Japanese Quality Management Terms – Flash Cards

Click on the card to see the definition.

• Gembutsu
  Japanese word meaning 'real thing'. It is one of the components of the 'Three Reals' meaning go to the real place (gemba) to see the real thing (gembutsu) and collect the real facts (genjitsu).
• Heijunka
  Production leveling, means transforming the typical peaks and valleys of customer demand into something flatter.
• Mura
  Inconsistency or excess variation in either processes or demand.
• Kaikaku
  Revolutionary change. Where kaizen is generally evolutionary in nature, kaikaku requires radical shifts in thinking.
• Takt Time
  Tthe time which should be taken to produce a component or one vehicle.
• Pokayoke
  Mistake proofing or error proofing.
• Hanedashi
  A hanedashi device is an automatic part ejector.
• Mizusumashi
  A water spider or 'mizusumashi' in Japanese is a person who has a prescribed set of tasks to keep materials in stock at the point of use in production areas.
• Kaizen
  Series of activities whereby instances of wastes are eliminated one by one at minimal cost, by workers.
• Andon
  A type of visual control that displays the current state of work (i.e., abnormal conditions, work instructions, and job progress information).
• Jidoka
  Autonomation. The ability of production lines to be stopped in the event of problems.
• Genjitsu
  Japanese word meaning 'real facts'. It is one of the components of the 'Three Reals' meaning go to the real place (gemba) to see the real thing (gembutsu) and collect the real facts (genjitsu).
• Muri
  It means unreasonableness or overexertion.
• Muda
  Non-value added, usually translated as waste.
• Gemba
  Japanese word meaning 'real place'. It is one of the components of the 'Three Reals' meaning go to the real place (gemba) to see the real thing (gembutsu) and collect the real facts (genjitsu).
• Genchi Genbutsu
  Means go and see for yourself. Go see the problem.
• Hansei
  Hansei is a Japanese term that loosely translates to self-reflection.
• Hoshi Kanri
  Goals (with targets) and means for achieving it to address business priorities and to move the organization to a new level of performance.