Continuous Improvement

Lean is a manufacturing philosophy derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) that focuses on eliminating waste (mu…

DMAIC is the structured problem-solving roadmap at the heart of Six Sigma. Each phase has specific tools and deliverable…

5S is a lean workplace organisation system from Japan: Sort (seiri), Set in order (seiton), Shine (seiso), Standardise (…

Kaizen (Japanese for "change for good") is the practice of making small, continuous improvements involving all employees…

OEE measures how effectively a manufacturing operation uses its equipment. It combines three factors: Availability (how …

Poka-yoke (Japanese for "mistake proofing") is a lean quality technique that designs processes and equipment so that err…

The fishbone diagram (also called the Ishikawa diagram or cause-and-effect diagram) is a visual brainstorming tool for i…

The 5 Whys is a simple but powerful root cause analysis technique where you ask "Why?" repeatedly (typically 5 times) un…

Six Sigma is a data-driven quality improvement methodology that aims to reduce process variation to achieve fewer than 3…

Value Stream Mapping is a lean technique for visualising all the steps — value-added and non-value-added — in the flow o…

SMED is a lean technique for reducing the time required to change over manufacturing equipment from producing one produc…