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S Terms
"SMART" Goals
“SMART” is a commonly used mnemonic device that helps you set effective goals.
Safety
Safety is freedom from injury and harm. The most obvious freedom is from immediate bodily injury. Safety switches, gate, guards, etc.
Sakichi Toyoda
See: Toyoda, Sakichi
Savings
Continuous improvement focuses on cost reduction—the actual dollar savings that increase profit. The term “savings”, though, has many nuances to it.
Scalability
Scalability is the ability to easily ramp up or down to changing requirements.
Schedules
Schedules are an important part of a continuous improvement culture. Daily schedules are used for communication and coordination as well as to highlight problems and improvement activity.
Scientific Method
The scientific method is one of many problem solving techniques. There are 5 basic steps to the scientific method.
Scope
The scope is the boundary of something in business. It may apply to an agreement, contract, set of responsibilities, or project. The scope defines what is covered and what is not.
Seasonality
Seasonality is the regular pattern of peaks and valleys related to the time of year.
Selective Hearing Syndrome
Many Lean afflictions reduce the effectiveness of your continuous improvement efforts. One such affliction is Selective Hearing Syndrome.
Sensei
In Lean, the term sensei means “expert” or “master” and highlights the Japanese origin of modern Lean practices. Its use shows great respect to the recipient.
Sensors
Sensors are mechanical devices that are sensitive to their environment, and that communicate information about what they detect.
Separate People from Machine
People should not be standing watching machines or pulling levers. They are far more intelligent than that. Give them jobs that use that intelligence and sever their ties to machines.
Setup Reduction
Setup reduction is the act of lowering the time it takes to switch from one product to another.
Setup Time
Setup time is the time it takes to reconfigure a machine to run a different part. Setup consists of two basic categories. (Internal and External)
Seven Wastes
See: 7 Wastes
Shadow Board
A shadow board is typically pegboard, often painted white, with a colored outline for the tool below each hook.
Sharpen the Axe
There’s an old story about two lumberjacks who decided to have a contest to see who could chop the most wood. One was a young, energetic man who could chop relentlessly.
Shewhart, Walter A.
Walter Andrew Shewhart (March 18, 1891 – March 11, 1967) was an engineer, statistician, and physicist.
Shigeo Shingo
See: Shingo, Shigeo
Shingijutsu
This is a tricky entry. There is a lot of corporate politics, personal opinion, and vague memories that go into it.
Shingo Institute
The Shingo Institute is part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.
Shingo, Shigeo
Shigeo Shingo (January 8, 1909 – November 14, 1990) is one of the early pioneers of the Toyota Production System.
Shojinka
Shojinka is a form of flexible manufacturing, where the number of workers vary to match demand requirements.
Shook, John
John Shook is a Lean author, and currently (as of 2020) the chairman of the Lean Global Network and a senior advisor to the Lean Enterprise Institute.
Shop Floor
“Shop floor” is a generic term used to describe the work areas where production is done.
Shop Floor Phobia
“Go to Gemba” is a frequent refrain in Lean. It has two basic meanings. The first is that leaders should get down to the shop floor regularly to see what is happening.
Side Effects of Lean
While Lean and other continuous improvement efforts can make impressive changes in an organization, there are often some unintended side effects.
Simplicity
Simplicity is, simply put, the lack of complexity. In the modern world, complexity is looked upon as a sign of advancement and prowess. Simplicity is viewed as the earmark of an amateur.
Single Minute Exchange of Die
One of the core principles of Lean is to create flow. But flow is impossible to achieve with long setup times.
Six Sigma
“Six Sigma®” is one of two most common continuous improvement methods. Lean is the other.
Skew
Skew, in layman’s terms, means that data is distorted. The data points don’t fall evenly around the center of a distribution.
Skills
The simple definition of a skill is the ability to do something well or having a particular expertise in an activity.
SME (Formerly Society of Manufacturing Engineers)
SME is a non-profit organization that is geared towards helping companies with innovation and growth through the promotion of manufacturing technology.
SMED
SMED means “single minute exchange of die”. It is one of the great enablers of Lean manufacturing for the simple reason that it reduces batch sizes.
Smith, Bill
Bill Smith (1929-1993) is the little-known inventor of Six Sigma while working at Motorola.
Soft Savings
Soft savings are the intangible benefits of continuous improvement.
Solutions
Solutions in a Lean environment tend to be temporary. The rationale behind the statement lies within the term “continuous improvement”.
SOP / Standard Operating Procedure
SOPs are instructions that describe how to behave in a particular situation.
Spaghetti Charts
A spaghetti chart is a visual depiction of the flow of a person through their workstation. The spaghetti chart may also be used to depict the flow of information and materials as well.
Speaking in Negatives
When someone is happy, they say “I am happy.” They do not say, “I am not sad.
Special Cause Variation
Special cause variation is one of the two main categories of variation. Common cause, the other type, is the consistent, recurring fluctuation within a system, sometimes referred to as “noise”.
Specifications
Specifications are the stated design parameters of a product or service. Specifications can cover any of a variety of features, from physical dimensions, to operating range, to battery life.
Squirrel Chasing Syndrome
Another of several Lean afflictions, Squirrel Chasing Syndrome is the inability to remain focused on the goal or task at hand when something enticing comes into view.
Stability
The term stability is the tendency of something to keep its current state.
Staffing
Staffing in a Lean organization is a bit different than it would be in most other companies.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people that are vested in the outcome of something. They are not necessarily people who actually do the process, but they do have some skin in the game.
Stand-Up Meeting
A stand-up meeting is a quick team gathering to make sure that the day is properly planned out.
Standard Operating Procedures
See: SOP
Standard Work
In Lean, Standard Work is the cornerstone of any continuous improvement effort. It locks in gains and provides a foundation for future advances.
Standard Work-in-Process / Standard WIP
Standard work-in-process (or Standard WIP, or SWIP) is the designated minimum amount of material needed to keep your Standard Work flowing.
Standardization
Standardization is the act of establishing a specified condition, process, or practice.
Standards
A standard is a rule or principle that sets a minimum level of acceptable behavior.
Statistical Control
See: Control, Statistical
Stopgaps
Stopgaps are simply temporary measures put in place to prevent the defects from a known problem within a system, process, or product from escaping to a customer.
Stopwatch
Everyone, of course, knows what a stopwatch is. They may not, though, understand why someone is standing over them with one. In a Lean company, processes are based on facts and data.
Sunk Costs
A sunk cost is an expense that has already been incurred and has no bearing on future decisions.
Supervision
Supervision is the act of providing oversight to people or processes. The amount of direct supervision required is generally inversely proportionate to the structure of the operation.
Surveys
There are many ways to learn about your customers, vendors, or employees. You can watch how they behave. You can do research or purchase data about them.
SWAG
SWAG is an acronym, likely originating in the US Army, for “scientific wild-ass guess”.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a structured approach for assessing a project, new business venture, ongoing concern, or similar situation.
Symptoms
In the medical world, a symptom is just the visible evidence of a disease or injury. For example, swollen painful joints may be a symptom of arthritis, or nausea might be a symptom of food poisoning.