Terms from A-Z

The term Lean derives from the improvement methodologies developed, refined and applied to the specific business needs of Toyota. These methodologies are commonly referred to as the Toyota Production System (TPS) or the Toyota Business System. In its entirety, TPS has many techniques of implementation, methodologies for deployment and tools for tactical analysis. To be successful, all of the above must be supported by a management philosophy that creates a culture of continuous improvement. This combination of understanding, maturity and tactical skill, when developed and deployed properly, enables performance improvements through the identification and elimination of “waste”.

Simply Lean Management:

To improve your understanding of Lean terminology, this LPM Academy glossary serves.

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R

Random experiment

A random experiment is a process that can be repeated any number of times, the event and outcome of which remain undetermined, e.g. coin toss, dice roll, etc. (Source: GPM)

Raster sheet process

This technique for task structuring according to Jordt/Gscheidle provides for structuring the collected data on a grid sheet and presenting it as an outline tree. This method is flexible and user-friendly, as it can be applied at the respondent's workplace, at the organizer's workplace and in the development of structures. (Source: Mehrmann/Wirtz)

Rate of Operation

States the actual production levels being achieved by equipment. It is the percentage of total production capacity actually produced during regular work hours as determined by demand. (See also Operational Availability).

Reductionism

The (ontological) reductionism as a principle of thought in science and technology is based on the conviction that everything must merely be broken down into its parts in order to be able to understand, classify and evaluate the whole from the analysis of the parts. (Source: GPM)

Reengineering

The formal definition of reengineering is: fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of essential business processes in companies or parts of companies. The results are significant improvements in important and measurable performance indicators in the areas of costs, quality, service and time.

REFA

Association for Work Studies and Company Organization e.V.

Reference configuration

A reference configuration reflects all technical documents of a product and thus its configuration at a certain point in time. It is an essential element of configuration determination and forms the basis for further activities (e.g. deadline and cost determination, etc.). (Source: GPM)

Relation method

This technique is used for work packages that have dependency on other work packages. The work value of the dependent packages is set as a fixed ratio to the value of the parent work packages calculated using another method (e.g. the milestone method). In practice, this method is suitable e.g. for design reviews, reviews of produced pieces, etc. (Source: Mehrmann/Wirtz)

Relationship

Definition according to DIN: A relationship is a quantifiable dependency between events or processes.

Replacement process

Definition according to DIN 69900: A substitute operation is an operation that represents the operations substituted between two specific nodes.