Nuts & Bolts Guide: Section
Develop Trust (Principle)
Think about what trust is. It is, in effect, a shortcut. It means that you have faith in something, or someone, and have stopped double-checking on all expectations.
Lean Terms
Continuous Data
Continuous data can have any value within a given range. Compare this to discrete data which is limited in the values it takes. For example, the number of dots on a pair of dice or the number of wheels on a car limit you to a finite set of values. Read more…
Lean Terms
CRM / Customer Relationship Management
CRM stands for customer relationship management. It essentially is the practice of taking an active approach to understanding how a company interacts with its customers and creating a strategy to manage that relationship for both current and future customers. In practice, CRM is typically used to describe software systems, of Read more…
Lean Terms
Genchi Genbutsu
“Genchi genbutsu” is a Japanese term that loosely translates to “go and see”. Essentially, it means to go to the actual spot where actual work is happening on the actual product to confirm your conclusions. Similar to the term “go to gemba“, the spirit of genchi genbutsu is to avoid Read more…
Lean Terms
PDSA / Plan-Do-Study-Act (or Adjust)
PDSA stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act, or less commonly, Plan-Do-Study-Adjust. It is a structured, iterative problem-solving approach popularized by W. Edwards Deming, who originally was mentored on the process by Walter Shewhart. With that origin in mind, it should come as no surprise that this method is also known as the Deming Read more…
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Problem Solving Learning Track
We’ve got loads of content on our site, and know it can be overwhelming to sort through it. To help you navigate your way around, our learning tracks walk you through a path of study.
Follow the links in sequence to build an outstanding knowledge of problem solving. You can take the basic journey for free. Members get the added perk of being able to download much of the content. But if you want to get the most out of your training time, we recommend you invest in our premium audio / visual products.
Our Continuous Improvement Independent Study Pack is available with premium products for loads of the lessons on this list, as well as many more from other tracks. You can also get additional training material for the modules included in the list below.
Lean Terms
Little’s Law
Little’s Law is a basic mathematics equation for calculating lead time. In the layman’s version, it says: Lead time = Number of units in WIP / Average Production Rate Let’s say you had 34 items in work-in-process, and you produce 10 per day. That means that it will take any Read more…
Lean Terms
Indirect Costs
Indirect costs are those expenses that are not directly attributable to a single cost center or cost object (product line, service, etc.) Indirect costs may include shared resources or overhead. Administrative costs, website costs, IT infrastructure, and similar expenses fall into this category. One of the big challenges with indirect Read more…
Lean Terms
FISH / First In, Still Here
FISH, or “First In, Still Here” is a tongue-in-cheek term for excessive inventory. It is a play on the terms FIFO (first in, first out) and LIFO (last in, first out).
Lean Terms
Master Black Belt
A Master Black Belt is an individual who has been certified to train other black belts. Black belts are the trainers and continuous improvement team coaches for a company. Having a Master Black Belt is a credential. It is not a job title. Many who attain that level do, however, Read more…
Lean Terms
Green Belt
A Green Belt is a certification that indicates a person is qualified to lead a Six Sigma project or, less frequently, a kaizen team in Lean. The Belt System Ranks Yellow Belt: Team Participant Green Belt: Team Leader Black Belt: Trainer Master Black Belt: Trains black belts; leads improvement effort Read more…
Lean Terms
Yellow Belt
A “Yellow Belt” designates that a person has been trained to participate in a Six Sigma project. In some rare instances, you may also see the yellow belt used in the Lean community. About the Lean/Six Sigma Belt System Note that there is not a formal governing body that manages Read more…