Category: Glossar – Englisch

OPEX or Operational Excellence represents the pursuit of cost leadership for a product in the market. It consistently aligns with the company’s strategy and is a core component of its vision and mission. By breaking down breakthrough goals and actions, these can be addressed and implemented effectively. The measures supporting a company’s strategy can be developed using a roadmap design. This involves not only creating a roadmap for Lean Management but also considering and developing it in conjunction with corporate or site development. This approach optimizes interfaces within the PMO (Portfolio Management) and ensures consistent execution. It quickly reveals costs and their benefits, along with a corresponding implementation plan detailing the necessary resources and capabilities.

OEE is a metric from Lean Management used to measure the effectiveness of a process or machine and to identify areas for improvement.

The Network diagram, one of the seven management tools in project management, is a technique for representing processes or their individual steps, as well as for analyzing, controlling and scheduling projects. It makes possible buffers visible and identifies the critical path, which allows no delays. The Network diagram consists of all project-relevant activities, which are grouped and ordered in the sequence of their execution. For each activity, the earliest possible start and end times are calculated based on its duration. Subsequently, backward from the last activity, the latest possible start and end times are derived.

Mura, or unevenness, refers to fluctuations or imbalances in a process or production. These fluctuations can affect various aspects, such as uneven workloads, demand variability, or production interruptions. Mura can lead to inefficient operations, overburdening of resources, and quality degradation. The goal of eliminating Mura is to create a consistent and stable work environment to ensure smooth production and consistent quality.

Muri, or overburden, refers to the strain on resources or personnel beyond their capacity limits. This can lead to excessive stress, errors, accidents and a decline in quality. Muri occurs when work schedules or processes are unrealistic or when resources are not properly planned or utilized. The goal of eliminating Muri is to ensure a balanced workload, use capacities effectively and avoid situations of overburden.

Muda, often translated as waste, refers to anything that does not create value for the customer and thus wastes resources. It can take various forms, such as excessive inventory, unnecessary movements or transportation, waiting times, unnecessary production steps, and more. The goal of eliminating Muda is to identify and remove this waste to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately maximize customer value.

Every process has variations, and measurement is a process. Variations can be systematic or random. In Six Sigma , Measurement System Analysis (MSA) is used to evaluate measurement results.

The term MSA comes from AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group). The MSA guidelines describe various methods to assess different aspects of measurement system capability:

▪ MSA Type 1 – Determination of bias (accuracy) and repeatability (precision)
▪ MSA Type 2 – Determination of repeatability and reproducibility
▪ MSA Type 3 – Similar to Type 2 but without operator influence (automated measurement systems)
▪ MSA Type 4 – Determination of the measurement system’s linearity
▪ MSA Type 5 – Determination of the measurement system’s stability
▪ MSA Type 6 – For gauge testing
▪ MSA Type 7 – Related to ISO 22514-7 (Bowker Test)

Kaizen is a philosophy for making continuous improvements through small steps. By implementing standards and quick solutions, waste can be reduced.

Kaizen uses the PDCA method (Plan, Do, Check, Act) for continuous process improvement. Employees are encouraged to make small daily improvements to continuously enhance all processes. Initially, Kaizen introduces standards through structured workplace organization. Over time, Kaizen evolves into a management philosophy. Kaizen boards are used to transparently display the status of current initiatives to all employees.

The term correlation is used when two factors, such as characteristics, events, or data, influence each other or are dependent on each other, meaning they are in an interrelationship. Changes in one factor can result in positive or negative effects on other related factors. Therefore, it is important to identify these interrelationships in product planning and problem analysis to ensure quality. A correlation coefficient can be used to determine whether a correlation exists, its type (positive/negative) and its strength. A correlation diagramis one of the tools used for graphical representation.

Location parameters are calculated to determine the central tendency of data. In everyday language, we refer to these as average values.