A visual control device in a production area, typically a lighted overhead display, giving the current status of the production system and alerting team members to emerging problems.

Transferring human intelligence to automated machinery so machines are able to detect the production of a single defective part and immediately stop themselves while asking for help.

Producing more than one piece of an item and then moving those items forward to the next operation before they are all actually needed there. Thus items need to wait in a queue. Also called " [..]

Cell

A method of conducting single-piece flow in which the operators proceeds from machine to machine, taking the part from the previous operation and loading it in the next machine, then taking the part j [..]

When a piece of equipment has to stop producing in order to be fitted for producing a different item. For example, the installation of a different processing tool in a metal working machine, a differe [..]

Means that items are produced and moved from one processing step to the next one piece-at-a-time. Each process makes only the one piece that the next process needs, and the transfer batch size is one. [..]

How frequently an item or product actually is completed by a process, as timed by direct observation. Also, the time it takes an operator to go through all of his or her work elements before repeating [..]

Refers to the "every-product-every interval," which is a measure of production batch size. For example, if a machine is able to change over and produce the required quantity of all t [..]

Segments of the value stream that respond to requirements from internal customers. Fabrication processes are often characterized by general-purpose equipment that changes over to make a variety of com [..]