Manufacturing glossary of terms
Unlock the secrets of manufacturing with our glossary of terms developed over 40 years by George Donaldson, Shingo Prize recipient! Take a deep dive into industry jargon. Don't wait! Master your industry knowledge NOW!
The story of how this glossary was created and has evolved, in the words of author George Donaldson.
This glossary’s roots began in 2010 when I worked with Newsprinters Eurocentral Ltd. I noticed less emphasis on the practice and principles of Organisational Excellence in manufacturing and more on the language used to describe them.
Of course, people then became concerned about learning vast amounts of new words rather than paying attention to what they meant. Many terms also came about in the 1950s, and their original definitions weren’t applicable today. What we needed was a single reference point – a glossary. So, that’s what I created.
As I moved away from Newsprinters Eurocentral Ltd and worked with other businesses, I expanded the glossary to include all models and other tools and techniques. I was teaching courses in Continuous Improvement and realised manufacturing needed to be demystified; students were often overwhelmed with various acronyms.
Then, as manufacturing became about more than just improvement – and about leadership, management, and psychology too – the glossary grew once more. It now includes theories from the likes of Maslow, Herzberg, and McGregor, and even modern theorists such as Sinek. I’ve also included the GROW model to reflect manufacturing’s focus on developing people through coaching and mentoring.
Manufacturing is much more holistic today. And this glossary echoes that. Sitting at over 300 definitions, you’ll be able to find any term you need to achieve Organisational Excellence in the modern world.
Good luck on your journey.
George Donaldson
Term:
Performance
Performance of equipment takes into account speed loss, which includes any factors that cause the process to operate at less than maximum ideal speed when running.
(See OEE)
Term:
Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE)
Personal Protective Equipment is the equipment that will protect us individually, such as hearing protection, gloves, shoes, safety glasses. (See RAs)
Term:
Planning, Scheduling
and Forecasting
Planning is basically the process for determining what and how much needs to be done.
Scheduling defines the resources and the time, or the who and when, the plan will be carried out.
Forecasting is about predicting future performance based on past and present performance trends.
Term:
Poka-Yoke
Poka-Yoke is a Japanese phrase that means error, or mistake, proofing. It is the process for identifying and eliminating potential causes for human error. It:
Prevents errors from occurring.
Detects the error after it has occurred.
Detects the defect after it has been made.
Error-proofing devices are:
Simple and cheap.
Part of the regular process.
Close to where the error is made ‘Making it difficult to do wrong, easy to do right’.
(See Visual Controls)
Term:
Presenteeism
Presenteeism could be described or defined as the lost productivity that occurs when employees are not fully functioning in the workplace because of an illness, injury or other condition.
(See Absenteeism)
Term:
Principles
Principles are objective and can be defined as a natural law that is universally understood, timeless in its meaning and fundamentally inarguable because it is self-evident.
(See Covey (Stephen) - Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Shingo Model - 3 Insights of Organisational Excellence)
Term:
Problem Solving
Problem Solving is the process used for identifying and determining the root cause or causes of problems and implementing the best solution to prevent recurrence.
At the Manufacturers Network, we have developed a Problem Solving model based on the 8D and PDCA methodology and using the two most commonly used root cause techniques: five whys and cause-and effect.
(See 8Ds - RCA - 5W–2H - PDCA - Brainstorming - 5 Whys - Cause and Effect)
Term:
Process
A Process can be defined as a series of steps or actions to achieve an output or result.
Term:
Process Mapping
Process Mapping transforms activities and/or equipment into a visual or graphical representation or flow chart.
We use four basic symbols to identify:
Where the process starts and finishes.
The process activity or equipment step.
The inspection - identified inspections or where people touch the process.
The decision - what decisions are made and what the outcomes are.
(See 7 Quality Tools)
Term:
Project Management
Project Management is the method of managing projects. At the Manufacturers Network, Project Management templates are electronically generated through SharePoint. This ensures that all projects are properly documented, RACI is applied, WBS is clearly identified, costs are tracked and risks are properly controlled and approved.
(See RACI – WBS - SharePoint)
Term:
Pull
Pull is one of Lean’s five principles and means that production is triggered by customer demand. If there is no customer demand, the process or production must stop.
(See Customer Demand - Push - Flow)
Term:
Purpose
Purpose can simply be described as why, or the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
In business, researchers have defined purpose as ‘an organisation’s meaningful and enduring reason to exist that aligns with long-term financial performance’. Business Purpose can include its mission, vision, values, aims and objectives.
A CMI insights report found that two in three millennials are choosing their employer based on its sense of purpose.
(See 3 Insights for Organisational Excellence - Organisational Alignment - Strategy Deployment - Vision - Aims - Goals - Objectives)
Term:
Push
Push is basically the opposite to pull in that production operates at full capacity regardless of customer demand.
(See Customer Demand - Pull - Flow)
Term:
QDIP
The +QDIP, audit and leader standard work visual factory system provides us with a visual assessment of how a process, or even the whole factory, is operating at a glance.
+ = Protecting our people, product and environment.
Q = Quality, D = Delivery, I = Inventory, P = Performance.
Term:
Quality
Quality considers all quality losses and accounts for produced pieces that do not meet Quality standards, including pieces that require rework.
(See OEE)