Stuffing the Knowledge
This Japanese term means continuous improvement through small, incremental changes.
What is Kaizen?
This is the step in a process that limits overall flow.
What is a bottleneck?
This is the name for any activity in a process that doesn’t add value for the customer.
What is waste?
Teams often use this practice to review what worked well and what could improve after completing a project or task.
What is a reflection or retrospective?
Fill in the blank: “None of us is as strong as ___.”
What is all of us?
This term refers to “the real place” where the work actually happens.
What is Gemba?
This type of analysis is often used to identify whether delays are caused by people, materials, or equipment.
What is root cause analysis?
This Lean principle emphasizes removing activities that do not add value to the customer or process.
What is waste elimination (Muda)?
This is a tiny adjustment in a process that, when repeated consistently, can produce a dramatic improvement in overall efficiency.
What is an incremental improvement?
This approach uses repeated, small experiments to test changes, learn quickly, and improve processes incrementally.
What is iterative experimentation?
This type of Lean device prevents mistakes or defects from occurring.
What is Poka-yoke?
This tool is used to identify the root cause of a recurring bottleneck.
What is 5 Whys or a Fishbone Diagram?
Just like cleaning the kitchen before cooking Thanksgiving dinner, this Lean step keeps the workspace orderly and safe.
What is 5S – Shine?
Teams should review their processes with this type of regularity to improve them.
What is regularly – daily, weekly, or at defined intervals?
Consistent collaboration combined with small, incremental improvements ensures this.
What is team success over time?
This Lean tool visualizes workflow and highlights inefficiencies across a process.
What is Value Stream Mapping?
After relieving a bottleneck, this must be done to ensure efficiency hasn’t shifted to another part of the process.
What is re-evaluate the overall workflow?
This systematic approach identifies process inefficiencies by examining the sequence of steps and looking for delays, bottlenecks, or unnecessary actions.
What is process mapping or value stream mapping?
This mindset is about making continuous, incremental improvements consistently.
What is Better Every Day?
Open communication, dependability, and respect are behaviors essential for this type of work.
What is cross-functional teamwork?
These five Lean steps, performed in this exact order, help organize, clean, and maintain a workspace for efficiency.
What is 5S — Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain?
The most effective approach to prevent recurring bottlenecks is to do this continuously.
What is standardize processes and monitor performance?
This four-step iterative approach helps teams plan, implement, check results, and standardize improvements.
What is PDCA – Plan, Do, Check, Act?
This type of improvement occurs when employees proactively identify inefficiencies before they cause major issues.
What is anticipatory or proactive improvement?
This is the main “ingredient” that makes continuous improvement successful.
What is employee involvement or engagement?