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Lean Definition: Operators

 

The term “operator” is frequently used to describe a shop floor worker in a production environment. While it seems to stem from the use of the term “machine operator”, it has been shortened and now is used more universally.

The term is more positive than worker, headcount, or the demeaning ‘body’.

In standard work sheets, operators are frequently depicted as a dark circle nested in a half-moon shape. The symbol is intended to represent a top view of a person with his or her arms outstretched.

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