A system for controlling work flow and priorities whereby the processes needing materials (or attention) draw them from the feeding processes or storage areas as needed, typically using "kanb [..]

A common quality certification program for auto industry suppliers that includes ISO 9000 as a base-line.

(Actual hours lost through unscheduled job absence ÷ actual hours worked ) x 100. Include all unscheduled absences during normal work hours, including scheduled overtime.

A system that tracks costs based on the activities that are responsible for driving costs in the production of manufactured goods

Planning and optimization tool that balances demand with plant capacity, thus allowing manufacturers to identify bottlenecks and divert workload to alternative production cells.

A structured method of defining and establishing the steps necessary to ensure that a product satisfies the customer. By moving quality efforts into planning and prevention, this multistage process id [..]

Tools, techniques, and initiatives that enable a plant or company to thrive under conditions of unpredictable change. Agile manufacturing not only enables a plant to achieve rapid response to customer [..]

A measure that is calculated by dividing the value of annual plant shipments at plant cost (for the most recent full year) by the total average daily inventory value at plant cost. Total average daily [..]

a measure of how efficiently assets are used to produce sales. The ratio shows how many dollars of sales were generated by each dollar of assets. Calculate by dividing net sales by average total asset [..]

Formal programs that compare a plant's practices and performance results against "best-in-class" competitors or against similar operations.