested. Idea: Check that every emergency stop is visible and reachable, test each one on a schedule and log the result. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Preventive maintenance checklist template. - [Label every secondary container](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#label-secondary-containers): Problem: Chemicals decanted into bottles and buckets are not labelled. Idea: Label every secondary container with the product name and its hazards, and remove any unlabelled container. Waste: safety risk. Effort: low. Template: Safety audit checklist. - [Task lighting where errors happen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#task-lighting): Problem: Poor lighting at a station causes mistakes and eye strain. Idea: Measure light levels at the stations with the most errors or complaints and add task lighting where it is low. Waste: safety risk. Effort: medium. Template: Ergonomic risk assessment checklist. ### Office and admin - [5S for a shared drive](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#office-5s): Problem: Shared folders are full of old files, so finding the current version takes time. Idea: Archive or delete old files, agree a folder structure and a file naming rule, and audit the folder each month. Waste: motion. Effort: low. Template: Office 5S audit checklist. - [List every paper form](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#list-the-paper-forms): Problem: The plant runs on dozens of paper forms that are retyped into spreadsheets. Idea: List each form, who fills it in and where the data goes, then retire duplicates and move the most-used forms first. Waste: extra processing. Effort: medium. Template: Paper forms inventory (paperless manufacturing worksheet). - [Cut approval steps that add no control](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#cut-approval-steps): Problem: Purchase requests and changes need many signatures and wait days at each one. Idea: Map the approval route, note the waiting time at each step and remove approvals that do not change the decision. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Process flow diagram template, Lead time worksheet. - [Standard replies for common requests](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#standard-replies): Problem: The same customer and supplier questions are answered from scratch every time. Idea: Write standard replies and short checklists for the most common requests and keep them where the team can find them. Waste: extra processing. Effort: low. Template: Standard operating procedure (SOP) template. - [Meetings that end with actions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#meetings-with-actions): Problem: Meetings run long and end without decisions. Idea: Use a fixed agenda with a time limit for each item and close every meeting with actions, owners and dates. Waste: extra processing. Effort: low. Template: Scrum meeting agenda template. - [A RACI for work between departments](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#raci-for-cross-department-work): Problem: Tasks fall between departments because nobody is sure who owns them. Idea: Agree who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for each process that crosses departments. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: RACI matrix template. - [Stop reports nobody uses](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#stop-unused-reports): Problem: Reports are produced every week that nobody reads. Idea: List the regular reports, ask who uses each one and for what decision, and stop or merge the rest. Waste: overproduction. Effort: low. Template: Paper forms inventory (paperless manufacturing worksheet). - [A visual board for office work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#visual-task-board): Problem: Office work in progress is invisible, so priorities change every day. Idea: Put the team's work on a board with to do, doing and done columns, and limit how many items can be in progress. Waste: inventory. Effort: low. Template: Kanban card template. - [Checks on order entry](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#order-entry-checks): Problem: Order entry mistakes lead to the wrong product being made or shipped. Idea: Add a short checklist or required fields to order entry and tally the types of error that still get through. Waste: defects. Effort: low. Template: Defect check sheet. - [Find why invoices get held](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#invoice-mismatch-causes): Problem: Invoices are held because the order, the receipt and the invoice do not match. Idea: Record the reason for every mismatch for a month and fix the top cause with purchasing and receiving. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Pareto chart template. - [New starters ready on day one](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#ready-on-day-one): Problem: New starters wait days for accounts, equipment, PPE and access. Idea: Use one onboarding checklist that HR, IT and the manager start before the first day. Waste: waiting. Effort: low. Template: New hire onboarding checklist (manufacturing). - [A second person for every periodic task](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#second-person-for-periodic-tasks): Problem: Only one person knows how to run month-end or another periodic task. Idea: Write the steps as an SOP with screenshots and have a second person run the task once using it. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: Standard operating procedure (SOP) template, Cross-training plan template. - [A waste walk through an office process](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#office-waste-walk): Problem: Office staff do not think lean applies to their work. Idea: Walk one office process with the people who do it, using the eight wastes as the checklist, and pick one waste to remove. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: Waste walk checklist (TIMWOODS). - [One route for engineering changes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#one-route-for-engineering-changes): Problem: Engineering changes reach the floor late or without updated documents. Idea: Route every change through one request form that lists the documents, training and stock affected before release. Waste: defects. Effort: medium. Template: Engineering change request (ECR) form. - [Same-day escalation through tiered meetings](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#same-day-escalation): Problem: Problems raised on the floor wait for the next weekly meeting. Idea: Set up short team, area and plant meetings in sequence each day, with a rule for which unsolved problems move up a tier. Waste: waiting. Effort: medium. Template: Escalation matrix template, Daily huddle agenda. - [Recognize ideas soon after they are done](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/kaizen-ideas#recognize-implemented-ideas): Problem: Implemented ideas are never acknowledged, so people stop putting them forward. Idea: Thank the people behind each implemented idea at the team meeting or on the board, soon after it is done, and show what changed. Waste: unused talent. Effort: low. Template: Employee recognition program template. ## Lean manufacturing glossary - [1-1-90 method](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#1-1-90-method): The 1-1-90 method is a way to roll out continuous improvement: start with 1 area and 1 pain point, run it for 90 days with a team, then expand what worked to the next areas and plants. It was named by Angad Singh and the LeanSuite team for the way they already work with manufacturers, and it is a general approach that needs no particular software. At day 90 the team decides whether to expand, run another round or stop. - [5 Whys](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#5-whys): The 5 Whys is a root cause analysis technique that asks “why?” repeatedly, with each answer becoming the next question, until the team reaches a cause it can act on. Five is a rule of thumb, not a fixed count. It works best on problems with a single chain of cause and effect, and each answer should be checked against facts at the gemba rather than guessed in a meeting room. - [5G methodology](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#5g-methodology): The 5G methodology is a problem investigation discipline that confirms five things before anyone proposes a cause: gemba (the actual place), gembutsu (the actual thing), genjitsu (the actual facts), genri (the principles that apply), and gensoku (the standard the process should follow). The first three are gathered by going to see; the last two compare what was found with how the process is supposed to work. It keeps root cause analysis grounded in evidence rather than opinion. - [5S](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#5s): 5S is a workplace organization method with five steps: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. Teams remove what is not needed, give everything a marked place, clean and inspect, write the standard down, and audit it so the area stays that way. A well-run 5S area makes abnormalities, missing tools, and safety hazards obvious at a glance. - [5S audit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#5s-audit): A 5S audit is a regular, scored check of a work area against its 5S standard, using a fixed checklist for each of the five S’s. It is usually done by a supervisor or a rotating auditor on a set schedule, and the score is posted in the area so the team can see its trend. Findings become actions, which is how the Sustain step is kept up rather than left to good intentions. - [5W1H](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#5w1h): 5W1H is a questioning method that describes a problem or a plan by answering six questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. In problem solving it produces a clear, fact-based problem statement before any cause analysis starts; in planning it makes sure an action has an owner, a scope, a place, and a date. Some versions add “how much” to make 5W2H. - [6Ms of production](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#6ms): The 6Ms are six categories used to sort the possible causes of a production problem: man (people), machine, method, material, measurement, and mother nature (environment). They are the usual bones of a fishbone diagram, and working through each one keeps a team from fixing only the cause it already suspects. The older five-category version, the 5Ms, leaves out mother nature. - [8 wastes of lean (DOWNTIME)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#8-wastes): The eight wastes of lean are the kinds of activity that use time and resources without adding value for the customer: defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing. The first letters spell DOWNTIME, a common way to remember them. The original Toyota Production System named seven; unused talent was added later. - [8D problem solving](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#8d): 8D problem solving is a team method for fixing a serious or recurring problem in eight steps, called disciplines: form the team, describe the problem, contain it, find the root cause, choose permanent corrective actions, implement and verify them, prevent recurrence, and recognize the team. It is common in automotive and supplier quality, where customers often require an 8D report in response to a complaint. - [A3 problem solving](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#a3-problem-solving): A3 problem solving is a structured method that fits a whole problem on one A3-size sheet: background, current condition, goal, root cause analysis, countermeasures, and follow-up. The single page forces the team to agree on the facts and keep the story short enough for anyone to review. It follows the PDCA cycle and is often used by a leader to coach the person who owns the problem. - [ABC analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#abc-analysis): ABC analysis sorts inventory items by annual usage value, the annual quantity used times the unit cost, into three classes: A, the few items that make up most of the value; B, the middle group; and C, the many low-value items. A typical result is 10 to 20 percent of the items making up 70 to 80 percent of the value. The class sets how tightly each item is controlled, for example how often it is cycle counted and how tight its count tolerance is. - [Acceptance quality limit (AQL)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#aql): The acceptance quality limit (AQL), formerly called the acceptable quality level, is the worst average defect rate a sampling plan treats as acceptable over a continuing series of lots. It is one input to the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 and ISO 2859-1 sampling tables, which use the lot size, the inspection level and the AQL to give the sample size and the accept and reject numbers. An AQL is not a promise that every lot is that good, since a lot with more defects can still pass on its sample, which is why critical characteristics are often checked on every part. - [Andon](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#andon): Andon is a visual, and often audible, signal an operator uses to call for help when a problem occurs at a station, such as a defect, a missing part, or a machine fault. Pulling the andon brings a team leader to the spot quickly, and on many lines the line stops if the problem is not cleared within a set time. It is a core tool of jidoka: stop and fix problems where they happen instead of passing them on. - [Attribute agreement analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#attribute-agreement-analysis): Attribute agreement analysis checks whether inspectors who sort parts into categories, such as accept or reject, agree with themselves, with each other and with a reference decision. Each inspector judges the same parts two or three times in a random order, and the results are reported as percent agreement, miss and false alarm rates, and often kappa. It is the measurement system analysis for visual and go or no-go inspection. - [Attribute control chart](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#attribute-control-chart): An attribute control chart tracks counts over time instead of measurements: the proportion or number of defective units (p and np charts) or the number of defects or defects per unit (c and u charts). Its control limits sit three standard deviations either side of the center line, using the binomial or Poisson model of the counts, and on the p and u charts they are worked out for each subgroup's sample size. A point beyond a limit or a long run on one side of the center line signals a special cause. - [Autonomous maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#autonomous-maintenance): Autonomous maintenance is the TPM pillar in which machine operators take on basic equipment care: cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, tightening, and spotting abnormalities early. It is usually introduced in seven steps, starting with initial cleaning and moving toward operators managing their own equipment standards. Maintenance technicians are then freed for planned and more skilled work. - [Balance efficiency](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#balance-efficiency): Balance efficiency is the total work content of a line divided by the number of operators times the longest station time. It shows how evenly the work is spread: 252 seconds of work over 5 operators with a longest station of 52 seconds is 96.9%. Its complement, balance delay or balance loss, is the share of paid operator time spent waiting for the slowest station. - [Batch production](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#batch-production): Batch production is making a set quantity of one product at a time, then changing the equipment over and making a set quantity of the next. It suits equipment shared by several products, but each batch waits as stock until it is used, so larger batches mean more inventory and longer lead times. In lean practice the batch size follows from the changeover time: shorter changeovers allow a shorter EPEI and smaller batches. - [Behavior-based safety (BBS)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#behavior-based-safety): Behavior-based safety (BBS) is an approach to injury prevention that focuses on what people observably do at work. Trained observers watch tasks, record safe and at-risk behaviors, give immediate feedback, and use the pattern of observations to fix the conditions and systems that drive at-risk behavior. Done well, it is a conversation between peers, not a search for someone to blame. - [Bottleneck](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#bottleneck): A bottleneck is the step in a process with the least capacity relative to demand, so it limits the output of the whole line. Work piles up in front of it while the steps after it wait, which is the usual way to spot one on the floor. An hour lost at the bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole system, so, as the theory of constraints teaches, improvement there pays back most. - [Boundary sample](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#boundary-sample): A boundary sample is a real part, or a photo or drawing when no part exists, that shows the limit of a visual defect: the worst condition an inspector still accepts. It is kept with a reject just beyond the limit, labelled, approved by quality and re-approved on a set date so it does not wear or fade. Boundary samples settle defects that are hard to put a number on, such as scratches seen at an angle, gloss or texture. - [Bowling chart](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#bowling-chart): A bowling chart is the monthly scorecard of a hoshin kanri plan: one row per metric with the planned and actual value for each month, colored green when the actual meets the plan and red when it misses. Red months get a countermeasure from the metric's owner, and repeated reds usually get an A3. The name comes from its resemblance to a bowling score sheet. - [Break-in work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#break-in-work): Break-in work is unplanned maintenance done during a scheduled week that pushes a scheduled job out, such as a breakdown or an urgent repair that cannot wait for the next schedule. Logging each break-in with its hours and the job it displaced shows how much of the week reactive work takes and explains most of the gap in schedule compliance. Jobs pushed out go back to the backlog, usually first in line for the next week's schedule. - [Breakdown analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#breakdown-analysis): A breakdown analysis is a written investigation of one equipment breakdown: what was seen, how the machine was restarted, which part failed and why, the countermeasures, and a later check that the failure has not come back. In TPM practice it names which of the five causes of breakdowns was behind it and which standard changed as a result. Sites set their own trigger for one, such as a downtime threshold or any repeat failure. - [Calibration](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#calibration): Calibration compares a gauge or instrument with a reference standard of known value, records the difference, and adjusts the gauge if needed so its readings can be trusted. Each gauge is calibrated at a set interval against standards that are themselves traceable to national or international standards, and the readings are recorded as found, before any adjustment, and as left. When a gauge is found out of tolerance, the results it gave since its last good calibration have to be assessed, because parts may have been accepted or rejected wrongly. - [Capital expenditure (CapEx)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#capex): Capital expenditure (CapEx) is money spent on assets that will be used for more than a year, such as machines, tooling and building changes, as opposed to operating expenses (OpEx) such as wages, materials and repairs, which are charged when they are spent. Capital is depreciated over the asset’s life and comes from a limited yearly budget, so most companies ask for a CapEx request with the options, costs, payback and NPV, approved at a level set by the amount. Where the line between capital and expense falls is set by each company’s accounting policy. - [Catchball](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#catchball): Catchball is the back-and-forth dialogue used in hoshin kanri to agree goals and plans between levels of an organization. A leader proposes an objective, the team below responds with what it would take and what it can commit to, and the plan passes back and forth until both sides agree. The result is targets people understand and own, rather than numbers handed down. - [Causal and resultant losses](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#causal-and-resultant-losses): A causal loss is the original problem, such as a machine breakdown or a changeover; a resultant loss is a cost it sets off elsewhere, such as operators waiting, overtime or scrap at the restart. Cost deployment in World Class Manufacturing separates the two so resultant costs can be traced back to the causal loss worth fixing. Each loss is counted once, and the causal losses are ranked by their own cost plus the resultant costs they cause. - [Cellular manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cellular-manufacturing): Cellular manufacturing arranges the machines and workstations needed to make a family of similar products close together, often in a U-shape, so parts move from one step to the next with little transport or waiting. A cell is usually run by a small team that can move between stations as demand changes. It is the physical layout that makes one-piece flow practical. - [Chaku-chaku](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#chaku-chaku): Chaku-chaku, Japanese for “load-load,” is a way of running a cell in which the machines unload finished parts automatically and the operator’s only job at each station is to load the next part and move on. The operator walks the cell in process order, carrying one part at a time, so the cell runs as one-piece flow with minimal handling. It suits cells where machine cycles are automatic and short. - [Change point management (4M change)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#change-point-management): Change point management is logging every change to the people, machines, materials or methods of a process, the 4M, and checking the product more closely until the change is proven. Typical change points are a relief operator, a repair or new tool, a new material lot or supplier and a revised work instruction; some plants add Design and write 4M1D. Toyota-style plants call a change point henkaten and show current changes by station on a board. - [Changeover matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#changeover-matrix): A changeover matrix is a from-to table of changeover times between every pair of products a line runs, with the product running now in the rows and the next product in the columns. It shows that changeover time depends on the order: dropping an allergen or going from a dark product to a light one usually needs a fuller clean than the reverse. Planners use it to choose the run order with the least changeover time and to pick the biggest cells for SMED. - [Check sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#check-sheet): A check sheet is a simple form for recording how often something happens, and where or when, using tally marks made at the process as events occur. The categories are set in advance, for example defect types by hour or by machine, so the data is collected the same way every time and is ready to analyze. It is often the first of the seven basic quality tools a team uses, and its counts feed Pareto charts and histograms. - [CILR (clean, inspect, lubricate, retighten)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cilr): CILR stands for clean, inspect, lubricate, and retighten, the four basic equipment care tasks operators carry out as part of autonomous maintenance. Each machine gets a CILR standard that says which points to check, how, and how often, usually as a short checklist. Regular CILR catches loose fasteners, leaks, contamination, and wear before they turn into breakdowns. - [Coaching kata](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#coaching-kata): Coaching kata is a short, fixed routine in which a coach asks a learner five questions about their improvement work: what is the target condition, what is the actual condition now, what obstacles are in the way and which one are you addressing, what is your next step and what do you expect, and when can we go and see what you learned. The learner follows the improvement kata, a repeating pattern of understanding the direction, grasping the current condition, setting the next target condition, and experimenting toward it. Practiced daily, the pair builds scientific problem-solving habits. - [Compressed air leakage](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#compressed-air-leakage): Compressed air leakage is the air a compressed air system loses through couplings, hoses, fittings, regulators, drains and valves, measured as a flow (cfm or L/s) or as a share of compressor output. The US Department of Energy says leaks often waste 20 to 30% of a compressor's output and that a leak program can hold them to 5 to 10%; the flow through a leak rises with pressure and with the square of the hole's diameter. Leaks blow whenever the system is pressurised, so their cost is the compressor power for that flow times the hours under pressure. - [Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cmms): A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is software that keeps a plant’s maintenance records in one place: the asset list, work orders, preventive maintenance schedules, spare parts, and each machine’s repair history. It schedules recurring tasks, tracks each job from request to close, and turns the history into measures such as MTBF and MTTR. An enterprise asset management (EAM) system covers the same ground plus the wider asset life cycle, such as purchasing and replacement planning. - [Condition-based maintenance (CBM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#condition-based-maintenance): Condition-based maintenance (CBM) means checking equipment for a sign that a failure is coming and doing the repair only when the sign is found, instead of at a fixed age. The check can be an instrument reading such as vibration or oil analysis, or a simple inspection such as measuring wear depth. It works only when the sign appears long enough before the failure to act on, and reasonably consistently; reliability-centred maintenance tries it before any time-based task. - [Connected worker platform](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#connected-worker-platform): A connected worker platform is software that gives frontline workers the instructions, training, issue reporting and checklists they need on shift, on a phone, a tablet or a shared kiosk. It replaces paper binders, whiteboards and spreadsheets at the point of work, and sends what workers record to the people who act on it. - [Containment action](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#containment-action): A containment action is the immediate step that stops a problem from reaching the customer or the next process while its root cause is found and fixed. Typical containment includes holding and sorting suspect stock, adding an inspection and posting a quality alert at the line. It protects the customer but does not remove the cause, so it is replaced by a permanent corrective action and then taken away. - [Continuous improvement software](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#continuous-improvement-software): Continuous improvement software is a system for managing improvement work from the first idea or reported problem to the measured result. It typically covers capturing ideas and issues from the floor, routing them for review and approval, running improvement projects such as kaizen events, A3s or PDCA cycles, and reporting participation, progress and results. It replaces suggestion boxes, spreadsheets and email trails with one record per improvement. - [Corrective and preventive action (CAPA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#capa): CAPA, short for corrective and preventive action, is the quality process for removing the causes of problems. Corrective action eliminates the cause of a nonconformity that has already happened so it does not recur; preventive action removes the cause of a potential problem before it occurs. A CAPA is closed only after its effectiveness has been verified. - [Cost deployment](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cost-deployment): Cost deployment is the World Class Manufacturing method that puts a money value on every loss in a plant, so improvement goes where the cost is highest. Losses are measured by process, split into causal losses and the resultant losses they set off, turned into money with agreed unit costs, and matched with the methods and projects that recover them. The work is usually laid out in matrices labelled A to E, from where losses occur to improvement cost against benefit. - [Cost of poor quality (COPQ)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#copq): Cost of poor quality (COPQ) is the cost a business carries because products or processes are not done right the first time. It covers internal failures such as scrap and rework and external failures such as returns, warranty claims, and complaints; broader definitions also count appraisal costs such as inspection. Putting a money value on defects helps rank which quality problems to fix first. - [Cost per unit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cost-per-unit): Cost per unit is what it costs to make one unit of a product: direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead, added up and divided by the units made. Cost per good unit divides the cost of everything started by only the units that pass, so scrap is carried by the good ones. Overhead is charged to the product at a rate, such as budgeted overhead divided by budgeted direct labor hours, so part of the figure is an allocation rather than a measurement. - [Cost-benefit analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cost-benefit-analysis): A cost-benefit analysis compares what a change will cost with what it will return, over the same years and in the same money terms, to decide whether it is worth doing and which of several options is best. Typical results are the net benefit per year, the payback period, the NPV and the benefit-cost ratio, the present value of the benefits divided by the present value of the costs, where a ratio above 1 means the benefits are larger. Hard benefits, where spending goes down, are usually judged first, with soft benefits shown separately. - [Critical spare parts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#critical-spare-parts): Critical spare parts are the parts a plant keeps in stock because waiting for one would stop or endanger an asset that matters, and they could not be bought fast enough when it fails. Which parts count follows from the equipment criticality ranking, what each part's failure does, its lead time and whether it is single source or obsolete. For parts used a few times a year, the reorder point is often set with the Poisson model from usage and lead time. - [Critical to quality (CTQ)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#critical-to-quality): A critical-to-quality (CTQ) characteristic is a measurable property of a product or process that customers care about, with a target and limits, such as a seal strength or an on-time delivery window. Six Sigma teams turn what customers say into CTQs in the Define phase, and a project's primary metric usually measures one of them. - [Cross-training](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cross-training): Cross-training is the planned practice of teaching employees to perform jobs beyond their primary role. It gives a plant enough qualified people to cover absences, turnover, and swings in demand without stopping a line or depending on one expert. Progress is usually tracked in a skills matrix so gaps are visible before they cause a problem. - [Cycle counting](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cycle-counting): Cycle counting is counting a small part of the inventory on a regular schedule, so every item is counted over the year and the stock records stay accurate without shutting down for a full physical inventory. Each count is compared with the system quantity, and differences outside tolerance are recounted and traced to their cause, such as an unrecorded issue or a part in the wrong location. Most schedules use an ABC classification so that high-value items are counted most often. - [Cycle time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#cycle-time): Cycle time is how long one process step takes to complete one unit, as observed at the station. Comparing each station’s cycle time with takt time shows whether a line can keep up with customer demand and which station is the bottleneck. It is not the same as lead time, which is the total time a unit spends in the process, including waiting. - [Daily huddle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#daily-huddle): A daily huddle is a short stand-up meeting, usually 10 to 15 minutes at the start of a shift, where a team reviews yesterday's results against target, today's plan and open problems at its board. Problems get an owner and a date instead of being solved in the meeting, and what the team cannot fix is escalated. It is the front-line tier of tiered meetings. - [Daily kaizen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#daily-kaizen): Daily kaizen is the small, immediate improvement operators or supervisors make in their own area, with no approval process, done the same day or within the shift. Repositioning a tool, fixing a label or adding a hook are typical. Teams make it a habit with a short routine at their board every day, where each fix gets one owner and the fixes are counted every week. - [DART rate](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#dart-rate): The DART rate is the number of recordable cases with days away from work, restricted work or a job transfer (columns H and I of the OSHA 300 Log), multiplied by 200,000 and divided by the hours worked. Each case sits in one column only, the one for its most serious outcome, so a case with both days away and restricted days counts once. It shows how many recordable cases were serious enough to take a person off their normal job. - [Defects per hundred units](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#defects-per-hundred-units): Defects per hundred units (DPHU) is the number of defects found per 100 units inspected: total defects divided by units inspected, times 100. Because one unit can carry several defects, it can be higher than the percentage of defective units, which counts each faulty unit once. Tracking both shows whether problems are spread across many parts or concentrated on a few. - [Design FMEA (DFMEA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#dfmea): A design FMEA (DFMEA) is an FMEA of a product design, done by the design team before the design is released, to find how the part could fail to do its job and fix the design while changes are still cheap. Each failure mode is rated for severity, occurrence and detection, where detection is how well design verification and testing would catch it, and the highest risks get actions. It assumes the part is made to the drawing; how the process could fail to make it to the drawing is the job of the process FMEA, which the DFMEA feeds through special characteristics. - [Digital manufacturing readiness](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#digital-manufacturing-readiness): Digital manufacturing readiness is how far a plant's work, systems and people are set up to run on digital information: work recorded where it happens, each number entered once, data reaching the people who act on it within the shift, and leaders and operators who use it. A readiness check scores process, technology and people together, because a tool the process and the people are not ready for adds little. Published frameworks include the Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index and the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index. - [Digital work instructions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#digital-work-instructions): Digital work instructions are step-by-step job instructions shown on a screen, tablet, or phone at the workstation instead of on paper. They usually combine short text with photos or video, and because they are updated in one place, every station sees the current version. They are how standard work and SOPs reach the operator on the shop floor. - [DMAIC](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#dmaic): DMAIC is the five-phase improvement method used in Six Sigma: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. The team defines the problem and goal, measures current performance, analyzes data to confirm root causes, improves the process, and puts controls in place to hold the gain. It suits complex, data-heavy problems where the cause is not obvious. - [Dock-to-stock time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#dock-to-stock): Dock-to-stock time is the time from a delivery being unloaded at the receiving dock to the parts being put away in their location and available to use. It covers checking the delivery against the purchase order, any inspection hold and putaway, so long times usually point to a queue at one of those steps. Material that sits at the dock cannot be used and is easily lost, which is why receiving logs record the putaway time. - [Downtime reason codes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#downtime-reason-codes): Downtime reason codes are a fixed list of reasons an operator picks from when a machine or line stops, such as a changeover, a mechanical failure or waiting for material. Each code rolls up to one of the six big losses, so the minutes logged against it feed availability, performance or quality in OEE. A list that works is short, has one code for each kind of stop and is reviewed after its first month. - [Eight pillars of TPM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#tpm-pillars): The eight pillars of TPM are the areas of work that total productive maintenance is organized into: autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, quality maintenance, focused improvement, early equipment management, training and education, safety, health and environment, and office TPM. They rest on a foundation of 5S. Each pillar has its own owners and goals, but they depend on each other; autonomous maintenance, for example, relies on the training pillar. - [Employee empowerment](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#employee-empowerment): Employee empowerment is giving people the authority, information and resources to make decisions about their own work without asking a manager each time. In practice it means decisions agreed in advance, with clear limits and a named person to consult or escalate to, plus the training to use them. The empowerment guide on this site calls it the opposite of micromanagement. - [Employee engagement](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#employee-engagement): Employee engagement is how committed people are to their work and to the organization's goals, shown in the effort they give beyond the minimum. It is not the same as satisfaction or happiness. The engagement guide on this site names six drivers: recognition, feedback, culture, team, empowerment and development. - [Employee recognition program](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#employee-recognition-program): An employee recognition program is the set of rules a workplace uses to notice and thank people for specific actions: what is recognized, who can nominate, which rewards are given and who approves them. In a plant it often covers safety reports, improvement ideas, quality catches and helping other teams, and a regular check shows whether recognition reaches every team and shift, not only the people managers see most. - [Engineering change request (ECR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#engineering-change-request): An engineering change request (ECR) is the formal request to change a part, drawing, process or document. It says what changes and why, lists everything the change touches, such as tooling, stock on hand, work instructions, the PFMEA and customer approvals, and is reviewed and approved before anything changes on the floor. Once approved, an engineering change notice (ECN) tells everyone affected what changes and when it takes effect; some companies call this step an engineering change order (ECO). - [EPEI (every part every interval)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#epei): EPEI is how often each product or part number comes round in a production sequence. If a machine makes every part assigned to it at least once every three days, its EPEI is three days. Shorter is better because it means smaller lots and less stock, and it depends mainly on changeover times and the number of parts the machine runs. - [Equipment criticality analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#equipment-criticality): Equipment criticality analysis ranks a plant's assets by the consequences of their failure, usually by scoring safety and environment, quality, production impact, failure frequency, repair time and spare parts lead time. The weighted total sorts assets into classes, often A, B and C, that decide which get condition monitoring and critical spares, which get time-based preventive maintenance and which can run to failure. Criteria, weights and cut-offs are set by each site, and many add a rule that a top safety score makes an asset class A. - [Equivalent annual cost (EAC)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#equivalent-annual-cost): Equivalent annual cost (EAC) is the even yearly amount that has the same present value as all of an asset's costs over its life: purchase and installation, yearly operating and maintenance costs, less what it is worth at the end. It is the present value of those costs times the capital recovery factor r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), at discount rate r over n years. Because it is a cost per year, it compares a machine that will last 4 more years with one that will last 10, which is how repair or replace decisions are made; the number of years with the lowest EAC is the asset's economic life. - [Escalation matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#escalation-matrix): An escalation matrix is a table that says who is called when a problem cannot be solved where it starts, and when: for each type of issue, who responds first and how fast, and who is called next if the problem is not contained within a set time. It is usually set out by issue type and by tier, from the team leader up to plant leadership. It sits behind andon calls, issue tags and tiered meetings, so each problem reaches someone who can fix it in time. - [F-tag](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#f-tag): An F-tag is a tag hung on equipment to mark an abnormality found during inspection or daily work, such as a leak, a loose bolt, contamination, or a damaged guard. The F stands for fuguai, Japanese for an abnormality or malfunction. Each tag is logged and stays visible on the machine until the problem is fixed, and tags are often split by whether operators or maintenance should resolve them. - [Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#fmea): Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a structured way to find how a product or process could fail before it does. For each failure mode the team rates severity, occurrence, and detection, then acts on the highest risks first, traditionally ranked by a risk priority number (RPN) and in newer methods by action priority. Process FMEAs are a standard part of launching and controlling manufacturing processes. - [Failure-finding task](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#failure-finding-task): A failure-finding task is a test or inspection done at a set interval to find out whether a hidden function has failed, such as lifting the float of a level switch to see that the pump stops. It is used for protective devices that give no sign when they fail, when no preventive task works. The interval is chosen so the device is unlikely to be failed on the day the thing it protects needs it. - [Fault tree analysis (FTA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#fault-tree-analysis): Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a top-down root cause method that starts from one undesired event, such as a machine failure or a safety incident, and works backward through the combinations of events that could cause it. The causes are drawn as a tree joined by AND and OR logic gates, which shows whether one failure alone or several together are needed to produce the top event. It suits complex equipment and safety problems where several causes interact. - [First pass yield (FPY)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#first-pass-yield): First pass yield (FPY) is the share of units that come through a process step right the first time, with no rework, repair, or scrap. It is calculated as good units made first time ÷ units started × 100. Because reworked units are left out of the good count, FPY exposes the rework that a final yield figure can hide. - [First piece inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#first-piece-inspection): A first piece inspection checks the first part made after a setup, a change or a restart against the drawing or the control plan before the run continues. It confirms the process is making good parts now, which is why it follows changeovers, repairs and other change points. It is not the same as a first article inspection, which verifies a new part or a design change once, in full. - [Fishbone diagram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#fishbone-diagram): A fishbone diagram, also called an Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, is a visual tool for brainstorming the possible causes of a problem. The problem sits at the head of the fish and causes are grouped along the bones, often under categories such as man, machine, method, material, measurement, and environment. It organizes ideas for investigation; the likely causes still have to be verified with data. - [Five lean principles](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#lean-principles): The five lean principles describe how to remove waste from a process: specify value from the customer’s point of view, identify the value stream, make the value-creating steps flow, let the customer pull, and pursue perfection. They were set out by James Womack and Daniel Jones in the book Lean Thinking. The cycle repeats, because each pass exposes more waste to remove. - [Fixed-position stop](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#fixed-position-stop): A fixed-position stop is a way of stopping an assembly line at the end of the work cycle, at a set position, when a problem called on the andon cannot be solved within that cycle. The team leader has until the line reaches that position to fix the problem, so many calls can be cleared without stopping the line. It is one way of putting jidoka into practice on a paced line. - [Floor marking](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#floor-marking): Floor marking is the use of painted or taped lines, colors and symbols on the floor to show aisles, work areas, storage and material locations, and hazards, so anyone can see where things belong and where people and trucks should go. A common scheme uses yellow for aisles and work cells, red for defects and scrap, and striped tape for areas to keep clear, but there is no single universal standard. OSHA requires permanent aisles to be marked and uses red for fire equipment and yellow for physical hazards, and leaves the rest of the scheme to each site, which should write it down and use it the same way in every area. - [Food GMP (current good manufacturing practice)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#food-gmp): Food GMP, short for current good manufacturing practice, is the set of baseline conditions a food plant keeps in place for every product: personnel hygiene, plant and grounds, cleaning and pest control, water and hand-washing facilities, equipment, process controls and storage. In the US it is set for human food by 21 CFR Part 117, subpart B; the Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969) cover the same ground internationally. HACCP plans and food safety plans are built on top of it. - [Gantt chart](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#gantt-chart): A Gantt chart is a project schedule drawn as horizontal bars on a time scale, one bar per task from its start to its finish, with milestones marked as points. Links between tasks show what each one waits for, so a late task shows what it holds up. Improvement teams use one to schedule a project after the charter and to compare planned with actual progress at each review. - [Gauge R&R](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#gauge-rr): Gauge R&R (repeatability and reproducibility) is a study that measures how much of the variation in measurement results comes from the measurement system itself. Repeatability is the variation when one person measures the same part several times with the same gauge; reproducibility is the variation between different people measuring the same parts. The combined result is compared with the part tolerance or the process variation to decide whether the gauge is fit for use. - [Gemba](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#gemba): Gemba is a Japanese word meaning “the actual place,” and in lean it means where value is created, most often the shop floor. The principle is that problems are best understood by going there to see the process, the product, and the people directly, rather than relying on reports. - [Gemba walk](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#gemba-walk): A gemba walk is a leader’s planned visit to the place where work is done to observe the process, ask questions, and learn from the people doing the work. The aim is to see real conditions and support problem solving, not to inspect people or hand out orders on the spot. What the leader sees is noted and followed up as actions. - [Genchi genbutsu](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#genchi-genbutsu): Genchi genbutsu, Japanese for “actual place, actual thing,” is the Toyota principle of going to the source to see a problem for yourself before deciding what to do. Leaders and engineers check the real process, parts, and data at the gemba instead of relying on reports or assumptions. It is the thinking behind gemba walks and the 5G methodology. - [HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#haccp): HACCP, short for hazard analysis and critical control points, is a food safety system that finds the biological, chemical and physical hazards in a product and its process and controls the significant ones at critical control points (CCPs), each with a measurable critical limit, monitoring, corrective action, verification and records. It follows the seven principles in the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969) and rests on prerequisite programmes, such as cleaning and hygiene, that must already work. - [Hansei](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#hansei): Hansei is the Japanese practice of honest self-reflection: looking back at what went wrong or could have gone better, admitting one’s own part in it, and committing to a concrete change. At Toyota it is expected even after a success, on the view that there is always something to improve. Hansei meetings, or hansei-kai, are held at the end of a project or event to capture the lessons before they are lost. - [Hard and soft savings](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#hard-and-soft-savings): Hard savings are reductions in spending that show up in the accounts, such as less material bought, fewer overtime hours paid or a contract cancelled. Soft savings are costs avoided or time and space freed without anyone paying less yet, such as operator hours freed with no change in headcount or overtime. Most CI programs report the two separately and have Finance verify the hard savings before they count toward a target, so the CI team and the plant controller quote the same number. - [Heijunka](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#heijunka): Heijunka, or production leveling, is the practice of smoothing the volume and mix of production over a period instead of following the ups and downs of incoming orders. Rather than building all of product A on Monday and all of product B on Tuesday, a leveled schedule makes some of each every day in a repeating sequence. It reduces mura (unevenness), keeps upstream processes and suppliers at a steady pace, and makes just-in-time workable. - [Hierarchy of controls](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#hierarchy-of-controls): The hierarchy of controls ranks ways to protect workers from a hazard, from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment. NIOSH notes that the top three work without relying on people, while the bottom two need constant effort from workers and supervisors. Incident investigations and risk assessments use it to choose the strongest action that can be put in place. - [Histogram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#histogram): A histogram is a bar chart that shows how many measurements fall into each of a series of equal ranges, so the shape of a process’s variation can be seen at a glance. It shows whether results are centered on the target, how widely they spread, and whether the pattern is skewed or has two peaks, which can mean two machines, shifts, or material lots are mixed together. Drawing the specification limits on it gives a quick visual check of process capability. - [Hoshin kanri](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#hoshin-kanri): Hoshin kanri, also called policy or strategy deployment, is a method for linking a company’s few breakthrough goals to the work of every level of the organization. Goals are cascaded through a back-and-forth negotiation called catchball, often recorded on an X-matrix, and progress is reviewed on a regular PDCA cycle. It keeps improvement effort focused on what matters most to the business. - [Hour-by-hour board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#hour-by-hour-board): An hour-by-hour board is a visual board at a line or cell that shows planned output against actual output for each hour of the shift, with a short note of the reason whenever an hour falls short. Because it is updated every hour, a missed target becomes a problem the team can act on during the same shift instead of something found in an end-of-day report. The recorded reasons feed the daily meeting and show which losses to attack first. - [Incoming inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#incoming-inspection): Incoming inspection, also called receiving inspection, is checking purchased material when it arrives, before it is used or stocked: the paperwork and certificates, the packaging and condition, and a sample checked against the drawing. How many parts to check comes from a sampling plan, often from the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 or ISO 2859-1 tables with an inspection level and AQL the site chooses. A lot that fails is held and recorded on an NCR, and a SCAR goes to the supplier when the cause is theirs. - [Individuals and moving range chart (I-MR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#individuals-moving-range-chart): An individuals and moving range (I-MR) chart is the control chart for one reading at a time, such as one viscosity per batch or one number per day. The individuals chart plots each reading against limits of the mean plus and minus 2.66 times the average moving range, and the moving range chart plots the difference between each reading and the one before, with an upper limit of 3.267 times the average moving range. It is used when readings cannot be grouped into subgroups, where an X-bar and R chart would be used instead. - [Internal audit (ISO 9001)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#internal-audit): An internal audit is a planned check, by the organization's own trained auditors, that its quality management system works as intended and meets its requirements: the site's procedures, the customer's requirements and a standard such as ISO 9001. Auditors who do not work in the area sample records, watch the work and talk to the people doing it, then grade each finding against a stated requirement. Findings go to corrective action and are closed only after someone checks that the action worked. - [Internal rate of return (IRR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#irr): The internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate at which a project’s net present value is exactly zero, which makes it the yearly return the project earns on its investment. For a normal project, with the money spent first and the returns after, an IRR above the hurdle rate set by Finance means a positive NPV at that rate. IRR is found by trial or with a spreadsheet function; when comparing options of different sizes, NPV is the safer guide, because a small project can have a high IRR and still add less value. - [Inventory record accuracy](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#inventory-record-accuracy): Inventory record accuracy is the share of counted items whose physical count matches the system record within an agreed tolerance: counts within tolerance divided by counts checked, times 100. Tolerances are usually tighter for high-value A items than for C items. Low accuracy shows up as shortages of parts the system says are in stock, extra safety stock, and people keeping their own counts. - [Inventory turnover](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#inventory-turnover): Inventory turnover is how many times a business uses up and replaces its inventory in a period: cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory value at cost. Days on hand is the days in the period divided by turnover, which is how long the stock would last at the current rate of use. A higher turnover means less money tied up in stock; a turnover that is too high can mean shortages and expediting. - [Is/Is Not analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#is-is-not-analysis): Is/Is Not analysis is a problem definition method that compares what, where, when, and how much a problem occurs with where and when it could occur but does not. The differences between the two columns point to what is distinctive about the problem and rule out causes that cannot explain the pattern. It is used early in 8D and other root cause methods to narrow the search before testing theories. - [ISO 45001](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#iso-45001): ISO 45001 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, first published in 2018. It sets requirements for how a site finds hazards, controls risks using the hierarchy of controls, involves workers, meets its legal requirements, audits itself and corrects problems. Certification to it is voluntary and is not the same as complying with safety law such as OSHA rules. - [Jidoka](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#jidoka): Jidoka, often translated as autonomation or automation with a human touch, is the lean principle of building quality in by stopping the process as soon as an abnormality occurs. Machines detect problems and stop themselves, and people are empowered to stop the line, so defects are not passed downstream. It is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System, alongside just-in-time. - [Jishuken](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#jishuken): Jishuken is a hands-on improvement workshop in which a group of managers or engineers studies a real process at the gemba and improves it there, usually over a few days, to build their own kaizen skills. The Japanese term roughly means “self-directed study.” It developed at Toyota, which uses it to train leaders and to support improvement in its own plants and at suppliers, with the lessons spread through yokoten. - [Job breakdown sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#job-breakdown-sheet): A job breakdown sheet is the instructor's teaching notes in TWI Job Instruction: a job split into its important steps, the key points within each step, and the reason for each key point. Key points are anything that could make or break the job, injure the worker, or make the work easier. It is kept short so the trainer can read it at a glance while teaching. - [Job cover matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#job-cover-matrix): A job cover matrix is a chart that shows, for each job or station, which people are qualified to cover it and how many backups exist. It exposes single points of failure, such as a machine only one person can run, so supervisors can plan cross-training and staff each shift with confidence. It is closely related to the skills matrix but organized around covering roles. - [Just-in-time (JIT)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#just-in-time): Just-in-time (JIT) is a production approach in which each process makes and delivers only what the next process needs, when it needs it, and in the quantity it needs. It relies on pull signals such as kanban, level scheduling, and short changeovers, and it keeps inventory low so problems surface instead of being hidden by stock. JIT and jidoka are the two pillars of the Toyota Production System. - [Kaikaku](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaikaku): Kaikaku, Japanese for “reform” or “radical change,” is a large, fast step change to a process or system, such as moving a line into cells or redesigning a whole value stream. Where kaizen improves in small, continuous steps, kaikaku is usually led from the top and changes how the work is organized. Plants follow a kaikaku with kaizen to stabilize and refine the new way of working. - [Kaizen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaizen): Kaizen is the practice of continuous improvement through small, frequent changes made by the people who do the work. The Japanese word means “change for the better.” In a plant it shows up as daily problem solving, employee suggestions, and focused improvement events, all aimed at reducing waste and making work easier, safer, and more reliable. - [Kaizen burst](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaizen-burst): A kaizen burst is the starburst symbol on a value stream map that marks a change needed to reach the future state, such as a shorter changeover or a new supermarket. On its own it is only an idea. In a value stream plan each burst becomes a project with one owner, a target, dates and a way to check that it worked. - [Kaizen event](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaizen-event): A kaizen event, also called a kaizen blitz or rapid improvement event, is a short, focused project, usually lasting a few days to a week, in which a cross-functional team improves one defined process. The team maps the current state, finds the waste, tests changes on the floor, and standardizes the new method before the event closes. Open actions are tracked afterward so the gain holds. - [Kaizen newspaper](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaizen-newspaper): A kaizen newspaper is the action list a kaizen team keeps for the items it cannot finish during the event: the problem, the action, who owns it and when it is due, with a status mark updated until each item is closed. It is usually posted in the area and reviewed at the 30, 60 and 90 day follow-ups, so the event's open work stays visible after the team disbands. - [Kaizen teian](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kaizen-teian): Kaizen teian is a system for collecting and acting on small improvement ideas from individual employees. Most ideas are changes people can make in their own area, and the emphasis is on quick review, recognition, and implementation rather than large savings per idea. It is the individual, everyday side of kaizen, alongside team-based kaizen events. - [Kamishibai board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kamishibai-board): A kamishibai board is a board of double-sided cards, one per check, used to schedule and track short audits of standard work and process conditions. A card shows green when its check has been done and the process met the standard, and red when the check found a problem or has not been done, so anyone can see audit status at a glance. It is a simple visual way to run leader audits such as layered process audits. - [Kanban](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kanban): Kanban is a signal, traditionally a card, that authorizes a process to produce or move a set quantity of parts. When a downstream process uses material, the kanban goes back upstream as the instruction to replace it, so production is pulled by actual use instead of pushed by a forecast. The number of kanban in the loop caps how much inventory can build up. - [KPI dashboard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#kpi-dashboard): A manufacturing KPI dashboard shows a small set of key performance indicators for a plant or area against targets, often grouped as safety, quality, delivery, cost and people, with a color when a number is off target and a trend over recent weeks. Each indicator needs one written definition and one data source, so every shift reads it the same way. Its job is to show where to act this week, not to report numbers. - [Layered process audit (LPA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#layered-process-audit): A layered process audit (LPA) is a short, frequent check that key process steps and controls are being followed, carried out by several layers of the organization, from supervisors up to plant leadership. Each layer audits on a set schedule from a standard question list, and any nonconformance is corrected on the spot or assigned as an action. LPAs are widely used in automotive manufacturing to confirm that high-risk controls stay in place. - [Lead time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#lead-time): Lead time is the total time from the start of a process to its end as the customer or the next stage experiences it, for example from order to delivery. It includes processing, waiting, inspection, and transport, so it is usually much longer than the time spent actually working on the product. Common types are customer lead time, material lead time, production lead time, and cumulative lead time. - [Leader standard work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#leader-standard-work): Leader standard work is a written routine of the daily, weekly, and monthly tasks a leader performs to sustain the operating system, such as gemba walks, tiered meetings, audits, and checking visual boards. Writing it down makes the leader’s own work visible and repeatable and protects time for coaching and problem solving. It is the management counterpart to operator standard work. - [Leading and lagging indicators](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#leading-lagging-indicators): Lagging indicators measure outcomes after they have happened, such as recordable injuries, lost-time incidents, or customer returns. Leading indicators measure the activities and conditions that come before those outcomes, such as near-miss reports, safety observations, audits completed, or hazards closed. Tracking both lets a plant act on risks before they show up in the results. - [Lean manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#lean-manufacturing): Lean manufacturing is a way of running production that aims to deliver what the customer values with the least waste of time, material, effort, and money. It grew out of the Toyota Production System and combines principles such as flow, pull, and continuous improvement with tools such as 5S, standard work, and value stream mapping. In practice it depends as much on how people solve problems every day as on the tools. - [Lean readiness assessment](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#lean-readiness-assessment): A lean readiness assessment checks, before a lean rollout, whether the organization has the foundation lean depends on: leadership commitment, a culture that surfaces problems, processes stable enough to standardize, and people with the time and experience to take part. Several people score the same statements on their own, and the weakest factor and the gaps between their views show what to fix first and where to pilot. Repeated later, it shows whether the gaps have closed. - [Lean transformation](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#lean-transformation): A lean transformation is an organization-wide change to working by lean principles, covering how work flows, how problems are surfaced and solved, and how leaders manage, rather than applying a few tools in one area. It usually starts in a pilot area or value stream and spreads as people and systems are ready. Because it changes daily habits and management routines, it is treated as an ongoing change, not a project with an end date. - [Line balancing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#line-balancing): Line balancing is the practice of distributing work across the stations of a line so that each station’s workload is close to takt time and to the others. A balanced line has less waiting and fewer bottlenecks, and it needs fewer operators to meet the same demand. Yamazumi charts are the usual tool for seeing and redistributing the work. - [Little’s Law](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#littles-law): Little’s Law says that in a stable process the average time a unit spends in the process equals the average number of units in it divided by the rate at which they leave: lead time = WIP ÷ throughput. 1,600 parts waiting in front of a step that uses 400 a day means about 4 days of waiting. It is how value stream maps turn counted inventory into days. - [Lockout/tagout (LOTO)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#loto): Lockout/tagout (LOTO) is the safety procedure that isolates a machine from all hazardous energy sources and keeps it isolated while people service or maintain it. Each authorized worker applies their own lock and tag to the energy-isolating devices, and the absence of energy is verified before work begins. In the United States, the requirements are set by OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.147. - [Machine hour rate](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#machine-hour-rate): A machine hour rate is the cost of running one machine for one productive hour: its yearly costs (depreciation, floor space, insurance, maintenance, tooling and, under some conventions, interest on the capital) divided by the hours it actually runs, plus the energy it uses per running hour. Because the yearly costs are spread over the hours run, a machine that runs fewer hours has a higher rate. Operator labour is usually kept as a separate rate and added for quotes. - [Maintenance backlog](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#maintenance-backlog): Maintenance backlog is the approved maintenance work that has not been done yet, usually counted in weeks: estimated hours of backlog ÷ crew hours available per week. 360 hours of backlog with 120 crew hours a week is 3 weeks. A backlog that keeps growing means work arrives faster than the crew can do it; one near zero can mean work is not being planned ahead. - [Maintenance job plan](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#job-plan): A maintenance job plan is the package prepared for one job before it is scheduled: the steps in order, the hours for each craft, the parts checked against stock, special tools, lockout and permits, and the drawings. A job is ready for the weekly schedule when everything in the plan is in place. - [Master sample (known-bad sample)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#master-sample): A master sample is a part or test piece in a known condition that is used to prove a gauge, sensor or error-proofing device still works. A known-bad sample carries the exact defect the device must catch, so a device that lets it through has failed. Master samples are labelled, kept in one place and controlled so they do not change, and they are never used as production parts. - [Master sanitation schedule](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#master-sanitation-schedule): A master sanitation schedule is a food plant's standing list of every cleaning task: the area and equipment, what is done, how often, the method and chemical, who does it and when it is next due. A pre-operational (pre-op) verification is the check before start-up, by someone other than the cleaner, that cleaned equipment is clean, usually by sight and sometimes with an ATP swab against a limit the site sets. Failed equipment is recleaned and rechecked before release. - [Match marks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#match-marks): Match marks are paint lines drawn across a nut or bolt head and onto the surface beside it once the fastener has been tightened to its torque. If the fastener turns, the line breaks or no longer lines up, so anyone walking past can see it has loosened without putting a wrench on it. They are one of the most common visual controls in autonomous maintenance; a broken line is tagged, not just retightened. - [Mean time between failures (MTBF)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#mtbf): Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the average time a repairable machine runs between breakdowns. It is calculated as total operating time ÷ number of failures in that period, so a machine that ran 1,000 hours with 5 failures has an MTBF of 200 hours. A rising MTBF shows equipment is becoming more reliable; it is usually tracked alongside mean time to repair (MTTR), the average time to restore a machine after a failure. - [Mean time to repair (MTTR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#mttr): Mean time to repair (MTTR) is the average time it takes to restore a failed machine to working order. It is calculated as total repair time ÷ number of repairs in that period, so 20 hours spent on 5 repairs gives an MTTR of 4 hours. Plants differ on whether repair time covers the whole outage, including diagnosis and waiting for parts, or only hands-on work, so the definition should be stated with the number; a falling MTTR means breakdowns are being fixed faster. - [Measurement system analysis (MSA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#measurement-system-analysis): Measurement system analysis (MSA) is a set of studies that checks whether a measurement system, meaning the gauge, the method, the people, and the conditions, gives data good enough to base decisions on. It looks at bias, linearity, stability, repeatability, and reproducibility, with gauge R&R the most common study. If the measurement system is not adequate, control charts, capability studies, and pass/fail decisions built on its data cannot be trusted. - [Measurement uncertainty](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#measurement-uncertainty): Measurement uncertainty says how far a measured value could reasonably be from the true value of what was measured. Under the GUM method each source, such as repeatability, the reference standard's calibration, resolution and temperature, is turned into a standard uncertainty and the sources are combined by root sum of squares. That combined value is multiplied by a coverage factor k, usually about 2, to give the expanded uncertainty U, and the result is reported as y ± U. - [Micro-stops](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#micro-stops): Micro-stops are brief stoppages, from a few seconds to a few minutes, that interrupt a machine or line without being logged as downtime, such as jams, misfeeds, or sensor trips an operator clears by hand. Because each one is short they are rarely recorded, yet together they can be a large hidden loss. In OEE they count as a performance loss and are one of the six big losses. - [Milk run](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#milk-run): A milk run is a fixed route run at fixed times that delivers or collects material at several stops in one loop, instead of a separate trip for each. Inside a plant it feeds lines from a supermarket, often run by a water spider; outside, a truck collects small loads from several suppliers. Fixed timing lets each stop plan around the next visit and keeps the stock between visits small. - [Minimal cut set](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#minimal-cut-set): A minimal cut set is the smallest combination of basic events in a fault tree that together cause the top event: take away any one of them and that combination no longer causes it. A cut set with a single event is a single point of failure, and a cut set with two or more events shows where independent safeguards protect the system. With independent events, the probability of a cut set is the product of its events' probabilities. - [Mizusumashi (water spider)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#mizusumashi): A mizusumashi, or water spider, is a material handler who runs a fixed, timed route delivering parts to production lines and collecting empty containers and kanban. By keeping materials at the point of use, the role lets operators stay at their stations doing value-added work. Because the route and timing are standardized, the water spider also carries the pull signals between supermarkets and the line. - [Mock recall](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#mock-recall): A mock recall is a practice run of a product recall: someone names a finished lot, and the team traces it one step back to every ingredient and packaging lot and its supplier and one step forward to every first customer, reconciles the quantities and times how long it took. Food safety schemes such as SQF and BRCGS require a test at least once a year. The gaps it finds get an owner, a fix and a re-test. - [Model line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#model-line): A model line is one production line or area where a plant first puts lean practices in place and proves they work before spreading them to other areas. The team builds the foundations there, such as 5S, standard work, visual management and a daily team meeting, then flow and pull, and writes what works into standards the next areas start from. Concentrating the effort on one line builds people's skill and gives the rest of the plant a working example to copy. - [Muda, mura, muri](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#muda-mura-muri): Muda, mura, and muri are the three types of waste in the Toyota Production System. Muda is any activity that adds no value for the customer, mura is unevenness in workload or flow, and muri is overburden on people or equipment. They are linked: uneven schedules (mura) push people and machines past their limits (muri), which creates waste (muda). - [Near miss](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#near-miss): A near miss is an unplanned event that could have caused injury, illness, or damage but did not, often by luck or a last-second reaction. Reporting and investigating near misses lets a plant fix hazards before someone gets hurt. A strong reporting culture depends on reports being easy to make, free of blame, and visibly acted on. - [Nemawashi](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#nemawashi): Nemawashi is the practice of building consensus for a proposal informally, one to one with each person affected, before it goes to a formal decision. The word comes from Japanese gardening, where it means preparing the roots before moving a tree. It surfaces concerns early, improves the proposal, and makes the decision faster and easier to carry out. - [Net present value (NPV)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#npv): Net present value (NPV) is the value today of a project’s future cash flows minus the investment. Each year’s net cash flow is divided by (1 + r) raised to the number of years from now, where r is the discount rate set by Finance, the results are added up, and the investment is subtracted. A positive NPV means the project returns more than the rate Finance requires; unlike simple payback, NPV counts every year of the project and the time value of money. - [Noise dose](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#noise-dose): Noise dose is a worker's daily noise exposure as a percentage of the amount allowed: for each period at one level, the time spent divided by the time allowed at that level, added up and multiplied by 100. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95 the time allowed halves for every 5 dB above 90 dBA, so 100% is the permissible exposure limit and 50%, an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 85 dBA, requires a hearing conservation program. NIOSH halves the time every 3 dB above 85 dBA, so the same noise gives a higher NIOSH dose. - [Non-conformance report (NCR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#ncr): A non-conformance report (NCR) is a record that a product, material, or process did not meet a specified requirement. It documents what was found, where, and how much is affected, along with the decision on what to do with it, such as rework, scrap, use as is, or return to the supplier. Serious or recurring nonconformances are escalated to a CAPA to find and remove the root cause. - [Obeya](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#obeya): An obeya, Japanese for “big room,” is a dedicated room where a cross-functional team keeps all the key information for a project or strategy on the walls, such as goals, schedules, metrics, problems, and countermeasures. The team meets there regularly, standing at the visuals to review status and make decisions quickly. It began at Toyota in product development and is now also used to manage plant performance and strategy. - [On-time delivery (OTD)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#on-time-delivery): On-time delivery (OTD) is the share of deliveries that arrive within the agreed window: on-time deliveries divided by all deliveries, times 100. The window has to be agreed first, for example up to two days early and none late, and some companies count order lines instead of deliveries. It is used to rate suppliers and as a plant’s own delivery measure to its customers; on-time in full (OTIF) also requires the full quantity. - [One-piece flow](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#one-piece-flow): One-piece flow means moving products through a process one unit at a time, with each step making only what the next step needs and passing it on immediately, instead of in batches. It cuts work-in-process and lead time and exposes defects quickly, because a problem is found at the next step instead of after a whole batch is made. It usually needs a cell layout, balanced work, and reliable equipment. - [One-point lesson (OPL)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#one-point-lesson): A one-point lesson (OPL) is a single-page visual training sheet that teaches one piece of knowledge or one skill, such as how to read a gauge or set a guide. It is mostly pictures with little text, can be read in a few minutes at the machine, and is often written by operators or technicians themselves. OPLs are widely used in TPM and autonomous maintenance to share know-how quickly. - [Operational excellence](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#operational-excellence): Operational excellence is the ability of an organization to deliver consistently on safety, quality, delivery, and cost while steadily improving, because good performance is built into how daily work is run. In manufacturing it combines lean, quality, and maintenance methods with standard work, daily management, and leadership routines that keep them going. It describes a way of operating rather than a single program or tool. - [Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#oee): Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) measures how much of a machine’s planned production time is truly productive. It is calculated as availability × performance × quality: the share of planned time the machine runs, how fast it runs against its ideal rate, and the share of parts that are good. A score of 100% means only good parts, made as fast as possible, with no stop time. - [Overall labor effectiveness (OLE)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#ole): Overall labor effectiveness (OLE) shows how well a crew's paid hours turn into good output. It multiplies availability (paid hours not lost to waiting or idle time), performance (output against the standard time per unit) and quality (good units out of all units made). It is the labor counterpart of OEE, and unlike OEE it has no single standard definition, so write down how you count idle time and where the standard comes from before you compare periods. - [Overhead crane inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#crane-inspection): An overhead crane inspection is the scheduled check of a bridge or gantry crane: its controls, brakes and limit switches, hook, rope or chain, and the structure and parts it runs on. In the United States, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.179 divides inspections of cranes in regular service into frequent inspections at daily to monthly intervals and periodic inspections at 1 to 12 month intervals, with signed monthly records for hooks, hoist chains and running ropes. A deficiency that is a safety hazard is corrected before the crane is used again. - [P-F interval](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#p-f-interval): The P-F interval is the time from the point P, where a coming failure can first be detected (rising vibration, heat, a crack, metal in the oil), to the point F, where the equipment fails. It sets how often a condition check must run: no more than half the P-F interval, and shorter if the time left after a late detection is less than the time needed to plan and do the repair. A bearing whose vibration shows 6 weeks before failure is checked every 3 weeks. - [Pacemaker process](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pacemaker-process): The pacemaker process is the one process in a value stream that receives the customer schedule. Processes upstream of it are replenished by pull from supermarkets, and material downstream of it moves in continuous flow or a FIFO lane, so its pace sets the pace of the whole stream. It is usually the last step of continuous flow before the customer, and the place where the product mix is leveled. - [Paperless manufacturing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#paperless-manufacturing): Paperless manufacturing is running and reporting the daily work of a plant without paper forms, checklists and documents: checks, logs, audits and instructions are filled in and read on phones, tablets or screens. The data is entered once where the work happens, so the people who act on it do not wait for paper to be collected, typed up or filed. A common way to start is form by form, beginning with the forms that take the most time or wait longest before anyone reads them. - [Pareto analysis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pareto-analysis): Pareto analysis ranks problems or causes by their impact, usually as a bar chart sorted from largest to smallest with a cumulative percentage line. It rests on the 80/20 rule of thumb that a few causes account for most of the effect. Teams use it to decide which defects, downtime reasons, or losses to work on first. - [Parts per million (PPM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#ppm): In quality, parts per million (PPM) is the number of defective parts for every million made, shipped or received: defective parts divided by total parts, times 1,000,000. Eight rejects in 10,000 parts received is 800 PPM. It is the usual way to state supplier and customer quality, because percentages become hard to read once defect rates are small. - [Payback period](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#payback-period): The payback period is how long a project takes to earn back its investment: the investment divided by the annual net benefit, which is the yearly saving or extra income minus any yearly running costs. A $120,000 machine that returns $40,000 a year net pays back in 3 years. It is quick to work out and easy to explain, but it ignores the time value of money and everything after the payback date, which is why capital requests usually show NPV as well. - [PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pdca): PDCA, short for Plan-Do-Check-Act, is the four-step cycle behind continuous improvement. You plan a change based on what you expect it to do, try it on a small scale, check the results against the expectation, and act by standardizing what worked or starting another cycle. It is also known as the Deming or Shewhart cycle, and some practitioners use PDSA, with Study in place of Check. - [People, process, technology (PPT)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#people-process-technology): People, process, technology (PPT) is a framework for planning and checking a change by looking at three elements together: the people who do the work, the processes that set how it is done and the technology that supports them. The point is balance: a new tool adds little if the people are not trained or the process was not changed to fit it, so the weakest element limits the result. It is also called the golden triangle. - [Pitch](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pitch): Pitch is the time a process needs to make one container of product: takt time × pack-out quantity. With a takt time of 120 seconds and 15 pieces to a container, the pitch is 30 minutes. Pitch sets the interval for releasing and collecting work, for example how often a kanban is taken from a heijunka box. - [Plan for every part (PFEP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#plan-for-every-part): A plan for every part (PFEP) is a table with one row per part number that records everything about how the part is handled: supplier, pack quantity, container size and weight, daily usage, lead time, where it is stored, where it is used and how it is replenished. The Lean Enterprise Institute calls it a critical tool of the Toyota Production System. Market sizes, delivery routes and kanban card counts are worked out from it, so it has to be kept up to date. - [Planned downtime](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#planned-downtime): Planned downtime is time a machine or line is deliberately stopped on a schedule, for example for planned maintenance, changeovers, cleaning, trials, or breaks. Because it is known in advance, parts, people, and the production plan can be prepared for it. Plants set their own rules for which planned stops count against OEE, so the rule should be written down and applied consistently. - [Planned maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#planned-maintenance): Planned maintenance is maintenance work that is prepared in advance: the job is defined, and the steps, parts, tools, skills, and time it needs are worked out before it starts. It covers preventive and predictive tasks as well as repairs that can be prepared ahead of time. In TPM, planned maintenance is also the pillar through which the maintenance team builds a proactive program. - [Planned maintenance percentage (PMP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#planned-maintenance-percentage): Planned maintenance percentage (PMP) is the share of maintenance hours spent on work that was planned before it was done: planned hours ÷ total maintenance hours. Planned work includes preventive and predictive tasks, inspections and repairs scheduled ahead; the rest is reactive work after a breakdown. Plants draw the line between the two differently, so the definition should be written down next to the number. - [PM compliance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pm-compliance): PM compliance is the share of preventive maintenance tasks due in a period that were done on time: PMs done on time ÷ PMs due. Many plants count a PM as on time if it is done inside a grace window they set, such as 10% of the interval, and count late PMs as done but not on time. A falling PM compliance is often the first sign that breakdown work is crowding out planned work. - [Points-based reward system](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#points-based-reward-system): A points-based reward system gives employees a set number of points for each action it recognizes and lets them save the points and redeem them for rewards they choose from a catalogue. The workplace sets the points per action and per prize, so the rules are visible and small, frequent recognition adds up. Points earned and not yet redeemed are a future cost to budget for. - [Poka-yoke](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#poka-yoke): Poka-yoke, Japanese for mistake-proofing, is any device or method that prevents an error from being made, or makes it obvious at once so it cannot become a defect. Examples include fixtures that only accept a part the right way round, sensors that stop a machine when a step is skipped, and connectors that cannot be mated incorrectly. It builds quality in at the source instead of relying on inspection. - [Poka-yoke types](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#poka-yoke-types): Poka-yoke devices are commonly grouped into three types by how they catch an error. Contact methods check a physical feature of the part, such as its shape, size, or position; fixed-value methods check that the right number of parts or actions has been completed; and motion-step methods check that the steps of a process were done in the right order. Each type can either prevent the error or warn when it happens. - [Powered industrial truck](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#powered-industrial-truck): A powered industrial truck is a fork truck, tractor, platform lift truck, motorized hand truck or other specialized industrial truck driven by an electric motor or an internal combustion engine, the scope of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178. OSHA's eTool groups them into seven classes, from electric rider trucks (class I) to rough terrain forklifts (class VII). In the US each operator must be trained and evaluated in the workplace, with an evaluation at least once every three years. - [Pre-shipment inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pre-shipment-inspection): A pre-shipment inspection is the last check of an order before it leaves the building: the right part and revision, the right quantity, released lots, labels in the customer’s format, packaging as specified, complete paperwork and photos, followed by a release by an authorized person. Final inspection checks that the product meets its specification; pre-shipment inspection checks that the right product is packed, labeled and documented correctly. It catches the complaints that are not about the part itself, such as wrong quantities, mixed lots and missing certificates. - [Predictive maintenance (PdM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#predictive-maintenance): Predictive maintenance (PdM) schedules maintenance based on the measured condition of the equipment rather than on the calendar. Readings such as vibration, temperature, oil analysis, or current draw are monitored for signs of deterioration, and the repair is planned before failure is expected. It avoids both unexpected breakdowns and replacing parts that still have useful life. - [Prevention-appraisal-failure (PAF) model](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#paf-model): The prevention-appraisal-failure (PAF) model sorts the cost of quality into four categories: prevention costs such as training and error-proofing, appraisal costs such as inspection and testing, internal failure costs such as scrap and rework, and external failure costs such as returns and warranty claims. The two failure categories make up the cost of poor quality. Spending more on prevention usually reduces the other three. - [Preventive maintenance (PM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#preventive-maintenance): Preventive maintenance (PM) is maintenance done at set intervals of time or usage, such as monthly or every set number of running hours, to keep equipment from failing. Typical tasks are inspections, lubrication, adjustments, and replacing wear parts before they fail. It reduces breakdowns but can replace parts earlier than needed, which is why it is often combined with predictive maintenance. - [Prioritization matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#prioritization-matrix): A prioritization matrix is a grid for ranking improvement ideas or problems, most often by impact on one axis and effort on the other. High-impact, low-effort items are done first, high-impact, high-effort items are planned as projects, and low-impact items are simplified or dropped. It turns a long backlog into an agreed order of work. - [Process capability (Cp, Cpk)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-capability): Process capability measures how well a stable process can produce output within its specification limits. Cp compares the width of the tolerance with the spread of the process, (USL − LSL) ÷ 6σ, while Cpk also accounts for centering and is the smaller of (USL − mean) ÷ 3σ and (mean − LSL) ÷ 3σ. A Cpk of 1.33 is a commonly used minimum (a rule of thumb, not a universal standard), and the result is only meaningful when the process is in statistical control. - [Process capacity sheet](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-capacity-sheet): A process capacity sheet lists each machine in a process with its manual time, automatic time and tool change time, and works out how many pieces it can make in a shift: available time divided by the time per piece, including each piece's share of the tool changes. It shows which machine limits capacity before the operator's work is designed around it with a combination table. - [Process cycle efficiency (PCE)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-cycle-efficiency): Process cycle efficiency (PCE) is the share of a process's lead time spent on value-added work: value-added time ÷ lead time, in the same units. A part with 110 seconds of value-added work and a 17-day lead time has a PCE of about 0.01%. Very low figures are normal in batch production; they show that almost all of the lead time is waiting, which is where improvement should start. - [Process flow diagram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-flow-diagram): A process flow diagram is a drawing of every step a product goes through, in order, from the material coming in to the product going out, using symbols for operations, moves, inspections, delays and storage, with the decisions and rework loops between them. Counting the steps of each kind shows how few of them change the part, and the process FMEA and control plan follow the same steps; in automotive PPAP it is a required element. Unlike a value stream map, it does not show cycle times, inventory between steps or information flow. - [Process improvement](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-improvement): Process improvement, also called business process improvement (BPI), is the ongoing work of finding, analyzing and improving existing processes so they take less time and go wrong less often. Common methodologies include lean, kaizen, PDCA, 5 Whys, total quality management and Six Sigma, and the one that fits depends on the problem: its size, its cause and the data available. - [Process performance (Pp, Ppk)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#process-performance): Pp and Ppk are process performance indices: they use the same formulas as Cp and Cpk, but with the overall standard deviation of every reading, which includes shifts and drift between subgroups, instead of the short-term variation within subgroups. Pp = (USL − LSL) ÷ 6σ, and Ppk is the smaller of (USL − mean) and (mean − LSL), divided by 3σ. When a process is stable Ppk and Cpk are close; a Ppk well below Cpk means the process moves over time, and PPAP initial process studies usually report Ppk. - [Production part approval process (PPAP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#ppap): The production part approval process (PPAP) is how a supplier, mainly in automotive, shows its customer that it understands every requirement for a part and that its production process can make the part to those requirements at the quoted rate. The AIAG PPAP manual lists 18 elements, from the design records, process flow diagram and FMEAs to capability studies and the part submission warrant (PSW), and five submission levels that set what is sent to the customer and what is kept on file. A new submission is usually needed for a new part and for changes such as new tooling, a new material or a move to another site. - [Project charter](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#project-charter): A project charter is the one-page agreement that starts an improvement project, signed by the sponsor before the analysis begins. It states the business case, the problem in numbers, the goal with a date, the metrics, the scope, the team and the phase milestones. In DMAIC it is the main output of the Define phase and is updated at a tollgate if the data changes the picture. - [Pull system](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pull-system): A pull system is a way of controlling production in which a process makes or moves material only when the next process signals that it has used some, instead of following a forecast-driven schedule (push). The signal can be a kanban card, an empty container or space, or an electronic trigger. Because work is released only as it is consumed, inventory stays capped and overproduction is avoided. - [Pulse survey](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#pulse-survey): A pulse survey is a short survey, often a dozen or so statements, run at regular intervals to see how people view their work between longer surveys. Because it is short and repeated with the same statements, results can be compared over time and actions checked against the next round. - [QA matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#qa-matrix): A QA matrix (quality assurance matrix) is a table of defect modes against the process stations in flow order that marks where each defect is made and where it is first caught. It shows which stations make defects, which checks catch them, how far a defect travels before it is found and which defects reach the customer, and ratings rank the defects so the most important are fixed first. It is common in TPM and World Class Manufacturing quality work, and each plant sets its own format and scales. - [Quality alert](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#quality-alert): A quality alert is a notice posted at the line after a defect is found, showing what the defect looks like next to a good part, how to check for it and what to do if it is found. Every operator on every shift is briefed and signs it, and it stays up until its review date or until the cause is fixed. It is a containment step, not a fix: the cause is dealt with through an NCR or a CAPA. - [Quality at the source](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#quality-at-source): Quality at the source means each person and process makes sure their own output is right before passing it on, instead of relying on inspection at the end. Operators are given the standards, gauges, and error-proofing to check their own work, and they can stop the process when something is wrong. It is the principle behind jidoka and poka-yoke. - [Quality circle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#quality-circle): A quality circle is a small group of employees from the same work area, usually with their supervisor, who meet regularly to find, analyze, and solve problems in their own work. Members are trained in simple problem-solving tools such as Pareto charts, fishbone diagrams, and check sheets, and they carry out fixes within their area of authority. The practice is associated with Kaoru Ishikawa and spread widely through Japanese industry. - [RACI matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#raci-matrix): A RACI matrix is a table that lists the tasks or decisions in a process against the people or roles involved and marks each as responsible (does the work), accountable (owns the outcome and signs off), consulted (gives input beforehand), or informed (kept up to date). Each task should have exactly one accountable person. It removes confusion about who does what, especially in cross-functional projects and handoffs. - [Reactive maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#reactive-maintenance): Reactive maintenance means repairing equipment only after it has broken down, also called run-to-failure or breakdown maintenance. It can be a sensible choice for cheap, non-critical items, but as the main strategy it leads to unplanned downtime, rushed repairs, and higher costs. Proactive approaches, such as preventive, predictive, and autonomous maintenance, aim to catch problems before failure. - [REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#reba): REBA, the Rapid Entire Body Assessment, is an observational method published by Sue Hignett and Lynn McAtamney in 2000 for scoring the risk of one whole-body working posture. The assessor scores the trunk, neck, legs, upper arm, lower arm and wrist, adds the load, the hand coupling and an activity score, and reads a score from 1 to 15 with five action levels. It screens postures; it does not measure how long or how often they are held. - [Red tagging](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#red-tag): Red tagging is the standard technique for the Sort step of 5S. Any item whose need in the area is in doubt gets a red tag and is moved to a holding area, where it stays for a set period before being returned, relocated, or disposed of. It clears out unneeded tools, materials, and equipment without people having to decide everything on the spot. - [Refresher training](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#refresher-training): Refresher training is training repeated to keep a qualification current, either at a set interval or after a trigger such as a change of job, machine or procedure, an incident, or a failed check. Some rules set the interval, for example an evaluation of each forklift operator at least once every three years under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(l)(4)(iii); many intervals are set by the site, the customer or the training provider. A training matrix with expiry dates shows when each one is due. - [Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#reliability-centered-maintenance): Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is a structured method for choosing the right maintenance approach for each asset based on its functions, how it can fail, and the consequences of each failure. For every failure mode the team picks a task, such as condition monitoring, scheduled replacement, a redesign, or deliberately running to failure, that is technically feasible and worth doing. It focuses maintenance effort on the failures that matter most for safety, production, and cost. - [Right first time (RFT)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#right-first-time): Right first time (RFT) is the goal, and the measure, of doing every task correctly the first time, with no rework, repair, correction, or repeat. As a metric it is the share of units, batches, or documents that pass without any correction, much like first pass yield. It is achieved by building quality into the process through capable processes, clear standards, and error-proofing rather than by inspection. - [Rolled throughput yield (RTY)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#rolled-throughput-yield): Rolled throughput yield (RTY) is the probability that a unit passes through every step of a multi-step process without any rework or scrap. It is calculated by multiplying the first pass yields of the steps, so three steps at 95% FPY each give an RTY of about 86%. Because losses compound, RTY shows the end-to-end quality of a line better than any single step’s yield. - [Root cause analysis (RCA)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#root-cause-analysis): Root cause analysis (RCA) is the process of finding the underlying reason a problem occurred, so the fix prevents it from happening again instead of treating the symptom. Common tools include the 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, Pareto analysis, and fault tree analysis. A root cause is confirmed when removing it stops the problem from coming back. - [Safety cross](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#safety-cross): A safety cross is a calendar in the shape of a cross, with one square for each day of the month, that a team colours each day by the most serious safety event of that day. The colours are set by the site, for example green for no incident and red for an injury, and the cross is reviewed at the daily huddle so the month's record and any pattern show at a glance. A green day only means nothing was reported, so it is read together with the near miss count. - [Safety stock](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#safety-stock): Safety stock is the extra inventory held to cover variation in demand and in supplier lead time, so a stockout does not happen between placing an order and receiving it. A common formula multiplies a z-score for the service level wanted by the standard deviation of demand over the lead time. The reorder point is the average demand during the lead time plus the safety stock. - [Sangen shugi (three actuals)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#sangen-shugi): Sangen shugi, Japanese for the “three actuals” principle, is the habit of checking the actual place (genba), the actual thing (genbutsu) and the actual facts (genjitsu) before deciding anything about a problem. It is genchi genbutsu written as a checklist. The 5G methodology adds two more: the principles that govern the process (genri) and the standard it should follow (gensoku). - [Scatter diagram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#scatter-diagram): A scatter diagram plots pairs of measurements as points on two axes to show whether one variable changes with another, for example oven temperature against the number of defects. Points that cluster along a line or curve suggest a relationship, while a shapeless cloud suggests none. A pattern shows correlation, not cause, so a suspected cause still has to be confirmed with a test or at the gemba. - [Schedule compliance (maintenance)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#schedule-compliance): Maintenance schedule compliance is the share of the jobs on the week's schedule that were done as scheduled: jobs done as scheduled ÷ jobs scheduled, or the same with the jobs' estimated hours. 14 of 16 scheduled jobs is 87.5%. It is not the same as PM compliance, which counts only preventive tasks against their due dates, and sites differ on whether a job counts if it was done in its week or only on its day. - [Scheduled maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#scheduled-maintenance): Scheduled maintenance decides when planned maintenance work will be done and who will do it, fitting jobs into production windows and technician availability. Planning answers what and how; scheduling answers when and by whom. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are separate steps, and a job should be planned before it is scheduled. - [Scrap rate](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#scrap-rate): Scrap rate is the share of the units made that end up as scrap: scrapped units divided by the total units made, good and bad, times 100. Count only what is thrown away, and track reworked units separately, because rework costs time but not the whole unit. The cost of scrap is the scrapped units times what each one already cost in material, labor and machine time. - [Scrum](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#scrum): Scrum is a framework in which a small team works in sprints of one month or less, each with one sprint goal, and holds four timed events in every sprint: sprint planning, the daily scrum, the sprint review and the sprint retrospective. The roles are the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the people doing the work, called developers. It is set out in the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, last revised in 2020. - [Seven basic quality tools](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#seven-basic-quality-tools): The seven basic quality tools are a set of simple charts and methods for collecting and analyzing quality data: the check sheet, Pareto chart, cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagram, histogram, scatter diagram, control chart, and stratification. Kaoru Ishikawa promoted them in Japan so that front-line teams, not only specialists, could solve most everyday quality problems themselves. Some lists replace stratification with a flowchart. - [Shadow board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#shadow-board): A shadow board is a board with the outline of each tool drawn or cut out where it hangs, so every tool has a fixed home and a missing one is noticed at once. It is a common Set in order tool in 5S and a simple example of visual management. Boards are kept at the point of use, and the outlines are often labeled with the tool name or size. - [Single-minute exchange of die (SMED)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#smed): Single-minute exchange of die (SMED) is a method for cutting changeover time, the time from the last good part of one product to the first good part of the next. Its core idea is to separate internal work, which can only be done with the machine stopped, from external work that can be done while it runs, then move as much as possible to external and streamline both. The name reflects the goal of changeovers under ten minutes, a single-digit number of minutes. - [SIPOC diagram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#sipoc): A SIPOC diagram is a one-page, high-level map of a process that lists its suppliers, inputs, process steps, outputs, and customers in five columns. The process column is kept to a handful of main steps, so the team agrees on where the process starts and ends, and who it serves, before mapping it in detail. It is commonly used in the Define phase of DMAIC and at the start of improvement projects. - [Six big losses](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#six-big-losses): The six big losses are the main causes of lost productivity on equipment, grouped under the three OEE factors: equipment failures and setup and adjustments (availability), idling and minor stops and reduced speed (performance), and process defects and reduced yield at startup (quality). Naming losses this way tells a team where OEE is being lost and what kind of fix is needed. - [Six Sigma](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#six-sigma): Six Sigma is a data-driven method for reducing variation and defects in a process, organized around the DMAIC cycle and statistical tools. The name refers to a process so well controlled that it produces no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Lean Six Sigma combines it with lean’s focus on flow and waste, and practitioners are trained in levels called belts, such as Green Belt and Black Belt. - [Skills matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#skills-matrix): A skills matrix, also called a competency or training matrix, is a grid that shows each employee’s level of proficiency in each skill or task their area needs. It shows at a glance who is trained, who is in training, and where the team is thin, so leaders can plan training and cross-training. Most matrices use a simple scale, for example from not trained to able to train others. - [SMART goals](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#smart-goals): SMART goals are goals written to pass five tests: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. In a plant that means one metric with a baseline and a target, a named line or area and an owner, a link to a plant objective and a deadline, for example cutting scrap on Line 3 from 5.0% to 3.0% of parts made by 31 December. Progress is then reviewed against the target on dates set in advance. - [Spaghetti diagram](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#spaghetti-diagram): A spaghetti diagram is a drawing of the actual path a person, product, or document takes through a work area, traced as one continuous line on a floor layout. The tangle of lines makes wasted walking, transport, backtracking, and crossing flows visible, and the total distance can be measured. Teams draw one at the gemba before and after a layout change to show what it saved. - [SQDCM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#sqdcm): SQDCM stands for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and morale, the five categories many plants use to organize daily performance boards and tiered meetings. Each category has a few simple measures that are reviewed every shift or day against target, and misses are turned into actions. Some sites use SQDC without morale, or swap in people or environment. - [Standard maintenance procedure (SMP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#smp): A standard maintenance procedure (SMP) is a documented, step-by-step method for doing a specific maintenance task, such as replacing a bearing or calibrating a sensor, the same safe way every time. It usually lists the tools, parts, safety precautions including lockout points, and the checks that confirm the job was done right. SMPs turn experienced technicians’ know-how into a method others can learn and repeat. - [Standard operating procedure (SOP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#sop): A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written, approved document that describes how to carry out a routine operation consistently and safely. It typically states the purpose, scope, responsibilities, required materials, and the steps in order, and it is kept under document control so only the current version is used. On the shop floor, SOPs are often backed by shorter work instructions at each station. - [Standard work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#standard-work): Standard work is the current best known way to do a job, written down with three elements: takt time, the work sequence, and the standard in-process inventory needed to run it. It gives a stable baseline, so abnormalities stand out and improvements can be measured and locked in. Standard work is expected to change as the team finds better methods. - [Standard work audit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#standard-work-audit): A standard work audit is a periodic check that the written standard for a job matches what happens at the station and is still the best known method. The auditor compares the posted document, the work sequence, cycle times, training records and tools with the standard, then decides for each gap whether the operator drifted from a good standard or the standard itself needs updating, because the two call for opposite fixes. It complements the daily checks in leader standard work. - [Standard work combination table](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#standard-work-combination-table): A standard work combination table is a chart of one operator's work elements in sequence, with the manual, machine and walking time of each drawn on a time scale against takt. It shows how the operator's work fits with the machines' automatic cycles, where the operator waits, and whether the cycle fits within takt. It is one of the core standard work documents, with the process capacity sheet and the standard work chart. - [Standard work in process (SWIP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#standard-wip): Standard work in process (SWIP) is the minimum number of parts that must be inside a process, at and between stations, for operators to follow their standard work sequence without waiting. It is one of the three elements of standard work, with takt time and the work sequence. A common estimate is the total cycle time of the steps ÷ takt time, plus any parts held for curing, cooling, or inspection; anything above the standard is excess inventory. - [Statistical process control (SPC)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#statistical-process-control): Statistical process control (SPC) is the use of statistics, mainly control charts, to monitor a process while it runs and tell normal variation from real change. A control chart plots measurements over time against a center line and control limits, usually set three standard deviations either side of the mean. Points outside the limits or non-random patterns signal a special cause to investigate, while variation inside them is common cause and can only be reduced by changing the process. - [Stratification](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#stratification): Stratification is the practice of splitting data into groups by its source, such as machine, shift, operator, supplier, or product, before analyzing it. A problem that looks spread evenly across a whole process often turns out to come mostly from one group once the data is separated. It is one of the seven basic quality tools and is usually applied to check sheet, Pareto, and scatter diagram data. - [Supermarket](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#supermarket): In lean, a supermarket is a controlled store of parts placed between two processes that cannot be linked by continuous flow. The downstream process takes what it needs, and the upstream process makes only enough to replace what was taken, usually signaled by kanban. Each item has a fixed location and set minimum and maximum quantities, so the stock level is visible and capped. - [Supplier audit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#supplier-audit): A supplier audit is a visit to a supplier’s site to check that the quality system and the process that makes your parts are in place and working, scored against a checklist. A system audit checks the quality management system against a standard such as ISO 9001; a process audit follows a part from receiving through production, inspection and shipping. Audits are done before approving a new supplier, after serious quality problems and on a schedule set by risk, and the findings come back as an action plan with dates. - [Supplier corrective action request (SCAR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#scar): A supplier corrective action request (SCAR) is a formal request to a supplier to find and fix the root cause of a problem with what they supplied, such as a rejected lot or a failure traced to their part. It describes the nonconformance and asks for containment, root cause, corrective action and proof that the action worked, often in an 8D format, by set dates. Days to respond and the number of open SCARs are common measures on a supplier scorecard. - [Supplier scorecard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#supplier-scorecard): A supplier scorecard is a regular, usually monthly, report card that rates each supplier on the same measures, most often quality (PPM or lot rejection rate), on-time delivery and how quickly corrective action requests are answered. Each measure is scored against a target, weighted and added into one score and rating, so supplier reviews start from data both sides can check. The trend shows which suppliers need development and whether their corrective actions are working. - [Takt time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#takt-time): Takt time is the rate at which products must be finished to meet customer demand, calculated as available production time divided by customer demand for that period. For example, 27,000 seconds of available time and demand for 900 units give a takt time of 30 seconds per unit. It sets the pace for the line and is the target that station cycle times are balanced against. - [Target condition](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#target-condition): A target condition is a description of how a process should work at a set date not far off, with the measurable result it should reach. In the improvement kata it sits between the current condition and the longer-term challenge, and the learner experiments toward it one obstacle at a time. It describes the work pattern that should produce the number, not only the number itself. - [Team charter](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#team-charter): A team charter is a short written agreement, made by a standing team with its sponsor, that sets out the team's purpose, scope, members and roles, the KPIs it owns, the decisions it may make on its own, its norms and its meeting cadence. Unlike a project charter it has no end date: the team reviews it on a set date and whenever its scope or members change. - [Theory of constraints (TOC)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#theory-of-constraints): The theory of constraints (TOC) is a management approach, developed by Eliyahu Goldratt, that treats the output of any system as limited by its tightest constraint, often a bottleneck machine or process. Improvement follows five focusing steps: identify the constraint, exploit it, subordinate everything else to it, elevate it, and then repeat for the next constraint. Time lost at the constraint is lost for the whole system, so that is where improvement pays back most. - [Throughput](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#throughput): Throughput is the rate at which a process turns out finished, good output, such as units per hour or orders per day. A line’s throughput is set by its bottleneck, so speeding up other steps does not raise it and only builds inventory. In the theory of constraints, throughput is defined in money terms instead, as the rate at which the system generates money through sales. - [Throughput time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#throughput-time): Throughput time is the total time a unit takes to pass through a process from start to finish, including processing, inspection, moving, and waiting. Because waiting is usually the largest part, it is much longer than the sum of the cycle times, and cutting queues and batch sizes shortens it most. Despite the similar name it is a time, not a rate like throughput, and for a stable process it equals work in process ÷ throughput (Little’s Law). - [Tier board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#tier-board): A tier board is the visual board a team stands at during its tiered meeting, showing that level’s performance against target, usually grouped by SQDCM, along with open problems and their actions. Each tier’s board is fed by the one below it, so an issue can be traced from the front-line board up to the plant leadership board. Red and green marks against each target show in seconds where attention is needed. - [Tiered meetings](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#tiered-meetings): Tiered meetings are a cascade of short stand-up meetings held at set times each day, from front-line teams (tier 1) to area leaders (tier 2) and plant leadership (tier 3 and above). Each tier reviews performance, often by SQDCM, and escalates problems it cannot solve to the next tier, while decisions and support flow back down. The cascade gets each problem to the level that can fix it on the same day. - [Time study](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#time-study): A time study is a work measurement method: an observer times each element of a job over a number of cycles, rates the operator's pace against a defined standard and adds allowances, to get the standard time for a qualified worker. How many cycles to time depends on how much the readings vary and how close to the true average the result must be, for example within 5% at 95% confidence. The result feeds standard work, line balancing and the comparison with takt time. - [Total effective equipment performance (TEEP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#teep): Total effective equipment performance (TEEP) measures how much of all calendar time, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, a machine spends making good parts at full speed. It is calculated as OEE × utilization, where utilization is planned production time ÷ all available time. OEE shows how well the scheduled time is used, while TEEP also shows the capacity left in unscheduled shifts, weekends, and planned stops. - [Total productive maintenance (TPM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#tpm): Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a plant-wide approach to equipment reliability that makes operators, maintenance, and management jointly responsible for keeping machines in top condition. It aims for no breakdowns, no small stops or slow running, no defects, and no accidents, and it is usually organized in pillars such as autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, and focused improvement. OEE is its usual measure of progress. - [Total quality management (TQM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#tqm): Total quality management (TQM) is a management approach in which everyone in the organization shares responsibility for quality and for continually improving processes to meet customer needs. Its core principles include customer focus, involvement of all employees, a process view of work, decisions based on data, and continual improvement. Many of its tools, such as quality circles, Pareto analysis, and PDCA, are shared with lean and Six Sigma. - [Total recordable incident rate (TRIR)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#recordable-incident-rate): The total recordable incident rate is the number of recordable injuries and illnesses multiplied by 200,000 and divided by the hours worked by employees in the period. The 200,000 base is the hours of 100 full-time employees working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks, so the rate reads as cases per 100 full-time workers a year. Hours worked leave out paid time not worked, such as vacation, sick leave and holidays. - [Toyota Production System (TPS)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#toyota-production-system): The Toyota Production System (TPS) is the production and management system developed at Toyota and the basis of what became known in the West as lean manufacturing. It is often drawn as a house with two pillars, just-in-time and jidoka, standing on a foundation of standardized work, heijunka, stability, and kaizen. Its aim is to make exactly what the customer needs with the least waste, while developing people who solve problems every day. - [TWI Job Instruction](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#twi-job-instruction): TWI Job Instruction is a four-step method for teaching someone to do a job correctly, safely, and consistently: prepare the worker, present the operation, try out performance, and follow up. Before training, the trainer writes a job breakdown sheet listing the important steps, the key points, and the reasons for each key point. It comes from the Training Within Industry program created in the United States during World War II and is widely used to teach standard work. - [Unplanned downtime](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#unplanned-downtime): Unplanned downtime is any time a machine or line stops when it was scheduled to run, because of a breakdown, missing material or operators, a quality problem, or another unexpected event. It is the most disruptive kind of stoppage because nothing is ready for it, and in OEE it counts as an availability loss. Reducing it is the main goal of preventive, predictive, and autonomous maintenance. - [Value stream mapping (VSM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#value-stream-mapping): Value stream mapping (VSM) is a lean method for drawing every process step, material flow, and information flow needed to bring a product from order to delivery. The current-state map shows where time is lost and waste sits, usually summarized as total lead time against value-added time; the future-state map shows the target flow and the plan to reach it. It helps teams improve the whole flow instead of optimizing single steps. - [Value-added time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#value-added-time): Value-added time is time spent on steps that change the product in a way the customer is willing to pay for, done right the first time. Non-value-added time is everything else, and it splits into pure waste, which can be removed, and necessary non-value-added work, such as some inspections or regulatory steps, which cannot be removed yet. Comparing value-added time with total lead time shows how much of a process is waiting and handling. - [Visual management](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#visual-management): Visual management is the practice of making the state of work visible at a glance, so anyone can tell whether things are normal or abnormal without asking. It includes floor markings, shadow boards, labels, andon lights, and performance boards. The point is to prompt fast action on problems, not just to display information. - [Waste walk](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#waste-walk): A waste walk is a planned walk through a work area with the single purpose of spotting and recording waste, usually using the eight wastes as a checklist. Participants observe the real process, note each example with its location and evidence, and turn what they find into improvement actions with owners. It differs from a general gemba walk by having one narrow focus: finding waste. - [Weighted decision matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#weighted-decision-matrix): A weighted decision matrix compares options against the same criteria: each criterion gets a weight that reflects how much it matters, each option is scored on each criterion, and the weighted scores are added up to rank the options. Agreeing the criteria and weights before scoring keeps the result from being steered toward a favorite. Many teams add pass or fail must-haves that rule an option out whatever its total. - [Work in process (WIP)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#wip): Work in process (WIP) is material that has entered a production process but is not yet finished, such as parts waiting between stations, sitting in queues, or partly assembled. Lean treats excess WIP as inventory waste, because it ties up cash and floor space, hides problems, and lengthens lead time. By Little’s Law, average lead time equals average WIP ÷ throughput, so cutting WIP at the same output shortens lead time. - [Work order](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#work-order): In maintenance, a work order is the record that authorizes and describes a job: what needs doing, on which asset, by whom, by when, and with what parts and safety steps. It is raised from a breakdown, an inspection finding, or a preventive maintenance schedule, and it is closed with the work done, the time spent, and the parts used. Closed work orders build the repair history used to calculate MTBF and MTTR and to plan future maintenance. - [World class manufacturing (WCM)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#world-class-manufacturing): World class manufacturing (WCM) is a structured production system that combines lean, TPM, and total quality methods and aims for zero accidents, zero defects, zero breakdowns, and zero waste. It is built on ten technical pillars: safety and health, cost deployment, focused improvement, autonomous activities, professional maintenance, quality control, logistics, early equipment management, people development, and environment. Its hallmark is cost deployment, which puts a money value on losses so improvement work goes where the cost is highest. - [X-matrix](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#x-matrix): An X-matrix is a one-page hoshin kanri planning tool that links long-term breakthrough objectives, annual objectives, top-level improvement priorities, and the metrics used to track them, with the people responsible shown alongside. The four lists sit around a central X, and grids in the corners mark which items support which. It lets leaders check that every improvement project traces back to a strategic goal. - [Yamazumi chart](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#yamazumi-chart): A yamazumi chart is a stacked bar chart of the work content at each operator or station, broken into individual tasks and often colored by value-added, non-value-added, and waste. Drawn against a line for takt time, it shows at a glance which stations are overloaded or underused. Yamazumi means “stack up” in Japanese, and the chart is the standard tool for line balancing. - [Yokoten](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#yokoten): Yokoten is the practice of sharing a proven improvement or lesson learned sideways, across lines, shifts, and sites, so other teams can adopt and adapt it. The Japanese word roughly means “horizontal deployment.” Unlike a top-down mandate, the receiving teams go and see the original improvement and then fit it to their own conditions. - [Zero breakdowns (five countermeasures)](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/glossary#zero-breakdowns): Zero breakdowns is the TPM aim of eliminating equipment breakdowns with five countermeasures: maintain basic conditions (cleaning, lubrication, tightening), keep to operating conditions, restore deterioration, correct design weaknesses and improve operating and maintenance skills. Each countermeasure answers one cause of breakdowns, so a breakdown analysis that names the missing one points straight at the fix. ## Lean manufacturing acronyms and what they stand for - [3M](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#3m): 3M stands for Muda, Mura, Muri. The three kinds of waste in the Toyota Production System: muda is work that adds no value for the customer, mura is unevenness in workload or flow, and muri is overburden on people or machines. - [4M](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#4m): 4M stands for Man, Machine, Material, Method. Four categories used to sort the causes of a problem, and the four kinds of change a plant tracks in change point management. A relief operator, a repaired tool, a new material lot or a revised instruction are all 4M changes. - [5M](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#5m): 5M stands for Man, Machine, Material, Method, Measurement. The 4M cause categories plus measurement, used as the bones of a fishbone diagram. Some versions use environment (mother nature) as the fifth M instead of measurement. - [5S](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#5s): 5S stands for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. A five-step method for organizing a workplace so that anything missing, out of place or unsafe is obvious at a glance. The steps come from five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. - [5W1H](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#5w1h): 5W1H stands for Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. Six questions used to describe a problem completely before anyone tries to solve it. 5W2H adds a second H, how much. - [6M](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#6m): 6M stands for Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Mother Nature. Six categories for sorting the possible causes of a production problem, usually drawn as the six bones of a fishbone diagram. Working through all six keeps a team from fixing only the cause it already suspects. - [8D](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#8d): 8D stands for Eight Disciplines. A team method for fixing a serious or repeat problem in eight steps, from forming the team and containing the problem to finding the root cause, putting permanent actions in place and preventing recurrence. Automotive customers often ask suppliers for an 8D report after a complaint. - [AM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#am): AM stands for Autonomous Maintenance. The TPM pillar in which operators take on basic care of their own equipment, such as cleaning, inspecting, lubricating and tightening, so small problems are found before they become breakdowns. It is also called jishu hozen. - [APQP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#apqp): APQP stands for Advanced Product Quality Planning. A structured way, set out by the automotive industry group AIAG, to plan a new product and its production process in five phases so that customer requirements are met before production starts. PPAP is the approval step near the end of APQP. - [AQL](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#aql): AQL stands for Acceptance Quality Limit. The worst average defect rate a sampling plan treats as acceptable over a series of lots. It was formerly called the acceptable quality level, and together with the lot size it sets the sample size and accept and reject numbers in the standard sampling tables. - [BBS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#bbs): BBS stands for Behavior-Based Safety. A safety approach in which trained coworkers observe specific work behaviors, give feedback on the spot and track the results, so safe habits are reinforced before anyone gets hurt. - [CAPA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#capa): CAPA stands for Corrective and Preventive Action. The process for removing the cause of a problem that has happened (corrective action) and of one that could happen (preventive action), then checking the fix worked. ISO 9001 requires corrective action, and medical device rules require a full CAPA process. - [CI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ci): CI stands for Continuous Improvement. The ongoing effort to make processes better through many small, regular changes made by the people who do the work, rather than occasional big projects. Kaizen is the Japanese word for it. - [CILR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#cilr): CILR stands for Clean, Inspect, Lubricate, Retighten. The four basic equipment care tasks operators do as part of autonomous maintenance, usually from a short checklist for each machine. Regular CILR catches loose bolts, leaks, contamination and wear early. - [CMMS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#cmms): CMMS stands for Computerized Maintenance Management System. Software that holds a plant's asset list and maintenance history and manages work orders, preventive maintenance schedules and spare parts. - [COPQ](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#copq): COPQ stands for Cost of Poor Quality. What a business spends because work is not done right the first time: scrap, rework, returns, warranty claims and complaints, and in broader definitions the inspection done to catch defects. - [Cpk](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#cpk): Cpk stands for Process Capability Index. A measure of how well a stable process fits inside its specification limits, taking into account how far the process average is from the center. Cp is the same comparison without the centering adjustment. - [CTQ](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ctq): CTQ stands for Critical to Quality. A measurable product or process characteristic that matters most to the customer, with a target and limits. Six Sigma projects turn what customers say into CTQs so the team knows what to measure. - [DART](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#dart): DART stands for Days Away, Restricted or Transferred. The OSHA recordable cases that led to days away from work, restricted work or a job transfer, columns H and I of the 300 Log. The DART rate is those cases times 200,000, divided by the hours worked. - [DFMEA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#dfmea): DFMEA stands for Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. An FMEA done on a product design, before it is released, to find the ways the design could fail, rate the risk of each and change the design or add tests to reduce it. - [DMADV](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#dmadv): DMADV stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify. The Six Sigma road map for designing a new product or process, where DMAIC is used to improve one that already exists. It is the core of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). - [DMAIC](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#dmaic): DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. The five-phase road map Six Sigma teams use to improve an existing process: define the problem, measure how the process performs now, analyze the root causes, improve the process and control it so the gain holds. - [DOWNTIME](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#downtime): DOWNTIME stands for Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra processing. A memory aid for the eight wastes of lean: each letter is one kind of activity that uses time and resources without adding value for the customer. TIMWOODS lists the same eight wastes in a different order. - [DPMO](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#dpmo): DPMO stands for Defects Per Million Opportunities. The number of defects for every million chances to make one, which lets processes with different numbers of possible defects per unit be compared. It converts to a sigma level; six sigma is usually quoted as 3.4 DPMO. - [ECR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ecr): ECR stands for Engineering Change Request. A formal request to change a released design, drawing, material or process, reviewed for cost, risk and effect on quality before it is approved and carried out. - [EHS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ehs): EHS stands for Environment, Health and Safety. The function and practices that protect workers and the environment at a site: hazard and risk assessment, incident and near-miss reporting, permits and training, and compliance with safety and environmental rules. HSE and SHE mean the same thing. - [EPEI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#epei): EPEI stands for Every Part Every Interval. How often each part number comes round in a production sequence. If a machine runs every part it makes at least once every three days, its EPEI is three days; shorter changeovers allow a shorter EPEI and smaller lots. - [FMEA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#fmea): FMEA stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. A step-by-step review of how a product or process could fail, what each failure would cause and how likely it is to happen and be caught, so the biggest risks are reduced before they reach the customer. - [FPY](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#fpy): FPY stands for First Pass Yield. The share of units that go through a process step right the first time, with no rework, repair or scrap, out of all the units that entered it. - [FTA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#fta): FTA stands for Fault Tree Analysis. A top-down method that starts from one unwanted event, such as a machine failure, and breaks it into the combinations of causes that could produce it, drawn as a tree with AND and OR gates. - [Gage R&R](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#gage-rr): Gage R&R stands for Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility. A study of how much of the variation in measurements comes from the measuring system itself. Repeatability is the variation when one person measures the same part several times; reproducibility is the variation between different people. - [HSE](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#hse): HSE stands for Health, Safety and Environment. The same function as EHS, with the letters in a different order; HSE is the more common form in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. In Great Britain, HSE is also the name of the national regulator, the Health and Safety Executive. - [JDI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#jdi): JDI stands for Just Do It. A small improvement that is quick, cheap and clearly right, so it is done straight away instead of going through a full project. Many suggestion systems sort ideas into JDIs and larger kaizens. - [JIT](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#jit): JIT stands for Just-in-Time. Making and moving only what is needed, when it is needed, in the amount needed, so stock and lead time stay low. It is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System. - [JSA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#jsa): JSA stands for Job Safety Analysis. A review that breaks a job into its steps, lists the hazards in each step and records the controls that remove or reduce them, before the work starts. It is also called a job hazard analysis (JHA). - [KPI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#kpi): KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. A measure a team or plant tracks to see whether it is meeting an important goal, such as OEE, first pass yield, on-time delivery or injuries. A useful KPI has a target, an owner and a set time when it is reviewed. - [LOTO](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#loto): LOTO stands for Lockout/Tagout. The procedure for shutting a machine down, isolating every energy source and locking and tagging it so it cannot start while someone is servicing it. - [LPA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#lpa): LPA stands for Layered Process Audit. Short, frequent checks that key process steps and controls are being followed, done by several layers of the organization from supervisors up to plant leaders. LPAs are common in automotive plants. - [LSS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#lss): LSS stands for Lean Six Sigma. An approach that combines lean's focus on removing waste and speeding up flow with Six Sigma's data-driven methods for cutting variation and defects, usually run as DMAIC projects. - [LSW](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#lsw): LSW stands for Leader Standard Work. A written routine for supervisors and managers that sets what they check, where and how often, such as gemba walks, board reviews and audits, so the standards on the floor are kept up. - [MSA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#msa): MSA stands for Measurement System Analysis. A set of studies that checks whether a gage, method and the people using them measure accurately and consistently enough to trust the data. Gage R&R is the most common MSA study. - [MTBF](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#mtbf): MTBF stands for Mean Time Between Failures. The average running time between breakdowns of a repairable machine: total operating time divided by the number of failures. A rising MTBF means the machine is becoming more reliable. - [MTTR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#mttr): MTTR stands for Mean Time to Repair. The average time it takes to get a failed machine working again: total repair time divided by the number of repairs. It is sometimes read as mean time to restore. - [NCR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ncr): NCR stands for Non-Conformance Report. A record of a product, material or process that does not meet its requirement, with what was found, how much is affected and what will be done with it, such as rework, scrap, use as is or return to the supplier. - [OEE](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#oee): OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. How much of a machine's planned production time is truly productive, calculated as availability times performance times quality. 100% means only good parts, made as fast as possible, with no stops. - [OJT](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ojt): OJT stands for On-the-Job Training. Training given at the workstation, by an experienced person, while the trainee does the real job. It works best with a written standard and a method such as TWI Job Instruction. - [OpEx](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#opex): OpEx stands for Operational Excellence. Running a business so that it delivers on safety, quality, delivery and cost every day while it keeps improving. In finance, OpEx is also short for operating expenses, which is a different thing. - [OPL](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#opl): OPL stands for One-Point Lesson. A one-page training sheet that teaches a single point, such as one check, one setting or one safety rule, mostly with pictures, so it can be read in a few minutes at the workstation. - [OTD](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#otd): OTD stands for On-Time Delivery. The share of orders or order lines delivered on or before the date promised to the customer. It is a standard measure of both a plant's and a supplier's delivery performance. - [PCE](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pce): PCE stands for Process Cycle Efficiency. Value-added time divided by total lead time, which shows how much of the time a product spends in the process is actually spent adding value to it. - [PDCA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pdca): PDCA stands for Plan, Do, Check, Act. A four-step cycle for testing a change and learning from it: plan the change, try it on a small scale, check the results against the plan and act by adopting, adjusting or dropping it. It is also called the Deming cycle. - [PdM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pdm): PdM stands for Predictive Maintenance. Maintenance timed by the measured condition of the equipment, such as vibration, temperature or oil analysis, so a part is repaired or replaced just before it is likely to fail. - [PDSA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pdsa): PDSA stands for Plan, Do, Study, Act. W. Edwards Deming's name for the PDCA cycle. He preferred study to check, to stress learning from the results rather than only inspecting them. - [PFMEA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pfmea): PFMEA stands for Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. An FMEA done on a manufacturing or assembly process, step by step, to find how each step could fail to make a good part and what controls will prevent or detect it. - [PM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#pm): PM stands for Preventive Maintenance. Maintenance done on a fixed schedule, by time or by use, such as inspections, lubrication and part changes, to keep equipment from breaking down. In TPM, planned maintenance is the pillar that owns it. - [PPAP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ppap): PPAP stands for Production Part Approval Process. How a supplier, mainly in automotive, proves to its customer that its production process can make a part to every requirement at the quoted rate. The AIAG manual lists 18 elements, from design records and FMEAs to capability studies and the part submission warrant. - [PPM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ppm): PPM stands for Parts Per Million. In quality, the number of defective parts for every million made, shipped or received. Eight rejects in 10,000 parts is 800 PPM. - [PPT](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#ppt): PPT stands for People, Process, Technology. A framework for planning a change by looking at the people who do the work, the process they follow and the technology that supports them together, because the weakest of the three limits the result. Outside this framework, PPT usually means a PowerPoint file. - [RACI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#raci): RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. A chart that lists each task or decision against the people involved and marks who does the work, who owns the outcome, who gives input and who is kept up to date. Each task should have exactly one accountable person. - [RCA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#rca): RCA stands for Root Cause Analysis. Finding the underlying cause of a problem, the one that will stop it coming back once fixed, instead of treating the symptom. Common tools are the 5 Whys, the fishbone diagram and fault tree analysis. - [RCM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#rcm): RCM stands for Reliability-Centered Maintenance. A structured method for choosing the right maintenance task for each way a piece of equipment can fail, based on what the failure would cost or put at risk. - [RFT](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#rft): RFT stands for Right First Time. Doing a task correctly the first time with no rework or correction, and the measure of how often that happens. It is also written FTR (first time right). - [RTY](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#rty): RTY stands for Rolled Throughput Yield. The chance that a unit passes every step of a process with no rework or scrap, found by multiplying the first pass yields of all the steps. Three steps at 95% each give an RTY of about 86%. - [SCAR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#scar): SCAR stands for Supplier Corrective Action Request. A formal request to a supplier to contain a quality problem it caused, find the root cause and put a permanent fix in place, often answered with an 8D report. - [SIPOC](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#sipoc): SIPOC stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers. A one-page, high-level map of a process that lists who supplies it, what goes in, the main steps, what comes out and who receives it. It is often done at the start of a DMAIC project to agree the scope. - [SMART](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#smart): SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Five tests a well-written goal should pass. Some versions use attainable for the A and realistic for the R. - [SMED](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#smed): SMED stands for Single-Minute Exchange of Die. A method for cutting changeover time: do as much of the setup work as possible while the machine is still running, then simplify what is left. Single minute means a single-digit number of minutes, under ten. - [SMP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#smp): SMP stands for Standard Maintenance Procedure. Step-by-step written instructions for a maintenance task, with the tools, parts, safety steps and checks needed, so the job is done the same safe way by whoever does it. - [SOP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#sop): SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure. A written, approved description of how a task or process must be done, so everyone does it the same correct and safe way. - [SPC](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#spc): SPC stands for Statistical Process Control. Using control charts to watch a process over time and tell normal, common cause variation from special causes that need action, so problems are caught before parts go out of specification. - [SQCDP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#sqcdp): SQCDP stands for Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, People. Five headings many plants use for daily tier boards and KPIs. SQDC, SQDCP and SQDCM (with morale) are the same idea with the letters in a different order or one heading changed. - [TEEP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#teep): TEEP stands for Total Effective Equipment Performance. How much of all calendar time, 24 hours a day and every day of the year, a machine spends making good parts at full speed. It is OEE multiplied by utilization. - [TIMWOOD](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#timwood): TIMWOOD stands for Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over-processing, Defects. A memory aid for the original seven wastes of the Toyota Production System. Adding S for unused skills gives TIMWOODS, the eight wastes. - [TIMWOODS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#timwoods): TIMWOODS stands for Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over-processing, Defects, Skills. A memory aid for the eight wastes of lean, where S stands for unused skills or talent. DOWNTIME lists the same eight wastes in a different order. - [TOC](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#toc): TOC stands for Theory of Constraints. A management approach that improves a whole system by finding the one constraint that limits its output and managing everything around it, using five focusing steps. It was set out by Eliyahu Goldratt. - [TPM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#tpm): TPM stands for Total Productive Maintenance. A plant-wide approach to equipment reliability in which operators, maintenance and managers share responsibility for keeping machines in top condition, aiming for no breakdowns, small stops, defects or accidents. It is usually organized in eight pillars and measured with OEE. - [TPS](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#tps): TPS stands for Toyota Production System. The production and management system developed at Toyota and the basis of what the West calls lean manufacturing. It is often drawn as a house with two pillars, just-in-time and jidoka. - [TQM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#tqm): TQM stands for Total Quality Management. A management approach in which everyone in the organization works to improve quality and customer satisfaction, using data, problem solving and continuous improvement in every department, not only in inspection. - [TRIR](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#trir): TRIR stands for Total Recordable Incident Rate. The number of OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses for every 200,000 hours worked, which is about 100 full-time workers for a year. BLS publishes it by industry as the total recordable case rate. - [TWI](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#twi): TWI stands for Training Within Industry. A training program created in the United States during World War II to teach supervisors three skills: Job Instruction, Job Methods and Job Relations. Job Instruction is still widely used to teach standard work. - [VA / NVA](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#va-nva): VA / NVA stands for Value-Added / Non-Value-Added. A way of sorting each step of a process by whether the customer would pay for it: value-added steps change the product in a way the customer wants, non-value-added steps do not. Steps that add no value but cannot be removed yet, such as required checks, are often called necessary non-value-added (NNVA). - [VSM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#vsm): VSM stands for Value Stream Mapping. Drawing every step, wait and information flow needed to turn an order into a delivered product, so the team can see where the waste and delays are and design a better future state. - [WCM](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#wcm): WCM stands for World Class Manufacturing. A structured production system that combines lean, TPM and quality methods and aims for zero accidents, defects, breakdowns and waste. It is built on ten technical pillars, and its hallmark is cost deployment, which puts a money value on every loss so improvement goes where the cost is highest. - [WIP](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#wip): WIP stands for Work in Process. Material that has started a production process but is not finished yet, such as parts waiting between stations; it is also called work in progress. Lean treats extra WIP as waste because it ties up cash and space, hides problems and lengthens lead time. Often mistaken for acronyms: - [Lean](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#lean): Lean is not an acronym. The term was coined by John Krafcik in a 1988 article to describe Toyota-style production, which uses less of everything: less inventory, space, effort and time. - [Kaizen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#kaizen): A Japanese word made from kai (change) and zen (good), usually translated as continuous improvement or change for the better. - [Gemba](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#gemba): A Japanese word meaning the actual place: in lean, the shop floor or wherever the value is created. - [Andon](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#andon): A Japanese word for a paper lantern. In lean it is the light, sound or cord an operator uses to call for help when a problem occurs. - [Kanban](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#kanban): A Japanese word for a signboard or card. In lean it is the signal, often a card, that tells the previous process to make or move more parts. - [Poka-yoke](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#poka-yoke): A Japanese term meaning mistake-proofing, from poka (an inadvertent mistake) and yokeru (to avoid). It is a device or method that stops an error happening or makes it obvious at once. - [Takt](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/lean-acronyms#takt): A German word for a beat or pulse, as in music. Takt time is the pace of customer demand: available working time divided by the number of units the customer needs. ## Japanese lean terms: meaning and pronunciation - [Muda](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#muda): Muda (無駄, said MOO-dah) literally means: Uselessness, futility. In lean: Any activity that uses time or resources but adds no value for the customer, such as waiting, rework or extra movement. - [Mura](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#mura): Mura (ムラ (斑), said MOO-rah) literally means: Unevenness, irregularity. In lean: Unevenness in workload or flow, such as a schedule that swings from rush to idle. Mura is often what causes muri and muda. - [Muri](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#muri): Muri (無理, said MOO-ree) literally means: Unreasonable, beyond what is possible. In lean: Overburden: pushing people or machines past what they can sustain, which leads to breakdowns, mistakes and injuries. - [Kaizen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#kaizen): Kaizen (改善, said KAI-zen (KAI as in kite)) literally means: Change for the better: 改 (change) and 善 (good). In lean: Continuous improvement through small, frequent changes made by the people who do the work. - [Kaizen teian](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#kaizen-teian): Kaizen teian (改善提案, said KAI-zen TAY-ahn) literally means: Improvement proposal. In lean: A system for collecting and acting on small improvement ideas from individual employees, most of which they can make in their own area. - [Kaikaku](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#kaikaku): Kaikaku (改革, said KAI-kah-koo) literally means: Reform. In lean: A large, fast step change, such as moving a line into cells. Kaizen then stabilizes and refines the new way of working. - [Jishuken](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#jishuken): Jishuken (自主研, said JEE-shoo-ken) literally means: Self-directed study, short for 自主研究会 (self-directed study group). In lean: A hands-on workshop where managers or engineers improve a real process at the gemba to build their own kaizen skills. - [Yokoten](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#yokoten): Yokoten (横展, said YOH-koh-ten) literally means: Sideways spread, short for 横展開 (horizontal deployment). In lean: Sharing a proven improvement across lines, shifts and sites, where the receiving teams go and see it and then adapt it. - [Takt](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#takt): Takt (German word, タクト, said TAHKT (like tact)) literally means: German for beat or pulse, as in the beat a conductor keeps. Japanese borrowed it as タクト. In lean: Takt time: the pace at which products must be finished to meet customer demand, available time divided by demand. - [Kanban](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#kanban): Kanban (看板, said KAHN-bahn) literally means: Signboard. In lean: A signal, usually a card, that authorizes a process to make or move a set quantity of parts, so production is pulled by actual use. - [Heijunka](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#heijunka): Heijunka (平準化, said HAY-joon-kah) literally means: Leveling: making flat and even. In lean: Smoothing the volume and mix of production over time instead of following every swing in orders. - [Chaku-chaku](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#chaku-chaku): Chaku-chaku (着々 (チャクチャク), said CHAH-koo CHAH-koo) literally means: Steadily, step by step. In lean it is usually explained as load-load. In lean: A cell where machines unload automatically and the operator only loads the next part at each station, walking the cell in order. - [Ikko nagashi](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#ikko-nagashi): Ikko nagashi (一個流し, said EEK-koh nah-GAH-shee) literally means: Flowing one piece. In lean: One-piece flow: moving products through the process one unit at a time instead of in batches. - [Mizusumashi](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#mizusumashi): Mizusumashi (水すまし, said MEE-zoo-soo-MAH-shee) literally means: A water strider, the insect that darts across the surface of a pond. In lean: A water spider: a material handler on a fixed, timed route who keeps parts at the point of use and carries the pull signals. - [Dandori-gae](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#dandori): Dandori-gae (段取り替え, said DAHN-doh-ree GAH-eh) literally means: Changing the setup. In lean: A changeover. SMED is the method for cutting the time from the last good part of one product to the first good part of the next. - [Jidoka](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#jidoka): Jidoka (自働化, said JEE-doh-kah) literally means: Automation with a human touch. Toyota writes it with 働 (work, with the radical for person) instead of the usual 動 (move). In lean: Building quality in by stopping the process as soon as something is wrong, so defects are not passed on. One of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System. - [Andon](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#andon): Andon (行灯, said AHN-don) literally means: A paper lantern. In lean: A light or signal an operator uses to call for help when a problem happens at a station. - [Poka-yoke](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#poka-yoke): Poka-yoke (ポカヨケ, said POH-kah YOH-keh) literally means: Avoiding inadvertent mistakes: ポカ (a careless slip) and よけ (avoiding). In lean: Mistake-proofing: a device or method that prevents an error or makes it obvious at once, so it cannot become a defect. - [Gemba](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#gemba): Gemba (現場, said GEM-bah (also spelled genba)) literally means: The actual place. In lean: Where value is created, most often the shop floor, and the place to go to understand a problem. - [Genchi genbutsu](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#genchi-genbutsu): Genchi genbutsu (現地現物, said GEN-chee GEN-boo-tsoo) literally means: Actual place, actual thing. In lean: Going to the source to see a problem for yourself before deciding what to do. - [Sangen shugi](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#sangen-shugi): Sangen shugi (三現主義, said SAHN-gen SHOO-gee) literally means: The principle of the three actuals. In lean: Checking the actual place, the actual thing and the actual facts before deciding anything about a problem. - [Jishu hozen](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#jishu-hozen): Jishu hozen (自主保全, said JEE-shoo HOH-zen) literally means: Self-directed maintenance. In lean: Autonomous maintenance: operators take on basic care of their equipment, cleaning, inspecting, lubricating and spotting problems early. - [Seiri](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#seiri): Seiri (整理, said SAY-ree) literally means: Putting in order, sorting out. In lean: Sort: remove everything the area does not need. - [Seiton](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#seiton): Seiton (整頓, said SAY-tohn) literally means: Tidiness, orderliness. In lean: Set in order: give everything that is left a marked place, so anyone can find it and see when it is missing. - [Seiso](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#seiso): Seiso (清掃, said SAY-soh) literally means: Cleaning. In lean: Shine: clean the area and equipment, and inspect while cleaning so leaks, wear and damage are found early. - [Seiketsu](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#seiketsu): Seiketsu (清潔, said SAY-ket-soo) literally means: Cleanliness, hygiene. In lean: Standardize: write down and show how the area should look, so the first three S steps become the normal way. - [Shitsuke](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#shitsuke): Shitsuke (躾, said SHEE-tsoo-keh (often SHTS-keh)) literally means: Discipline, upbringing, good manners. In lean: Sustain: keep the standard through habit, regular audits and leaders checking, so the area does not slide back. - [Hoshin kanri](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#hoshin-kanri): Hoshin kanri (方針管理, said HOH-sheen KAHN-ree) literally means: Direction management: 方針 (policy, a compass heading) and 管理 (management). In lean: Strategy deployment: linking a few breakthrough goals to the work of every level, cascaded through catchball and reviewed on a PDCA cycle. - [Nemawashi](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#nemawashi): Nemawashi (根回し, said NEH-mah-WAH-shee) literally means: Going around the roots: digging around a tree's roots to prepare it before moving it. In lean: Building agreement for a proposal one to one with each person affected before it goes to a formal decision. - [Obeya](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#obeya): Obeya (大部屋, said OH-beh-yah) literally means: Big room. In lean: A room where a cross-functional team keeps a project's or a plant's key information on the walls and meets there to decide. - [Hansei](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#hansei): Hansei (反省, said HAHN-say) literally means: Reflection, looking back at oneself. In lean: Honest self-reflection after a project or event, success or not: what could have gone better, your own part in it, and what you will change. - [Mieruka](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#mieruka): Mieruka (見える化, said MEE-eh-roo-kah) literally means: Making visible. In lean: Visual management: making the state of work visible at a glance, so anyone can tell normal from abnormal without asking. - [Kamishibai](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#kamishibai): Kamishibai (紙芝居, said KAH-mee-shee-BYE) literally means: Paper theater, a traditional form of storytelling with picture cards. In lean: A board of double-sided cards used to schedule and track short audits, showing green when a check passed and red when it found a problem. - [Hyojun sagyo](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#hyojun-sagyo): Hyojun sagyo (標準作業, said HYOH-joon SAH-gyoh) literally means: Standard work. In lean: The current best known way to do a job, written down with takt time, the work sequence and the standard inventory. - [Tanoko](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/japanese-lean-terms#tanoko): Tanoko (多能工, said TAH-noh-koh) literally means: Multi-skilled worker. In lean: An operator trained on several jobs, the goal of cross-training, so absences and changes in demand do not stop the line. ## The best lean and manufacturing improvement books, with honest summaries Lean foundations: - [The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-machine-that-changed-the-world) by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos, first published 1990 (ISBN-13 9780743299794, Free Press, 2007): This is the 1990 report of MIT's five-year International Motor Vehicle Program, which compared car plants in Japan, North America and Europe and concluded that Toyota's way of working needed less of everything than Western mass production: less labor, space, inventory and engineering time, with fewer defects. The authors gave that system its name, lean production. It is history and evidence, not a method. Read it to understand where lean came from and what data launched it, and to see its limits before you quote it to your own leadership. - [Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-thinking) by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, first published 1996 (ISBN-13 9780743249270, Free Press (Simon & Schuster), 2003): Womack and Jones reduce lean to five principles for managers: define value from the customer's side, map the value stream, make the remaining steps flow, let demand pull work, and keep improving. They back them with company case histories and a stepwise action plan, and they argue the ideas work well beyond autos. The book is about sequence and thinking, not shop-floor technique. Plant leaders and consultants get the most from it; a supervisor looking for tools should pick a practice book. - [Lean Production Simplified: A Plain-Language Guide to the World's Most Powerful Production System](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-production-simplified) by Pascal Dennis, first published 2002 (ISBN-13 9781498708876, Productivity Press, 2015): Dennis lays out the Toyota-style production system as a house: stability and standardized work at the base, just-in-time flow and built-in quality as pillars, people at the center, the customer at the roof. He learned it on the floor at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. The book adds Little's law, a stabilize, flow, pull, improve sequence, value stream thinking, hoshin planning and A3. The third edition adds cases from health care, IT, finance and engineering. It gives a supervisor or engineer one connected picture, and it does not go deep on any single tool. Toyota system: - [Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/toyota-production-system-ohno) by Taiichi Ohno, first published 1978 (ISBN-13 9780915299140, Productivity Press, 1988): This is Ohno's own account of why Toyota built its production system and what holds it together, written as management essays, not a manual. His argument: Toyota's market was small and varied, so Ford-style volume did not fit, and costs fall when you eliminate waste and make only what the next process has withdrawn. Just-in-time and autonomation carry the weight, with kanban, small lots and asking why five times as the means. It rewards a reader who has already run a pull loop. Newcomers should start with a modern primer. - [Workplace Management: Special 100th Birthday Edition](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/workplace-management) by Taiichi Ohno, first published 1982 (ISBN-13 9780071808019, McGraw-Hill Education, 2012): Workplace Management is a set of short chapters taken from interviews with Taiichi Ohno, the main developer of the Toyota Production System. His argument is that Toyota's methods came from standing in the workplace, looking at what is actually happening, and fixing it, not from theory or from buying equipment. Kanban, just-in-time, cost reduction and the folly of chasing size or robots are all treated as consequences of that habit. It is Ohno talking, not a manual. Read it after you know the vocabulary. - [The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-toyota-way) by Jeffrey K. Liker, first published 2004 (ISBN-13 9781260468519, McGraw-Hill Education, 2020): Jeffrey Liker's book explains what Toyota's management does differently, grouped into 14 principles. Its argument: Toyota's famous tools (flow, pull, stopping to fix defects) work only on top of a long-term philosophy, deliberate development of people, and a habit of solving problems at the source. Copy the tools alone and the gains fade. It describes management behavior rather than giving procedures, so it suits managers deciding what lean should mean in their plant. Pair it with a practice book when you need steps. Kaizen and problem solving: - [Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/kaizen-key-to-japans-competitive-success) by Masaaki Imai, first published 1986 (ISBN-13 9780075543329, McGraw-Hill, 1986): Masaaki Imai's 1986 book is the one that put the word kaizen into Western management vocabulary. His argument is that Japanese firms won on process, not results alone: managers are responsible both for holding standards and for improving them, and everybody from top management to operators has a part in small, continuous improvement. It reads as a management philosophy with case studies, not a shop-floor toolkit. For the how-to, you want his later Gemba Kaizen. For why improvement must be a management job, this is the source. - [Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/gemba-kaizen) by Masaaki Imai, first published 1997 (ISBN-13 9780071790352, McGraw-Hill, 2012): Masaaki Imai argues that improvement is a management job done where the work happens, the gemba. Managers go there when a problem appears and follow five rules: go see first, check the actual object, contain the problem on the spot, find the root cause, standardize the fix. Everything rests on three foundations: housekeeping through 5S, removing muda, and standardization. It is a broad toolbox and mindset book for new supervisors and managers, and its confident claims about kaizen deserve pushback. - [Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor and Lead](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/managing-to-learn) by John Shook, first published 2008 (ISBN-13 9781934109205, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2008): Managing to Learn is a short story-format book about a manager who uses an A3 to solve a problem while his boss coaches him through it. Shook's argument is that the one-page sheet is not a reporting format but a way for a mentor to see how someone thinks. The real work is the questions asked across the table, the agreement built before anyone acts, and the follow-up. It reads quickly and suits supervisors, managers and engineers who will coach others. - [Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/understanding-a3-thinking) by Durward K. Sobek II and Art Smalley, first published 2008 (ISBN-13 9781563273605, Productivity Press, 2008): Sobek and Smalley treat the A3 as the visible part of something larger: PDCA used as the way Toyota managers think. The book covers the three A3 types (problem solving, proposal, status), seven elements of A3 thinking, formatting rules and the support the sheet needs, with example reports in the appendices. It is more systematic and less story-driven than Managing to Learn, and suits engineers, improvement leads and consultants who write and review A3s. - [Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/toyota-kata) by Mike Rother, first published 2009 (ISBN-13 9780071635233, McGraw-Hill, 2009): Mike Rother reports five years of research (2004 to 2009) into the routines of thinking and managing behind Toyota's improvement, then turns them into two practice routines. The improvement kata moves a process toward a target condition through small experiments. The coaching kata has a manager ask five questions at the process, usually daily, to build that skill in others. His claim is that improvement comes from practiced habits, not from tools or events. It is a research report: the later Practice Guide is the how-to. Flow and value stream mapping: - [Learning to See: Value-Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate Muda](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/learning-to-see) by Mike Rother and John Shook, first published 1999 (ISBN-13 9780966784305, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2018): Learning to See is a workbook that teaches value stream mapping: draw one product family's material and information flow from supplier to customer, then redesign it with eight future-state questions about takt time, finished goods, continuous flow, pull, a single scheduling point and mix. Rother and Shook adapted the method from Toyota's own flow maps and teach it through a fictional stamping plant. It suits repetitive manufacturing and teams mapping their first stream. It fits job shops, high-mix work and offices much less well. - [Making Materials Flow: A Lean Material-Handling Guide for Operations, Production-Control, and Engineering Professionals](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/making-materials-flow) by Rick Harris, Chris Harris and Earl Wilson, first published 2003 (ISBN-13 9780974182490, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2003): This workbook shows how to get purchased parts to continuous-flow cells without hoarding, searching or line stoppages. It gives a four-step system: build a plan for every part, consolidate parts in one market, run timed delivery routes with standard work, and tie replenishment to consumption with pull signals, then audit daily. It is a how-to for production control, logistics and engineering, aimed at plants that already have a value stream map and flow cells, and it does not cover how to build the cells. - [Creating Level Pull: A Lean Production-System Improvement Guide for Production-Control, Operations, and Engineering Professionals](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/creating-level-pull) by Art Smalley, first published 2004 (ISBN-13 9780974322506, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2004): Art Smalley, a Toyota veteran, wrote a workbook for the step most plants attempt last: replacing push scheduling with a production-control system that levels customer demand at one pacemaker process and pulls everything upstream from it. He frames the job as twelve questions answered through one case-study plant. It suits the planners and engineers who must design the system. It is not a first lean book, and it assumes stable processes and a value stream map. - [Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/value-stream-mapping-martin-osterling) by Karen Martin and Mike Osterling, first published 2013 (ISBN-13 9780071828918, McGraw-Hill Education, 2013): This book treats a value stream map as a leadership alignment exercise, not a drawing exercise. Martin and Osterling take a team through five steps: prepare with a charter, map the current state with time and quality data, design the future state with leaders who can approve it, write a dated plan, then execute. Its examples lean toward office, service and knowledge work. It suits a manager or engineer chartering a stream that crosses departments. For a first map of a stamping or assembly line, start with Learning to See. Leadership and culture: - [Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/creating-a-lean-culture) by David Mann, first published 2005 (ISBN-13 9781482243239, Productivity Press, 2015): Creating a Lean Culture argues that lean efforts fade because nobody redefines the work of the people who manage the floor. David Mann, an organizational psychologist who spent 15 years at Steelcase, describes four parts of a lean management system: leader standard work, visual controls, a daily accountability process and discipline. Change what leaders do every day, he says, and the culture follows. The third edition adds a chapter on engaging executives, 21 more case studies and healthcare and process-industry examples. It is a working guide for anyone responsible for supervisors and team leaders. - [The Lean Manager: A Novel of Lean Transformation](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-lean-manager) by Michael Ballé and Freddy Ballé, first published 2009 (ISBN-13 9781934109250, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2009): The Lean Manager is a 2009 business novel about Andrew Ward, a plant manager who must keep a failing plant open and, in the process, change how he manages. Guided by Phil Jenkinson, the mentor from the authors' earlier novel The Gold Mine, he stops handing out orders and answers and starts asking questions and developing people. The authors' claim is that companies change only as fast as their leaders do. It suits managers who already know the basic tools and want the human side. Beginners will struggle with the terminology. - [Gemba Walks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/gemba-walks) by James P. Womack, first published 2011 (ISBN-13 9781934109380, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2013): Gemba Walks is a collection of 72 short essays by Jim Womack, written during his years leading the Lean Enterprise Institute and reworked for the book. It is an argument, not a procedure. Lean is a management system in which leaders go to where the work is done, ask what each process is for, and teach people to improve it. The essays cover what a real walk looks like, why lean efforts stall under senior managers, and where lean applies beyond factories. Read it for the executive point of view. It will not hand you a walk routine step by step. TPM and maintenance: - [Introduction to TPM: Total Productive Maintenance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/introduction-to-tpm) by Seiichi Nakajima, first published 1988 (ISBN-13 9780915299232, Productivity Press, 1988): This is the English edition of Nakajima's short introduction to Total Productive Maintenance, the system that links equipment upkeep to quality control and to the people who run the machines. Its central argument is that operators should own basic care of their own equipment while maintenance and engineering go after the causes of losses. It is a compact 1980s overview with examples from Japanese plants, not a step-by-step manual. Read it to understand why TPM is built the way it is. Skip it if you want a current, detailed implementation guide. Quality and Six Sigma: - [Out of the Crisis](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/out-of-the-crisis) by W. Edwards Deming, first published 1986 (ISBN-13 9780262535946, The MIT Press, 2018): Out of the Crisis is Deming's argument that most quality and productivity problems belong to management, because they come from the system managers design, not from workers. It sets out his fourteen points for management, the diseases that block them and the statistical thinking underneath both. It is long, repetitive and written for 1980s American executives, so it pays off for plant leaders who read selectively. Read it for the reasoning behind quotas, inspection and fear. Skip it if you want a method or a toolkit. - [Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/zero-quality-control) by Shigeo Shingo, first published 1986 (ISBN-13 9780915299072, Productivity Press, 1986): Shigeo Shingo argues that defects come from errors nobody checks at the moment they happen, so sorting finished parts cannot get you to zero. His alternative has four parts: inspect the conditions of an operation before it runs, check every piece, feed results back at once, and install cheap poka-yoke devices that prevent the error or stop the process when it occurs. The publisher counts 112 shop-floor device examples. Despite the name, it does not abolish checking; it moves it to the source. Read it if you design fixtures, assembly stations or checks. - [Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/understanding-variation) by Donald J. Wheeler, first published 1993 (ISBN-13 9780945320531, SPC Press, 2000): Understanding Variation teaches managers to read their routine numbers as a sequence over time, not as this month against last month. Wheeler's central claim is that every process produces ordinary noise, and a simple chart with limits computed from successive differences shows when a value is a real signal. The book is written for managers and is opinionated. Read it if you review daily or weekly metrics. Skip it if you need the full SPC toolkit for capability studies and sampling plans. - [The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-six-sigma-way) by Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman and Roland R. Cavanagh, first published 2000 (ISBN-13 9780071497329, McGraw-Hill Education, 2014): The Six Sigma Way is a deployment guide for executives and program leaders, written in 2000 when GE and Motorola were the reference cases. Its argument is that Six Sigma works as a management system built on customer-defined quality, fact-based decisions, process ownership and a project structure with trained roles, not as a statistics course. It gives a five-step roadmap for rolling that system out and says little about analysis tools. Read it to design or audit a program. Skip it to learn capability studies or hypothesis tests. - [Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Speed](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/lean-six-sigma) by Michael L. George, first published 2002 (ISBN-13 9780071385213, McGraw-Hill, 2002): Michael L. George, who led the George Group consultancy, argues that Six Sigma and lean fix different halves of one problem. Six Sigma cuts variation and defects but, in his words from an interview, has no tool to control lead time. Lean controls work in process and flow, so it shortens lead time and removes the cost of queues. His answer is to run both inside one project structure aimed at the processes customers and shareholders care about most. It is a deployment book: read it to decide how to organize improvement, not to learn the tools. Theory of constraints: - [The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/the-goal) by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, first published 1984 (ISBN-13 9780884271956, North River Press, 2014): The Goal is a 1984 novel in which plant manager Alex Rogo has about three months to rescue a failing plant while a physicist mentor, Jonah, steers him with questions. Its argument: a plant's output is set by its constraints, so an hour lost at a bottleneck is lost to the whole plant, and local efficiency targets push people to build inventory that never ships. It judges decisions by throughput, inventory and operating expense. It is the quickest way to teach flow logic to supervisors and engineers, and it is not a scheduling manual. Strategy deployment: - [Getting the Right Things Done: A Leader's Guide to Planning and Execution](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/getting-the-right-things-done) by Pascal Dennis, first published 2006 (ISBN-13 9780976315261, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2006): Getting the Right Things Done teaches strategy deployment (hoshin kanri) as a story. A fictional manufacturer, Atlas Industries, is heading for trouble despite smart people and plenty of lean tools. Pascal Dennis, a former Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada manager, argues that companies spend their effort choosing goals and too little on deploying them, which is the hard part. The leadership team agrees a few priorities, negotiates them down the organization and reviews progress on a fixed rhythm, with filled-in A3s and blank templates to copy. It is the most approachable first book on the subject. - [Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise: Developing Competitive Capabilities and Managing Profit](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/hoshin-kanri-for-the-lean-enterprise) by Thomas L. Jackson, first published 2006 (ISBN-13 9781563273421, Productivity Press, 2006): Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise is a workbook that treats hoshin kanri as the operating system behind lean and Six Sigma. Thomas Jackson's central claim, per the publisher, is that planning should run like an experiment: teams agree on actions, check results and adjust. His improved X-matrix adds a lean balanced scorecard and a value stream P&L so improvement shows up in terms finance will accept. It covers more than Dennis's story, from market scanning to supplier and product-design use. Pick it to build the system, not to get inspired. Operations management: - [A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/a-revolution-in-manufacturing-smed) by Shigeo Shingo, first published 1983 (ISBN-13 9780915299034, Productivity Press, 1985): This is Shingo's manual for cutting machine changeovers to under ten minutes. Split every changeover into work that needs the machine stopped and work that can be done while it runs, move as much as you can into the second group, then shrink what is left with better clamps, fixtures and extra hands. Faster changeovers make small batches affordable, which cuts inventory and lead time. It is a dense engineering text, best for engineers and supervisors on presses, moulds and machining, and best read knowing its Toyota history is disputed. - [Factory Physics](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/books/factory-physics) by Wallace J. Hopp and Mark L. Spearman, first published 1996 (ISBN-13 9781577667391, Waveland Press, 2011): Factory Physics is a university textbook that treats a plant as a system with measurable behavior. Its central argument is that output, work in process and lead time are tied together by relationships that hold whatever you call your improvement method, and that variability always gets paid for with inventory, time or spare capacity. The authors turn this into formulas an engineer can run before touching the floor. It is the best book for learning why lean rules of thumb work and where they fail. It is heavy going, so read it with a pencil and your own line data. ## Poka-yoke examples from daily life and the shop floor Contact methods: The part, plug or tool is checked by its shape, size, position or color. The wrong one won't fit, or it stands out straight away. - [Keyed plugs and connectors](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#keyed-connectors) (Prevention, Everyday life, At work): The connector shell is D-shaped or has an off-center tab, so it only lines up with its socket one way round. Stops: A cable plugged in upside down or into the wrong socket, and bent pins. Where you see it: Computer and monitor cables, wiring harnesses, control panels. - [Polarized two-pin plug](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#polarized-plug) (Prevention, Everyday life): One blade is wider than the other, so the plug only goes into the outlet one way and the neutral side stays neutral. Stops: Live and neutral swapped inside a lamp or small appliance. Where you see it: Two-pin plugs and outlets in North America. - [Wider diesel nozzle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#diesel-nozzle) (Prevention, Everyday life): At many pumps the diesel nozzle is too wide to go into the filler neck of a petrol car. Stops: Diesel going into a petrol tank. It does not stop petrol going into a diesel car, which is why that mistake still happens. Where you see it: Fuel stations in many countries. - [Pin-indexed gas cylinders](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#pin-index-cylinders) (Prevention, At work): Small medical gas cylinders have two holes in the valve, placed differently for each gas. The regulator's pins only fit the holes for its own gas. Stops: The wrong gas connected to a patient. Where you see it: Hospitals, ambulances, dental surgeries. - [Cut corner on a SIM card](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#sim-card) (Prevention, Everyday life): One corner of the card is cut off and the tray has the same shape, so the card only sits flat the right way round. Stops: A card put in upside down or back to front. Where you see it: Phones, tablets, card readers. - [Fixture with an offset locating pin](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#offset-locating-pin) (Prevention, At work): Two locating pins of different sizes, or one set off the center line, match holes in the part, so it only drops onto the fixture the right way. Stops: A part loaded backwards or upside down before drilling, welding or assembly. Where you see it: Machining and welding fixtures, assembly jigs. - [A part designed to fit one way](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#fit-one-way-part) (Prevention, At work): The designer adds a tab, a notch or an uneven hole pattern, so a part that looks symmetrical can only be fitted one way. Stops: A bracket, gasket or cover fitted the wrong way round. Where you see it: Part drawings and design reviews, long before the part reaches the line. - [Go/no-go gauge](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#go-no-go-gauge) (Detection, At work): One end of the gauge has to fit (go) and the other must not (no-go). The answer is pass or fail, with no reading to get wrong. Stops: An oversize or undersize hole, shaft or thread passing to the next step. Where you see it: Machining cells, incoming inspection. - [Part-present sensor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#part-present-sensor) (Detection, At work): A sensor in the fixture checks that the part is there and fully seated, and the machine won't start until it is. Stops: A machine cycling with the part missing or sitting high. Where you see it: Presses, welding cells, assembly stations. - [Color-coded hoses and fittings](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#color-coded-lines) (Detection, At work): Each line gets its own color on the hose, the fitting and the drawing, so a wrong match stands out. Color only warns, so pair it with a shape difference where a mix-up is costly. Stops: Lines swapped during assembly or maintenance. Where you see it: Hydraulic and air lines, lubrication points, gas pipework. - [Elevator door sensor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#door-sensor) (Detection, Everyday life): A light curtain or a sensing edge across the doorway reopens the doors when something is in the way. Stops: Doors closing on a person or a trolley. Where you see it: Elevators and automatic doors. Fixed-value methods: A set number of parts, doses or actions has to be done. A gap or a leftover shows that something was missed. - [Kit tray with one pocket per part](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#kit-tray) (Detection, At work): Each unit gets a tray with exactly one pocket for every part it needs. An empty tray at the end means every part went in; a full pocket shows what was missed. Stops: A missing screw, clip or washer. Where you see it: Assembly lines, maintenance and repair kits. - [Weekly pill organizer](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#pill-organizer) (Detection, Everyday life): One compartment per day or per dose. A full compartment shows a missed dose and an empty one shows it was taken. Stops: A missed dose, or the same dose taken twice. Where you see it: Homes and care homes. - [Instrument and swab counts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#surgical-count) (Detection, At work): The team counts instruments, swabs and needles before an operation and again before closing, and the two counts have to match. Stops: An item left inside a patient. Where you see it: Operating rooms. The count is one of the sign-out checks on the WHO surgical safety checklist. - [Two-part adhesive in a dual cartridge](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#dual-cartridge) (Prevention, Everyday life, At work): Resin and hardener sit side by side in one cartridge, and the mixing nozzle dispenses both at the set ratio every time. Stops: The wrong mix ratio, which leaves the adhesive soft or brittle. Where you see it: Assembly, repairs, building work. - [Shadow board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#shadow-board) (Detection, At work): Each tool hangs on its own painted outline, so an empty outline shows at a glance which tool is missing. Stops: A tool left inside a machine, an engine or a product, or simply lost. Where you see it: Workstations, maintenance shops, aircraft hangars. - [Check-weighing the box](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#check-weigher) (Detection, At work): A scale weighs each packed box against the weight of a full count and rejects any box that is light or heavy. Stops: A box shipped with a part missing or one too many. Where you see it: Packing lines, kitting areas, warehouses. - [Hardware bags packed by step](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#hardware-bags) (Detection, Everyday life): Some flat-pack kits pack the screws and fittings in one bag per step. A full bag or a spare screw at the end shows a step was missed. Stops: A fixing left out, which leaves the furniture loose or weak. Where you see it: Flat-pack furniture and other kit products. - [Screwdriver that counts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#counting-screwdriver) (Detection, At work): A controller counts the screws driven to torque on each unit and won't release the unit until the count is right. Stops: A unit leaving the station with a screw missing or not tightened. Where you see it: Electronics and appliance assembly. Motion-step methods: Steps have to happen in order. The next step waits until the last one is done, or a skipped step is flagged. - [Microwave door interlock](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#microwave-interlock) (Prevention, Everyday life): Switches in the door latch cut the power as soon as the door opens, so the oven only runs with the door shut. Stops: The oven running with the door open. Where you see it: Microwave ovens. Machine guards use the same kind of interlock. - [Brake-shift interlock](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#brake-shift-interlock) (Prevention, Everyday life): A car with an automatic gearbox won't shift out of Park until the driver presses the brake pedal. Stops: The car moving off when the driver shifts by accident. Where you see it: Cars with automatic gearboxes. - [Card back before the cash](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#card-before-cash) (Prevention, Everyday life): Many cash machines hand the card back before the cash, so you have to take the card to get what you came for. Stops: Walking away with the cash and leaving the card behind. Where you see it: Cash machines and ticket machines. - [Two-hand control](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#two-hand-control) (Prevention, At work): The press only cycles while both buttons are held down together, which keeps both hands on the buttons and out of the tool area. Stops: A hand in the tool when the press closes. Where you see it: Presses, guillotines, riveting machines. - [Read-and-confirm checklist](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#read-and-confirm-checklist) (Detection, At work): One person reads each item out and another confirms it before the next phase starts, as with a pre-flight checklist or the WHO surgical safety checklist. Stops: A critical step skipped because everyone assumed someone else had done it. Where you see it: Cockpits, operating rooms, machine start-up after maintenance. - [Seat belt reminder](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#seat-belt-reminder) (Detection, Everyday life): When the car is moving and a front seat belt isn't buckled, a warning light and a chime keep going until it is. Stops: Driving off without a belt on. Where you see it: Cars. - [A form that won't submit with gaps](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#required-fields) (Prevention, Everyday life, At work): The form checks the required fields and won't move to the next step until each one is filled in. Stops: A record saved without a lot number, a signature or a date. Where you see it: Online forms, digital checklists, inspection apps. - [Pick-to-light](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#pick-to-light) (Detection, At work): A light comes on at the bin for the next part, and a sensor at each bin flags a hand that reaches into the wrong one. Stops: The wrong part picked, or parts picked out of order. Where you see it: Kitting areas, warehouses, mixed-model assembly. - [One drawer at a time](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/poka-yoke#one-drawer-cabinet) (Prevention, Everyday life, At work): An interlock lets only one drawer open at a time, so the weight never all comes forward at once. Stops: Several loaded drawers pulled out together and the cabinet tipping over. Where you see it: Filing cabinets and roller tool chests. ## One point lesson examples for the shop floor Basic knowledge: How something works or what good looks like, so people can spot when it isn't. - [Reading the air pressure gauge](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#reading-a-pressure-gauge) (Production): Shows the gauge on the air supply with the normal range marked in green, and what to do when the needle sits outside it. Heads off: Running an air tool or clamp on low pressure without noticing. The picture: A close-up of the dial with the green band. For: Operators at every station on compressed air. - [Using a click torque wrench](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#click-torque-wrench) (Maintenance): How to set the value, pull smoothly until the wrench clicks once, and stop. It also says not to use it to undo bolts. Heads off: Bolts over-tightened by pulling on past the click. The picture: Hands on the wrench, with the scale and the lock ring circled. For: Assembly operators and maintenance technicians. - [Checking the oil level in the sight glass](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#oil-sight-glass) (Maintenance): Where the sight glass is, what the minimum and maximum marks look like, and who to tell when the level is low. Heads off: A gearbox or hydraulic unit running low on oil. The picture: The sight glass with the level band marked on it. For: Operators doing their start-of-shift checks. - [Which oil goes where](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#lubrication-colors) (Maintenance): Each lubrication point has a colored tag that matches the color on the oil can, so the right oil goes in the right place. Heads off: The wrong grade of oil or grease in a gearbox or bearing. The picture: The machine with each tagged point next to its matching can. For: Operators and maintenance doing routine lubrication. - [Reading the part label](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#reading-the-part-label) (Quality): Where the part number, revision and lot number are on the label, and how to check them against the job card. Heads off: An old revision or the wrong part used on the job. The picture: A real label with the three fields circled. For: Operators loading parts and receiving staff. Safety: One hazard and the one way to work around it safely. - [Lock out before clearing a jam](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#lockout-before-clearing-a-jam) (Production): Stop, isolate, lock and tag, then try the start button to prove the machine is dead before reaching in. Heads off: The machine starting while someone's hand is inside. The picture: The isolator with a lock and tag on it. For: Everyone who clears jams on that machine. - [PPE for the paint booth](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#ppe-for-the-paint-booth) (Production): What to wear in the booth (respirator, gloves, coverall), and when to change the respirator filters. Heads off: Breathing in solvent with a worn-out filter or no mask. The picture: A person fully kitted out, each item labelled. For: Painters and anyone covering the booth. - [Crossing a forklift aisle](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#forklift-crossing) (Warehouse): Stop at the marked line, look both ways and wait for the driver to see you before you cross. Heads off: Walking out in front of a forklift from behind a rack. The picture: The crossing with the floor marking and the mirror. For: Everyone working in or walking through the warehouse. - [Reading a chemical label](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#chemical-label-pictograms) (Maintenance): What the hazard pictograms on the drum mean and where to find the safety data sheet. Heads off: Using a corrosive or flammable product without the right precautions. The picture: The drum label with each pictogram explained. For: Cleaning, maintenance and stores staff. - [Lifting a box from the floor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#lifting-a-box) (Warehouse): Feet apart, bend the knees, keep the load close and turn with your feet instead of twisting your back. Heads off: Back strain from lifting with straight legs and a twist. The picture: Two photos: the wrong lift and the right one. For: Packers, pickers and anyone handling boxes. Problem case: Written after something went wrong: what happened, how to spot it and what to do so it doesn't happen again. Usually a wrong (NG) and a right (OK) picture side by side. - [Bracket fitted the wrong way round](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#bracket-the-wrong-way-round) (Production): A bracket went on back to front and was found at final test. The lesson shows how to tell the two sides apart and the check that now catches it. Heads off: The same bracket going on backwards again. The picture: NG: the bracket fitted backwards. OK: fitted correctly, with the notch circled. For: Operators at that station and anyone covering it. - [Missing clip on a hose](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#missing-hose-clip) (Quality): A unit reached the customer with a hose clip missing. The lesson shows where the clip sits and the extra look the inspector now takes. Heads off: Another unit shipped without its clip. The picture: NG: the bare hose end. OK: the clip in place. For: Assembly operators and final inspectors. - [Scratches from stacking parts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#scratches-from-stacking) (Quality): Painted parts were stacked face to face and scratched each other. The lesson shows the divided rack they now go in. Heads off: Scratched parts that have to be repainted. The picture: NG: parts stacked loose. OK: parts in the divided rack. For: Operators unloading the paint line. - [False stops from a dirty sensor](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#dirty-sensor-false-stops) (Maintenance): The line kept stopping for no clear reason. Dust on a sensor lens was the cause, so the lesson shows the lens and how to wipe it at the start of each shift. Heads off: Lost time on stops nobody can explain. The picture: NG: the dusty lens. OK: the clean lens and the cloth to use. For: Line operators and the maintenance team. - [Wrong label after a changeover](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#wrong-label-after-changeover) (Warehouse): Boxes went out with the last job's labels. The lesson shows how to clear the printer queue as part of every changeover. Heads off: Boxes shipped with the wrong part number on them. The picture: NG: the old label still in the printer. OK: the empty queue on screen. For: Packing operators and team leaders. Improvement case: Written after a change: the old way, the new way and what people now do differently. - [New shadow board at the station](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#new-shadow-board) (Production): The tools used to live in a drawer. Now each one has its own outline on a board at the station, and the lesson shows where each tool goes. Heads off: Time lost looking for tools, and tools walking off to other stations. The picture: Before: the messy drawer. After: the board with every tool in place. For: Everyone who works at that station. - [Quick-release clamp on the fixture](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#quick-release-clamp) (Production): The fixture used to be held with four bolts. The lesson shows how to open and close the new quick-release clamp and how to check it is locked. Heads off: Clamps left half closed, and people going back to the old way. The picture: Before: the bolted fixture. After: the clamp, open and locked. For: Setters and operators doing changeovers. - [New floor marking for work in progress](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#floor-marking-for-wip) (Warehouse): Work in progress now has marked squares by the machine, one per pallet. When the squares are full, the step before stops. Heads off: Pallets piling up in the aisle. The picture: Before: pallets anywhere. After: the marked squares. For: Operators, forklift drivers and team leaders. - [Kanban card for fasteners](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#kanban-card-for-fasteners) (Warehouse): Fastener bins now have a card. When a bin is empty, the card goes in the post box and stores refills it. Heads off: Running out of fasteners in the middle of a shift. The picture: Before: an empty bin. After: the bin with its card and the post box. For: Line operators and the stores team. - [New gauge at inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/one-point-lesson#new-gauge-at-inspection) (Quality): Inspectors used to measure the slot with a ruler. Now there is a go/no-go gauge, and the lesson shows how to use it and where it hangs. Heads off: Slots measured differently by different people. The picture: Before: the ruler. After: the gauge in the slot. For: Inspectors and operators doing self-checks. ## DMAIC examples: 16 projects, phase by phase Quality and defects: Projects that cut scrap, rework and escapes to the customer. - [Cut short shots on an injection molding press](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#molding-short-shots) (Manufacturing): One press makes more incomplete parts than the others running the same material. Define: Scrap from short shots on one press, one mold. Goal and scope agreed in the charter. Measure: Scrap counted by defect type and shift on a check sheet; part weight recorded every hour. Analyze: A Pareto chart puts short shots first. Testing shows they follow material that sat too briefly in the dryer. Improve: Set the dryer time for that resin and add a moisture check when material is loaded. Control: A control chart on part weight and the dryer check on the start-up checklist. - [Reduce runs and orange peel on painted parts](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#paint-runs) (Manufacturing): Paint defects come and go, and each shift blames a different cause. Define: Paint finish defects on one line, measured as defects per hundred parts. Measure: Defects logged by type, booth, gun and shift; paint viscosity and temperature recorded. Analyze: Defects rise as the paint warms through the shift and its viscosity drops. Improve: Check viscosity every hour against a target band and keep the paint store at a set temperature. Control: Viscosity log with a reaction plan, reviewed at the daily meeting. - [Stop leaks found at pressure test](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#pressure-test-leaks) (Manufacturing): Units fail the leak test at the end of the line and go back for rework. Define: Leak test failures on one product family, and the rework they cause. Measure: Each failure traced to the joint that leaked; tightening torque checked on a sample. Analyze: Most leaks come from one fitting, and the torque on it varies widely between operators. Improve: A torque tool that records each fitting, and a new seal design for that joint. Control: Torque records reviewed weekly and a control plan for the fitting. - [Stop boxes shipping with the wrong label](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#wrong-labels-shipped) (Manufacturing): A customer has complained twice about boxes labelled with the wrong part number. Define: Labelling errors that reach the customer, from print to dispatch. Measure: Every labelling error logged for a month, with the job, the printer and the time. Analyze: Errors cluster just after changeovers, when the last job's labels are still in the printer queue. Improve: Clear the queue as a changeover step and scan each label against the job before sealing. Control: Scan records checked daily and the step added to the changeover checklist. Flow and delivery: Projects about time: changeovers, waiting and late orders. - [Shorten changeovers on a press line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#press-changeover) (Manufacturing): Long changeovers push the line into big batches and late orders. Define: Changeover time on one press line, from last good part to first good part. Measure: Several changeovers filmed and timed step by step, split into internal and external work. Analyze: Much of the time goes on fetching tools and dies that could have been ready before the press stopped. Improve: Pre-staged changeover carts, quick-release clamps and a set sequence for the crew. Control: Changeover times logged and a standard work sheet for the sequence. - [Improve on-time shipping](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#on-time-shipping) (Manufacturing): Too many orders ship late, and the reasons change depending on who you ask. Define: Orders shipped after the promised date, for one plant's main product lines. Measure: Every late order logged with its cause and how late it was. Analyze: A Pareto chart shows material shortages and schedule changes inside the frozen window cause most of them. Improve: Kanban for the parts that run short most often and a rule against changes inside the frozen window. Control: On-time shipping reviewed at the daily meeting, with causes tracked every week. - [Cut waiting at a bottleneck machine](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#bottleneck-waiting) (Manufacturing): Work piles up in front of one machine while the steps after it wait. Define: Output of the line, limited by one machine. Measure: The bottleneck's time split into running, waiting for parts, changeovers and stops. Analyze: It stands idle at breaks and shift changes, and waits for material it could have had earlier. Improve: Staggered breaks so it keeps running, and a small buffer of parts in front of it. Control: Hourly output on an hour-by-hour board at the machine. Equipment and energy: Projects that cut stops, leaks and wasted energy. - [Reduce short stops on a packaging line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#packaging-line-stops) (Manufacturing): The line stops many times a shift for a minute or two each time. Define: Unplanned stops on one packaging line. Measure: Stops logged by machine, cause and length, from the line's own log and an operator sheet. Analyze: Most stops are jams at one machine; five whys traces them to worn suction cups. Improve: A replacement interval for the cups and a check on the operators' cleaning and inspection round. Control: Stops tracked by cause on the line's board and the cup change in the PM plan. - [Cut compressed air leaks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#compressed-air-leaks) (Manufacturing): The compressors run hard even when production is quiet. Define: Air lost to leaks across the plant. Measure: A leak survey with an ultrasonic detector, every leak tagged and its size estimated. Analyze: Most leaks sit at quick couplers and worn hoses, and many have been tagged before but never fixed. Improve: Replace the worst couplers and hoses, and give leak tags an owner and a date. Control: A leak survey on a fixed schedule and open leak tags reviewed every week. - [Reduce energy used by a curing oven](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#oven-energy) (Manufacturing): The oven is one of the biggest energy users in the plant. Define: Energy used per batch on one oven. Measure: Energy logged against batch times, loads and idle periods. Analyze: The oven stays at full temperature between batches and over breaks. Improve: An idle setting between batches and loads planned to run back to back. Control: Energy per batch on the area's KPI board. Safety: Projects that remove the conditions behind injuries and near misses. - [Reduce hand injuries in a cutting area](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#hand-injuries-cutting) (Manufacturing): Cuts to hands keep happening in one area, mostly minor ones. Define: Hand injuries and near misses in the cutting area. Measure: Every injury and near miss logged with the task, the tool and the time. Analyze: Most happen during blade changes, when people hold the blade by hand. Improve: A blade-change tool, cut-resistant gloves for that task and an updated work instruction. Control: Safety observations of blade changes and near misses reviewed each month. - [Reduce forklift near misses at a crossing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#forklift-near-misses) (Manufacturing): People keep reporting close calls where a walkway crosses a forklift aisle. Define: Near misses between forklifts and pedestrians at one crossing. Measure: Near-miss reports and a week of observation counting crossings and close calls. Analyze: Racking blocks the view on one side, and the walkway is used most at shift change. Improve: Move the walkway, add a mirror and a stop line, and set a speed limit in the area. Control: Near-miss reports tracked and a monthly check of the crossing. Office, service and supply chain: DMAIC works the same way where the product is an invoice, an appointment or an order. - [Speed up invoice processing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#invoice-processing) (Office and service): Suppliers chase payments because invoices sit in the accounts team for too long. Define: Time from receiving an invoice to approving it for payment. Measure: Each invoice timed through the steps, with every reason it was sent back. Analyze: Missing purchase order numbers cause most of the rework and waiting. Improve: Make the purchase order number a required field in the supplier portal. Control: A weekly report of invoices held up, with their reasons. - [Cut patient waiting time in a clinic](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#clinic-waiting-time) (Office and service): Patients wait longest in the first hours of the morning. Define: Time from check-in to being seen. Measure: Time stamps at check-in, triage and consultation for several weeks. Analyze: Appointments bunch at opening time while staff start times are spread out. Improve: Spread appointments through the morning and match staff start times to them. Control: Waiting time charted daily and reviewed at the weekly team meeting. - [Reduce picking errors in a warehouse](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#warehouse-pick-errors) (Office and service): Customers receive the wrong item more often than the warehouse would like. Define: Orders shipped with a wrong or missing item. Measure: Every error logged with the item, the location and the picker. Analyze: Most errors involve look-alike items stored next to each other. Improve: Re-slot look-alike items apart and scan each pick against the order. Control: Error audit on a sample of orders every day. - [Cut late deliveries from suppliers](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/dmaic#supplier-late-deliveries) (Office and service): Late parts from suppliers keep stopping the line. Define: Supplier deliveries arriving after the date asked for. Measure: Delivery performance by supplier and part, and how far ahead orders were placed. Analyze: Many late deliveries follow orders placed inside the supplier's lead time after forecast changes. Improve: Share a rolling forecast with key suppliers and hold safety stock for the most variable parts. Control: A monthly supplier scorecard with on-time delivery on it. ## Employee rewards examples, sorted by type Intrinsic rewards: The satisfaction that comes from the work itself. You can't hand these over, but you can set up the conditions for them. - [Leading an improvement project](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#lead-an-improvement) (Low cost, Individual): Ask the person who raised a problem to lead the fix, with support and time set aside for it. Good for: People who want more responsibility and keep spotting problems. Watch out: Giving the project without the time to do it, which feels like a punishment. - [Training in a new skill](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#learn-a-new-skill) (Low cost, Individual): Offer cross-training on another machine, a course or a certification the person has asked for. Good for: Ambitious people, and covering absences on the line later. Watch out: Training that never leads to using the skill. - [More say in how the work is done](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#more-say-in-the-work) (Low cost, Team): Let an experienced team set its own task rotation or the order of its work, within the standard. Good for: Teams that have shown they can run their area well. Watch out: Autonomy without clear standards, which leads to drift. - [Their idea implemented, with their name on it](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#idea-with-their-name) (Low cost, Individual): Put the improvement in place and credit the person who suggested it, on the board and in the huddle. Good for: Keeping suggestions coming in. Watch out: Long delays between the idea and any answer. - [A specific thank-you from a leader](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#specific-thank-you) (Low cost, Individual): A manager says exactly what the person did and why it mattered, soon after it happens. Good for: Everyday recognition that costs nothing. Watch out: Generic praise ("great job, everyone") that sounds like a script. Monetary rewards: Cash, or something with a clear cash value. - [Spot bonus](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#spot-bonus) (Higher cost, Individual): A one-off cash payment soon after someone does something beyond the job. Good for: Recognizing a standout effort quickly. Watch out: No clear criteria, so people see it as favoritism. - [Profit sharing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#profit-sharing) (Higher cost, Team): A share of the company's profit paid out to employees, usually once or twice a year. Good for: Making everyone feel part of the company's results. Watch out: A payout so far from daily work that nobody links it to what they do. - [Gainsharing](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#gainsharing) (Higher cost, Team): A team shares in the savings from improvements it made, such as less scrap or less overtime. Good for: Plants that want teams to own cost and quality. Watch out: Targets the team can't influence, or savings that are hard to verify. - [Pay that rises with skills](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#skill-based-pay) (Higher cost, Individual): Pay steps up as a person is signed off on more jobs, usually tracked on the skills matrix. Good for: Building a flexible workforce that can cover any station. Watch out: Sign-offs given too easily, so the skills aren't really there. - [Referral bonus](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#referral-bonus) (Higher cost, Individual): A payment when someone an employee recommended is hired and stays past a set period. Good for: Hiring for hard-to-fill roles. Watch out: Paying out before the new hire has settled in. - [Gift card](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#gift-card) (Low cost, Individual): A card for a shop or a choice of shops, given with a note about what it is for. Good for: Small thank-yous where cash would feel odd. Watch out: Treating it as a substitute for saying thank you in person. Non-monetary rewards: Time, perks and public thanks. Often the ones people remember longest. - [An extra paid day off](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#extra-day-off) (Higher cost, Individual): A day of paid leave for a big effort, such as covering through a busy period. Good for: People who value time more than money. Watch out: A day that can't be taken because nobody can cover the shift. - [First pick of shifts or holidays](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#shift-choice) (Low cost, Individual): Let the person choose their shift pattern or holiday dates first. Good for: Shift workers, where a good rota is worth a lot. Watch out: Rules that aren't written down, so others feel passed over. - [A meal for the team](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#team-meal) (Low cost, Team): Lunch or breakfast brought in for the whole team after a milestone, on every shift. Good for: Marking a team result together. Watch out: Forgetting the night shift. - [Recognition at the huddle or on the board](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#public-recognition) (Low cost, Individual): Name the person and what they did at the daily meeting or on the team board. Good for: Spreading good practice while you say thanks. Watch out: People who would rather not be in the spotlight; ask first. - [A reserved parking spot](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#parking-spot) (Low cost, Individual): The best parking spot for a month, for the person or team of the month. Good for: A visible, fun reward that costs almost nothing. Watch out: Running it for so long that it becomes the same people every time. - [Better tools or equipment](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#better-equipment) (Higher cost, Team): Upgrade the team's tools, chairs or break area after they deliver an improvement. Good for: Rewards that also make the job easier. Watch out: Choosing the upgrade without asking the people who use it. Incentive schemes: Rewards promised in advance for a behavior or a result, so people know what earns them. - [Points for ideas](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#points-for-ideas) (Low cost, Individual): Each idea earns points, more if it is implemented, and points are swapped for prizes. Good for: Getting everyone to take part in a suggestion program. Watch out: Points for quantity alone, which floods the system with weak ideas. - [Monthly leaderboard and prizes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#leaderboard-and-prizes) (Low cost, Individual): A monthly ranking of top contributors, with prizes from a catalogue chosen by the team. Good for: A bit of friendly competition. Watch out: The same few names winning every month; reward taking part as well as winning. - [Team goal bonus](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#team-goal-bonus) (Higher cost, Team): A bonus for the whole team when it hits a goal it can influence, such as quality or on-time delivery. Good for: Pulling a team together around one measure. Watch out: One measure pushed so hard that others suffer. - [Rewards for safety activity](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#safety-activity-rewards) (Low cost, Team): Recognize near-miss reports, safety observations and hazards fixed, not a count of days without injury. Good for: Building a reporting culture. Watch out: Rewarding zero injuries, which can push people to stop reporting them. Wellness rewards: Support for health and wellbeing, in and out of work. - [Health checks at work](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#health-screening) (Higher cost, Team): Free health screenings or flu shots on site, at times that suit every shift. Good for: Showing care for people beyond the job. Watch out: Running them only during the day shift. - [Gym or sports membership](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#gym-membership) (Higher cost, Individual): A paid or discounted membership at a local gym or club. Good for: People who already value fitness. Watch out: Paying for memberships nobody uses; ask before you buy. - [Mental health support](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/employee-rewards#mental-health-support) (Higher cost, Individual): Access to confidential counselling or an employee assistance program. Good for: Helping people through hard times so they can stay at work. Watch out: A service nobody knows about; tell people how to use it more than once. ## SMED examples: 16 changeovers, before and after Stage 1: separate internal and external work: List every step and ask whether it really needs the machine stopped. Fetching, checking and putting things away do not, so they move before the stop or after the restart. It is the cheapest stage and comes first. - [Checklist and staged cart on a stamping press](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#press-checklist-and-cart) (Checklist, Pre-staging, Stamping press): The setter used to start fetching the die, bolts and paperwork after the last good part. Now a checklist is worked through while the old job runs, everything waits on a cart beside the press, and the old die goes back to the rack after the restart. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 63 min, 28 min of it external work. After: stopped 35 min, plus 24 min done while running. The stop is 28 min shorter. What it took: A cart, a one-page checklist and starting the preparation about half an hour before the planned stop. No new tooling. The 24 minutes of preparation still happen, but the press runs while they do. Longest step now: Shut height, feed and trial strokes, 14 min. Fixed settings come next: see the standard die height example. Keep it: The press does not stop until the cart is checked complete. The supervisor signs the checklist at the stop, and each changeover time goes on the log, so drift shows within a week. - [Next mold checked and parked before the stop](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#mold-checked-before-the-stop) (Function check, Pre-staging, Injection molding): Faults on the incoming mold, like a leaking water fitting, used to show up only after it was hung. Now the mold is cleaned, inspected and its fittings tested at a bench while the machine runs, then parked on a cart at the press. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 72 min, 14 min of it external work. After: stopped 52 min, plus 19 min done while running. The stop is 20 min shorter. What it took: A bench with water and air to test fittings, spare fittings kept there and a marked spot to park the next mold. The fitting fault is now found and fixed off the machine, before anyone waits for it. Longest step now: Heating, purging and trial shots, 25 min. Heating the mold off the machine is the next step: see the mold preheating example. Keep it: A mold is not released to the press until its bench check is signed. A failed check goes to the toolroom and the scheduler hears about it before the stop, not during it. - [Materials, labels and change parts staged for a packing line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#packaging-materials-staged) (Checklist, Pre-staging, Filling and packaging): Materials and change parts used to be collected once the line stopped, and the line then waited for quality to come and sign the clearance. Now the next order's materials and change parts are staged on a trolley before the stop, and the checklist books the quality check for the stop time. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 62 min, 18 min of it external work. After: stopped 37 min, plus 14 min done while running. The stop is 25 min shorter. What it took: A trolley per carton size with its parts labelled, and one line on the checklist to call quality 15 minutes before the stop. Line clearance itself is not shortened; it stays internal and signed. Longest step now: Swapping change parts and the carton magazine, 15 min. See the color-coded change parts and marked rail settings examples. Keep it: Staging is on the shift's standard work with a time, and the trolley is checked against the order before the stop. Any wait for a signature is written on the changeover record, so it shows in the weekly review. Stage 2: convert internal work to external: Look again at the steps that seem to need the machine stopped and change how they are done so they no longer do: heat, preset, pre-load or set up on a spare plate off the machine, or make every die the same height. - [Mold preheated off the machine](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#mold-preheating) (Prepare off the machine, Injection molding): The mold used to be heated on the press, so the machine stood idle while it warmed up and the first shots from a cold mold were scrap. Now it is heated at a staging station with its own temperature controller and arrives hot, needing only a short top-up. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 59 min. After: stopped 38 min, plus 25 min done while running. The stop is 21 min shorter. What it took: A temperature controller and hookups at the staging station, a cart that can carry a hot mold, heat-resistant gloves and a hot-surface sign. The heating takes longer than before, but the press no longer waits for it. Longest step now: Hanging and clamping, 20 min. See the quick clamps and two-person mold change examples. Keep it: The preheat start time is on the schedule, so the mold is at temperature when the press stops. Record the mold temperature at hookup; if it arrives cold, the record shows it. - [Feeders loaded on a spare trolley, SMT line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#smt-feeder-trolley) (Prepare off the machine, Intermediate jig, SMT line): Reels used to be swapped feeder by feeder on the stopped machine. Now the next job's feeders are loaded and scan-verified on a spare trolley while the current job runs, and the changeover swaps the whole trolley. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 65 min, 10 min of it external work. After: stopped 21 min, plus 47 min done while running. The stop is 44 min shorter. What it took: A second feeder trolley and enough feeders for two setups, which is capital spend, plus a place to load and verify them off the line. Loading the reels takes as long as before; it just happens while the line builds boards. Longest step now: Program, first board and inspection, 10 min, then the stencil and support pins. A second person on the stencil at the same time would shorten the stop again. Keep it: The trolley is not docked until its verification report is complete. Feeders are counted, so a missing one is found during the run, not at the stop. - [Tools measured on a presetter, CNC machining center](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#cnc-tool-presetting) (Prepare off the machine, CNC machining): Tool holders used to be assembled at the machine after it stopped, then every tool was touched off on the machine. Now holders are built and measured on a presetter during the previous job, and only the offsets are entered at the control. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 66 min, 15 min of it external work. After: stopped 33 min, plus 25 min done while running. The stop is 33 min shorter. What it took: A tool presetter, which is capital spend, and a second set of holders for the tools used most. If your control can take offsets straight from the presetter, typing errors go away too. Longest step now: Changing and indicating the fixture, 14 min. See the spare fixture plate and fixture keys examples. Keep it: Offsets only come from the presetter label or transfer, never from memory. Check the first part every time; a wrong offset is the one error this change can add. - [Fixture set up on a spare plate, CNC machining center](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#fixture-on-spare-plate) (Intermediate jig, CNC machining): The fixture used to be bolted to the table and indicated with the machine stopped. Now each fixture is mounted and squared on its own plate at a bench, an intermediate jig in Shingo's terms, and the plate drops onto locating pins on the table in one known position. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 45 min. After: stopped 9 min, plus 18 min done while running. The stop is 36 min shorter, under the 10-minute line. What it took: A zero-point or pallet base on the table and one plate per fixture, which is capital spend, plus a bench with a reference surface for squaring fixtures on their plates. Longest step now: Cutting and measuring the first part, 5 min. At 9 minutes this changeover is single minute; keep the first-part check, it is how you know the change worked. Keep it: Each fixture stays on its plate between jobs and the plates live on a labelled rack. Each plate's work offset is stored under its name in the control and confirmed by the first part. - [Standard die height, no shut height adjustment](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#standard-die-height) (Standardized functions, Fixed settings and stops, Stamping press): Each die used to have its own closed height, so the ram was reset at every change and then corrected by trial. Now spacer blocks bring every die that runs on this press to the same shut height, so the ram setting never changes. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 45 min. After: stopped 23 min. The stop is 22 min shorter. What it took: Toolroom time to fit spacer blocks to each die, and a rule that new dies are ordered at the standard height. Shingo calls this standardizing the function, not the shape: only the height that matters to the press is made the same. Longest step now: Setting and aligning the new die, 10 min. See the die carts example for rolling it in against fixed stops. Keep it: The standard shut height is written in the die specification and checked when a die comes back from repair. Blocks are fastened to the die, never stored loose. Stage 3: shorten the internal work that is left: Shingo's third stage improves every remaining step. For internal work that means fasteners that need one turn or none, two people working to a written split, and fixed stops and settings that remove trial and adjustment. - [Quick clamps instead of bolts on a press](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#quick-die-clamps) (Quick-release fasteners, Standardized functions, Stamping press): Each die was held by eight bolts, each tightened through many turns, and bolts of the right length had to be found first. Now clamps with U-slots slide onto a clamping edge of the same thickness on every die and lock with one turn or one lever. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 44 min. After: stopped 25 min. The stop is 19 min shorter. What it took: Quick clamps for the press and a clamping edge machined to one thickness on every die, so one clamp fits all of them. Shingo's point is that only the last turn of a bolt tightens it; the other turns are just movement. Longest step now: Trial strokes, 8 min, then lifting each die. See the standard die height and die carts examples. Keep it: No loose die bolts are kept at the press, so nobody falls back on them. The clamps are on the daily press check, and the clamping edge thickness is in the die specification. - [Two people in parallel on a mold change](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#two-person-mold-change) (Parallel work, Injection molding): One setter used to do every step, walking round the press between the two sides. Now two people work to a written split: each takes one side for lines and clamps, and the second person guides the crane lift that one person used to manage alone. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 74 min, 5 min of it external work. After: stopped 45 min with two people working in parallel, plus 5 min done while running. The stop is 29 min shorter. What it took: A second trained person for about 45 minutes per change. Total person-minutes go up slightly, from 74 to 80, while the stop falls from 74 to 45 minutes; that trade pays on a machine whose stopped time matters. Longest step now: The crane lift and the purge and trial shots, 15 min each. Preheating the mold off the machine shortens the trial shots: see the mold preheating example. Keep it: The split is written as a two-column sequence and trained, with agreed hand signals for the lift. Each person applies their own lock before reaching into the machine, and nobody moves the crane until both are clear. - [Fixture keys in the table slot instead of indicating](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#fixture-keys) (Fixed settings and stops, CNC machining): The vise used to be indicated parallel to the axis by tapping and re-checking with a dial indicator, and the work offset was found with an edge finder. Now keys under the vise fit the table's T-slot, so it lands square, and its offset for that table position is stored. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 41 min. After: stopped 22 min. The stop is 19 min shorter. What it took: Keys fitted to the vise base, a marked position on the table for each vise and stored offsets in the control. The aim is to remove the adjustment altogether, not to do it faster. Longest step now: Cutting the first part and removing the old vise, 6 min each. A spare fixture plate removes both vise moves: see that example. Keep it: Check the keys for wear at preventive maintenance, since a worn key brings the adjustment back. Name each stored offset after its vise and table position so the right one is called. - [Guide rails set to marked positions, case packer](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#marked-rail-settings) (Fixed settings and stops, Visual markings, Filling and packaging): Guide rails and glue guns used to be set by eye with a sample carton and a tape measure, then corrected while cases jammed. Now each hand wheel has a position counter, each carton size has its settings on a sheet at the machine, and a colored mark sits at each setting. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 42 min. After: stopped 18 min. The stop is 24 min shorter. What it took: Position counters on the hand wheels, one setting sheet per size and paint or label marks. Little spend; most of the work is finding and agreeing the right setting for each size once. Longest step now: Swapping the change parts, 10 min. See the color-coded change parts example. Keep it: When someone finds a better setting, they change the sheet, not just the machine. Settings are checked in the layered audit, and jams after a change are logged against the carton size. - [Color-coded change parts with hand knobs, bottle labeler](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#color-coded-change-parts) (Visual markings, Quick-release fasteners, Filling and packaging): Change parts for different bottle sizes looked alike, were held by bolts and could go on the wrong way round. Now each size has its own color, the parts lock with hand knobs, and an offset pin lets each part fit only one way. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 33 min, 6 min of it external work. After: stopped 11 min, plus 2 min done while running. The stop is 22 min shorter. What it took: Colored or marked parts for each size, hand knobs in place of bolts and an offset locating pin on each part, which is a poka-yoke as well as a time saver. A color chart at the machine shows which color goes with which size. Longest step now: Fitting the new parts and running up, 4 min each. At 11 minutes this is close to single minute; the run-up is next. Keep it: New and replacement parts are ordered in the size's color with the pin. A part found without its color goes on the maintenance board the same day. Stage 3: shorten the external work too: External work does not stop the machine, but when it is slow or late the stop starts late or waits for it. Tool storage at the machine, die carts and parts delivered in kits keep it short and on time. - [Shadow-boarded tool cart, CNC lathe](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#shadow-board-cart) (Shadow boards, CNC machining): Tools were shared between lathes and kept in a drawer, so every change began with a search. Now the lathe has its own cart with a shadow board for its tools, gauge and setup sheet, and an empty outline shows what is missing before the stop. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 44 min, 16 min of it external work. After: stopped 29 min, plus 4 min done while running. The stop is 15 min shorter. What it took: A cart with a shadow board and a second set of the tools used most, so tools never leave this machine. The shadow board planner template helps with the layout. Longest step now: Changing the turret tools and cutting the first part, 10 min each. Presetting tools off the machine is next: see the tool presetter example. Keep it: The cart is checked at the start of every shift and before each stop. Tools are not borrowed; a missing tool gets a red tag, not a search. - [Die carts at bolster height, stamping press](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#die-carts) (Mechanization, Pre-staging, Stamping press): Dies used to move by forklift, and the press waited for the truck and for the driver to nudge each die into line. Now dies travel on carts at bolster height, roll on and off over rollers and stop against fixed stops in the right position. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 51 min, 16 min of it external work. After: stopped 21 min, plus 10 min done while running. The stop is 30 min shorter. What it took: Two die carts at bolster height, rollers or ball rails in the bolster, fixed stops and aisle space for the carts. Shingo puts mechanization last: spend here after the cheaper stages, and only where moving the die is a long step. Longest step now: Clamping and trial strokes, 15 min. See the quick clamps and standard die height examples. Keep it: Carts park in marked spots by the press and are on the maintenance plan. The die height and locating standard is written down, so new dies fit the carts and the stops. - [Parts kits delivered before a model change, assembly line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/smed#assembly-kits) (Pre-staging, Parallel work, Assembly line): The line used to stop while operators cleared old parts and a material handler fetched the new model's parts. Now the water spider delivers the new model's parts in kits before the stop, only the last kit's leftovers remain, and each operator changes the fixture at their own station at the same time. Illustrative numbers: Before: stopped 47 min, 15 min of it external work. After: stopped 16 min, plus 15 min done while running. The stop is 31 min shorter. What it took: A kit cart per model, the change added to the water spider's route at a set time, and every operator trained to change their own fixture. Work instructions for each model are posted at the station. Longest step now: Building and checking the first unit, 8 min. Keep it; it proves every station changed correctly. Keep it: The kit delivery time is on the schedule next to the model change. Leftover parts after a change are counted, since they show whether the kits are the right size. ## Autonomous maintenance examples: 24 tags, fixes and visual controls by step Step 1: Initial cleaning and inspection: The team cleans the machine thoroughly, under lockout and with maintenance alongside, and treats every abnormality it finds as a tag: small defects, missing lubrication or loose fasteners, places that are hard to reach, sources of dirt, causes of quality defects, unneeded items and unsafe spots. Cleaning is inspection. - [Oil leak found under a conveyor drive guard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#leak-under-guard) (Step 1, Conveyors): During the first deep clean, with the drive locked out and the guard off, the team wiped a film of oil off the floor pan and traced it to the gearbox output seal. Nobody had seen it, because the guard covered the gearbox and the pan was black with old oil. Illustrative numbers: Stops to top up and clean up gearbox oil. Before: 4 stops a month at 25 min (100 min). After: none. Saves 100 min a month, about 1.7 hours. Finding: Maintenance tag: oil weeping from the gearbox output seal, oil below the level mark, gearbox hidden by the guard. Fix: Maintenance replaced the seal and topped up with the grade on the gearbox plate. The team cleaned the floor pan and painted it light grey. Visual control: A light floor pan under the drive, so a new drip shows as a dark spot from the walkway. The guard gets an inspection window in step 2. Who checks, how often: Operator, every shift, from the walkway. The team leader signs the CIL sheet daily. How it stays: A spot on the pan is a new tag, not a wipe. The tag stays on the guard until the cause is fixed and checked. - [Blocked motor cooling fins, and a temperature label](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#motor-fins-temperature-label) (Step 1, Motors and gearboxes): Cleaning a mixer's drive motor, the team found the fan cover and cooling fins packed with dust. The motor had been tripping on overload on hot afternoons, and the frame was too hot to keep a hand on. Illustrative numbers: Overload trips on the mixer. Before: 3 trips a month at 40 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours. Finding: Operator tag: fins and fan cover blocked with dust; motor trips on overload in hot weather. Fix: Fins and fan cover cleaned under lockout. Maintenance checked the running current against the nameplate once the motor ran cool. Visual control: A temperature indicator label on the motor frame. Each window turns black at its temperature and stays black, so a hot spell shows on the next walk past. Maintenance decides which window means call us. Who checks, how often: Operator, daily: label windows and fins. Maintenance, monthly: running current. How it stays: Fin cleaning is on the CIL sheet with its minutes. A blackened window is a tag, and the label is replaced once the cause is fixed. - [Loose pump base bolts, then match marks](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#pump-base-match-marks) (Step 1, Pumps and fans): Wiping down a cooling water pump, an operator found one base bolt missing and two that turned by hand. The pump had been noisy for weeks: the loose base let the motor and pump move out of line. Illustrative numbers: Stops for coupling and alignment repairs. Before: 1 stop a month at 120 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours. Finding: Maintenance tag: one base bolt missing, two loose, coupling noisy. Fix: Maintenance fitted the missing bolt, tightened all four to the torque on the pump drawing and checked the shaft alignment. Visual control: Match marks: a paint line across each nut and onto the base, drawn after tightening. If a nut turns, the line breaks or no longer lines up, which anyone can see without a wrench. Who checks, how often: Operator, daily walk past: are the lines straight? Maintenance draws new marks after any re-torque. How it stays: A broken line is a tag for maintenance. Operators retighten only where the standard says they may, and marks are drawn only after a torqued tightening. - [A stained sight glass hiding a low oil level](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#sight-glass-min-max) (Step 1, Hydraulics and pneumatics): On a press's hydraulic power unit, the sight glass was so stained that nobody could read it. Cleaned, it showed the oil well below where it should be, and the filler cap that should have had a breather was open. Illustrative numbers: Stops for low oil alarms. Before: 2 stops a month at 30 min (60 min). After: none. Saves 60 min a month, about 1 hours. Finding: Operator tag: sight glass unreadable, oil low, filler cap open to the air. Fix: Glass cleaned, cap closed, and oil topped up by maintenance with the grade on the tank plate. The loss was traced to a weeping hose fitting, which got its own tag. Visual control: MIN and MAX lines beside the glass with a green band between them, and the oil grade written next to it. Low or high reads in a second. Who checks, how often: Operator, every shift: level inside the band. Top-ups are written down, so a slow leak shows as a trend. How it stays: Top-ups only from the marked container. More than the agreed top-up in a week is a tag. Step 2: Sources of contamination and hard-to-reach areas: Stop the dirt where it starts, and make the places that are hard to clean, inspect or lubricate easy to get at. Time the cleaning before and after: the minutes saved are what make room for the standards in step 3. - [A chip shield at the source on a machining center](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#chip-shield) (Step 2, Machine tools): Chips from the cut were thrown over the way covers and past the chip conveyor, so operators spent the end of every shift raking them out. The team watched where the chips flew and stopped them where they start. Illustrative numbers: End-of-shift cleaning. Before: 40 cleans a month at 30 min (1,200 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 10 min (400 min). Saves 800 min a month, about 13.3 hours. Finding: Source of contamination tag: chips thrown onto the way covers and past the chip conveyor. Fix: A bolted sheet metal shield around the work area with a clear panel, and a sloped tray that feeds the chip conveyor. The coolant nozzles were re-aimed to wash the tray. Visual control: The clear panel keeps the cut in view, and the tray has a full line: chips above it mean empty it now. Who checks, how often: Operator, every shift: tray below the line, way covers bare. How it stays: End-of-shift cleaning is timed once a week on the step 2 record. If the minutes creep up, the team looks for the new chip path. - [An inspection window in a chain drive guard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#guard-window) (Step 2, Conveyors): Checking the drive chain on a pallet conveyor meant locking out, unbolting a solid guard and bolting it back, so the weekly check was often skipped. The team asked maintenance for a guard they could see through. Illustrative numbers: Weekly chain check. Before: 4 checks a month at 25 min (100 min). After: 4 checks a month at 3 min (12 min). Saves 88 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Hard-to-reach tag: chain tension and lubrication cannot be seen without removing the guard. Fix: The guard panel was remade with a clear polycarbonate window over the chain and tensioner. The window does not open and the guard still fully covers the chain; the site's guarding owner approved the design. Visual control: Through the window: a green mark for the tensioner's normal range and a label saying what good looks like (chain oiled, no stiff links). Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly, looking through the window with the guard on. Lockout only when something needs doing. How it stays: The window is wiped during the weekly check. A cloudy or cracked window is a tag. - [Grease points brought out to the front of the guard](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#remote-grease-block) (Step 2, Packaging machines): Six bearings on a case packer had their grease nipples behind the guard, and two could only be reached lying on the floor. Points that are hard to reach get missed. Illustrative numbers: Weekly greasing round. Before: 4 rounds a month at 35 min (140 min). After: 4 rounds a month at 8 min (32 min). Saves 108 min a month, about 1.8 hours. Finding: Hard-to-reach tag: six grease points behind the guard, two of them at floor level. Fix: Maintenance ran a grease line from each bearing to a block of six nipples on the outside of the guard, each numbered to its bearing. Visual control: Numbered nipples with caps in the grease's colour, and a label giving the shots for each point. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly, at the block with the machine stopped. How it stays: The lubrication schedule lists the block, not six bearings. Maintenance checks the bearings after the first month to confirm grease is reaching every one. - [A breather that shows when it is used up](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#desiccant-breather) (Step 2, Hydraulics and pneumatics): A press's hydraulic tank breathed through an open filler cap in a dusty area, and dust lay on the tank top around it. Every cycle of the cylinders drew air, and dirt with it, into the oil. Illustrative numbers: Stops for sticking valves. Before: 2 stops a month at 45 min (90 min). After: 1 stop a month at 45 min (45 min). Saves 45 min a month, about 0.8 hours. Finding: Source of contamination tag: tank breathes through an open filler cap; dust settles around it. Fix: A desiccant breather fitted in place of the cap, so air coming in is filtered and dried, and the tank top cleaned. Visual control: The breather's crystals change colour from the bottom up as they take up water. A line on its body marks when to fit a new one. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly: how far up has the colour reached? How it stays: A spare breather is kept with that tank's oil, and changing it is on the lubrication schedule. Step 3: Cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards: For each point, write what to clean, inspect or lubricate, how, with what, how often, by whom and in how many minutes, so the routine fits the time the team has. Many sources call these provisional standards, because step 4 will change them. - [Gearbox fill points with coloured caps and a level window](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#lube-caps-level) (Step 3, Motors and gearboxes): Three gearboxes on a line took two different oils, and the fill plugs all looked the same. One had been topped up with the wrong oil. Illustrative numbers: Stops from wrong or low gearbox oil. Before: 1 stop a month at 120 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours. Finding: Operator tag: wrong oil found in gearbox 2; fill points and containers not marked. Fix: Maintenance drained and refilled gearbox 2. Each fill point got a cap and tag in its oil's colour and shape (square for oils, round for greases), and each top-up container a lid to match. Visual control: Coloured cap and tag at the fill point, and a level window with the normal band marked. The standard reads: level in the band, same colour and shape on cap, tag and container. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly: level in the band, top-ups only from the matching container. How it stays: Tags give the generic grade, not a brand, so they stay right when the supplier changes. - [A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#cleaning-map) (Step 3, Packaging machines): After steps 1 and 2 the filler was quick to clean, but each crew cleaned it differently and nobody knew how long it should take. Illustrative numbers: Cleaning the filler. Before: 40 cleans a month at 25 min (1,000 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 12 min (480 min). Saves 520 min a month, about 8.7 hours. Finding: Team finding from the step 2 record: no agreed method, tool or time for any area. Fix: The team timed each area, agreed the tool and the method, and dropped what did not need doing every shift. Visual control: A photo map at the station with 8 numbered zones, each with its tool, its frequency and its minutes, and the total for a shift: 12 minutes. Who checks, how often: Operator, every shift, ticking each zone. The team leader looks at one zone each day. How it stays: When cleaning takes longer than the map says, the team looks for a new source of dirt rather than rushing. - [Air service unit: a green band on the gauge and a drain line on the bowl](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#frl-gauge-band) (Step 3, Hydraulics and pneumatics): Cylinders on an assembly press were slow on some shifts. The regulator had been turned up and down by different people, and the filter bowl was half full of water. Illustrative numbers: Stops for slow cylinders. Before: 6 stops a month at 15 min (90 min). After: 1 stop a month at 15 min (15 min). Saves 75 min a month, about 1.3 hours. Finding: Operator tag: regulator set differently each shift; water in the filter bowl above the element. Fix: Maintenance set the regulator to the machine's stated pressure and fitted a locking cap. The team found the bowl's automatic drain blocked and cleaned it. Visual control: A green band on the gauge face over the set range, and a MAX line on the filter bowl for water. Who checks, how often: Operator, every shift: needle in the green, water below the line. How it stays: Only maintenance changes the setting. A needle outside the band is a tag. Step 4: General inspection: Operators are trained one equipment subject at a time (fasteners and drives, lubrication, hydraulics and pneumatics, electrics, the process) in how the parts work and how they fail, then inspect the whole machine for that subject. Each subject adds checks and visual controls. - [V-belt take-up marks on a fan motor base](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#belt-tension-mark) (Step 4, Pumps and fans): In the drives module, operators learned that a slipping belt squeals and glazes and that a stretched belt is taken up by sliding the motor back. On the dust collector fan, the motor was nearly at the end of its slide. Illustrative numbers: Stops from belt failure. Before: 1 stop a month at 90 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Operator tag: belts squeal at start-up; motor almost at the end of its take-up. Fix: Maintenance replaced the matched set of belts and tensioned them to the drive maker's figure with a tension gauge. Visual control: A green band on the slide base for the normal take-up range, red beyond it, and a pointer on the motor foot. Pointer in the red means the belts are worn out. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly: pointer in the green, no squeal at start-up. Maintenance checks tension monthly. How it stays: The take-up marks are in the drives one point lesson and on the step 4 checklist. - [A hydraulic pressure gauge with a green zone](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#gauge-green-zone) (Step 4, Hydraulics and pneumatics): In the hydraulics module, operators learned the press's working pressure and what it means when the gauge falls short of it or swings. Illustrative numbers: Stops for short strokes. Before: 4 stops a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 1 stop a month at 30 min (30 min). Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Operator tag: needle swings at pressure, and working pressure is below the setup sheet. Fix: Maintenance traced it to a worn pump and planned the change. The gauge was replaced with a liquid-filled one that reads steadily. Visual control: A green arc on the gauge face over the normal working range, red either side, and the normal figure on a label beside it. Who checks, how often: Operator, at start-up and once a shift: needle in the green at full pressure. How it stays: Maintenance sets the arcs from the machine's data and checks them whenever the gauge is replaced or calibrated. - [Labelled pipes, flow arrows and valve positions](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#pipe-labels-arrows) (Step 4, Pumps and fans): In the module on the cooling water system, operators traced every line from the pump to the heat exchanger. Two valves on the return were half shut and nobody knew why. Illustrative numbers: High-temperature stops on the machine it cools. Before: 3 stops a month at 30 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Operator tag: two valves on the return line partly closed; no pipe labels. Fix: Maintenance confirmed the correct positions and opened the valves. The team labelled every pipe with its contents and flow direction, using the site's pipe colour standard. Visual control: Pipe labels with the contents and an arrow for flow, a tag on each valve saying normally open or normally closed, and the handle's normal position painted on the pipe. Who checks, how often: Operator, daily: every handle lines up with its mark. How it stays: A valve moved for work is put back, and the person closing the work order checks it against its mark. - [A chain wear limit painted on the tensioner slot](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#chain-tensioner-limit) (Step 4, Conveyors): Operators learned that a roller chain stretches as its pins and bushes wear, and that the tensioner takes up the slack until it runs out of travel. The checklist needed a line anyone could read. Illustrative numbers: Stops from the chain jumping or breaking. Before: 1 stop a month at 150 min (150 min). After: none. Saves 150 min a month, about 2.5 hours. Finding: Operator tag: tensioner near the end of its slot; chain slack on the return. Fix: Maintenance replaced the chain and the worn sprocket together. Visual control: The tensioner slot painted green for the normal range and red for the last part of its travel. The checklist line reads: tensioner in the green? If red, tag it. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly, through the guard window. How it stays: After a chain change, maintenance writes the date, so the team learns how long a chain lasts. Step 5: Autonomous inspection: Operators run the full routine inspection themselves. Their checklist and maintenance's preventive maintenance list are combined so nothing is checked twice or missed, and checks are made quicker so the whole routine fits. - [One numbered route for the daily inspection](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#inspection-route) (Step 5, Packaging machines): The operators' CIL sheet and maintenance's preventive maintenance list for a cartoner had the same chain and belt checks on both, and the operators' sheet ran in the order the points were written down, not where they are. Illustrative numbers: Daily inspection. Before: 20 inspections a month at 35 min (700 min). After: 20 inspections a month at 18 min (360 min). Saves 340 min a month, about 5.7 hours. Finding: Team finding, comparing the two lists side by side: duplicated checks, and a route that crossed the machine back and forth. Fix: Duplicates removed, each check given to the operator or to maintenance, and the operator's points numbered in walking order around the machine. Visual control: A numbered tag at each point matching the checklist line, and the route drawn on the machine outline at the top of the sheet. Who checks, how often: Operator, daily, by number. Maintenance does only the checks that need its skills, on the PM schedule. How it stays: A new point is added where it sits on the route, with the next number. - [Coolant level and strength kept in a marked band](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#coolant-level-float) (Step 5, Machine tools): On a group of CNC lathes, coolant was topped up with plain water whenever it looked low, so the mix drifted weak and parts came off with rust spots. Illustrative numbers: Stops to fix coolant problems. Before: 2 stops a month at 60 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours. Finding: Operator tag: coolant weaker than the range on its data sheet; no way to see the tank level. Fix: Operators were trained to read strength with a refractometer and to top up only with premixed coolant from the mixer. Visual control: A float level indicator on the tank with a green band, and a card at the machine with the refractometer range from the data sheet marked in green. Who checks, how often: Operator, daily: level. Weekly: strength, written on the card. How it stays: A reading outside the green is a tag. The team leader looks at the cards every week. - [A filter clogging indicator the operator reads](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#filter-clog-indicator) (Step 5, Hydraulics and pneumatics): Hydraulic return filters were changed by date. Some came out clean, and others had clearly been clogged for weeks. Illustrative numbers: Filter changes. Before: 4 changes a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 2 changes a month at 30 min (60 min). Saves 60 min a month, about 1 hours. Finding: Operator tag: return filter indicator red after warm-up. Fix: Filters are changed when the indicator says so, read with the oil at working temperature, because cold, thick oil can show red when the filter is fine. Visual control: The indicator on the filter head shows green when clean and red when the filter needs changing, with a label: read when warm. Who checks, how often: Operator, once a shift after warm-up. Red is a tag to maintenance. How it stays: Spare elements are kept against the tag, with the element's part number on the label. Step 6: Standardization: What works on the model machine becomes the way the whole area runs: the same cleaning kits, the same spares at the line, the same lubricant code everywhere, and standards that cover materials and records as well as equipment care. - [Cleaning kit on a shadow board at each machine](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#shadow-board-cleaning) (Step 6, Machine tools): Each machine in a cell had its own mix of brushes and rags in a drawer, and the cleaning standard named tools that were often not there. Illustrative numbers: Looking for cleaning tools. Before: 40 cleans a month at 5 min (200 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 1 min (40 min). Saves 160 min a month, about 2.7 hours. Finding: Team finding: tools named in the cleaning standard missing at 3 of 6 machines. Fix: One kit per machine with exactly the tools its cleaning standard names, on a board beside the machine. Visual control: A shadow board with an outline for each tool, labelled with the cleaning map zone where it is used. Who checks, how often: Operator, end of shift: every outline filled. Team leader, weekly, at all six machines. How it stays: The board changes only when the cleaning standard does. - [Common spares at the line with a min line](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#consumables-min-max) (Step 6, Packaging machines): Once operators were finding worn belts and blocked filters early, their tags sat open waiting for parts from stores. Illustrative numbers: Waiting for common spares. Before: 6 waits a month at 40 min (240 min). After: 6 waits a month at 5 min (30 min). Saves 210 min a month, about 3.5 hours. Finding: Team finding: tags held open waiting for common spares such as belts, filter elements and fuses. Fix: A small rack at the line for the spares the operators are trained to fit, each with a minimum and a maximum. Visual control: A labelled bin for each spare with a min line inside: when stock is down to the line, the reorder card goes to stores. Who checks, how often: Team leader, weekly. Stores refills to the maximum. How it stays: Only spares on the operators' standard live at the line; the rest stay in stores. - [One lubricant colour code across the plant](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#plant-lube-legend) (Step 6, Motors and gearboxes): Each area had made its own lubricant colour code in step 3, so the same colour meant different oils in different halls. Illustrative numbers: Drain and refill jobs after the wrong lubricant. Before: 1 job a month at 90 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Team finding: blue meant gear oil in one hall and hydraulic oil in the next. Fix: One plant code agreed with maintenance and stores, using generic grades, and every tag, cap and container changed over area by area. Visual control: A legend board at the lubricant store with each lubricant's colour, shape and grade, the same tags on the machines and the same lids on the top-up containers. Who checks, how often: Lubrication technician, monthly: tags and lids against the legend. How it stays: A new lubricant gets its code before it is bought. Step 7: Autonomous management: Teams run their own equipment care and improve it: they track their own tags and stops, review their own check frequencies with maintenance and run small improvements, with maintenance as the experts they call on. - [A team board for tags opened and closed](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#activity-board) (Step 7, Packaging machines): A filler team keeps its tag counts, its CIL minutes and the filler's stops on one board at the machine and goes over it in the start-of-shift meeting. Illustrative numbers: Stops from tagged defects left unfixed. Before: 5 stops a month at 30 min (150 min). After: 2 stops a month at 30 min (60 min). Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours. Finding: Team finding: tags older than 30 days had crept up, most of them waiting on maintenance. Fix: A weekly 10-minute review of every tag older than 30 days with the maintenance planner. Visual control: A chart of tags opened and closed each week, and a column of open tags by age with anything over 30 days in red. Who checks, how often: Team leader, daily. Area manager, weekly, at the board. How it stays: The board shows the team's own numbers, kept by the team. - [Check frequencies set by what the checks find](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#frequency-review) (Step 7, Conveyors): After six months on autonomous inspection, a conveyor team looked at which checks had ever found anything. The daily chain lubrication check never had; the roller check kept finding seized rollers. Illustrative numbers: Stops from seized rollers. Before: 3 stops a month at 20 min (60 min). After: 1 stop a month at 20 min (20 min). Saves 40 min a month, about 0.7 hours. Finding: Team finding: one daily check never finds anything, while another finds problems every month. Fix: With the maintenance engineer's agreement, chain lubrication moved to weekly and the roller check to twice a week, in the same total time. Visual control: The checklist shows each check's frequency, the date it was last reviewed and a running count of what each check has found. Who checks, how often: Team with the maintenance engineer, every six months. How it stays: A frequency changes only with the finds data and maintenance's agreement. - [Single-point lubricators instead of a weekly ladder climb](https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/autonomous-maintenance#auto-lubricator) (Step 7, Pumps and fans): The team's own improvement: the two bearings of an exhaust fan sat high above the floor and were greased weekly from a ladder, with a second person to hold it. Illustrative numbers: Greasing the fan bearings. Before: 4 visits a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 4 visits a month at 2 min (8 min). Saves 112 min a month, about 1.9 hours. Finding: Team finding: weekly greasing needs a ladder and two people, and gets missed when the area is short of staff. Fix: With maintenance, a single-point automatic lubricator on each bearing, set to deliver the same grease over a set period. Visual control: Each lubricator's clear body shows how much grease is left, readable from the floor, and a label gives its change-by date. Who checks, how often: Operator, weekly, from the floor. Maintenance changes the units by the label date. How it stays: The lubricator setting and change-by date are on the lubrication schedule. ## A3 examples: three worked A3 reports, with a coach's notes An A3 example is a filled-in A3 report: one problem, proposal or project told on a single large sheet, the left side describing the situation and the right side saying what to do and how to check it. Below are three complete A3s from plant settings, one of each kind (problem solving, proposal and status), each with a coach's note on every box saying why it works and the weak version reviewers see most often. All three are illustrative: written from the method with realistic numbers, not taken from a real company. Every number on them adds up, and you can redo each calculation from the figures shown. ### Problem-solving A3: Leak test failures on pump line 3 (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/a3#problem-solving-a3) Owner: Quality engineer, line 3. Coach: Plant quality manager. Team: Line 3 team leader, two assemblers (one per shift), maintenance technician. Revision: Rev 4, end of week 10. - Background (left side): Line 3 builds a small centrifugal pump: a cast aluminium housing and a cover sealed with an O-ring. Every pump is air leak tested at the end of the line. A failed pump is torn down, rebuilt with a new O-ring and tested again. Leak failures are the biggest rework item on the line. A rebuild takes about 12 minutes, so the 432 failures in weeks 1 to 4 cost 86.4 hours of rework (432 × 12 min = 5,184 min). The test checks every pump, so this is a cost and capacity problem, not a customer escape. Coach's note: Two short paragraphs answer why anyone should care: what the product is, what a failure costs in hours, and that no customer is at risk. The arithmetic is shown, so a reviewer can check it. Weak version: Background that tells the history of the line or restates the problem. If a reader cannot say why this problem matters more than the next one, the box has not done its job. - Current condition (left side): Weeks 1 to 4: 9,600 pumps tested, 432 failed, a failure rate of 4.5%. The quality plan allows 1.0%. What the teardown found, weeks 1 to 4 (432 failures): O-ring pinched or rolled 324 (75.0%); Porosity in the casting 54 (12.5%); Cover screws loose 32 (7.4%); No fault found on retest 22 (5.1%). Pinched O-ring failures by part of the shift (4,800 pumps in each half): Hours 1 to 4 81 (1.7%); Hours 5 to 8 243 (5.1%). Same pattern on both shifts and for all six assemblers. At the station in week 5 we watched 20 assemblies in hour 2 and 20 in hour 7. In hour 7 the lubricant film on the O-ring was thin or patchy on 11 of 20; in hour 2, on 1 of 20. Coach's note: Counted facts, a Pareto that picks the biggest cause, and a second cut (time into the shift) that turns a vague problem into a pattern. The last line is direct observation at the station, which is where Sobek and Jimmerson say the current condition has to come from. Weak version: "Leak failures are high and getting worse" with no count, no period and no split. Without a baseline there is nothing to set a goal against or to check the result against. - Goal (left side): Leak test failures at or below 1.0% of pumps tested, every week for four weeks in a row, by the end of week 12. Measured from the leak tester log: failures divided by pumps tested. Coach's note: One measure, a number, a date, and where the data comes from. Anyone can tell in week 12 whether it was met. Weak version: "Reduce leaks" or "improve first pass yield". Not measurable, so nobody can say when the A3 is finished. - Root cause analysis (left side): Fishbone candidates for the pinched O-rings, each checked: Material: O-ring lot; How we checked: Ran a different O-ring lot for two days (960 pumps); Result: Same pattern. Ruled out. Material: groove depth; How we checked: Measured 30 housings from three casting lots; Result: All in tolerance. Ruled out. Measurement: leak tester; How we checked: Leak and no-leak master parts, three times a shift for a week; Result: Right every time. Ruled out. Man: one assembler or shift; How we checked: Split failures by assembler and shift; Result: Spread across all six and both shifts. Ruled out. Mother nature: afternoon heat; How we checked: Second shift runs into the cooler evening; Result: Same rise late in that shift. Ruled out. Machine: lubricant dose; How we checked: Weighed one shot every hour for two shifts; Result: 0.20 g in hour 1, 0.07 g by hour 7; minimum is 0.15 g. Confirmed. Why 1: Why do pumps fail the leak test? The O-ring is pinched between cover and housing. Evidence: Teardown: 324 of 432. Why 2: Why is it pinched? With too little lubricant the O-ring rolls out of the groove as the cover is pressed on. Evidence: Trial: 50 covers fitted with dry O-rings, 9 pinched; 50 with a full shot, none. Why 3: Why too little lubricant? The bench dispenser is gravity fed, and the shot shrinks as the cartridge empties. Evidence: Shot weight 0.20 g full, 0.07 g by hour 7. Why 4: Why does the cartridge run low? The work instruction says to fill it at the start of the shift only. Evidence: Work instruction, step 4. Why 5: Why does it say that? It was written for the old 2 kg pail, which lasted a week. When the bench dispenser replaced the pail last year, the instruction was not reviewed: the equipment change checklist has no step for it. Evidence: Change record for the dispenser swap; checklist reviewed. Root cause: A process change (the new dispenser) went in without updating the standard work, because the change checklist does not ask for it. Coach's note: Every candidate cause has a check and a result, five are ruled out with data, and each why carries its evidence. The chain stops at a system the team can change (the change checklist), not at a person. The dry-versus-lubricated trial confirms the cause before money is spent. Weak version: A 5 Whys that stops at "operator did not apply enough lubricant" and a countermeasure of "retrain operators". The data shows all six assemblers and both shifts, so the cause is the method, not the people. - Countermeasures (right side): Each countermeasure against the cause it answers: Dose falls late in the shift; Countermeasure: Team leader refills the cartridge at mid-shift (week 5); Type: Containment; Expected effect: Stops the late-shift rise while the fix is made. Refill only at shift start; Countermeasure: Refill at shift start and after 120 pumps; minimum line marked on the cartridge; in the station standard work and the team leader's hourly check; Type: Root cause; Expected effect: Dose stays at or above 0.15 g all shift. Change checklist has no standard work step; Countermeasure: Add "review work instructions and check sheets" to the line's equipment change checklist, signed by the area engineer; Type: Root cause; Expected effect: The next equipment change updates the standard. Thin dose found only at the leak test; Countermeasure: Shot weight on the station check sheet every hour for four weeks, then weekly if all in range; Type: Detection; Expected effect: A thin dose is seen before it builds a leak. Out of scope here: Porosity (54) goes to the casting supplier through a supplier corrective action request. Loose cover screws (32) go to the line's next kaizen. Coach's note: Each row starts from a confirmed cause, says whether it contains, fixes or detects, and predicts its effect. Containment is labelled as containment, so nobody mistakes the mid-shift refill for the fix. The causes this A3 will not touch are named, with where they went. Weak version: A list of good ideas (new dispenser, poka-yoke, retraining, extra inspection) with no link to the causes found. Countermeasures that do not answer a confirmed cause are guesses, however sensible. - Implementation plan (right side): Who does what by when: Mid-shift refill (containment); Owner: Team leader; Due: Week 5; Status: Done. Mark minimum line on cartridges; Owner: Maintenance technician; Due: Week 6; Status: Done. Update work instruction and station standard work; train both shifts; Owner: Quality engineer; Due: Week 6; Status: Done. Hourly shot weight on the station check sheet; Owner: Team leader; Due: Week 6; Status: Done. Standard work review step in the equipment change checklist; Owner: Area engineer; Due: Week 8; Status: Done. Supplier corrective action request on porosity; Owner: Supplier quality engineer; Due: Week 8; Status: Sent; reply due week 11. Share the refill rule with lines 1 and 4 (same dispenser); Owner: Quality engineer; Due: Week 11; Status: Open. Coach's note: Every action has one owner (a role, not "team"), a week and a status, so the sheet doubles as the progress check at each review. Weak version: Owner "all" or "quality", dates "ASAP" or "ongoing". If nobody in particular owns an action, nobody does it. - Follow-up (right side): Prediction, written in week 6: Pinched O-ring failures close to zero. The other causes run at about 27 a week (porosity, screws, no fault found), so the line should settle at about 1.1% (27 of 2,400): better, but above the 1.0% goal until porosity is fixed. Weekly failure rate: about 4.5% in weeks 1 to 4, 2.1% in week 5 after the mid-shift refill, 1.5% in week 6 and between 1.2% and 1.3% in weeks 7 to 10, against a goal of 1.0%. Result, weeks 7 to 10: 120 failures in 9,600 pumps, 1.25%. Pinched O-rings fell from 324 to 12 (96% fewer). Close to the prediction, so the cause was understood. The goal is not met: porosity is now the top cause (54 of 120, 45%). Standardised: refill rule in the station standard work; standard work review in the change checklist. Next: porosity through the supplier request; this A3 stays open until four weeks in a row at or below 1.0%. Coach's note: A prediction written before the results, then the actual result next to it. Because they match, the team knows its understanding was right; because the goal is still missed, the A3 stays open with a named next step instead of being declared a success. Weak version: A follow-up box that says "complete" with ticks against the actions. Finishing the actions is not the same as solving the problem; only the measure against the goal says that. ### Proposal A3: Changeovers on filler line 2 take 95 minutes and push work into Saturday overtime (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/a3#proposal-a3) Owner: CI lead. Decision by: Plant manager. Consulted: Line 2 lead and crew, maintenance planner, production planner, quality technician. Revision: Rev 3, ready for decision. - Background (left side): Line 2 fills a liquid product into 500 ml and 1 litre bottles on a rotary filler. Customers order both sizes every week, so the plan runs 6 changeovers a week. Demand has grown and the line now runs Saturday overtime to keep up: 6 hours a week on average over the last 48 working weeks (288 hours). The production planner expects the same order pattern next year, and cutting overtime is one of the plant's goals this year. Coach's note: It says why now (demand grew, overtime is a plant goal) and gives the one number the cost case will rest on: overtime hours actually worked. Weak version: Opening with the solution ("We need quick-release tooling on line 2"). Sobek and Jimmerson's rule for the theme applies to the whole left side: describe the problem, not the answer you already like. - Current condition (left side): Changeover is timed from the last good bottle of the old size to the first good bottle of the new size at full speed. Twelve changeovers timed in weeks 1 and 2 averaged 95 minutes (78 to 121). At 6 a week that is 570 minutes, 9.5 hours of a stopped line every week. Where the 95 minutes go (video of three changeovers, averaged): Fetch change parts, tools and next bottles 20 min; Remove and fit bolted change parts 35 min; Adjust and trial run until fill and caps are right 25 min; Flush and clean the product path 15 min. In the videos the crew walked to the parts store twice per changeover, and the guide rails were set by eye, so the trial run took three to six attempts. Coach's note: The measure is defined before it is quoted (last good bottle to first good bottle), the average comes with its range, and the 95 minutes are broken into elements from video, which is what the options will act on. Weak version: "Changeovers take about an hour and a half." An estimate from memory hides the spread and gives the options nothing to work on. - Goal (left side): Average changeover at or below 65 minutes by week 8, measured on every changeover; and Saturday overtime down by at least 3 hours a week, averaged over weeks 5 to 12. Coach's note: Two measures, because the second one is where the money is: a faster changeover saves nothing if Saturday shifts still run. Weak version: A goal stated only as the improvement ("SMED on line 2"). That is an activity; the goal is what changes in the numbers. - Analysis (left side): Fetching (20 min) is done while the line is stopped but could be done while the old run finishes. This is the separation of internal and external work in Shingo's SMED method. Adjusting (25 min) is long because nothing marks the right rail positions for each size, so the crew sets them by eye and trials until it works. Bolting (35 min) is internal work that only better fastening or a second set of parts can shorten. Flushing (15 min) is set by the product quality procedure and stays as it is in this proposal. Coach's note: Each element gets a cause, and the analysis says which element no option will touch and why. That keeps the promise in the goal honest. Weak version: Skipping analysis because "everyone knows changeovers are slow". In a proposal A3 the analysis is what lets the reader judge whether the options can deliver the goal. - Options and recommendation (right side): Options on the same arithmetic: A: SMED workshop. Checklist, changeover cart with shadow board, parts and bottles staged while the old run finishes, rail settings marked; One-off cost: $5,000; Changeover after: 65 min; Saved per changeover: 30 min; Hours a year: 144; Overtime avoided a year: $25,920; Payback: 2.3 months. B: A plus a second set of change parts. The next set is assembled and preset off the line before the stop; One-off cost: $45,000; Changeover after: 55 min; Saved per changeover: 40 min; Hours a year: 192; Overtime avoided a year: $34,560; Payback: 15.6 months. C: A plus quick-release fasteners. The filler maker's retrofit kit replaces bolts on the change parts; One-off cost: $21,500; Changeover after: 50 min; Saved per changeover: 45 min; Hours a year: 216; Overtime avoided a year: $38,880; Payback: 6.6 months. How the numbers work: hours a year = minutes saved × 6 changeovers × 48 weeks ÷ 60. Each hour is worth the overtime it removes: 4 crew × $45 an hour = $180. Counted only up to the 288 overtime hours worked now; hours beyond that are capacity, worth money only when demand needs them. Option A: 30 × 6 × 48 ÷ 60 = 144 hours × $180 = $25,920; $5,000 ÷ $25,920 × 12 = 2.3 months. Also looked at: a new filler with automatic size change. Not costed here; it needs a capital request and stays on the list for when this filler is replaced. Recommendation: Approve option A now ($5,000). It gets two thirds of option C's saving (30 of 45 minutes) for under a quarter of the cost. Decide on C in week 8 with measured data: on its own, the extra 15 minutes from quick-release fasteners cost $16,500 and pay back in 15.3 months. Option B pays back slowest (15.6 months) and is not recommended. Coach's note: Options are compared on one formula, the formula is shown, and savings are counted only where cash really changes (overtime that stops). The incremental view of C over A is the line that makes the recommendation sound: the cheap step first, the expensive one decided with data. This is the set-based thinking Shook gives a chapter to. Weak version: One option presented as the answer, or savings that count every freed hour at full labour cost when no one's pay changes. Finance will find it, and the next A3 starts with less trust. - Plan (right side): Plan if option A is approved: Week 1; Action: Video two more changeovers; split internal and external steps with the crew; Owner: CI lead. Week 2; Action: Build the changeover cart and shadow board; Owner: Maintenance planner. Week 3; Action: Three-day workshop: checklist, staging during the run, marked rail settings; Owner: CI lead with both shifts' crews and the quality technician. Week 4; Action: Run changeovers to the new standard and log every one; Owner: Line 2 lead. Week 4; Action: Cut Saturday hours to match the time saved; Owner: Production planner. Week 8; Action: Review results; decide on option C; Owner: Plant manager and CI lead. Coach's note: Short, dated and owned, and it includes the step that turns time saved into money saved (the planner cutting Saturday hours). Weak version: A plan that ends at "workshop held". The saving only exists once the overtime plan changes, so that step belongs on the sheet. - Unresolved issues (right side): The saving is banked only if the planner removes Saturday hours. Agreed in principle; reviewed in week 4. Flush time is set by the quality procedure. The quality technician will look at whether a shorter, validated flush is possible, as a separate request. First-bottle fill and cap checks stay as they are. Coach's note: It names what could stop the saving and who is dealing with it. A decision-maker can approve knowing the risks. Weak version: Leaving the box out to make the proposal look clean. The issues come up in the meeting anyway, and then the author looks unprepared. - Follow-up (right side): Every changeover logged with start and stop by the definition above; weekly average against 65 minutes. Saturday overtime hours per week, from the payroll report. Prediction: 60 to 70 minutes average from week 5. Above 70, watch the video again before buying anything. Coach's note: The check is set up before approval, with a prediction and a rule for what to do if it misses. The decision on option C will rest on these numbers. Weak version: "We will monitor the results." Without a measure, a source and a prediction, the week 8 review becomes a matter of opinion. ### Status A3: On-time shipping from the finished goods pick area: 97.3% in September against 98% (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/a3#status-a3) Owner: Warehouse manager. Audience: Monthly operations review. Opened: April, after two months below target. Status as of: End of September. - Background (left side): Finished goods are picked, packed and handed to carriers from one pick area. On-time shipping is orders shipped by the promised ship date divided by orders due to ship, with a target of 98%. Each late order means an expedite call from customer service and often premium freight. Coach's note: The measure is defined in one sentence, with the target, so the trend that follows cannot be argued about. Weak version: A status A3 that assumes the audience remembers the definition from April. Readers change, and so do definitions when nobody writes them down. - Current status (left side): On-time shipping: Jan 98.2%, Feb 95.1%, Mar 94.2%, Apr 93.6%, May 93.9%, Jun 95.4%, Jul 96.2%, Aug 96.0%, Sep 97.3%; target 98%. Late orders by reason: Short at the pick face (stock in the system, not in the location); Apr and May: 118; Sep: 20. Released too late to pick before the carrier pickup; Apr and May: 71; Sep: 12. Carrier missed the pickup; Apr and May: 31; Sep: 14. Pack or label error caught at the dock; Apr and May: 26; Sep: 11. Other; Apr and May: 16; Sep: 4. Total; Apr and May: 262; Sep: 61. September: 2,250 orders, 61 late, 97.3% on time. Coach's note: The trend shows nine months, the target and when each change went in, so a reader sees cause and effect in one look. The reasons table compares the same categories before and now. Weak version: Only this month's number, or a chart that starts in June to hide the drop. A status A3 is trusted when it shows the bad months too. - Target (left side): 98% on-time shipping every month from December. At 2,250 orders a month that means 45 late orders or fewer (2,250 × 2% = 45). September had 61, so 16 more a month have to go. Coach's note: Turning a percentage into a count of late orders makes the gap concrete: 16 orders a month is something a team can plan against. Weak version: Restating the target without the gap. "Target 98%, actual 97.3%" sounds close; "16 more late orders a month to remove" tells you how much work is left. - What we have done (PDCA) (left side): Cycle 1: shortages (Apr to Aug). Plan: Shortages were 45% of late orders (118 of 262). Cause: a location was refilled only after a picker found it empty. Do: June: minimum levels for the 150 fastest-moving SKUs; the replenishment driver works from a minimum-level report every 2 hours. Check: Shortage late orders fell from 59 a month (Apr and May) to 22 (Jun to Aug). On-time shipping rose to 95.4% to 96.2%, then went flat. Act: Minimum levels made standard for those SKUs and reviewed monthly. The plateau sent us to the next cause. Cycle 2: late release (Aug to Sep). Plan: Next biggest cause. Orders went to the floor in one batch at 1 pm; the last ones could not be picked before the 3 pm carrier pickup. Do: September: orders released in hourly waves from 8 am; the last wave at 1 pm is sized to finish by 2:30 pm. Check: Late-release orders fell from 34 in August to 12 in September. On-time shipping 97.3%. Act: Hourly waves kept; a wave board added at the dispatch desk. Coach's note: Each cycle reads as plan, do, check, act, and every check is a number against the cycle's own target cause. The plateau after cycle 1 is reported and used: it is why cycle 2 went after a different cause. Weak version: A list of activities ("held kaizen, updated SOP, trained pickers") with no check. That is a diary, not a status; the reader cannot tell what worked. - Remaining issues (right side): Carrier missed pickups: 14 in September. Cause not known yet; the logistics coordinator has a month of actual pickup times. Pack and label errors: 11 in September. Not yet analysed. Shortages still 20 a month. The 150 SKUs on minimum levels cover most picks; the next 100 by picks do not. Coach's note: It says plainly what is not understood yet (carrier misses), instead of guessing a cause to make the status look further along. Weak version: No remaining issues box, so the review assumes the problem is solved because the number went up. - Next steps (cycle 3) (right side): Cycle 3 plan: Review a month of pickup times with the carrier; agree a fixed pickup window; Owner: Logistics coordinator; Due: 31 Oct. Pareto of pack and label errors by type; 5 Whys on the top one; Owner: Shipping lead; Due: 31 Oct. Minimum levels for the next 100 SKUs by picks; Owner: Inventory analyst; Due: 15 Nov. Report at the November operations review; Owner: Warehouse manager; Due: Nov review. Coach's note: Each remaining issue has an action, one owner and a date, and two of the three actions are analysis first, not a fix picked in advance. Weak version: "Continue to monitor." A status A3 with no next step tells the reader the owner has run out of ideas. - Forecast (right side): If carrier misses halve (14 to 7), pack and label errors fall from 11 to 6 and shortages fall by 5, September's 61 late orders would have been 44 (61 − 7 − 5 − 5). That is 98.04% on time: at the target, with no margin. All three actions have to work. Coach's note: The forecast is arithmetic anyone can redo, and it admits the plan only just reaches the target. That is the honest basis for the request that follows. Weak version: "We expect to reach target by year end" with no numbers. The reader cannot tell whether the plan is enough. - Help needed (right side): Support from the operations director in the carrier review: the pickup window is in the carrier contract, which the warehouse does not own. Coach's note: One specific ask, to a named role, with the reason. This is what a status review is for. Weak version: No ask, or a vague one ("more resources"). If the owner needs nothing, the meeting could have been an email. ### Common weak spots in A3 reports - Solution jumping. Looks like: Theme: "Install a new lubricant dispenser on line 3." The rest of the sheet is written backwards to justify it. Why it hurts: The analysis can only confirm the answer already chosen, so the real cause (here, a change process with no standard work step) is never found and the problem comes back on the next line. Fix: Name the problem in the theme and keep countermeasures off the left side. Sobek and Jimmerson's rule: the theme should not advocate a particular solution. - Root cause is a person. Looks like: "Root cause: operator did not apply enough lubricant. Countermeasure: retrain operators." Why it hurts: If every assembler on both shifts shows the same pattern, the cause is the method. Retraining people to work around a bad method lasts until the next new starter. Fix: Split the data by person and shift before naming a cause, and keep asking why until you reach something in the system: a standard, a tool, a check, a change process. - Goal not measurable. Looks like: "Goal: improve changeover performance on line 2." Why it hurts: Nobody can say when the A3 is finished or whether it worked, so it never closes and nothing is learned from it. Fix: One measure, a number, a date and the data source. Add a second measure if the first does not by itself produce the benefit (changeover minutes and overtime hours). - No check of results. Looks like: Follow-up box: "All actions complete." Ticks in the status column. Why it hurts: Finishing actions is not solving the problem. Without a measured result against the goal, a countermeasure that did nothing looks the same as one that worked. Fix: Write a prediction before the results come in, measure for long enough to see the pattern, and put the actual next to the prediction. A missed goal stays on the sheet with a next step. - Current condition with no numbers. Looks like: "Leak failures are high and have got worse since the spring." Why it hurts: Without a baseline there is no goal to set and nothing to compare the result with. Opinions about the problem replace facts about it. Fix: Count it, over a stated period, and split it at least one way (by type, by time, by place). Then go and watch the work where the problem happens. - Savings that are never banked. Looks like: "45 minutes saved × 6 a week × 48 weeks = 216 hours a year × full labour rate." Why it hurts: Freed hours are only worth money if a cost actually stops (overtime, a shift, a temporary worker) or the extra capacity is sold. Finance will see the gap. Fix: Value saved time at what really changes, cap it at what is spent today, and put the step that banks the saving (cutting Saturday hours) in the plan. - A status A3 that is a diary. Looks like: A list of meetings held and actions taken, with this month's number and no trend. Why it hurts: The reader cannot tell what worked, what did not and whether the plan is enough to reach the target. Fix: Show the trend with the target and the dates of each change, one PDCA row per cycle with a measured check, and a forecast of what the next cycle has to remove. ## Gemba walk examples: what to look for and what to ask A gemba walk is a short, planned visit to where the work is done: you watch the process, ask the people doing it what gets in the way, and follow up on what you find. Most leaders are told to go and then do not know what to look at once they are there. Below are twelve worked walks, sorted by area and by purpose. Each one has a 20 to 30 minute route, the specific things to look for and what each points to, the questions to ask, what not to do, a filled-in observation log and where the actions go afterwards. The walks are illustrative: written from the method and from conditions common on shop floors, not from one company. Plants, roles, times and counts are examples. The safety and calibration references are real and linked, so check the paragraph before you quote it to anyone. Go see: Go to the place while normal work is running, and watch before you speak. Stand at one spot long enough to see several cycles. Taiichi Ohno is said to have drawn a chalk circle on the floor and left a new engineer standing in it until they had seen the problem. The story is retold by Jeffrey Liker and many others and may be partly legend; the habit it teaches is the useful part. Ask why: Ask about the process, with open questions, and ask the people doing the work. John Shook's advice is to start with what is happening and hold the why until you understand it: a why asked too early sounds like blame. Start with show me, walk me through, what happens when. Show respect: Respect means taking people's knowledge seriously and doing something with it: no blame, no notes about individuals, no promises you cannot keep, and an answer on everything raised. Shook links respect to not overburdening people and to deciding as close to the work as possible. Go see, ask why, show respect: Toyota chairman Fujio Cho's request of managers, as recalled by John Shook, who first heard it in the early 1990s (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2011, updated 2023). Going to see for yourself, genchi genbutsu, is principle 12 in Jeffrey Liker's The Toyota Way (2004). ### Receiving dock: a safety walk at the morning truck peak (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#receiving-safety) Area: Receiving. Purpose: Safety. Walker: Plant manager with the EHS lead. When: A weekday at 07:30, while the first trailers unload. Why this walk: Last week's near-miss report: a forklift reversing out of a trailer passed close to a receiving clerk on foot. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Door 3, standing beside the dock, out of the forklift path (8 min); 2. Staging lanes behind the doors (6 min); 3. Receiving desk and paperwork drop (5 min); 4. Forklift parking and charging area (6 min). - Look for: A trailer entered by a forklift with no wheel chock, or a chock on one side only, and the vehicle restraint not engaged. Why: A trailer that creeps forward, or a driver who pulls away early, can drop a forklift off the dock edge. OSHA requires the trailer's brakes set and wheel chocks under the rear wheels while a powered truck boards it. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.178(k)(1)) - Look for: People on foot crossing the forklift path between the doors and the staging lanes, or a marked walkway blocked by pallets so people walk around it. Why: This is where struck-by injuries happen. The painted route only protects people if it is clear; OSHA wants permanent aisles marked and kept clear of obstructions. Points to: Safety risk, Motion. (29 CFR 1910.176(a)) - Look for: Pallets stacked two or three high with crushed or leaning bottom layers, or torn stretch wrap. Why: A leaning stack can collapse onto a clerk, and crushed cartons are damage you then have to claim or scrap. Stored material has to be stacked so it is stable. Points to: Safety risk, Defects. (29 CFR 1910.176(b)) - Look for: Forklift pre-use check sheets left blank, or ticked for the whole week on Monday morning. Why: A check filled in ahead of time tells you the check is a form, not a habit, and usually that the trucks are needed before there is time for it. Trucks have to be examined before use, at least daily. Points to: Safety risk, Equipment loss. (29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7)) - Look for: The sight lines at the near-miss spot: no dock light into the trailer, mirrors missing, the clerk's desk in the turning path. Why: A dark trailer nose and a desk in the swing area make the same near miss likely again. It is a condition to change, not a person to retrain. Points to: Safety risk. - Ask: "Walk me through what you do from the moment a trailer backs onto this door until the first pallet comes off." It finds: Whether chocking or the restraint is part of the sequence, or something people remember when they have time. - Ask: "Where do you walk when a forklift is coming out of a trailer?" It finds: The real walking route, which may not be the painted one. - Ask: "What gets in the way of doing the pre-use check at the start of the shift?" It finds: Usually time (a trailer is already waiting) or no place to do it. Both can be fixed. - Ask: "What happened the last time something nearly went wrong here, and what changed after it?" It finds: Whether near misses get an answer, which decides whether people report the next one. - Avoid: Do not stand in the forklift path to get a better view, and do not ask a driver a question while the truck is moving. Wait until it is parked with the forks down. - Avoid: Do not ask who was driving in last week's near miss. You are there for the route, the light and the sequence. - Avoid: If a forklift is about to enter an unchocked trailer, stop that move politely there and then. Stopping a hazard is not fixing on the spot; it is the one thing you never walk past. - Log, Door 3: Trailer chocked on the driver's side only, restraint not used. Same on both trailers watched. Said: Clerk: the restraint at door 3 has been faulty for about two weeks, so people use the chock. Next: Chock both rear wheels until the restraint is repaired; work order for the restraint. Owner: Receiving team leader. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Staging lanes, doors 2 to 4: Painted walkway blocked by 6 pallets waiting for putaway; clerks cut through lane 3 instead. Said: Putaway falls behind on Mondays when three trailers arrive before 08:00. Next: Mark an overflow area off the walkway; look at Monday arrival times with purchasing. Owner: Receiving supervisor. Due: Friday. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Door 3, trailer interior: No dock light at door 3; the trailer nose is dark when reversing out. Said: Driver: you go slowly and guess. Next: Dock light for door 3, and check every other door. Owner: Maintenance planner. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Forklift parking: Check sheet for truck 2 ticked Monday to Friday at 07:40 on Monday. Said: Operator: the trucks are needed straight away when the first trailer is on the door. Next: Team to trial a 5-minute check slot before the first trailer for two weeks. Owner: Receiving team leader. Due: Next Monday. Goes to: Tier 1 board. After the walk: The chock rule starts during the walk. The check slot goes on the receiving tier 1 board today. The restraint repair, the dock light and the overflow area go to the tier 2 meeting with dates, because receiving cannot fix them alone. The EHS lead tells the clerk who reported the near miss what is being done, within two days. Yokoten: Check every dock door for a working restraint and a dock light this week, and ask the shipping dock whether its forklifts face the same squeeze on pre-use checks at the start of the shift. ### CNC machining cell: a quality walk after a customer complaint (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#machining-quality) Area: Machining and fabrication. Purpose: Quality. Walker: Quality engineer with the cell's team leader. When: Second shift, an hour after start. Why this walk: Two parts with an oversize bore reached a customer last month. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Cell inspection bench (8 min); 2. Machine 2, control and tooling area (6 min); 3. Gauge board (5 min); 4. Red bin and hold area (6 min). - Look for: A bore gauge or micrometer with a calibration label past its due date, or no label at all, still in use. Why: An out-of-calibration gauge can pass a bad part. Measuring equipment should be identified so its calibration status can be seen, and protected from adjustments that would make readings invalid. Read the date on the label against today's date. Points to: Defects. (ISO 9001:2015 clause 7.1.5.2 (as quoted by Auditor Training Online)) - Look for: Operators measuring with their own calipers in place of the gauge named on the control plan. Why: Personal gauges are usually outside the calibration system, and a caliper may not be capable for a tight bore tolerance. A gage R&R study answers that, not the operator's confidence. Points to: Defects. - Look for: Readings written on a scrap of paper or a glove box and copied later, or an hourly sheet with the same reading every hour. Why: Real readings drift a little. A row of identical numbers usually means the reading was not taken, and copying later breaks the link between the part and the result. Points to: Defects, Extra processing. - Look for: No first-piece check after a tool change or offset adjustment, or the machine running on while the operator waits for an inspector. Why: The parts made while waiting for a check are the ones at risk. A long wait for sign-off pushes people to run on. Points to: Defects, Waiting. - Look for: Parts in the red bin without a tag, or tagged parts sitting there for more than a few days. Why: Untagged nonconforming parts get mixed back in. Old parts in hold mean nobody owns the decision to rework or scrap. Points to: Defects, Inventory. - Ask: "Show me how you check this bore, from picking up the part to writing down the reading." It finds: The real method, the real gauge and where the reading goes. - Ask: "What do you do when a reading is close to the limit but still inside it?" It finds: Whether there is a reaction rule (adjust the offset, check the last parts, call someone) or each person decides. - Ask: "Where do you go when the bore gauge is in use at the other machine?" It finds: The reason personal gauges appear. - Ask: "What happens to a part after it goes in the red bin?" It finds: Who decides, how long it takes and whether anyone looks at why it was rejected. - Avoid: Do not pick up a gauge and re-measure parts yourself to prove a point. Ask the operator to show you, and stay with the method. - Avoid: Do not note which operator used a personal caliper. Write that a personal caliper was in use at machine 2 and ask why the right gauge was not at hand. - Avoid: Do not announce a new inspection frequency on the floor. Change the control plan and the work instruction first, then train both shifts. - Log, Gauge board: Bore gauge B-14 labelled due two months ago, still in use at machine 2. The slot for the second bore gauge is empty. Said: Team leader: the second gauge went out for calibration and has not come back. Next: Quarantine B-14 and send it for calibration; check parts measured with it since its due date. Owner: Quality engineer. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Machine 2: Bore measured with a personal digital caliper; the drawing tolerance on the bore is 0.025 mm wide. Said: Operator: the bore gauge is shared with machine 4, and the walk there takes too long while the machine waits. Next: A second calibrated bore gauge kept at machine 2; no caliper on this bore unless a gage R&R accepts it. Owner: Quality engineer. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Inspection bench: Hourly sheet shows 25.012 mm for six hours running. Said: Readings are written up at the end of the shift when it is busy. Next: Team to redesign the check sheet so the reading is written at the machine. Owner: CI lead. Due: Next week. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Red bin: 11 parts, 4 without a tag, oldest tag 9 days. Said: Nobody is sure who decides between rework and scrap. Next: Agree a 48-hour decision rule for held parts and who makes the call. Owner: Quality engineer. Due: Friday. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The quarantine and the check of past parts start before the walkers leave. The check sheet goes on the cell's tier 1 board. The second gauge and the held-parts rule go to the tier 2 quality meeting with owners. The quality engineer goes back to the operator who explained the shared gauge and shows the order. Yokoten: Walk every gauge board in the plant for overdue labels the same week, and list the other cells where two machines share one gauge. ### Welding and fabrication bay: a 5S and visual management walk (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#fabrication-5s) Area: Machining and fabrication. Purpose: 5S and visual. Walker: Production manager. When: Mid-shift on a Thursday. Why this walk: The bay's 5S audit score has dropped three months running, and the team says the audit does not show the real problems. Route, 20 minutes: 1. Welding booths 1 and 2, from behind the screens (8 min); 2. Shadow board and consumables cart (6 min); 3. Gas cylinder store (3 min); 4. Floor and aisles around the booths (3 min). - Look for: Empty outlines on the shadow board, tools hung on the wrong outline, and tools collected in each welder's own box at the booth. Why: Empty outlines usually mean the board is in the wrong place or holds the wrong tools: people keep what they need where they work. The personal boxes show what the board should hold. Points to: Motion. - Look for: A welder leaving the booth to look for clamps, grinding discs or wire, and how long each trip takes. Why: Searching is the waste the set-in-order step of 5S is meant to remove. Time one trip so the follow-up starts with a number, not an opinion. Points to: Motion, Waiting. - Look for: Cylinders with no valve cap while they are not connected, or oxygen stored next to fuel-gas cylinders. Why: A knocked-off valve can turn a cylinder into a projectile, and oxygen beside fuel gas feeds a fire. Caps go on when a cylinder is not in use, and stored oxygen is kept 20 feet from fuel gas or behind a 5-foot noncombustible barrier (1910.253(b)(4)(iii)). Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.253(b)(2)(iv)) - Look for: Welding leads and grinder cords across the walkway, offcuts and spatter on the floor. Why: Trip hazards in a bay where people carry hot or heavy parts. Walking surfaces have to be kept free of protruding objects and spills. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.22(a)(3)) - Look for: Floor markings worn away, or a square marked for 3 frames holding 7. Why: A limit nobody can see or keep is not visual management: the bay cannot tell normal from abnormal at a glance, and frames pile up for the next process. Points to: Inventory, Overproduction. - Ask: "Show me what you need for this weldment and where each thing is kept." It finds: The point-of-use list, in the welder's own order. - Ask: "Which tools do you keep at the booth, and what made you start keeping them there?" It finds: The redesign of the shadow board, from the people who use it. - Ask: "How do you know when to start the next frame?" It finds: Why the work-in-process square overflows: a push from the schedule, or no signal at all. - Ask: "If you could move one thing closer to the booth, what would it be?" It finds: The single change that saves the most trips. - Avoid: Do not take away or red-tag a welder's personal tool box during the walk. It tells you what the shadow board is missing. - Avoid: Do not score the bay on the 5S audit form while you walk. The walk is to find out why the score dropped; the audit is a separate check. - Avoid: Do not look toward an open arc to get closer. Watch from behind the welding screens. - Log, Shadow board: 7 of 22 outlines empty; 5 of those tools found in booth tool boxes. The board is about 15 m from booth 2. Said: Welders: walking to the board for each tool takes too long, so they keep a set in the booth. Next: Team to lay out a point-of-use board for each booth with the tools used every shift. Owner: Bay team leader. Due: 3 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Booth 2: In 8 minutes of watching, the welder left the booth twice: once for clamps (about 90 seconds), once for wire (about 2 minutes). Said: Wire spools are kept in the stores cage, which is locked on second shift. Next: Agree a small wire stock in the bay with stores, with a minimum and maximum on the label. Owner: Stores supervisor. Due: Next week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Cylinder store: 2 oxygen cylinders without valve caps, stored beside acetylene with no barrier. Said: Team leader: the barrier was moved when the bay was laid out again in the spring. Next: Caps on now; restore the separation or the barrier. Owner: EHS lead. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Work-in-process square: Square marked for 3 frames holds 7. Paint collects frames twice a day. Said: We keep welding to stay busy when paint is full. Next: Look at the signal between the bay and paint with both supervisors. Owner: Production manager. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The caps go on with the team leader before the walk ends. The point-of-use boards go on the bay's tier 1 board. The wire stock and the paint signal go to tier 2 because they cross departments. The production manager tells the next shift's welders what was agreed about the wire. Yokoten: If the point-of-use boards cut the trips, copy the layout to the other welding bays, and check every cylinder store in the plant for caps and separation. ### Assembly line: a standard work adherence walk at one station (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#assembly-standard-work) Area: Assembly line. Purpose: Standard work. Walker: Area supervisor with a CI lead. When: First shift, after the first break. Why this walk: Torque faults at the end-of-line test have risen since a model change two weeks ago. Route, 30 minutes: 1. Station 6 (torque) (10 min); 2. Stations 5 and 7 (8 min); 3. Line-side racks for stations 5 to 7 (6 min); 4. Andon board and end-of-line test (6 min). - Look for: A posted standard work sheet that shows the old model, or a revision date before the model change. Why: If the standard is out of date, people follow what they were told on day one and each shift ends up doing it differently. Points to: Defects. - Look for: A sequence different from the sheet, for example bolt 3 torqued before the cover is seated. Why: A different sequence is a clue, not a fault. Either the sheet is wrong for the new model or something at the station makes the written way hard. Points to: Defects. - Look for: Tape, a marker line or a homemade spacer on the fixture. Why: Workarounds show where an operator solved a problem the process did not. They hold knowledge you want in the standard, and they hide the problem from engineering. Points to: Defects, Unused talent. - Look for: Cycle times that vary widely over five cycles, or the operator waiting for station 5 and then rushing. Why: Variation around takt points to imbalance or missing parts, and rushing after a wait is where steps get skipped. Points to: Waiting, Defects. - Look for: Two similar part numbers in neighbouring bins with nothing to tell them apart. Why: Mixed presentation after a model change is a common source of wrong-part errors. Points to: Defects. - Ask: "Walk me through this station the way you would teach a new person." It finds: Teaching makes people say the key points and the reasons, which shows what the sheet leaves out. - Ask: "What is different about this station since the new model started?" It finds: The changes that never made it into the standard. - Ask: "What do you do when the torque gun faults?" It finds: The reaction plan, or the lack of one. - Ask: "I noticed the tape mark on the fixture. Can you show me what it is for?" It finds: The problem the workaround solves, and who solved it. - Avoid: Do not tell the operator to follow the sheet. When the sheet and the work differ, find out which one is right first. - Avoid: Do not time the station without saying why. Say you are timing the station, not the person, ask first, and share what you found. - Avoid: Do not peel off the tape. It is the operator's fix; replace it later with a proper locator, with them. - Log, Station 6: Standard work sheet rev C is dated before the model change; the new model has 6 bolts, the sheet shows 4. Said: Operator: the team leader showed the new sequence on the first day. Next: Update the sheet for the new model with operators from both shifts. Owner: CI lead. Due: Friday. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Station 6: Bolt 3 torqued before the cover is seated on 3 of 5 cycles. Said: The cover does not sit flat unless bolt 3 is snug first. Next: Check the cover fit on the new model. Owner: Manufacturing engineer. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Station 6 fixture: Blue tape line used to locate the bracket. Said: Second shift added it after brackets were going on crooked. Next: Design a fixed locator to replace the tape, with the second-shift operator who added it. Owner: Manufacturing engineer. Due: 4 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Line-side rack, station 6: Old and new brackets in neighbouring grey bins, labels on the back of the bins. Said: Operator: they check the part number printed on the bag. Next: Separate or color-code the two bins until the old model ends. Owner: Materials team leader. Due: Tomorrow. Goes to: Tier 1 board. After the walk: The bins and the sheet update go on the line's tier 1 board. The cover fit and the locator go to tier 2 with engineering. The next walk starts at station 6 and checks five cycles against the new sheet. Yokoten: The tape line is a fix worth copying: check whether the same bracket goes on crooked on the other line building this model, and list every station whose sheet predates the model change. ### Assembly line: a people and coaching walk with a new team leader (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#assembly-people) Area: Assembly line. Purpose: People and coaching. Walker: Area manager coaching a team leader in their first month. When: Late morning, mid-shift. Why this walk: The team's idea board has 14 ideas; the oldest is three months old and only two have an answer. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Two stations the team leader picks (10 min); 2. The team's tier 1 board (7 min); 3. Training matrix by the break area (4 min); 4. Back at the board (4 min). - Look for: Ideas on the board with no answer, no owner or no date. Why: Unanswered ideas teach people that suggesting is pointless, and the number of new ideas falls a few weeks later. Points to: Unused talent. - Look for: Andon calls answered by the team leader fixing the problem alone while the operator stands and watches. Why: The stop is cleared but nobody learns, and the team leader becomes the bottleneck for every problem on the line. Points to: Waiting, Unused talent. - Look for: Most operators trained on one station only, and the team leader covering an absence on the line. Why: A team leader working a station cannot answer andon calls or coach. Check the skills matrix against today's absences. Points to: Unused talent. - Look for: Board numbers last updated yesterday, or written up by the team leader with nobody else reading them. Why: A board nobody uses is wallpaper. Ask who reads it, and when. Points to: Unused talent. - Look for: How the team leader opens a conversation: with a question or with an instruction. Why: This is the coaching target of the walk. The area manager is watching the team leader's habits, not grading the operators. Points to: Unused talent. - Ask: "Which of these ideas could the team try this week without help from anyone else?" It finds: Asked of the team leader: what they believe they are allowed to approve. - Ask: "What do you spend most of your shift doing that you wish you did not have to?" It finds: Asked of the team leader: the work that keeps them off the floor. - Ask: "When you put an idea on the board, what happens to it next?" It finds: Asked of an operator: whether ideas go anywhere, in their own words. - Ask: "Who covers your station when you need to step away, and how did they learn it?" It finds: Asked of an operator: the real cover, and whether training is planned or by chance. - Avoid: Do not correct the team leader in front of the team. Note what you saw and talk about it at the board afterwards, one to one. - Avoid: Do not answer the andon call yourself. The walk is to see how the team leader responds. - Avoid: Do not promise money for an idea on the spot. Say when the team will hear back, and keep the date. - Log, Team board: 14 ideas, 2 answered, oldest 3 months. Said: Team leader: does not know which ideas they can approve without asking. Next: Set what a team leader can approve alone (a cost limit, inside the area) and post it on the board. Owner: Area manager. Due: This week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Station 4, andon call: Team leader arrived in about 1 minute and cleared the jam alone; the operator watched for about 4 minutes. Said: Team leader: it is quicker to do it myself. Next: On the next two calls, the team leader asks the operator to show the problem first. Review at Friday's walk. Owner: Assembly team leader. Due: Friday. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Training matrix: 2 absences today; the team leader is covering station 9; 3 of 12 operators are trained on station 9. Said: Operator: station 9 is learned by watching when someone is off. Next: Plan training for two more operators on station 9 this month. Owner: Assembly team leader. Due: 4 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. After the walk: The approval limit goes to the area manager's tier 2 meeting and comes back to the team board with an answer. Cross-training goes on the tier 1 board. The team leader's new habit with andon calls is not a board item: it goes into their leader standard work for the next two weeks. Yokoten: If a clear approval limit gets ideas moving, give every team leader in the area the same limit and show the age of the oldest open idea on each board. ### Packaging line: a safety walk focused on clearing jams (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#packaging-safety) Area: Packaging. Purpose: Safety. Walker: EHS lead with the packaging supervisor. When: Night shift, first two hours. Why this walk: A first-aid case last week: a cut finger while clearing a carton jam at the case erector. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Case erector, from outside the guarding (10 min); 2. Labeller and checkweigher (6 min); 3. Control panel and lockout station (5 min); 4. Line walkway (4 min). - Look for: Jams cleared by reaching past a guard while the machine is paused, not stopped. Why: A paused machine can restart. Minor servicing during production is outside full lockout only when it is routine, repetitive and integral to production and done with alternative measures that give effective protection. Reaching into a paused machine is not that. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.147(a)(2)(ii)) - Look for: A guard door propped open or an interlock taped or bypassed with a spare key. Why: A bypassed interlock is a workaround: the jam rate made the guard feel too slow. Machine guarding is required, so the walk has to end with the guard working. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.212(a)(1)) - Look for: How many jams happen in ten minutes, and whether anyone records them. Why: Frequent minor stops push people toward shortcuts, and they are lost output that rarely shows up in a shift report. Points to: Safety risk, Equipment loss. - Look for: Cardboard scraps and spilled glue at the infeed, and dim light where operators look into the machine. Why: Slips and poor visibility add risk to every jam clear. Walking surfaces have to be kept free of spills. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.22(a)(3)) - Look for: No posted jam-clearing method, or a posted one that does not match how the jam is really cleared. Why: If the method is not used, find out why before anyone is retrained. Usually it is slow, or it does not fit the machine as it is now. Points to: Safety risk. - Ask: "After you clear the next jam, can you walk me through each step you took?" It finds: The real sequence, asked after the hands are out of the machine. - Ask: "How many times a shift does this jam, and what seems to cause it?" It finds: The operators' own data on causes: cartons, glue, speed, settings. - Ask: "What would make stopping the machine properly as quick as pausing it?" It finds: The fix is usually in the machine or the cartons, not in another reminder. - Ask: "What changed after last week's cut finger, and has it helped?" It finds: Whether the first-aid case got an answer the team can see. - Avoid: Do not talk to someone while their hands are near the machine. Ask after the jam is cleared. - Avoid: Do not ask who was cut or treat it as one person's mistake. You are there for the jam, the guard and the method. - Avoid: If a guard is bypassed, make the machine safe with the supervisor before you leave the line. Then find out why it was bypassed. - Log, Case erector: 9 jams in 10 minutes; 7 cleared through the side guard door with the machine paused, not stopped. Said: Operator: a full stop and restart takes about 3 minutes and the line backs up. Next: Measure the restart time and look at a safe stop for jam clearing that is quick enough to be used. Owner: Maintenance engineer. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Side guard door: Interlock on the side door taped over. Said: Supervisor was not aware of it. Next: Tape removed and the interlock tested with the supervisor before restart. Owner: Packaging supervisor. Due: During the walk. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Carton magazine: Jams cluster on cartons from one lot, which look bowed. Said: Operators: worse with cartons stored near the dock door. Next: Check carton flatness by lot and where cartons are stored. Owner: Quality engineer. Due: 1 week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Infeed: Light at the infeed is dim; operators use phone torches to look in. Said: It has been like that since the lights above were moved. Next: Task lighting at the infeed. Owner: Maintenance planner. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The interlock is fixed before the walkers leave and logged on the tier 1 board as done. Carton flatness, restart time and lighting go to tier 2 with dates. The EHS lead reports back at the next night-shift start meeting, because the night shift is who asked for a faster restart. Yokoten: Check every interlocked guard on the packaging lines for bypasses this week, and count jams at the other case erectors to see whether the same carton lot is behind them. ### Packaging line: a standard work walk during a product changeover (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#packaging-standard-work) Area: Packaging. Purpose: Standard work. Walker: Production supervisor with the quality lead. When: During a scheduled changeover between two products. Why this walk: A customer found labels from the previous product in a case of the new one. Route, 30 minutes: 1. Filler and labeller, during line clearance (10 min); 2. Label store and issue point (6 min); 3. First-off check at the end of the line (8 min); 4. Changeover board (6 min). - Look for: Labels, cartons or product from the last run still in drawers, under conveyors or on the floor after clearance is signed. Why: Leftovers from the previous run are how mixed labels reach a customer. Points to: Defects. - Look for: The clearance checklist signed before the steps were done, or signed by one person for every area. Why: A signature without a look is a form, not a check, and it tells the next shift the line is clear when it is not. Points to: Defects. - Look for: Labels issued as full rolls with no count, and part rolls put back on the shelf without being reconciled. Why: Counting labels out and back in is the evidence that none are missing on the line. Points to: Defects. - Look for: A first-off check made from memory, with no master sample or approved label proof at the line. Why: A check with nothing to compare against catches only obvious errors. Points to: Defects. - Look for: The line waiting at the end of the changeover for a quality sign-off. Why: A long wait pushes people to start before the sign-off. Ask how long they normally wait. Points to: Waiting. - Ask: "Walk me through how you clear the labeller, the way you do it on any changeover." It finds: The real clearance, including the spots the checklist does not name. - Ask: "Where do part rolls of labels go at the end of a run?" It finds: Whether labels are reconciled or just returned. - Ask: "What do you compare the first case against?" It finds: Whether there is a reference at the line. - Ask: "What happens when quality is not here to sign off?" It finds: The real rule on nights and weekends. - Avoid: Do not make the team restart the clearance because you are watching. Watch the normal one. - Avoid: Do not ask who signed the checklist on the day of the complaint. - Avoid: Do not turn the walk into a changeover time study. Note the time, and come back with a SMED focus if the time is the problem. - Log, Labeller: After clearance was signed, one part roll of old labels was still in the labeller's side drawer. Said: Operator: the drawer is not on the checklist. Next: Remove the roll now; add the drawer and the spaces under the conveyors to the checklist, with a photo of each spot. Owner: Packaging team leader. Due: Next changeover. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Label store: Labels issued by the roll, not counted; no return log. Said: Stores: rolls come back sometimes and go straight back on the shelf. Next: Count labels out and back in, with a return log at the label store. Owner: Quality lead. Due: 1 week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, End of line: First-off check done by eye; no label proof at the line. Said: Operator: they know what the label should look like. Next: Post the approved label proof for each product at the first-off point. Owner: Quality lead. Due: 1 week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Changeover board: Planned 40 minutes, actual 65; 18 minutes of it waiting for the quality sign-off. Said: One quality technician covers two lines on this shift. Next: Decide who can approve a first-off on this shift and what they check. Owner: Quality lead. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The roll comes out of the drawer during the walk. The new checklist goes on the line's tier 1 board for the next changeover. Label reconciliation, the label proofs and the sign-off rule go to the tier 2 quality meeting. The supervisor tells the operator who pointed out the drawer that it is now on the checklist. Yokoten: Check the clearance checklists on the other packaging lines for drawers and hidden spots, and copy the photo checklist if it works here. ### Warehouse and shipping: a flow and waste walk that follows one order (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#warehouse-flow) Area: Warehouse and shipping. Purpose: Flow and waste. Walker: Logistics manager with a CI lead. When: Early afternoon, during the main picking wave. Why this walk: Same-day orders miss the 16:00 carrier cut-off two or three times a week. Route, 30 minutes: 1. Order release and pick ticket printer (5 min); 2. The pick path, following one picker at a distance (12 min); 3. Packing bench (7 min); 4. Shipping staging lanes (6 min). - Look for: A picker walking past the next pick and doubling back, or crossing the building for a single line. Why: Travel is transport and motion, and the order of the pick ticket and where stock is slotted decide most of it. Points to: Transport, Motion. - Look for: A picker reading location labels along a rack, or asking a colleague where a product is. Why: Searching points to faded or missing location labels, or stock in overflow locations the system does not know about. Points to: Motion. - Look for: Pick tickets waiting in the printer tray or on a desk. Why: An order sitting before anyone starts it is invisible on a pick-rate report but counts against the cut-off. Points to: Waiting. - Look for: A packer walking to fetch boxes or tape, or repacking an order because the first box was the wrong size. Why: Fetching is motion repeated on every order, and repacking is rework. Both point to what the bench holds and how the box size is chosen. Points to: Motion, Defects. - Look for: Staging lanes full, carriers mixed in one lane, pallets staged hours before their truck. Why: Staging too early is overproduction in shipping: it blocks lanes, hides the urgent orders and leads to reloading. Points to: Overproduction, Inventory. - Ask: "When a new order prints, how do you decide which one to pick next?" It finds: Whether there is any priority for same-day orders. - Ask: "Show me how you find a location you have not picked from before." It finds: How good the labels and the system locations are, from the user's side. - Ask: "What makes an order late on a normal day?" It finds: The usual causes in the team's words, often different from the report. - Ask: "Which part of the job takes longer than it should?" It finds: The step people would change first. - Avoid: Do not walk at the picker's elbow and slow them down. Follow at a distance and ask your questions after the order is packed. - Avoid: Do not compare pickers' rates on the walk. You are following the order, not the person. - Avoid: Do not move stock to a better location on the spot. Note it: a slotting change needs the system updated too. - Log, Pick ticket printer: Order printed at 13:42 and picked up at 14:05: 23 minutes in the tray. Said: Picker: tickets are collected when a picker finishes the current wave. Next: Trial releasing same-day orders as single-order picks after 13:00. Owner: Warehouse supervisor. Due: Next week. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Pick path: 7-line order: the picker crossed from aisle 1 to aisle 14 three times; 2 items were in overflow locations not on the ticket. Said: Overflow locations are known from memory. Next: Put overflow locations in the system and sort the ticket by aisle. Owner: Inventory control lead. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Packing bench: Packer walked to the box store twice for one box size during one order. Said: Size 4 boxes are not kept at the bench. Next: A two-bin kanban for the three most used box sizes at the bench. Owner: Shipping team leader. Due: 1 week. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Staging lane 2: Lane full; 3 pallets for the 18:00 carrier staged since 11:00. Said: We stage as soon as an order is packed. Next: Mark lanes by carrier and stage by departure time. Owner: Shipping team leader. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. After the walk: The release trial, the box kanban and the lane marking go on the warehouse tier 1 board. Overflow locations go to tier 2 because they need the system changed. At the next walk, follow another same-day order and compare its tray time with the 23 minutes. Yokoten: If single-order release and aisle-sorted tickets work, apply them in the second warehouse building, and check for unlisted overflow locations everywhere. ### Maintenance shop: a 5S and visual management walk (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#maintenance-5s) Area: Maintenance shop. Purpose: 5S and visual. Walker: Maintenance manager with the maintenance planner. When: Start of the day shift, while jobs are handed out. Why this walk: Technicians say they spend much of each job looking for parts and tools. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Job board and work order rack (6 min); 2. Parts cage and bench stock (7 min); 3. Tool crib and shared tools (6 min); 4. Lockout station and chemical cabinet (6 min). - Look for: Work orders on the ready board that are still waiting for a part or a permit. Why: A job that is not ready goes out anyway, and the technician waits or searches. Ready should mean everything is there. Points to: Waiting, Motion. - Look for: Bins with no label, and parts from old jobs on shelves with no work order number. Why: Nobody knows whether they are spare or reserved, so new parts get ordered while old ones age on the shelf. Points to: Inventory. - Look for: Torque wrenches with no calibration label or an overdue one. Why: A wrong torque reading is a defect you cannot see afterwards. Calibration status should be visible on the tool. Points to: Defects. (ISO 9001:2015 clause 7.1.5.2 (as quoted by Auditor Training Online)) - Look for: Lockout station short of locks or tags, or a lock on a machine with nothing to say whose it is. Why: If locks are hard to get, people are tempted to skip them, and an unidentified lock cannot be safely removed. Lockout and tagout devices must show who applied them. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.147(c)(5)(ii)(D)) - Look for: Spray bottles or decanted chemicals with no label. Why: Nobody can tell what is in an unlabelled bottle. Workplace containers of hazardous chemicals must be labelled, tagged or marked. Points to: Safety risk. (29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(6)) - Ask: "Show me what you need for your first job today and where you get each thing." It finds: The real kitting route and every stop on it. - Ask: "How do you know a job is ready before you start it?" It finds: What ready means to the people doing the job. - Ask: "What do you do when the part you need is not in the cage?" It finds: The workaround: robbing other machines, buying locally, or waiting. - Ask: "Which tool do you look for most often?" It finds: The first candidate for a fixed home. - Avoid: Do not throw out unlabelled parts during the walk. Red-tag them with the team so the decision is shared. - Avoid: Do not touch a locked-out machine or remove a lock to see inside. Lock removal follows the site's procedure. - Avoid: Do not note which technician keeps the most tools in their own box. - Log, Job board: 5 of 12 jobs on the ready board are waiting for parts. Said: Planner: jobs are marked ready when the part is ordered, not when it arrives. Next: Ready means parts received and kitted; change the board column. Owner: Maintenance planner. Due: Monday. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Parts cage: 23 unlabelled bins; 6 kits with no work order number. Said: Technician: kits are left over from jobs that were cancelled. Next: Red-tag session in the cage with two technicians. Owner: Maintenance supervisor. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Tool crib: 2 of 4 torque wrenches with overdue calibration labels. Said: They go out because the other two are already out. Next: Quarantine both and send them for calibration. Owner: Maintenance planner. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Lockout station: 4 of 10 lock hooks empty; 2 locks on the air compressor with no tag. Said: Technician: they may be from last night's job. Next: Supervisor follows the site's lock removal procedure for the two locks; refill the station. Owner: Maintenance supervisor. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. After the walk: The wrench quarantine and the two unknown locks are dealt with before the walk ends. The ready rule and the red-tag session go on the maintenance tier 1 board. The manager reports back at the next morning meeting, since the trigger was the technicians' own complaint. Yokoten: Apply the same meaning of ready to the shutdown job list, and check every lockout station in the plant for empty hooks and unidentified locks. ### Quality lab: a quality walk on samples and test results (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#lab-quality) Area: Quality lab. Purpose: Quality. Walker: Plant quality manager. When: Mid-morning, when the first production samples arrive. Why this walk: Production says batches wait too long for release, and two results were retested last month after a disagreement. Route, 20 minutes: 1. Sample drop-off point (5 min); 2. Test bench, one test from start to finish (8 min); 3. Instrument area (4 min); 4. Results release (3 min). - Look for: Samples with handwritten labels that miss the batch, the line or the time taken. Why: A sample nobody can trace is retested, or its batch is held. Both cost time and both look like a lab problem when the cause is upstream. Points to: Defects, Waiting. - Look for: A queue tested in arrival order, whatever batch is waiting for the result. Why: First in, first out is fair but not always right: the sample holding a line should go first. Points to: Waiting. - Look for: An analyst working from a printed method that is not the current revision, or from memory. Why: Two analysts using two versions of a method is a common reason results disagree. Points to: Defects. - Look for: Today's daily check on the balance or pH meter not recorded, or recorded as failed with no action noted. Why: A check that does not stop the test when it fails is not a check. The status of measuring equipment should be visible and acted on. Points to: Defects. (ISO 9001:2015 clause 7.1.5.2 (as quoted by Auditor Training Online)) - Look for: A result typed from the instrument printout into a spreadsheet, then into an email. Why: Every re-entry is extra work and a chance for a transcription error. Points to: Extra processing, Defects. - Ask: "Walk me through what happens to a sample from the moment it is dropped off." It finds: The real queue and every hand-off. - Ask: "How do you decide which sample to test next?" It finds: Whether the lab knows which batches are holding a line. - Ask: "What do you do when the daily check on an instrument fails?" It finds: The reaction rule, or its absence. - Ask: "How does the line find out that a batch has passed?" It finds: The time between the result and the line acting on it. - Avoid: Do not question an analyst's result on the walk. When two results disagree, that is a method and measurement question, not a person. - Avoid: Do not handle samples or touch instruments. - Avoid: Do not tell production on the way out that the lab is the bottleneck. Share the log first. - Log, Sample drop-off: 6 samples queued at 10:15; 2 labels without the line number. Said: Lab technician: they phone the lines to find out which line it was. Next: Pre-printed sample labels with batch, line and time fields for every line. Owner: Lab supervisor. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Queue: The sample for the batch holding line 2 was fifth in the queue. Said: Samples are tested in the order they arrive. Next: A marked slot for samples whose batch is holding a line, tested first. Owner: Lab supervisor. Due: Next week. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Test bench: Method on the bench is revision 4; the controlled copy is revision 5. Said: Analyst: revision 5 changed the sample weight. Next: Remove old copies from every bench now; check which results used revision 4. Owner: Quality lead. Due: Today. Goes to: Done on the walk. - Log, Results release: Result typed three times (printout, spreadsheet, email) before the line hears. Said: The email is how the line supervisor knows to release. Next: Agree one place the line reads results from. Owner: Quality lead. Due: 4 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: Old method copies come off the benches during the walk. The priority slot goes on the lab's tier 1 board. Labels and the single results record go to tier 2 because they involve production. The quality manager shares the log with the production supervisors before anyone draws conclusions about the lab. Yokoten: Check every bench and line station that holds printed methods or work instructions for old revisions, and copy the priority slot to the micro lab if it has the same queue. ### Order entry office: a flow and waste walk that follows one customer order (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#office-flow) Area: Office and admin. Purpose: Flow and waste. Walker: Operations director with the customer service lead. When: Morning, while overnight orders are processed. Why this walk: Orders take about two days from receipt to release to the plant, although entering one takes a few minutes. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Shared order inbox, sitting with the person who opens it (8 min); 2. Credit check and approvals (6 min); 3. Engineering and specification check (6 min); 4. Release to planning (5 min). - Look for: Orders in the shared inbox flagged as waiting, with no reason recorded. Why: Office queues sit in inboxes rather than on the floor, so nobody sees them pile up. Points to: Waiting, Inventory. - Look for: Order details typed from a PDF into the ERP, then again into a spreadsheet tracker. Why: Double entry is extra processing, and each copy is a chance to get a quantity or date wrong. Points to: Extra processing, Defects. - Look for: Orders arriving without a ship-to address, part revision or delivery date, and chased by email. Why: An incomplete order is the office's defect: it bounces back and forth and waits between each email. Points to: Defects, Waiting. - Look for: An approval step where the approver is away and nobody else can approve. Why: One person as the only route through a step makes the whole flow wait on their calendar. Points to: Waiting. - Look for: People walking to the printer to print orders for a paper sign-off. Why: Printing for a signature that could be recorded in the system is motion and extra handling. Points to: Motion, Extra processing. - Ask: "Can you show me this order from the moment it arrived?" It finds: Every step and every wait, on a real order. - Ask: "What do you do when an order comes in with missing information?" It finds: The chase loop and how long it usually takes. - Ask: "Which orders wait longest, and what are they waiting for?" It finds: The queue the team already knows about. - Ask: "If you could remove one step from this process, which would it be?" It finds: Usually a check that duplicates another one. - Avoid: Do not read people's emails over their shoulder. Ask them to show you the order. - Avoid: Do not count how many orders each person entered. - Avoid: Do not promise a new system on the walk. Most of what you will see is queues and rules, not software. - Log, Shared inbox: Order received at 16:50 yesterday, opened at 08:40 today; 31 orders flagged waiting, none with a reason. Said: Customer service lead: waiting usually means missing information or credit. Next: Add a waiting reason to every flagged order and count them by reason for two weeks. Owner: Customer service lead. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Order entry desk: Each order entered in the ERP and again in the order tracker spreadsheet. Said: The spreadsheet is how sales checks order status. Next: Find out what sales needs from the tracker and whether the ERP can show it. Owner: Operations director. Due: 4 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Credit approvals: 9 orders waiting for credit approval; the approver is out until Thursday. Said: Nobody else has the approval rights. Next: Name a backup approver with a limit. Owner: Operations director. Due: This week. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The waiting reasons go on the customer service team's tier 1 board, with a count each morning. The tracker question and the backup approver go to the operations director's weekly tier 2 meeting. The director tells the team at their next huddle what was decided about the approver. Yokoten: Walk purchasing and invoicing with the same route, following one document from arrival to the next department. ### Production planning office: a people walk after a schedule change (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/gemba-walk#office-people) Area: Office and admin. Purpose: People and coaching. Walker: Plant manager. When: Mid-morning on a normal day, not at month end. Why this walk: Planning moved to a daily schedule a month ago, and the planners are staying late to rebuild it. Route, 25 minutes: 1. Planners' desks, watching the morning schedule update (10 min); 2. The planning team's board (5 min); 3. Line supervisors' desk area (6 min); 4. Back with the planning lead (4 min). - Look for: The schedule rebuilt by hand each morning from exports and copied cells. Why: Skilled planners doing clerical work is the unused talent waste, and every manual step is a chance for an error. Points to: Unused talent, Extra processing. - Look for: Phone calls and walk-ups from supervisors asking for changes while the schedule is being built. Why: Count them. Interruptions show that there is no agreed time after which today's schedule is fixed. Points to: Waiting, Unused talent. - Look for: A scheduling spreadsheet or macro that only one planner knows how to run. Why: Knowledge held by one person stops the process when they are away, and the stress lands on them. Points to: Unused talent. - Look for: Ideas or problems on the planners' board that wait on other departments. Why: Planning sits between sales and production, so many of its problems can only be solved at a higher tier. Points to: Unused talent, Waiting. - Ask: "What takes up most of your morning?" It finds: Where the time goes, in the planners' words. - Ask: "What would you change about how the schedule gets to the floor?" It finds: The planners' own fix, which is often a freeze time or a single change channel. - Ask: "Who else can do your part of this when you are away?" It finds: The single points of knowledge. - Ask: "What do you hear from the floor most often?" It finds: The repeat requests worth solving once. - Avoid: Do not sit at a planner's screen and check their spreadsheet formulas. - Avoid: Do not discuss anyone's overtime hours on the walk. - Avoid: Do not add a request of your own while you are there. You would become one of the interruptions. - Log, Planners' desks: 11 calls or walk-ups from supervisors in the 25 minutes, 8 of them asking to swap tomorrow's orders. Said: Planner: changes keep coming until the end of the day, so the schedule is rebuilt twice. Next: Trial a 14:00 freeze on tomorrow's schedule, with one route for urgent changes. Owner: Planning manager. Due: 2 weeks. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. - Log, Planners' desks: The daily rebuild runs on a macro only one planner can maintain. Said: Planner: they would like a second person to learn it. Next: Pair a second planner on the macro and write down how it works. Owner: Planning manager. Due: 4 weeks. Goes to: Tier 1 board. - Log, Planning board: 4 open items wait on sales for confirmed dates; the oldest is 3 weeks old. Said: Planning lead: they raise them, but they do not reach sales. Next: Take the four items to the weekly sales and operations meeting. Owner: Plant manager. Due: Next meeting. Goes to: Tier 2 meeting. After the walk: The pairing goes on the planning team's own board. The freeze time and the sales items go to the plant manager's tier 2 meeting, because both need the production and sales managers. The plant manager tells the planners what was agreed within the week. Yokoten: If the freeze time works, use the same rule for the maintenance schedule, and look for other one-person spreadsheets across the offices. ### How to write the observation log - Instead of "Welding bay is untidy." write "Welding bay: 7 of 22 shadow-board outlines empty; 5 of those tools are in booth tool boxes." (Count what you see and say where.) - Instead of "Operator not following the SOP at station 6." write "Station 6: sequence differs from the posted sheet (rev C) on 3 of 5 cycles. Operator: the cover will not seat unless bolt 3 is snug first." (Describe the difference and the reason given, not the person.) - Instead of "The new packer is slow." write "Packing bench: two trips to the box store for size 4 boxes during one order; size 4 is not kept at the bench." (Write the condition that slows the work. Never write about one person's speed.) - Instead of "Forklift safety is poor at receiving." write "Door 3: trailer chocked on one side only, restraint not used, on both trailers watched. Restraint reported faulty for about two weeks." (Name the hazard, how often you saw it and what people told you about it.) - Instead of "Lab is a bottleneck." write "Lab: 6 samples queued at 10:15, tested in arrival order; the sample for the batch holding line 2 was fifth." (Put a time and a count on a queue.) - Instead of "Team needs more training." write "Station 9: 3 of 12 operators trained; the team leader covered it today for two absences." (Turn a general need into the specific gap.) ### What not to do on a gemba walk - Asking who: Who did this teaches people to hide problems before your next walk. Ask what happened and what made it likely. - Fixing someone's work for them: Make hazards safe at once. Anything else, ask first and change it with the people who do it, or the fix will not last. - Taking notes about people: No names, no individual speeds or rates in the log. The log describes the process, and people can see what you write. - Scoring the area while you walk: A score turns the walk into an audit, and people manage the score instead of showing you the problems. Audits have their place; run them separately. - Walking only after something went wrong: If you only appear after a complaint or an injury, your arrival means trouble. Walk on normal days too, on a regular slot. - Promising and not reporting back: One unanswered concern costs more than ten walks earn. Every item raised gets an answer before your next walk in that area. - Bringing a crowd: Two or three walkers can watch and listen. Six people in a work cell is a visit, and work stops for it. Should you fix things on the spot? Two kinds of fix, two answers. Masaaki Imai's five golden rules of gemba management (Gemba Kaizen) are: go to the gemba first, check the gembutsu (the actual object), take temporary measures on the spot, find the root cause, and standardize to prevent recurrence. So make a hazard safe and contain a suspect part or gauge at once, with the people there; every walk above has at least one of those. What you do not do is redesign someone's work on the floor without them. The root cause and the new standard come later, with the team. Yokoten is the Japanese term for deploying an idea horizontally across the company. The Lean Enterprise Institute's example: when a defective valve is found on one machine, you check every similar valve in the plant. On a gemba walk it is the last question in each follow-up: where else does this same condition exist? Every walk above ends with that line. ## PDCA examples: six worked cycles from the shop floor A PDCA cycle is one test of one change: plan it with a baseline, a target and a prediction, do it on a small scale, check the data against all three, then act by standardizing the change, adjusting it and running again, or abandoning it. Below are six complete cycles from the shop floor, one for each common kind of problem. Three met their target and their prediction. One met its target but missed its prediction, and two missed the target, which is what check is for. These six cycles are illustrative: written from the method with realistic numbers, not taken from a real company. Every number adds up and can be recalculated from the figures given. ### Cycle 1, Scrap: Short-length scrap on a tube saw (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#scrap-tube-saw) Where: Cut-to-length saw 2, tube cell, day shift. - Plan: Saw 2 scrapped 912 of 24,000 tubes cut in four weeks, 3.8%. The scrap tags put 641 of them (70%) down to tubes cut short, outside the plus or minus 1 mm tolerance. Baseline: 3.8% scrap over four weeks (912 of 24,000), with every week between 3.7% and 4.0%. Target: 1.5% scrap or less on saw 2. Cause: The length stop is a sliding block held by a hand-tightened screw. Measuring 40 tubes in a row at the saw showed the length creeping shorter through a batch, and the screw had moved. Hypothesis: the stop creeps when tubes are pushed hard against it. Countermeasure: A pinned stop: a drilled hole for each of the six lengths run on the saw and a locating pin, so the stop cannot creep, plus a go/no-go gauge for the first piece after every length change. Prediction: If the stop explains the short tubes, scrap falls to what the other reasons cause today: 271 of 24,000, about 1.1%. Measure: Scrap tags by reason, counted every day by the team leader, and pieces cut from the saw counter. - Do: Saw 2 only, day shift, all six lengths. Maintenance drilled the stop rail and fitted the pin in three hours on a Friday. The team leader showed each operator the pin and the gauge at the start of their first trial shift. Duration: Two weeks, 12,000 tubes cut. On the second Tuesday a rush order was cut after a length change with the pin left out; the operator could not find it. - Check: 137 scrapped of 12,000: 1.1%. Against the baseline: Down from 3.8%. Short tubes fell from about 160 a week to 4.5 a week (9 in two weeks). Against the prediction: The prediction was about 1.1%; the result is 1.1%. The other reasons stayed where they were, as expected. Against the target: Met: 1.1% against a target of 1.5%. Learned: All 9 short tubes came from the rush order cut without the pin. The pin needs a fixed home on a tether. Burrs are now the biggest reason: 78 of 137 (57%). - Act (Standardize): Pinned stops fitted to saws 1 and 3, the pin tethered to the rail, and the go/no-go check added to the saw's standard work and a one point lesson. Every shift trained before the change went live on their saw. Next cycle: Cycle 2 on burrs, now 57% of what is left: test a fixed blade change interval on saw 2. - Chart: Weekly scrap ran between 3.7% and 4.0% for four weeks, then 1.2% and 1.1% in the two trial weeks, under the 1.5% target and close to the 1.1% prediction. - Lesson: The prediction came from the data before the trial: remove the short tubes and what is left is the other reasons. When the result lands on the prediction, you have learned that the cause was the right one, not only that scrap went down. ### Cycle 2, Changeover: Staging parts for a case packer changeover (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#changeover-case-packer) Where: Case packer, packing line 3, all shifts. - Plan: Format changes on the case packer take 61 minutes on average, last good case to first good case, over the last 8 changeovers (55 to 67). On two filmed changeovers the crew spent 16 and 18 minutes of the stop walking to the store for change parts and tools. Baseline: 61 minutes average over 8 changeovers; fetching 17 minutes on average on the films. Target: 50 minutes or less, so two changeovers a shift fit in the planned changeover time. Cause: Change parts and tools are fetched after the line stops because nothing tells anyone to fetch them earlier. Hypothesis: the fetching is external work done as internal work. Countermeasure: A changeover cart, loaded by the team leader in the 30 minutes before the stop from a parts list for each case size. Prediction: The stop falls by the fetching time: 61 minus 17 gives about 44 minutes. Measure: Changeover log from last good case to first good case, and two trial changeovers filmed. - Do: Line 3 case packer only, every format change for two weeks. The maintenance planner and the team leader wrote the parts list for each case size from the films. A spare cart was painted and labelled. Duration: Two weeks, 6 changeovers. In 4 of the 6 changeovers someone still left the line for a part: the glue nozzle set and the side guides for the small case are kept in the maintenance crib, and they were not on the list. - Check: 50 minutes on average (47 to 55). Against the baseline: 11 minutes shorter than the 61-minute baseline. No trial changeover took longer than the quickest baseline one (55 minutes). Against the prediction: Missed: 50 minutes against a prediction of 44. Fetching on the filmed trial changeovers still took 5 and 7 minutes, so the cart removed 11 of the 17 minutes, which is the whole gain. Against the target: Met, just: 50 minutes against a target of 50 or less. Learned: The theory held (fetching was the waste to move) but the parts list was incomplete. Hitting the target hid that; the gap to the prediction showed it. - Act (Adjust and run again): A second glue nozzle set and the small-case side guides now live on the cart, and the list is checked against one filmed changeover per case size. Same line, same measure, two more weeks. Next cycle: Cycle 2 predicts about 44 minutes again. After that, the trial cases and adjustments (19 and 20 minutes on the films) are the biggest block left: mark the guide settings for each size. - Chart: Eight baseline changeovers took 55 to 67 minutes (average 61). The 6 trial changeovers took 47 to 55 (average 50): at the 50-minute target, above the 44-minute prediction. - Lesson: Meeting the target is not the same as understanding the result. Because a prediction was written down, the six-minute gap was visible and pointed straight at the incomplete parts list. ### Cycle 3, Safety near miss: A pedestrian crossing on a forklift aisle (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#safety-forklift-crossing) Where: Pedestrian walkway crossing the main forklift aisle by the shipping dock. - Plan: Five near misses between a forklift and a pedestrian were reported at this crossing in three months. Too few to measure a two-week trial, so the team measured behaviour: in 10 observations of 30 minutes at shift peaks, 47 of 312 people (15.1%) stepped into the aisle without stopping to look, and 6 times a truck or a person had to brake or step back. Baseline: 15.1% of crossings without a stop, 6 conflicts in 5 hours observed. Target: Under 5% of crossings without a stop, and no conflicts. Cause: Racking on the dock side hides trucks until they are about three metres from the crossing. Hypothesis: people do not stop because they cannot see what is coming, and nothing reminds them. Countermeasure: A convex mirror on the rack end and a painted STOP and LOOK line on the walkway at the aisle edge. Prediction: Unsafe crossings fall below 5%. Measure: The same 10 observations at the same times, by the same two observers, counting each crossing as stopped or not and each conflict. - Do: One crossing. The mirror went up and the line was painted on a Sunday. The supervisor announced the change at the start-of-shift meetings. Duration: Two weeks, with the observations spread over both weeks so the first days, when the change was new, did not dominate the count. People who did stop used the mirror. Most of the people who did not stop were carrying something or walking in pairs. - Check: 39 of 298 crossings without a stop (13.1%), 5 conflicts. Against the baseline: From 15.1% to 13.1%, and conflicts from 6 to 5: a difference too small to tell apart from chance with this many observations. Against the prediction: Missed by a wide margin: the prediction was under 5%. Against the target: Missed: 13.1% against under 5%, and conflicts still happen. Learned: Seeing the truck was not the main problem; stopping was. A sign and a painted line ask people to choose to stop every time, and busy people do not. NIOSH ranks controls that depend on people's ongoing effort below engineering controls that block the hazard. - Act (Abandon this countermeasure): The painted line and the sign are dropped as the countermeasure. The mirror stays, because it helps the people who do stop, but no one counts it as the fix. Next cycle: Cycle 2 tests an engineering control: a guardrail along the walkway with a self-closing gate set back from the aisle edge, so a person has to stop and open it before stepping out. Prediction: under 2% of crossings without a stop. - Chart: Before: 15.1% of 312 crossings. Predicted: under 5%. Trial: 13.1% of 298, far above the target. - Lesson: A failed check is a result, not a failure of PDCA. Two weeks and a tin of paint bought the knowledge that this crossing needs a physical stop, before anyone was hurt. Measuring behaviour made a two-week test possible where near-miss reports were too rare to show anything. ### Cycle 4, 5S: Tool search time at a setup bench (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#5s-tool-search) Where: Setup bench 1, machining cell, shared by the day and night setters. - Plan: Setters on bench 1 spent 41 minutes a shift on average looking for tools, timed over five day shifts (36 to 46). 33 of those minutes went on the 14 tools used every day. Baseline: 41 minutes a shift. Target: 10 minutes a shift or less. Cause: The 14 daily tools share three drawers with about 60 tools that are rarely used, and none has a fixed place. Hypothesis: with no home, tools are put back wherever there is room. Countermeasure: Sort the drawers (red tag what was not used in the last month) and put the 14 daily tools on a shadow board at the bench, each with an outline and a label. Prediction: Searching for the daily tools stops, leaving the other 8 minutes: about 8 minutes a shift. Measure: The same timed tally of searches over 30 seconds, every day shift, plus a count of empty places on the board at the start of the day shift. - Do: Bench 1, day shift setters. The day setters sorted and red-tagged on a Saturday morning and built the board with maintenance. Duration: Three weeks, 15 day shifts. The night setters also use bench 1 but were not part of the trial and were not shown the board. - Check: Week averages of 7.6, 11.0, 15.0 minutes a shift. Against the baseline: Every trial shift was far below the 41-minute baseline, but search time rose each week. Against the prediction: Week 1 beat the prediction (7.6 against 8). Weeks 2 and 3 did not. Against the target: Missed by week 3: 15.0 minutes against 10. Empty places on the board each morning went from 0.4 on average in week 1 to 4.2 in week 3. Learned: The board works when tools go back to it. The night setters were using the tools and leaving them at bench 2, because nobody had told them the board existed. The trial scope left out a condition that matters. - Act (Adjust and run again): Night setters shown the board and asked what is missing from it (they added two tools). A two-minute board check at the end of each shift goes on the shift handover sheet, so an empty place is found by the shift that emptied it. Next cycle: Run three more weeks on both shifts, measuring both. Prediction: 10 minutes or less on each shift, every week. - Chart: Five baseline shifts averaged 41 minutes. In the trial, week 1 averaged 7.6 minutes, under the 10-minute target, then week 2 11.0 and week 3 15.0: the gain was slipping back. - Lesson: A run chart, not a before and after average, is what showed the slip: the three-week average looks fine, the trend does not. Test on a small scale, but make sure the small scale includes everyone who touches the process. ### Cycle 5, Inspection frequency: Bore checks after a cold start on a CNC lathe (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#inspection-frequency-bore) Where: CNC lathe 4, one part number, bore diameter checked with a bore gauge. - Plan: The operator checks the bore every hour, 8 checks a shift. In four weeks (20 shifts, 160 checks) 9 checks failed, and 8 of the 9 were in the first two hours after a cold start. Each failed check puts every part made since the last good check on hold for sorting: with hourly checks, an hour of output, 45 parts. Baseline: 405 parts held for sorting in four weeks (9 failed checks times 45). Target: Half the parts held or fewer: 202 or fewer in four weeks. Cause: The bore drifts while the machine warms up, then settles. Hypothesis: the checks are spread evenly over a shift, but the risk is not; they are too far apart in the first two hours. Countermeasure: Check every 20 minutes for the first 2 hours after a cold start, then hourly: 12 checks a shift instead of 8. Prediction: If failures happen as before (8 early, 1 later), each early one holds 15 parts instead of 45: 8 times 15 plus 45 gives 165 parts held in four weeks. Measure: The check record (time, reading, pass or fail) and the hold tags. - Do: Lathe 4 and its one part number only. The quality engineer changed the check sheet for lathe 4, with the early check times printed on it. The operators agreed the cost: 4 more checks a shift at about 2 minutes each, 8 minutes a shift. Duration: Four weeks, 20 shifts, 240 checks. Two shifts started after a long stop for a breakdown; the operators asked whether that counts as a cold start. It was treated as one. - Check: 8 failed checks (7 early, 1 later) and 150 parts held. Against the baseline: 150 parts held against 405: 63% fewer to sort. Against the prediction: Close: 150 against a predicted 165, with one fewer early failure than the baseline weeks. Against the target: Met: 150 against 202 or fewer. Learned: The drift still happens: 7 of 8 failures were early again. Checking more often catches it sooner but does not stop it. - Act (Standardize): The new check frequency goes into the control plan for this part on lathe 4, with the rule the operators asked for written in: a stop of more than 30 minutes counts as a cold start. Next cycle: Cycle 2 goes after the cause: a 15-minute warm-up routine before the first part. Prediction: early failures fall to one or none in four weeks. If that holds, the extra early checks can go. - Chart: Hourly checks held 405 parts in four weeks. The prediction for the new check plan was 165 and the target 202 or fewer; the trial held 150. - Lesson: Inspection frequency is a trade: more checks cost minutes, fewer checks cost sorting when one fails. Put the checks where the risk is, and treat the result as containment while the next cycle works on the cause. ### Cycle 6, Walking distance: Walking at an assembly station (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/pdca#walking-assembly-station) Where: Assembly station 3, final assembly line, both shifts. - Plan: Traced on a spaghetti diagram for three hours, the station 3 operator walked 412, 388, 430 metres: 410 metres an hour, about 3,075 metres in a 7.5-hour shift. 264 metres an hour were trips to the central rack for fasteners (6 round trips of 44 metres) and 90 to the label printer (3 of 30 metres). Baseline: 410 metres an hour. Target: Under 100 metres an hour. Cause: The two fastener sizes used on every unit are stored with the rest in the central rack, and the label printer sits where the old line layout put it. The walking is built into the layout, not the operator's method. Countermeasure: A two-lane flow rack at the station for the two fastener sizes, refilled by the material handler on the hourly route, and the label printer moved to the station. Prediction: Rack trips stop and the printer trip shrinks to 6 metres: 18 plus 56 other gives about 74 metres an hour. Measure: Three more traced hours with the same measuring wheel, during the trial week. - Do: Station 3 only, both shifts. A quick kaizen: the flow rack and the printer were moved in a lunch break, and an electrician added an outlet. The material handler's route sheet got one more stop. Duration: One week. In the first traced hour the operator built one unit of a variant that uses a third fastener size, still kept in the central rack. - Check: 118, 70, 78 metres in the three traced hours: 88.7 metres an hour. Against the baseline: From 410 to 88.7 metres an hour; about 665 metres a shift instead of 3,075. Against the prediction: Above the 74-metre prediction by the one 44-metre trip for the third fastener size. Without it the three hours average 74 metres, exactly as predicted. Against the target: Met: 88.7 against under 100. Learned: The change works as planned. The one variant shows that a point-of-use list has to cover every variant built at the station, not only the common ones. - Act (Standardize): The flow rack and printer positions are drawn into the station layout and its standard work, the refill is on the material handler's route, and a small bin for the third fastener size is added to the rack. Next cycle: Copy it to stations 2 and 4, which have the same layout (yokoten). Then re-time station 3: walking saved is not output gained until the station's cycle time shows it. - Chart: Before: 410 metres an hour, 264 of them to the fastener rack and 90 to the printer. Predicted: 74. Trial: 88.7, under the 100-metre target. - Lesson: A quick kaizen still gets a full cycle. A measured baseline, a number to beat and a second set of traces turn a lunch-break move into a standard that can be copied to the next station with confidence. ### PDCA or PDSA: where the cycle comes from - 1939, Shewhart's cycle: Walter Shewhart, in Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, turned specification, production and inspection from a straight line into a circle, and compared the three steps to making a hypothesis, running an experiment and testing the hypothesis. - 1950, The Deming wheel: At a seminar for the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), W. Edwards Deming presented a four-step version: design the product, make it, sell it, then test it in service and find out what users think, and go round again. - 1951, Japanese PDCA: Japanese executives recast the Deming wheel as plan, do, check, act, according to Masaaki Imai; no one person claims authorship. The Lean Lexicon dates the change to JUSE in 1951. Act meant standardizing what worked or going back to plan, and Kaoru Ishikawa later added goals and methods to plan and training to do. - 1986, Deming's Shewhart cycle: In Out of the Crisis, Deming taught a version in which the change or test is carried out, preferably on a small scale, and the results are studied. In his seminars he warned that check is the wrong word. - 1993, PDSA: In The New Economics, Deming called it the Shewhart cycle for learning and improvement: plan, do, study, act. Act means adopt the change, abandon it, or run through the cycle again. - 1991 and 1994, Prediction and the Model for Improvement: Moen, Nolan and Provost made a prediction part of the plan and had the study step compare the data with it. Langley, Nolan and Nolan added three questions in front of the cycle: what are we trying to accomplish, how will we know a change is an improvement, and what change can we make. Deming did not like PDCA. Writing to Ronald Moen in 1990 about a manuscript, he asked for the cycle to be called PDSA, "not the corruption PDCA". The Deming Institute puts the difference this way: check looks at whether a plan succeeded or failed, while study compares the result with a prediction, to learn and revise the theory behind the change. Moen and Norman conclude that the two cycles are related only through the scientific method: PDCA came out of Japanese quality control and is mostly used to implement and standardize, PDSA is mostly used to test and learn. This page says PDCA because that is what most plants call it. But every example writes a prediction before the trial and studies the gap afterwards, which is the PDSA habit. The changeover cycle shows why it matters: it met its target, and only the missed prediction showed that the parts list was incomplete. ### Checklist for your own cycle - Measure the baseline before you change anything, the same way you will measure the result. - Write a target and a separate prediction: the target is what you need, the prediction is what you expect this change to do and why. - Name the cause you are testing. If the countermeasure does not act on that cause, the cycle cannot teach you anything. - Pick a trial scope that is small but includes every shift, product or person that touches the process. - When a measure is too rare to move in weeks (injuries, near misses), measure the behaviour or condition that leads to it. - Compare the result with the prediction as well as the target. A met target with a missed prediction still has something to teach. - End with a decision: standardize (update the standard work and train every shift), adjust and run again, or abandon. Then write down the next cycle. ## Fishbone diagram examples: five worked manufacturing problems A fishbone diagram example is a real problem written at the head of the fish, with the possible causes sorted onto bones such as the six Ms. A filled diagram is only the start. Below are five worked examples from plant problems, each drawn as a fishbone and then taken through what most examples leave out: the vote that set which causes to check first, how each one was checked and confirmed or ruled out, and the action and result. All five are illustrative: written from the method with realistic numbers, not taken from a real company. Every number adds up, and you can redo each calculation from the figures shown. ### Example 1: Porosity on a die-cast cover (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram#casting-porosity) High-pressure aluminium die casting and machining. Bones: the six Ms. A machine-and-material process where the environment can matter (humid air, a cold die), so all six Ms. - Diagram (15 causes on 6 bones, 3 tested, 1 confirmed): Head: Porosity on the machined sealing face of the gearbox cover, cell 3: 3.8% scrapped at machining in weeks 31 to 34, against 1.1% from January to June. Man: New caster on nights (not tested); Ladle pour timing varies (not tested); Hand spray on changeover days (not tested). Machine: Degassing rotor worn (ruled out); Shot pressure drifts (ruled out); Cooling line 4 partly blocked (not tested). Method: Die spray raised to 4.0 s (confirmed); Spray time not on setup sheet (not tested); Shot profile not rechecked (not tested). Material: More returns in the charge (not tested); Ingot from a new smelter (not tested). Measurement: New inspector rejects more (not tested); No pore-size limit sample (not tested). Mother Nature: Humid summer air (not tested); Furnace area fan off (not tested). - Team: Die-cast process engineer (facilitator), a caster from each shift, the die setter, the machining inspector, the melt-shop lead, quality engineer, maintenance technician: 8 people. - Background: The cover is die cast in aluminium on cell 3 and machined in the next bay. Pores opened up by machining on the sealing face mean scrap, because the face must seal against a gasket. In weeks 31 to 34 machining scrapped 182 of 4,790 covers (3.8%). From January to June it was 290 of 26,400 (1.1%). Before the session the quality engineer sectioned five scrapped covers. The pores were round and smooth-walled, the look of gas porosity, not the jagged shape of shrinkage. That kept the session on sources of gas: hydrogen in the melt, air trapped in the shot, and steam or gas from die lubricant. - First draft, fixed: "Pores on the sealing face" under Material, and "Leaks at the customer" under Measurement. Became: Both taken off the bones. The first is the head of the fish; the second is what would happen if the problem escaped. A symptom on a bone gets voted on as if it were a cause, and nobody can test it. - First draft, fixed: "Die problems" under Machine. Became: "Cooling line 4 partly blocked": the setter had seen slow flow on that line at the last die change. "Die problems" could mean twenty things. A named line on a named die can be checked with a flow meter in ten minutes. - Vote (8 people × 3 dots = 24 votes): Degassing rotor worn 6, Die spray raised to 4.0 s 5, Shot pressure drifts 4, More returns in the charge 2, New inspector rejects more 2, New caster on nights 1, Cooling line 4 partly blocked 1, Shot profile not rechecked 1, Ingot from a new smelter 1, Humid summer air 1. Each person had 3 dots and could not put two on the same cause. The team agreed to test the top three before the next meeting, and to use the cheapest valid check for each. - Check, Degassing rotor worn (Measurement): The melt-shop lead took a reduced pressure test sample from the holding furnace every shift for a week and worked out the density index, a measure of hydrogen in the melt. Average 1.9% over 15 samples (range 1.7% to 2.2%), against 1.8% in May and the foundry's own limit of 3.0%. The melt had not changed. Ruled out. - Check, Shot pressure drifts (Records): The process engineer pulled the cell's shot monitoring log for weeks 31 to 34. 21 shots were outside the pressure window, and the cell had already rejected all 21, so none reached machining. Ruled out. - Check, Die spray raised to 4.0 s (Trial): The spray time had been raised from 2.5 s to 4.0 s in week 30 to stop metal sticking to one core pin. For two days the cell alternated each hour between 4.0 s and 2.5 s plus a short spot spray on that pin only, and machining kept the two groups apart. At 4.0 s: 19 of 480 scrapped (4.0%). At 2.5 s with the spot spray: 5 of 470 (1.1%), back to the first-half rate, and no sticking. The change date also matches: scrap rose in week 31. Confirmed. - Action: Spray program set back to 2.5 s, with the spot spray on the core pin added as its own step. Spray times added to the setup sheet, and a spray change now goes through the cell's change review, like a die or alloy change. The degassing rotor stays on its planned maintenance, and the density index check moves from monthly to weekly so a melt problem would show early. - Result: Weeks 36 to 39: 49 of 4,820 covers scrapped for porosity (1.0%), down from 3.8%. Next: A 5 Whys on why a spray change made to fix sticking was never checked for porosity. It ended at a change process that covered dies and alloys but not spray settings. - What it shows: The cause with the most votes was wrong. A change that happened just before the problem started was right, and only a test could tell them apart. ### Example 2: Wrong date on case labels (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram#label-misprint) Food packaging line, thermal transfer case labels. Bones: the six Ms. Equipment, software, a check routine and people all touch the label, so the six Ms. Software sits under Machine. - Diagram (13 causes on 6 bones, 3 tested, 1 confirmed): Head: Case labels on packing line 4 printed with the wrong best-before date on 9 of 30 nights in six weeks; 1,000 cases relabelled. Man: Night crew skips label check (ruled out); Job carried over, not reloaded (not tested). Machine: Printer clock drifts (ruled out); Server backup runs at 00:00 (not tested); Printhead dirty (not tested). Method: Date fixed at job creation (confirmed); Two template versions in use (not tested). Material: Label stock from 2nd supplier (not tested); Ribbon wrinkles (not tested). Measurement: Check compares to job ticket (not tested); Scanner reads code, not date (not tested). Mother Nature: Static on the web in dry air (not tested); Cold dock at night (not tested). - Team: Packaging team leader (facilitator), two night-shift packers, the day-shift packer who sets up label jobs, the controls technician, the quality technician: 6 people. - Background: The best-before date on the case label is the print date plus a 270-day shelf life. On 9 nights in six weeks it came out a day early, until someone caught it. The 9 events cost 1,000 cases of relabelling and two retailer warnings. It looked random until the team laid the events out by time: every wrong label was printed after midnight on a job created before midnight. In the 30 nights, a job ran across midnight on 9, and all 9 printed wrong dates. On the other 21 nights the job ended before midnight or the night's job was created after it, and there were 0 wrong dates. - First draft, fixed: "Night crew careless" under Man. Became: "Night crew skips label check": something the check sheet can confirm or not. "Careless" is a judgement of people, and nobody can test it. A skipped check is a fact you can look up. - First draft, fixed: "Printhead dirty" and "Ribbon wrinkles" were placed with the top causes. Became: Left on the diagram but not voted on: they cause faint or broken print, and the date here printed cleanly. It was the wrong date. Fishbones for one defect collect causes of other defects. Check each cause against the defect you actually have. - Vote (6 people ranking a top 3 for 3, 2 and 1 points = 36 points): Date fixed at job creation 14, Night crew skips label check 8, Printer clock drifts 6, Server backup runs at 00:00 4, Check compares to job ticket 3, Job carried over, not reloaded 1. Ranked multivoting: each person picked their top three and gave 3, 2 and 1 points. The team tested the top three, and kept the midnight server backup as the next check if all three were ruled out. - Check, Night crew skips label check (Records): The quality technician read the hourly label check sheet for the nine nights. The midnight to 1 am check was signed on all 9 nights. The crew did check, against the job ticket, which carried the same wrong date because it was printed when the job was created. The check was weak; the crew did not skip it. Ruled out. - Check, Printer clock drifts (Measurement): The controls technician compared both printers' clocks with network time at midnight on 5 nights. The largest difference was 2 seconds. A clock that is right cannot move a date by a day. Ruled out. - Check, Date fixed at job creation (Trial): On the spare printer, off the line, the technician created a job at 23:50 and printed labels at 23:58 and again at 00:05; then created a new job at 00:02 and printed. The 00:05 label from the 23:50 job carried the previous day's best-before date, on 3 of 3 runs. The job created at 00:02 printed the right date. The template took the date once, when the job was set up, not at each print. This matches the night split exactly: 9 of 9 jobs across midnight wrong, 0 of 21 others. Confirmed. - Action: Template changed so the date field reads the printer's date at the moment each label prints, plus 270 days. The hourly check now compares the printed best-before date with today's date plus the shelf life, written on the check sheet, not with the job ticket. The 23:50 trial added to the template change test, so any future template is checked across midnight before it goes live. - Result: In the next 40 nights, a job ran across midnight on 13 and 0 printed a wrong date. Next: No 5 Whys needed for the date itself; the trial showed the mechanism. The team did ask why the check missed it, which led to the new check against the calendar. - What it shows: "Intermittent" usually means a condition the team has not found yet. Laying the events out by time found it; the trial proved it. ### Example 3: Late first-shift starts (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram#late-start) Appliance subassembly line, three shifts. Bones: the six Ms. A line start depends on people, equipment, the start-up routine and material arriving, so the six Ms, with Measurement used for how the start is recorded. - Diagram (12 causes on 6 bones, 3 tested, 1 confirmed): Head: Line 2 makes its first good unit at 6:24 on average (shift starts 6:00, standard 6:10), over 20 working days. Man: Operators arrive late (ruled out); Team leader in 6:05 handover (not tested). Machine: Leak tester needs warm-up (ruled out); Nutrunners reboot at start (not tested). Method: No start-up standard at 6:00 (not tested); Fixtures moved by cleaners (not tested). Material: First kits not at line at 6:00 (confirmed); First model often short (not tested). Measurement: Start logged from memory (not tested); No target for first unit (not tested). Mother Nature: Cold building on Mondays (not tested); Press oil cold in winter (not tested). - Team: Line 2 supervisor (facilitator), two assemblers, the team leader, a material handler from each of first and second shift, the line's maintenance technician: 7 people. - Background: The daily log said line 2 started at 6:12 on average. The leak tester's first-pass scan, which time-stamps the first good unit, said 6:24 over the same 20 days. The log was filled in from memory later in the shift, so the team used the scan. Against the 6:10 standard, that is 14 minutes of line output lost every morning. - First draft, fixed: "Training" under Man. Became: "No start-up standard at 6:00" under Method: nobody had written down who does what in the first ten minutes. "Training" fits every fishbone and points at nothing. Asking "training in what, and what would we see?" turned it into a missing standard you can write. - First draft, fixed: "Communication" under Man. Became: "Team leader in 6:05 handover": the team leader is in the shift handover meeting while the line starts. A specific meeting at a specific time can be moved or timed. "Communication" cannot. - Vote (7 people × 3 dots = 21 votes): First kits not at line at 6:00 5, Operators arrive late 4, Leak tester needs warm-up 3, Team leader in 6:05 handover 2, No start-up standard at 6:00 2, Nutrunners reboot at start 1, Fixtures moved by cleaners 1, First model often short 1, Start logged from memory 1, Cold building on Mondays 1. Each person had 3 dots. The supervisor asked for one check per cause that could be done within a week without stopping the line: badge data for arrivals, and a stopwatch at the line for the rest. - Check, Operators arrive late (Records): The supervisor pulled badge-in times for the 12 line 2 operators over the 20 days. 233 of 240 badge-ins (97.1%) were by 5:55. The few late arrivals were covered by the floater. People were there; they were waiting. Ruled out. - Check, Leak tester needs warm-up (Observation): An engineer stood at the line from 5:50 on ten mornings and wrote down when the kits arrived, when the leak tester was ready and when the first good unit came off. The tester was ready at 6:08 on average, before the kits on 10 of 10 mornings. It was never what the line waited for. It would be the next limit once the kits came on time. Ruled out. - Check, First kits not at line at 6:00 (Observation): Same ten mornings, plus a talk with the first-shift material handler about the order of work at 6:00. Kits arrived at 6:14 on average (6:11 to 6:17), and the first good unit followed 10 minutes later every morning, 6:24 on average. The handler's shift also starts at 6:00, and the first job is unloading the 6:00 truck. Confirmed. - Action: The second-shift material handler stages the first two hours of kits for line 2 by 22:30, and the kit rack position is marked on the floor. Leak tester power-on timer set to 5:45, since it would become the next limit. A one-page start-up standard: who does what from 5:55 to 6:10, posted at the line, and the first-unit scan time shown on the line board each morning. - Result: Over the next 20 working days the first good unit came off at 6:09 on average, inside the 6:10 standard, down from 6:24. Next: Yokoten: the same check on lines 1 and 3, which share the material handler. - What it shows: The explanation people offered first, operators arriving late, was the one the badge data ruled out in ten minutes. Rewriting "training" and "communication" into specific causes is what made the rest testable. ### Example 4: Unplanned stops on a filler (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram#filler-downtime) Beverage bottling, PET bottle filler and capper. Bones: the six Ms. Machine stops with a material change in the background, so the six Ms. The team split the stop data by location before drawing. - Diagram (12 causes on 6 bones, 3 tested, 1 confirmed): Head: Filler F2 stopped 31 times a week in July for 201.5 minutes a week, against 12 stops a week in the first quarter. Man: Crews clear jams differently (not tested); New mechanic on nights (not tested). Machine: Infeed starwheel worn (ruled out); Bottle sensor dirty (ruled out); Capper clutch slipping (not tested). Method: Infeed PM skipped in June (not tested); Guide rails set by eye (not tested); Line speed raised in June (not tested). Material: Lighter bottles, supplier B (confirmed); Cap liner lot variation (not tested). Measurement: Reasons logged at shift end (not tested). Mother Nature: Hot bottle store in July (not tested). - Team: Packaging engineer (facilitator), the filler operator from each of three crews, a maintenance mechanic, the quality technician: 6 people. - Background: In June the line drew a fishbone of 12 causes on a flip chart, filed it, and checked nothing. Stops kept rising. In July F2 stopped 124 times in 4 weeks for 806 minutes, about 6.5 minutes a stop. This time the team split the stop minutes by location first, from the filler's own alarm log rather than the shift sheets: infeed 500 (62.0%), capper 140 (17.4%), filling valves 86 (10.7%), outfeed 80 (9.9%). Most of the loss was bottles jamming at the infeed, so the fishbone was drawn for the infeed and the capper kept for later. - First draft, fixed: The June fishbone: 12 causes on a flip chart, no votes, no owners, no checks. Became: The July fishbone: drawn for the infeed only, after the data split, with three causes to check, an owner for each and a date to report back. A diagram on its own changes nothing on the line. The work is in the checks after it. - First draft, fixed: "Maintenance" under Method. Became: "Infeed PM skipped in June": the work order history showed the June infeed PM closed as not done. "Maintenance" is a department. A skipped PM on a named unit is a fact with a record behind it. - Vote (6 people × 3 dots = 18 votes): Lighter bottles, supplier B 5, Infeed starwheel worn 4, Bottle sensor dirty 3, Infeed PM skipped in June 2, Crews clear jams differently 1, Capper clutch slipping 1, Guide rails set by eye 1, Reasons logged at shift end 1. Each person had 3 dots. The team tested the top three, and the skipped PM was kept as the fourth check if all three were ruled out. - Check, Lighter bottles, supplier B (Trial): Supplier B's lighter bottle came in during June. For two weeks the line ran supplier A and supplier B bottles on alternate days, same products and hours, and counted infeed jams from the alarm log. Thirty bottles from each supplier were measured for body diameter. Supplier A: 6 infeed jams in 52,000 bottles (1.2 per 10,000). Supplier B: 25 in 51,000 (4.9 per 10,000). Both suppliers were inside the drawing's 65.0 ± 0.5 mm, but B averaged 64.61 mm against A's 65.02 mm, loose in guide rails set for A. Confirmed. - Check, Infeed starwheel worn (Measurement): The mechanic measured the infeed starwheel pockets against the drawing. Wear was at most 0.2 mm, inside the maintenance limit, and the jams in the trial followed the bottle supplier, not the starwheel. Ruled out. - Check, Bottle sensor dirty (Trial): For one week, running supplier B, the operators cleaned the bottle-present sensor at every shift start. 24 infeed jams in 51,200 bottles (4.7 per 10,000), about the same as supplier B without cleaning. Ruled out. - Action: Guide rails set with a setting gauge for each bottle supplier instead of by eye, with the gauge and the settings on the changeover sheet. Supplier B asked through a supplier corrective action to centre its body diameter on nominal. Stop reasons now come from the filler's alarm log by location, with the operator adding a reason during the stop, not at shift end. - Result: Over the next 4 weeks F2 stopped 52 times (13 a week) for 300 minutes (75 a week), down from 31 stops and 201.5 minutes a week. Next: A second fishbone for the capper, now the largest stop location, and the skipped June PM taken to the maintenance review. - What it shows: The June fishbone had the right cause on it and fixed nothing, because nobody checked it. A data split before the diagram and an owner for each check made the difference. ### Example 5: Customer returns for wrong items (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/fishbone-diagram#customer-returns) Spare parts order picking and shipping. Bones: the four Ps. A process run by rules, paperwork and a building more than by machines, so the four Ps: policies, procedures, people and plant. The six Ms would have left Machine and Material half empty. - Diagram (12 causes on 4 bones, 4 tested, 2 confirmed): Head: Customer returns for "wrong item received" rose from 0.4% of order lines in Q1 to 1.3% in Q3. Policies: Same-day cut-off moved to 4 pm (ruled out); Returns refunded unchecked (not tested); Pickers rated on lines/hour (not tested). Procedures: Pick scan checks bin, not part (confirmed); Pick list in part order (not tested); No 2nd check on look-alikes (not tested). People: Agency pickers at peak (ruled out); Look-alikes never pointed out (not tested); Pickers cover 2 zones at peak (not tested). Plant: Look-alikes in adjacent bins (confirmed); Bin labels small, no photo (not tested); Scanner dead spot, aisle 7 (not tested). - Team: Warehouse supervisor (facilitator), two pickers (one permanent, one agency), the shipping clerk, the customer service lead who handles returns, the inventory controller: 6 people. - Background: In Q1 the warehouse shipped 48,200 order lines and 193 came back as the wrong item (0.4%). In Q3 it was 671 of 51,600 (1.3%). Each one is a credit, a reshipment and a customer waiting for a part. Before the session the inventory controller split the Q3 returns by part. Two look-alike pairs, a left and right hinge bracket and two seal kits one size apart, made up 409 of the 671 (61.0%). - First draft, fixed: "Training" under People. Became: "Look-alikes never pointed out": nobody shows a new picker which parts look the same. A specific gap in what people are told can be checked by asking them and fixed in one shift. "Training" cannot. - First draft, fixed: "Agency pickers at peak" circled in red before the vote, because the rise came with peak season. Became: Kept as a candidate with 4 votes and tested like the others. Timing alone made it look obvious. Splitting the returns by who picked them was a ten-minute query. - Vote (6 people × 3 dots = 18 votes): Pick scan checks bin, not part 5, Look-alikes in adjacent bins 5, Agency pickers at peak 4, Same-day cut-off moved to 4 pm 3, Pick list in part order 1. Each person had 3 dots. Four causes had 3 or more votes and all four could be checked from the warehouse system or a one-day audit, so the team tested all four. - Check, Agency pickers at peak (Data split): The inventory controller traced every Q3 wrong-item return to the picker who picked the line. Agency pickers: 128 wrong in 9,800 lines (1.3%). Permanent pickers: 543 in 41,800 (1.3%). The same rate. Ruled out. - Check, Same-day cut-off moved to 4 pm (Data split): Same returns, split by the hour the line was picked. Lines picked from 3 pm to 4 pm, the hour the later cut-off added: 81 wrong in 6,200 (1.3%). All other hours: 590 in 45,400 (1.3%). No rush-hour effect. Ruled out. - Check, Look-alikes in adjacent bins (Observation): A one-day re-check audit: the shipping clerk opened and checked 200 picks of the four look-alike parts and 200 picks of other parts before they were packed. Look-alike parts: 9 wrong in 200 (4.5%). Other parts: 1 in 200 (0.5%). Every wrong look-alike pick was the part from the next bin. Confirmed. - Check, Pick scan checks bin, not part (Observation): During the audit the supervisor watched how each pick was confirmed on the scanner. The scanner asks for the bin label, not the part. A picker who scans the right bin and then takes the part from the bin next to it gets a green tick: all 9 wrong look-alike picks in the audit had one. The two confirmed causes work together: adjacent look-alikes make the slip easy, and the scan cannot catch it. Confirmed. - Action: The two look-alike pairs moved to bins at least one aisle apart, with a photo of the part on each bin label. Picks of the four look-alike parts now need a scan of the part barcode as well as the bin. New pickers are shown the look-alike list on their first day, added to the picking standard. - Result: In the first 8 weeks of Q4, 61 wrong-item returns in 17,900 lines (0.3%), below the Q1 rate of 0.4%. Next: The inventory controller checks the rest of the range for look-alike pairs in adjacent bins, and "Returns refunded unchecked" goes to customer service: some "wrong item" returns may be ordering errors. - What it shows: The cause most people expected, agency pickers in peak season, had the same error rate as everyone else. The four Ps put the bin layout and the scan rule on the diagram, where the six Ms would not have. ### Common weak spots in fishbone diagrams - Opinions listed as causes. Looks like: "Night crew careless", "supplier is useless", "management doesn't care". Why it hurts: The Lean Enterprise Institute's lexicon warns that beliefs and wishes on the bones turn a fishbone into a "wishbone". Nobody can test a judgement, so the vote becomes a contest of opinions. Fix: Rewrite each one as a condition you could see or count: a skipped check, a part out of tolerance, a step done differently. If you cannot say what you would look at, it is not ready to go on a bone. - Symptoms mixed with causes. Looks like: "Pores on the sealing face" on a bone of a fishbone about porosity, or causes of faint print on a fishbone about a wrong date. Why it hurts: The effect or a different defect gets votes as if it were a cause. ASQ's procedure is a reminder that the aim is to cure the problem, not the symptoms. Fix: Read each cause aloud with "causes" and the head after it. If the sentence does not make sense, or describes a different defect, take it off. - Causes too generic to test. Looks like: "Training", "communication", "maintenance", "die problems". Why it hurts: They fit every fishbone, so they point at nothing, and the action that follows is just as vague ("retrain operators"). Fix: Ask "in what, and what would we see?" until the cause names a specific gap: no start-up standard at 6:00, a PM closed as not done, look-alike parts never pointed out. - Stopping at the diagram. Looks like: A full flip chart photographed and filed. No votes, no owners, no checks. Why it hurts: The diagram lists candidates. Nothing on the line changes until someone checks them, so the problem keeps growing while the team believes it has done root cause analysis. Fix: End the session with the two to four causes to check, an owner and a date for each, and a time to meet again with the evidence. - Acting on votes instead of evidence. Looks like: The most-voted cause goes straight into the action plan. "Agency pickers" circled before anyone looked at the data. Why it hurts: Votes measure what the room believes. In example 1 the most-voted cause was ruled out, and in examples 3 and 5 the cause most people expected failed a simple data check. Fix: Use the vote only to set the order of checks. Mark every cause confirmed or ruled out, with the evidence written next to it, before anything goes in the action plan. ## 5 whys examples: worked chains with the evidence for each why A 5 whys chain is only as good as the evidence behind each answer. A chain that sounds right but was never checked usually ends at a person, a procedure someone did not follow, or the fix the team already wanted. Below are ten finished chains. Every why shows the answer and the evidence that backs it, then the verified cause, the countermeasure and how the team proved the fix worked. Each one also names the wrong turn that was available. These chains are illustrative: written from conditions common in plants, not from one company. Plants, roles and counts are made up for the example and are not benchmarks. ### Molding: short shots on press 7 after weeks of running well (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#short-shots-heater-band) Area: Manufacturing. Team: Process technician, maintenance technician and shift supervisor. Problem: Press 7 produced 62 short shots in 2,000 parts over the last five days, 3.1%. The month before it ran at 8 in 2,000, 0.4%. - Why 1: Why are the parts short? Cavity 4 is not filling completely. Evidence (count): Sorted the 62 rejects by the cavity number molded into each part: 54 of 62 came from cavity 4. - Why 2: Why is cavity 4 not filling? The melt reaching it is cooler than the recipe says. Evidence (measurement): Pyrometer reading on purged melt: 212 C. The recipe setpoint is 230 C and the same check three weeks ago read 229 C. - Why 3: Why is the melt cooler? Barrel heater zone 3 is not heating, although the controller shows it on. Evidence (measurement): Clamp-on ammeter on the zone 3 band read 0 A. Zones 2 and 4 read 6.2 A and 6.0 A. - Why 4: Why is zone 3 drawing no current? The band's terminal screw has backed off and the connection is open. Evidence (observation): Photo of the terminal: loose screw, discoloured lug. Re-tightened with the press locked out, current read 6.1 A. - Why 5: Why did the screw back off without anyone knowing? Heater terminals are not on the preventive maintenance list, and the start-up check does not read heater current. Evidence (record): The quarterly PM task list for press 7 has 23 items, none of them heater terminals. The start-up sheet has no current column. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 2: the melt is cooler. Fix would be: Raise the zone 3 setpoint by 10 C. The controller already shows the band on, so a higher setpoint changes nothing. The display would look right while the plastic stayed cold. - Verified cause: A loose heater terminal that no PM task or start-up check looks at. - Countermeasure: Replace the lug and band terminal. Add a terminal check with a torque value to the quarterly PM list for every press. Add a heater current reading for each zone to the start-up sheet. - Read back: The terminal checks are missing, so the screw backed off unseen, so zone 3 drew no current, so the melt ran cooler, so cavity 4 did not fill, so the parts came out short. - Verification: Counted short shots after the repair over five production days and read the zone currents at each start-up. Short shots, 5 production days after the repair: 62 of 2,000 (3.1%) before, 8 of 2,000 (0.4%) after. ### Shipping: orders leaving a packing line late, with two causes (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#late-orders-two-causes) Area: Manufacturing. Team: Production manager, planning manager and packaging team leader. Problem: In four weeks, 14 of 80 customer orders from the packing line shipped after the promised date, 17.5%. The target is under 5%. - Why 1: Why did these 14 orders ship late? The packing line started them late. Evidence (record): Pulled start times from the line log: all 14 started more than 3 hours after the scheduled time. - Why 2: Why did the line start late? Two reasons show in the log. Changeovers overran, and the packaging film was not at the line. Evidence (count): Of the 14 late starts, 8 followed a changeover longer than the 40 minute standard and 6 waited for film. - Branches at why 2: Branch A: changeovers over 40 minutes. Branch B: film not at the line. 8 plus 6 equals the 14. No order appears in both groups. - Wrong turn: stopping at The larger group: 8 of the 14 are changeovers. Fix would be: Run a changeover kaizen and ignore the film shortages. Even a perfect changeover fix leaves 6 late orders in 80, 7.5%, above the 5% target. - Verified cause: Branch A: the changeover kit is staged after the previous run ends, so the crew waits for tools and film cores. Branch B: the warehouse picks film from the planner's list, printed the evening before and not updated when the schedule changes. - Countermeasure: Branch A: stage the next kit during the current run and add a kit check to the schedule. Branch B: the line leader requests film from the live schedule at the start of each shift. Both go on the tier 1 board. - Read back: Film is picked from an old list and kits are staged late, so film and tools are missing at the line, so starts slip, so orders ship late. - Verification: Counted late orders over the next four weeks and logged the cause of every late start. Orders shipped late, 4 weeks after both fixes: 14 of 80 (17.5%) before, 3 of 80 (3.8%) after. ### Assembly: a fastener left loose on variant B units (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#skipped-torque-step) Area: Manufacturing. Team: Manufacturing engineer, assembly team leader and quality engineer. Problem: An end-of-line audit found 11 of 600 units, 1.8%, with one fastener under the specified torque. All 11 were variant B. - Why 1: Why were the fasteners under torque? The torque step was not done on those units. Evidence (record): The torque tool log for the 11 serial numbers shows five tightening events, not six. - Why 2: Why was the step not done? The operators did not know it was a step on variant B. Evidence (interview): Asked three operators on the station to show how they build variant B. All three did five tightenings and none mentioned a sixth. - Why 3: Why did the operators not know? The work instruction at the station lists five fasteners. Variant B has six. Evidence (record): Station work instruction revision A shows five. The variant B drawing lists six, the extra one added in the last engineering change. - Why 4: Why does the instruction not show the sixth? The engineering change process has no step to update work instructions at the stations affected. Evidence (record): The change order form has a drawing, BOM and PFMEA checklist. It has no line for work instructions or a station check. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 2: the operator did not do it. Fix would be: Retrain the three operators and post a reminder. The next operators read the same wrong instruction. The cause was the instruction, not the person, and the next change order would do it again. - Verified cause: The engineering change process does not update the work instruction at the station. - Countermeasure: Correct the instruction and post it. Add work instruction update and a station check to the change order form. Set the torque tool to count tightening events, so a unit with fewer than six cannot pass the station. - Read back: The change process skips work instructions, so the instruction showed five, so the operators did five, so one fastener was missed on some units, so loose fasteners reached the audit. - Verification: Audited every unit at end of line for three weeks and checked the tool's count on each serial number. Units with a fastener under torque, 3 weeks, 100% audit: 11 of 600 (1.8%) before, 0 of 600 (0%) after. ### Packaging: cartons shipped with the wrong product label (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#wrong-label-roll) Area: Quality. Team: Quality engineer, packaging supervisor and line operators. Problem: Nine cartons in 1,800 packed in a month, 0.5%, carried the label of a different product. Two were found by a customer. - Why 1: Why did the cartons have the wrong label? The printer ran with the wrong label roll after a changeover. Evidence (record): Roll code on the printer at the time of the 9 events, read from the changeover photos: the wrong roll each time. - Why 2: Why was the wrong roll loaded? Two rolls look almost the same and sit on the same shelf. Evidence (observation): Side by side at the line: same colour and stock. The product code differs only in the last two digits of eight, printed in 8 point type. - Why 3: Why was the wrong roll not caught? The changeover checklist says "load label roll" and has no step that checks it against the order. Evidence (interview): Checklist read at the station: 14 steps, none verifies the roll code. Asked the operators what they check: that the roll fits. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 1: the operator loaded the wrong roll. Fix would be: Write a warning to the operators and add a second signature. A signature on a form does not stop a roll that looks right from being loaded. The error returns when the line is busy. - Verified cause: Nothing in the process compares the label roll to the order, and two rolls are easy to mix up. - Countermeasure: Scan the roll code against the order at changeover, with the printer set to refuse to start on a mismatch. Move look-alike rolls to separate shelves with large codes. - Read back: No check compares roll to order, so a look-alike roll is not caught, so the wrong roll runs, so cartons carry the wrong label. - Verification: Loaded a wrong roll on purpose ten times to confirm the printer refused each time, then counted mislabelled cartons for three weeks. Cartons with a wrong label, 3 weeks after the scan check: 9 of 1,800 (0.5%) before, 0 of 5,400 (0%) after. ### Machining: burrs on parts that reached the customer (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#burrs-circular) Area: Quality. Team: Quality engineer, machining supervisor and inspector. Problem: The customer returned 24 of 3,000 shipped parts, 0.8%, for burrs on a bore edge. - Why 1: Why did burrs ship? Inspection did not catch them. Evidence (record): Reviewed the inspection records for the returned lots: all passed. - Why 2: Why did inspection not catch them? (A first try said "it is not thorough enough", which only restates the problem.) The visual check cannot reliably see a burr this small at line speed. Evidence (trial): Mixed 20 parts with a known burr into a lot and ran the normal check. The inspector found 14 of 20, 70%. - Why 3: Why were burrs made at all? The deburr tool runs past its wear point. Evidence (measurement): Measured burr height against parts since the last tool change: over the 0.15 mm limit at about 4,500 parts. The tool change is set at 6,000. - Why 4: Why is the change set at 6,000? The number was copied from a different part and never measured for this one. Evidence (record): Setup sheet history: 6,000 appears on the sheet for another part number and was carried over when this part started. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 2, as first worded: inspection is not thorough, so inspectors do not look closely. Fix would be: Tell inspectors to look harder and add a second inspector. The answers loop back to "burrs got through". Nothing new was learned. The trial showed that even a diligent inspector finds 70%. - Verified cause: Two causes, found by splitting the question. Made: the tool change interval was never set for this part. Escaped: a visual check that sees 14 of 20 known burrs. - Countermeasure: Set the tool change at 4,000 parts, from the wear data, and review it after the first ten tool changes. Add a go/no-go edge gauge for the bore at the station. - Read back: The interval was copied, so the tool wore past the limit, so burrs were made, and the check sees only 70%, so burrs reached the customer. - Verification: Repeated the seeded-burr trial with the gauge in use, and counted customer returns on the next 3,000 parts. Seeded burrs found by the check, Repeat trial, 20 seeded parts: 14 of 20 (70%) before, 20 of 20 (100%) after. ### Quality lab: parts pass in the plant and fail at the customer (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#gauge-disagrees) Area: Quality. Team: Quality lead, lab technician and machining supervisor. Problem: The customer's incoming inspection rejected 20 of 2,500 shafts, 0.8%, for diameter, while the plant's final check passed all of them. - Why 1: Why do the plant and the customer disagree? The two measurements of the same diameter are not the same. Evidence (measurement): Measured 10 returned shafts on the plant micrometer and on the customer's gauge. The plant reads about 0.012 mm smaller on every one. - Why 2: Why does the plant micrometer read small? It is out of calibration. Evidence (measurement): Checked against a 25.000 mm gauge block: it reads 24.988 mm. - Why 3: Why was it out of calibration? It was not on the calibration schedule, so it was never checked. Evidence (record): The calibration register lists micrometers by asset tag. This one carries no tag. - Why 4: Why does the micrometer have no tag? It is a spare that replaced a damaged one in the lab, and nobody tagged it when it entered use. Evidence (interview): The purchasing record shows the spare was bought 14 months ago. The lab technician confirms it went into use that week. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 1: the measurements differ. Fix would be: Tighten the plant's internal limits by 0.015 mm. Good parts would be scrapped, and the uncalibrated gauge would stay in use and affect every other part it measures. - Verified cause: Gauges enter use without being tagged and added to the calibration register. - Countermeasure: Calibrate and tag the micrometer. Audit every gauge in the lab against the register. Add a rule that no gauge leaves stores without an asset tag, and review the past 14 months of results taken with it. - Read back: A spare gauge was never tagged, so it was never calibrated, so it read small, so the plant passed shafts the customer measured as out of tolerance. - Verification: Audited all 42 gauges in the lab for a tag and an in-date calibration, then counted customer rejects on the next 2,500 shafts. Shafts rejected by the customer, Next 2,500 shafts after the audit: 20 of 2,500 (0.8%) before, 0 of 2,500 (0%) after. ### Warehouse: five forklift near-misses at one aisle crossing (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#forklift-near-misses) Area: Safety. Team: EHS lead, warehouse supervisor and a forklift operator. Problem: Five near-miss reports in six weeks at the same crossing, each a person on foot stepping into a forklift path. No one was hurt. - Why 1: Why did people step into the forklift path? They came through the door from packing straight into the aisle, where they cannot see an approaching truck. Evidence (observation): Watched the door for 40 minutes at the morning peak. A wall blocks the view of the aisle from the doorway. - Why 2: Why do they use that door? It is the shortest way to the break room. Evidence (count): Counted 31 people leaving packing in the 40 minutes: 22 used that door and 9 went the long way round. - Why 3: Why does the shortest way end in the truck aisle? The floor marking leads from the door across the aisle, with no barrier and no stop point. Evidence (record): Floor plan and photos: the painted walkway crosses the aisle at the door. Trucks pass about every 3 minutes. - Wrong turn: stopping at The near-miss reports said "pedestrian not paying attention". Fix would be: Remind everyone to look both ways at the door. A rule that depends on every person, every time, stays in place at a spot where they cannot see. The next report will say the same thing. - Verified cause: The route people take ends at a blind crossing with nothing to stop them or the truck. - Countermeasure: Fit a barrier so the door exit turns along a protected walkway to a marked crossing with a clear view. Add a convex mirror at the corner as a second layer, not the main fix. - Read back: The shortest route ends at a blind crossing, so 22 of 31 walk it, so people step into the truck path, so near-misses happen. - Verification: Repeated the 40 minute observation after the change and tracked near-miss reports for six weeks. People crossing the aisle at the door, 40 minute observation, morning peak: 22 of 31 (71%) before, 3 of 31 (9.7%) after. ### Wash area: four slips in eight weeks with two causes (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#wet-floor-slips) Area: Safety. Team: EHS lead, sanitation supervisor and maintenance technician. Problem: Four slips on the wet floor in the wash area in eight weeks. One person lost a day of work. - Why 1: Why did people slip? There was water where they walked. Evidence (record): Incident forms: all four slips at or near the two hoses and the floor drain. - Why 2: Why is there water on the walkway? Water is arriving from the hose couplings and is not leaving through the drain. Evidence (observation): Watched a wash shift: both couplings drip. A drain test with a measured 10 litres took 95 seconds to clear on the near side. - Branches at why 2: Branch A: hose couplings leaking. Branch B: a partly blocked drain grate. Replacing one coupling stopped the dripping at that hose only. The grate had trim waste across about half of its slots. - Wrong turn: stopping at Branch A only: the couplings leak. Fix would be: Replace the couplings and close the problem. Water would still pool at the drain. Each branch wets the walkway on its own, so slips would fall but not stop. - Verified cause: Two causes. Coupling seals are replaced only when someone reports a leak. The grate has no cleaning step, so trim waste blocks half the slots. - Countermeasure: Put coupling seals on the weekly PM list. Add grate cleaning to the end-of-shift sanitation checklist with a photo standard. Fit anti-slip matting at the two hose positions as a second layer. - Read back: Seals are not replaced on a schedule and the grate is not cleaned, so water leaks and does not drain, so the walkway is wet, so people slip. - Verification: Repeated the 10 litre drain test after the cleaning step started and every week for a month, and counted slips over the following eight weeks. Time for 10 litres to clear at the near-side drain, After the grate cleaning step started: 95 seconds before, 28 seconds after, a change of -71%. ### Maintenance: a conveyor motor bearing failed three times in five months (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#conveyor-bearing-grease) Area: Maintenance. Team: Maintenance supervisor, two maintenance technicians and a reliability engineer. Problem: The drive-end bearing on the same conveyor motor failed three times in 150 days. Each failure stopped the line for about three hours. - Why 1: Why does the bearing fail? It overheats and the grease breaks down. Evidence (measurement): Bearing housing temperature on the running motor: 78 C, against 61 C on the identical motor beside it. - Why 2: Why does it run hot? The bearing housing is overfilled with grease. Evidence (observation): Opened the housing during a stop: the cavity was packed full and grease had pushed into the motor side. - Why 3: Why is it overfilled? The PM task says to grease until fresh grease shows at the relief, with no quantity, and the two grease guns deliver different amounts. Evidence (record): PM card wording read as written. Weighed 10 strokes from each gun: 15 g and 50 g. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 1: the bearing overheats, so it must be the wrong bearing. Fix would be: Buy a higher-grade bearing for the motor. The new bearing is greased the same way and overheats too, at a higher price. The cause is how it is greased. - Verified cause: The grease task has no quantity, and the grease guns are not matched. - Countermeasure: Set the grease quantity from the bearing maker's guidance and write it on the PM card in grams. Mark each gun with its grams per stroke and put the stroke count in the task. Take a housing temperature at each PM. - Read back: The card has no quantity and the guns differ, so the housing is overfilled, so the bearing runs hot, so the grease breaks down, so it fails. - Verification: Measured housing temperature at each weekly check for eight weeks after the housing was refilled to the new quantity, and tracked bearing stops. Drive-end housing temperature, Weekly checks after the grease change: 78 degrees C before, 62 degrees C after, a change of -21%. ### Maintenance: a hydraulic press stopping on motor overload (https://www.theleansuite.com/learn/examples/5-whys#hydraulic-press-trips) Area: Maintenance. Team: Maintenance technician, maintenance planner and press operator. Problem: A hydraulic press tripped its motor overload six times in two weeks. Each trip cost about 40 minutes. - Why 1: Why did the press stop? The motor overload tripped. Evidence (record): Control panel fault log: six overload trips, all under load. - Why 2: Why did the overload trip? The pump motor was drawing more current than rated. Evidence (measurement): Clamp-on ammeter at the pump motor: 31 A under load. The nameplate rating is 24 A. - Why 3: Why is the motor drawing more? The pump is working against a blocked suction strainer. Evidence (observation): Strainer pulled and inspected: about 70% of its area covered with fine debris. - Why 4: Why is the strainer blocked? Debris is entering the tank through an access cover that has no gasket. Evidence (observation): The cover shows no gasket. A tank oil sample contained fine metal and paper fibres. - Why 5: Why is the gasket missing? The tank clean procedure has no step to refit and inspect the cover, and no sign-off. Evidence (record): Procedure read as written: 11 steps, ending at "refill the tank". The tank was cleaned five weeks before the first trip. - Wrong turn: stopping at Why 2: the motor draws too much current. Fix would be: Fit a higher-rated overload relay, or replace the pump. A higher relay hides the problem until the motor or pump is damaged. A new pump pulls on the same blocked strainer and fails sooner. - Verified cause: The tank clean procedure does not cover refitting the cover gasket. - Countermeasure: Clean the tank and strainer, fit a new gasket and change the oil. Add refit and inspect the cover, with a second person's initials, to the tank clean procedure. Add a pump current reading to the monthly PM. - Read back: The procedure does not cover the cover gasket, so debris entered the tank, so the strainer blocked, so the pump drew more current, so the overload tripped, so the press stopped. - Verification: Read pump motor current at each monthly PM and counted overload trips over the next four weeks of production. Pump motor current under load, After cleaning and the gasket fix: 31 amps before, 23 amps after, a change of -26%. ### Where chains go wrong - Stopping at human error: The chain ends with "the operator skipped the step", "the pedestrian was not paying attention" or "needs retraining". Fix: Treat the error as a link in the chain, not the end of it, and ask what made it easy or likely: the instruction, the layout, the tool, the time, the check that was not there. The RCA2 report lists one or more individuals identified as causing the event among the warning signs of an ineffective review (page 20). - Jumping to a solution: By the second why someone says "so we need a better bearing" or "raise the setpoint", and the remaining whys are filled in to fit. Fix: For every why, write down the evidence and who saw it. If the only support is that it sounds right, it is a guess to test, not an answer. Run the trial before you buy anything. - Following only one branch: The chain is one tidy line, yet the problem keeps coming back at a lower rate after the fix. Fix: At each why, ask whether another answer is also true. Write both branches down and test each. Fix every branch the evidence confirms, and use the counts to see how much each contributes. - Going in circles: The last why restates the first: "burrs got through because inspection missed them", "inspection missed them because they were not caught". Fix: A why must name something different that you can go and look at. When the answers loop, change the question: ask separately why the defect was made and why it was not caught. - Stopping at the symptom: The chain ends at a part: "the overload tripped", "the pump failed". The part is replaced or reset and the failure comes back. Fix: Keep asking until the answer is something in how the work, the equipment or the system is set up. Taiichi Ohno's stopped machine is the classic case: without repeatedly asking why, managers would simply replace the fuse or pump and the failure would recur (Lean Enterprise Institute lexicon). ### How to verify a root cause, before you fix it and after - Read it back: Start from the cause and read each answer with "so" until you reach the problem. If any link needs a "maybe" or an "and also", it is weak. Each example above ends with that read-back line. - Test the cause on its own: Change or restore the cause and see whether the problem moves, before the full fix if you can. Re-tighten the terminal and read the current. Load the wrong roll on purpose. Measure the motor with the strainer clean. A cause you cannot test is a theory. - Measure the result: Take the measure from the problem statement, run it for a set window and compare it with the baseline. Count the same thing the same way. If the number does not reach the target, a second branch is still open: go back to the chain.