More than 800 delegates registered for the webinar, which featured key insights delivered by business leaders from Marks & Spencer, Greencore, Lauras International and fast-moving consumer goods improvement specialist Simon Spanyol.
You can share those insights by registering for the one-hour free webinar. After registration, you can listen any number of times to the broadcast.
Taking part were Marks & Spencer’s head of responsible sourcing and packaging and Plan A Louise Nicolls, who explained how the pioneering retailer does lean, green and ethical business and what it expected from its food and drink suppliers.
Cost savings
Greencore’s group technical director Helen Sisson revealed how the convenience food manufacturer delivered cost savings from implementing lean manufacturing methods.
Jeremy Praud, partner at Lauras International, which sponsored the webinar, quantified the typical benefits of implementing a lean production programme. He also identified the period over which benefits could be expected.
Spanyol focused on the practical implementation of lean food and drink manufacturing programmes, drawing on his many years of implementing and appraising lean procedures at Mars and elsewhere.
The lean and green webinar – sponsored by Lauras International – was first broadcast yesterday (April 26) at 11am. Each speaker delivered a brief presentation before answering questions submitted by the webinar audience.
Meanwhile, here’s a handy guide to the language of lean manufacturing. Drawing on its origins in the Japanese car industry of the 1970s, you will find a number of Japanese words and terms.
Classic lean
Our list of acronyms and terms is divided into seven sections. Those include: Classic lean, Rapid lean, Problem solving, General continuous improvement, TPM terms, Six sigma terms and general manufacturing terms.
Watch out for full multi-media reports from the webinar – including video interviews with the speakers – next week.
Classic Lean
- Andon: Japanese for Paper Lantern, meaning a visual signal. Usually lights to signal a machine has stopped, or other issue.
- CapDo: See PDCA
- 5C: Alternative to/same as 5S
- DOWNTIME: Acronym for the seven wastes (Muda) in Lean and and not utilising staff talent
- Gemba: Japanese for crime scene or the real place. Means go to the scene of the problem
- IshiKawa: See Fishbone Diagram
- JIT: Just In Time (one of the two pillars in TPS)
- Jidoka: Improve Quality (one of the two pillars in TPS)
- Kaizen: Japanese for ‘improvement’
- Kanban: Japanese for ‘signboard’ - means visual inventory control system. A visual trigger initiates refill of a stock location based on actual demand.
- Muda: Japanese for ‘Waste’ (NB also means useless)
- PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Act. An improvement system
- Poka Yoke: Mistake proofing. Eg a three pin plug – can’t be plugged in the wrong way
- 5S: Workplace organisation tool
- TIMWOOD: Acronym for the 7 wastes (Muda) in Lean. Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-processing, Overproduction, Defects. Don’t forget the Excess or Unnecessary in front of each.
- TPS: Toyota Production System.
- VSM: Value Stream Mapping
TOC & Rapid Lean
- CTR: Cycle Time Reduction
- DBM: Debottlenecking Method. Application of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to production lines
- EIS: Essential Improvement System. An improvement system, similar to PDCA or DMAIC
- SIM: Sustainable Improvement Model. Matrix Style Lean Improvement Audit
- TOC: Theory of Constraints. See Eli Goldratt, ‘The Goal’
- V-Curves: Theory of constraints: visual description of optimum line control. The bottom of the v is the bottleneck and describes processes either side of the bottleneck having progressively higher throughput rates
Problem Solving
- Fishbone Diagram: Cause and Effect Diagram. Brainstorming based problem solving method
- FMEA: Failure Mode and Effect Analysis. Problem solving method
- PCS: Problem Cause Solution. Logical based problem solving method
- 5 Whys: Problem solving method based on asking Why 5 times to determine root cause
- 5W+1H: 5 Whys + 1 How – variant of five Whys problem solving
General Continuous Improvement: Activity Based Costing
- CI: continuous Improving
- DSOP: Dynamic Standard Operating Procedure
- 6Ms: Machines, Methods, Materials, Measurements, Mother Nature, Manpower
- OEE: Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Changeover reduction process – similar to cycle time reduction
- OPL: One Point Lesson
- 3P: People, Product, Process
- PMO: Project, Management, Office
- QFD: Quality, Function, Deployment
- ROI: Return on Investment
- SIC: Short, Interval, Control
- SIPOC: Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers
- SMED: Single Minute Exchange of Die
- SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
- SQDCE: Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Engagement
- 0L: Zero Loss
TPM Terms
- CIL: Clean Inspect & Lubricate. Technique to keep assets in original operating condition
- CIT: Clean Inspect & Tag. Technique to restore assets to original operating condition
- FI: Focused Improvement
- MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures
- MTTR: Mean Time To Repair
- RM: Reliable Maintenance
- TPM: Total Productive Maintenance
- TQM: Total Quality Management. Derived from Deming’s work - evolved later into TPM
Six sigma terms
- DMAIC: Define Measure Analyse Implement Control. An improvement cycle
- DOE: Design of Experiments. Systematic method to find cause-and-effect relationships
- LCL: Lower Control Limit
- SPC: Statistical Process Control
- TAKT: Derived from the German word Taktzeit. Often referred to as the heartbeat or drumbeat of production
- UCL: Upper Control Limit
General manufacturing terms
- BU: Business Unit
- CSN: Customer Service Number – alternative to stock-keeping unit (SKU)
- FLM: Front Line Manager
- KPI: Key Performance Indicator
- MBO: Management by Objectives
- MBU: Mini Business Unit
- MBWO: Management by Walking Around
- OTIF: On Time In Full
- PDP: Personal Development Plan
- PPM: Parts per Million
- RFT: Right First Time
- R&R: Reward and Recognition
- SKU: Stock Keeping Unit
- SMART: ‘Objectives’ – Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-bound
- UPM: Units Per Million
You can still register for Food Manufacture’s lean and green webinar.