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:
Values
Values can be described as our beliefs and opinions. They are subjective and may change over time.
Term:
Vision
Vision is the future state of the company, where the company wants us to be. The Manufacturers Network Vision is:
“To have a recognised, vibrant network of manufacturing professionals who are achieving results from our services.”
(See Strategy Deployment)
Term:
Visual Controls
Visual Controls are used as part of mistake proofing (Poka-Yoke), visually making things easy to do right and difficult to do wrong. It includes proper signage and labelling, marking gauges and levels to what should be correct.
The three rules for visual controls are:
Make it clear.
Make it easy to do right .
Make it difficult to do wrong.
(See Poka-Yoke)
Term:
Visual Factory
Visual Factory is the process of making the company more effective by making the current state of performance and the workplace obvious at a glance and utilising visual controls and visual standards.
At the Manufacturers Network, we have adopted these 5 rules:
Colour code areas and aisles.
Make it known what you do.
Make it known how you do it.
Heighten the standards you do it to.
Always be tour ready.
(See Visual Controls - Visual Standards - Andon - One Point Lessons)
Term:
Visual Standards
Visual Standards are used to show what our standards and expectations are and provide a standard to audit against.
(See Audit - Visual Factory - Visual Controls - Andon - One Point Lessons)
Term:
Whistler (George W.)
George W. Whistler (1800–1849) was an American civil engineer and best known for building trains and train lines. On 5 October 1841, two Western Railroad passenger trains collided head-on (killing a conductor and a passenger and injuring 17 passengers). George Whistler and Scotsman Daniel McCallum were commissioned to investigate this incident. Although they did not find the root cause, they did introduce what they called the train-wreck chart, now commonly known as the organisational chart. This included central offices run by people called ‘managers’ (new term), distinct functional divisions, a ‘chain of command’, clear lines of authority, clear lines of communications and reporting, and clear descriptions of responsibility for each individual from top to bottom.
Whistler also prescribed some basic flawed assumptions, or what I call ‘the management fallacy’. He argued that failure is rare, the goal of producing goods and services is a straightforward linear task that is, in principle, 100% achievable. Roles are defined, duties are specified, deadlines are set and if failure occurs, it involves personal dereliction and is punishable.
(See Ford (Henry) - Organisational Chart)
Term:
Whitmore’s GROW Model
Sir John Whitmore (1937–2017) was a pre-eminent thinker in leadership development and organisational change. He wrote five books on leadership, coaching and sports, of which, Coaching for Performance is the best known - having sold over a million copies in more than 20 languages. This seminal text introduced the world to the GROW Model.
The GROW Model is a structured and effective process for problem solving, goal setting and performance improvement. The model helps coaches and mentors unlock the full potential of the person being coached and/or mentee.
GROW is an acronym representing the four core elements of any significant coaching and decision-making process.
G = Goal: represents the goal an individual seeks to reach - where do you want to be or what to do you want to achieve?
R = Reality: represents the realities (current situation) - where are you now?
O = Options: represents the options available and also considers what you have been successful at in the past.
W = Will: represents ‘will do’ or ‘way forward’ action plans to achieve your goals - this should be SMART.
Term:
Whitney (Ely)
Ely Whitney (aka the Father of Interchangeable Parts), 1765–1825, is best known for the invention of the cotton gin, a machine designed to remove seeds and dirt from cotton buds.
However, in 1801, Whitney’s next development was to create interchangeable standardised parts for guns. Up until this point, all guns were made by hand and were basically bespoke.
Therefore they took a long time to manufacture and, if any part of the gun was to break, the gun would be thrown away. With Whitney’s development of standardising gun parts, not only could he manufacture guns at an incredible rate but when a part broke, it would be repairable with a replacement part.
Although he did not invent interchangeable parts, he is credited with creating a system to manufacture weapons (10,000 rifles in 2 years).
(See Standard Parts – Ford (Henry))
Term:
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Work Breakdown Structure is a term used in project management. The work breakdown process ensures we separate our project down into manageable pieces or milestones.
(See Project Management)
Term:
Work In Process (WIP)
Work in Process (WIP) refers to any inventory introduced into production that has not been completed.
In Lean systems, Work in Process is the minimum number of parts/inventory (including units in machines) needed to keep the process flowing smoothly.