Acronyms
This acronym stands for Practical Process Improvement.
PPI
When writing a problem statement, you want to do your best to not include this in your statement.
A solution
The symbol used for a process step.
Square/Rectangle
What is the tool which we use to record our PPI ideas?
Rever
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Short
This acronym showcases the 8 types of waste.
DOWNTIME
When writing a problem statement, you should start with this word since you are describing what is happening in the process right now.
Currently
The symbol used at the start and end of the process map.
Circle/Oval
There are over 100 of these type of PPI events which are submitted into Rever each year. What are these quick & easy projects called?
JDI or Just Do It's
A sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece. Which has the most?
An hourglass—It has thousands of grains of sand.
PDSA is the Thermo Fisher PPI lifecycle. What does PDSA stand for?
Plan, Do, Study, Act
Each problem statement will have how many problems within it.
One
The symbol used for a decision point in a process map.
Diamond
There are usually 1 or 2 of this type of PPI events a year. They are large scale and usually decided upon by the Steering Committee or senior leadership.
Kaizen
Paul’s height is six feet, he’s an assistant at a butcher’s shop, and wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh?
Meat.
The purpose of this tool is to make and maintain an organized, clean, high-performing, and safe workplace for increased work efficiency and motivation.
Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain
5S
What is one of the 5 tenants of a problem statement.
Concise
Specific
Measurable
Includes 1 problem
No implied solution
This is the more granular process map view. This view will allow for decision points and can have as many steps as the process allows for without descending into the 1-foot granular view.
500-foot view
This tool means to go to where the work is being done – it is a great way for individuals to observe what is occurring in a process, ask questions, listen, and engage those doing the work
Gemba Walk
A man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat. How did the dog do it?
The river was frozen.
This acronym stands for a simple, standardized approach to problem solving, enacted when there is a gap to performance with no immediately visible solution, or when a problem is encountered that was supposedly previously solved. We use this when we want to solve for the true issue and not a symptom.
RCCM
It is important to have this in your problem statement to show why your problem is something that should be solved for. Helps build your business case.
Data/Numbers
When we see loops or backwards flow in the process map this is a good indicator that there is what present?
Waste.
This tool is used in conjunction with pareto analysis to find a data driven root cause. This tool is very basic, and children are known to use it in daily conversations.
5 Why
Forrest left home running. He ran a ways and then turned left, ran the same distance and turned left again, ran the same distance and turned left again. When he got home, there were two masked men. Who were they?
The catcher and the umpire.