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Random means occurring by chance. There are formal mathematical definitions regarding probability distributions, but the basic definition is how the typical non-mathematician looks at randomness. But even with that simple definition, we often think of things as being random when they really are not. In truth, even something as simple Read more…
“Rapid improvement workshop” is another name for kaizen event or kaizen blitz. You may also hear it called rapid improvement project, or “RIP”. This type of project is generally a week long and includes: A day of training A day of process walk / initial planning Two days of making Read more…
A reaction plan is the series of steps that you would take in response to a specified abnormal condition. A reaction plan helps to minimize damage. It reduces the time between the occurrence of a problem and a stopgap. While a reaction plan is important, there is one big shortcoming. Read more…
The red tag system is simply a communication tool used to identify items that a person has flagged for removal from a work area. While the tagging is most frequently done during kaizen events, it can be done at any time. In a nutshell, when a person finds an item Read more…
Regulations are rules that are established by an authority. While the term is somewhat generic and can be used by any person or group in charge, this discussion will be limited to governmental agencies. In practice, most companies do not call their directives “regulations”. There are more likely to call Read more…
A strong continuous improvement culture requires extensive teamwork, and teamwork requires strong relationships. First of all, let’s start by defining what a relationship is. And its surface, a relationship is simply the way people or organizations behave toward each other. But there is also a deeper layer to relationships. They Read more…
Reliability is the ability of a process, machine, or measurement system to perform as intended over time. There is an underlying assumption that at one point, the ability to provide good results existed. The most common cause of a drop in reliability is the degradation of equipment. As machines wear Read more…
Repeatability is the ability for the same individual or team to get identical results from a process time after time. Essentially, repeatability is the opposite of output variation. When processes are not repeatable, the problem falls into three basic categories. A variation in inputs causes poor repeatability. A poor process Read more…
Repetition is the act of doing something the same way over and over again. Repetition helps provide stable outputs to a process by making the inputs consistent. Repetition has a side effect of creating muscle memory—the state where your body acts without conscious thought, much like walking. You don’t have Read more…
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a is a repetitive stress injury (RSI) of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel as it passes through the wrist area. This nerve controls the feeling and movement of the thumb and first three fingers. It causes a variety of symptoms that range from Read more…
Reproducibility is the ability of a process to be duplicated by multiple people. This concept is understood and highly valued in both the scientific method and when creating measurement systems. In fact, in gauge R&R, one of the “R’s” stands for reproducibility (the other is repeatability). We recognize that a Read more…
There is a common misconception that Lean is free. The truth is that making improvements requires a variety of resources. That’s not to say you have to spend a lot of money to make changes, but every project does require an investment. In fact, that is one of the big Read more…
Spend any time around Lean, or any other continuous improvement methodology, for that matter, and you will undoubtedly hear the term “Respect for People.” It is a simple concept that should act as a moral compass in how people do business. The fact is that a company does not have Read more…
Responsibility is the state of being accountable for something. It may be a team, a process, or an entire company. In general, responsibility is the cost of leadership. Being in charge means that a person has to make sure that things go as planned. Responsibility means having to answer for Read more…
Results are the outcomes or consequences of actions. In the continuous improvement world, results are most commonly viewed as the intended outcomes of an operation, organization, process, or project. This is in contrast to unintended side effects of a process. Actual results are compared to goals to indicate how effective Read more…
Rework is the act of correcting a defect. Rework is obviously waste, and can be avoided by eliminating the root cause of the problem. The further downstream rework is done from where the error originally occurred, the more the problem costs to correct. Rework is most commonly initiated after an Read more…
Production processes require assets to run them. You generally have choices. You can use a big machine that costs a lot of money but has tremendous functionality and flexibility. These machines, because of their cost, end up being used in several processes or for several products to defray the cost. Read more…
A variation of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (AKA the Deming Cycle), RIPS stands for Review-Implement-Prove-Standardize, and is a proven method of continuously improving Standard Work and other forms of process standardization. Processes should not be static. There should be a constant scrutiny on how to make them better. The best people Read more…
Risk management is the process of identifying risks, reducing them when possible, and making plans to deal with undesirable outcomes. Risk management can be done for an ongoing concern, such as a product line or company, or for an individual project, such as rolling out a new software package. Risk Read more…
It takes a lot of discipline to make sure you do a root cause analysis on problems rather than leaping to conclusions about what is going on. The definition of a root cause analysis is simply the act of going through a systematic process to identify the source of a Read more…
Mike Rother is an author of several books, two of which are associated with the LEI (Lean Enterprise Institute) and received the Shingo Publication Award. Mike is also affiliated with the University of Michigan. His biggest contribution to the Lean community lies in his promotion of the concept of value Read more…
A rule of thumb is simply a general process applied to a broad condition. They tend to have a wide-ranging application and are more based on accumulated experience and tribal knowledge than actual science. This is different from rules, regulations, Standard Work, and other forms of documented instructions. In those Read more…
There are countless quotes about rules, most of them negative. Rules are made to be broken. –unknown There are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something. –Thomas A. Edison Rules and models destroy genius and art. –William Hazlitt The common perception of rules is that they are stifling, Read more…
A run chart is a tool used to show a change in a value over a period of time. It depicts a time-ordered series of data plots with time on the X-axis (horizontal) and the value of the data on the Y-axis (vertical). Run charts are particularly powerful because they Read more…