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P Terms
Pacemaker
An unlinked production environment is like an accordion. Some processes move faster than the average and some operate more slowly.
Paradigm / Paradigm Shift
A paradigm is a framework for thinking about something, usually a scientific or technical discipline.
Pareto Chart
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, comes from observations made by a 19th century Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto.
Pareto Principle
The Pareto principle is the result of the work of the 19th Century economist, Vilfredo Pareto. He realized that wealth in Italy was distributed unevenly, and mathematically proved his observation.
Pareto, Vilfredo
Vilfredo Pareto (July 15, 1848 - August 19, 1923) was an Italian thinker who practiced many disciplines. He was an engineer and philosopher, but he is most well-known for his work in economics.
Parkinson's Law
Cyril Northcote Parkinson first published this idea in The Economist in 1955. In essence, the concept says that work expands to fill the time available.
Patterns
A pattern is essentially a recurring “thing”. It could be behaviors, defects, markings, traffic, or anything else that can be observed or monitored.
Payback Period
Usually used in connection with a capital investment, a payback period is the length of time it will take to recoup the amount of money put into a project.
PDCA Cycle
The PDCA cycle is a structured problem-solving approach. It is also known as the Deming cycle, after Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the man credited with popularizing the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
PDSA / Plan Do Study Adjust
PDSA stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act, or less commonly, Plan-Do-Study-Adjust.
Peer Pressure
Just like any social group, there is pressure among coworkers to conform to the accepted group dynamic. This has a centering effect on a team.
Perfection
The concept of perfection provides one of the great philosophical quandaries of Lean. Like most continuous improvement disciplines, Lean promotes the relentless pursuit of waste reduction.
Pilot Project
Major changes are often hard to implement all at once. It may be because the technology or idea is not fully proven, or it may be a lack of resources in getting the bugs worked out.
Plan-Do-Check-Act
See: PDCA Cycle
Playbook, Production
A production playbook is basically a set of alternative options depending upon predictable situations.
Point-of-Use Inventory
“Point of use” is simply the practice of storing any inventory you have at the point where it will be used.
Poka Yoke
A good definition of poka yoke is simply “mistake proofing”.
Policy Deployment
Policy Deployment is the (usually) annual process of reviewing the strategic goals of an organization and aligning the company’s resources towards meeting those goals.
Practice
Practice is repeating a task in order to improve your skills. This doesn’t mean that it has to just be an exercise.
Precision
Precision is the state of having low variation. It is often incorrectly used synonymously with accuracy. Accuracy actually means being centered on the target, but can have a very wide spread.
Predictability
At the heart of standardization is predictability. Standardization provides a predictable pace, predictable quality, and a predictable lead time.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is the practice of using data to try to anticipate and avoid machine failures.
Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is the set of steps taken to avoid breakdowns in machines.
Priority Matrix
A priority matrix is a decision-making tool that helps, as the name implies, with prioritization. A common matrix will include the importance of an action (or problem) and the urgency of it.
Problem Solving
To understand problem solving, one must first have a clear definition of what a problem actually is. A problem is simply a gap between an expectation and reality.
Problems
A problem is an unwelcome situation that has a potentially adverse effect. Another way of looking at this is that a problem is a gap between what you think.
Procedures
The generally accepted definition of procedure in a Lean company is that it is the “how” of an operation. It is closely related to the term “process”.
Process
Processes are the bread and butter of continuous improvement. They are the series of linked actions (or steps, tasks, activities, operations, etc.) performed to reach a specific outcome.
Process Flow Chart
A process flow chart is a staple of Lean and other continuous improvement methods. It takes a process and transforms it into a visual representation of the flow of work.
Process Improvement
Process improvement is the act of reviewing a specific process to make it better. The degree of formality can be minimal, such as an immediate decision to change a method on the fly.
Process Map
A process map is a visual representation of how work flows through an operation. In practical Lean applications, it is often used synonymously with the term process flow chart.
Process Metrics
Metrics come in two basic flavors. One option is to measure the results of a process. This confirms that you did the right things and that you are on track.
Producer's Risk
Producer’s risk is the chance that a good product or batch will be rejected by an inspection. It is also known as Type I error, or alpha error.
Product Family
For the purposes of continuous improvement, a product family is a group of products that follows a similar series of process steps.
Production Plan
A production plan must answer four basic questions: What are we going to make? What does it take to make it? What do we have? What do we need?
Production Preparation Process
See: 3P / Production Preparation Process
Production, Over
See: Overproduction
Productivity
Productivity is the ratio of output to input.
Profit
Profit is the pile of money that is left over after all the bills are paid and the costs are tallied. There are many different types of profit for accounting purposes.
Projects
A project is a set of interconnected tasks intended to achieve a specific goal. It is characterized by having a fixed end. Projects can be either individual or collaborative in nature.
Pseudo Support Disorder
Having the support of your team is critical to the development of your continuous improvement culture.
Psychology of Lean
Lean tools are relatively simple to implement. Setting up a management system is significantly more complicated.
Pull System
A pull system (or pull production) is one in which items are only made, transferred, shifted, withdrawn, etc., when there is demand from a downstream customer.
Push System
A push system is one in which an upstream process sends work to a downstream process prior to the downstream process requesting it.