Glossary

ABC Analysis 
This is based on a Pareto Analysis, grouping units usually according to the share of annual cost. Units having an 80% annual cost are considered in the ‘A’ classification, units with the bottom 5% share are ‘C’ items and units with costs in between are in the ‘B’ category.
Activity Network Diagram 
This is a network analysis technique to allow a team to find the most efficient path and realistic schedule of a project by graphically showing the completion time and sequence of each task.
Affinity Diagram 
This is used to generate a number of ideas by a team and then organise natural groupings among them to understand the essence of a problem.
AI 
Artificial Intelligence is demonstrated by technology as opposed to natural intelligence displayed by living creatures.
ASHP 
Air source heat pump.
Bar Chart 
This is also known as a Gantt Chart and indicates scheduling activities. Horizontal bars show the various activities with the length of the bar proportional to the duration of a particular activity.
Benchmarking 
This is the rating of an organisation's products, processes and performances with other organisations in the same or another business. The objective is to identify the gaps with competitors and the areas for improvement.
Best Practice 
Best practice refers to any organisation that performs as well or better than the competition in quality, timeliness, flexibility and innovation. Best practice should lead to a world class performance.
Big Data Analytics 
Big Data Analytics involve complex applications with predictive models and what-if analysis by the analytics system.
Black Belts 
These are experts in Six Sigma methods and tools. Tools include statistical analysis. Black Belts are project leaders for Six Sigma initiatives and also train other staff members in Six Sigma techniques.
Blockchain 
This is a type of database of information structured in table format to allow for easier searching for specific information.
BPR 
Business Process Re-engineering has been described as a manifesto for revolution. The approach is similar to taking a clean piece of paper and starting all over again by identifying what is really needed to make the mission of the organisation happen.
Brainstorming 
This is a free-wheeling group session for generating ideas. Typically, a group meeting of about seven people will be presented with a problem. Each member will be encouraged to make suggestions without fear of criticism. One suggestion will lead to another. All suggestions, no matter how seemingly fanciful, are recorded and subsequently analysed.
BWR 
This is a Boiling Water Reactor in a nuclear power plant.
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent 
Also expressed as CO2e, this is a metric measure of greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide tonnes to compare the global warming potential from various greenhouse gases.
Carbon Footprint 
A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide or its equivalent of other GHG emissions. A carbon footprint can be measured by undertaking a GHG emissions assessment of an individual, organisation or a country.
Cause and Effect Diagram 
The cause and effect, fishbone or Ishikawa diagram was developed by Kaoru Ishikawa. The premise is that generally when a problem occurs the effect is very obvious, and the temptation is to treat the effect. With the Ishikawa approach the causes of the effect are sought. Once the cause is known and eliminated the effect will not be seen again.
CCS 
Carbon Capture and Storage is another version of Direct Air Capture.
CGIAR 
Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research.
Check Sheet 
This is a method of systematically recording data from historical sources or observations as they happen. The patterns and trends can be clearly detected and shown.
CIM 
Computer-integrated Manufacturing.
Circular Economy 
It aims for a world without waste by recycling and reusing. It is also an important tenet of Green Six Sigma.
Cloud Computing 
This is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power.
Continuous Improvement 
This is always looking for ways to improve a process or a product, but not necessarily making radical step changes. If the basic idea is sound then building on it will improve quality. In Japan this is known as Kaizen.
Control Chart 
This is a tool in Statistical Process Control to monitor the number of defects found in a product or a process over time and study the variation and its source.
COP 
Conference of Parties organised every year to review the progress of climate change initiatives.
COPQ 
The cost of poor quality is made up of costs arising from internal failures, external failures, appraisal, prevention and lost opportunity costs – in other words, all the costs that arise from non-conformance to a standard. Chapter 3 discusses COPQ in some detail.
CO2 ppm 
This is the measurement of CO2 concentration expressed as parts per million per unit volume of water.
CPFR 
Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment aims to enhance supply chain integration of stakeholders through joint visibility and replenishment of products.
CRM 
Customer relationship management is the development of the database and strategies necessary to have the maximum client relationships in terms of quality, cost, reliability and responsiveness.
CSR 
Corporate social responsibility.
CTQs 
In Six Sigma CTQs are referred to as critical to quality. This simply means the identification of factors that are critical for the achievement of a level of quality.
Cycle Time 
This is the elapsed time between two successive operations or the time required to complete an operation.
DAC 
Direct Air Capture is a device that absorbs CO2 and the output is stored.
DFSS 
Design for Six Sigma; see Chapter 9 for a detailed discussion. The steps are Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Validate.
Digital Six Sigma (DSS) 

This is reported to be a revitalization of Six Sigma methodology by Motorola through the following improvements:

  • Leveraging new digital tools to drive project success
  • Digitizing business processes to ‘permanently’ enforce optimal process compliance
  • Tracking vital processes through digital databases
  • ‘Permanently’ and proactively eliminating sources of variation that cause defects
DMADV
Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify. It is a modified version of DMAIC for Research and Development.
DMAIC
This is the cycle of Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. It is an integral part of a Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma initiative.
DMAIC Lite 
This is the DAMAIC process for SMEs.
DMAICS 
This is the cycle of DMAIC with an additional for Sustainability. It is an integral part of a Green Six Sigma initiative.
DOE 
This is the process of examining options in the design of a product or service. Controlled changes of input factors are made and the resulting changes to outputs noted. Losses from poor design include not only direct loss to the company from reworking and scrap, but includes for the user downtime due to equipment failure, poor performance and unreliability.
DPMO 
Defects per million opportunities. This is the basic measure of Six Sigma. It is the number of defects per unit divided by the number of opportunities for defects multiplied by 1,000,000. This number can be converted into a Sigma value. For example, Six Sigma = 3.4 per million opportunities.
E-business 
Electronic-business is more than the transfer of information using information technology. E-business is the complex mix of processes, applications and organizational structures.
EDE 
Electronic Data Exchange.
EFQM 
The European Foundation for Quality Management is derived from the American Malcom Baldridge Quality award. It is an award for organisations that achieve world class performance as judged by independent auditors against a checklist.
Electrofuel 
Net-zero carbon-free fuel produced by combining the hydrogen in water and the carbon from CO2.
EPA 
Environment Protection Agency in the USA.
ERP 
Enterprise Resource Planning is the extension of MRPII systems to the management of complete business functions including finance and human resources.
ETS 
Emission Testing System.
EV 
Electric vehicle.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis 
FMEA was developed in the aerospace and defence industries. It is a systematic and analytical quality planning tool for identifying new products or services, at the design stage, what could go wrong during manufactures, or when in use by the customer. It is also a tool for risk analysis.
First Pass Yield 
FPY, also known as Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY), is the ratio of the number of completely defects free without any kind of rework during the process units at the end of a process and the total number of units at the start of a process. The theoretical throughput rate is often regarded as the number of units at the start of the process. RTY/FPY is used as a key performance indicator to measure overall process effectiveness.
Fishbone Diagram 
The fishbone, Ishikawa, or cause and effect diagram, was developed by Kaoru Ishikawa. The premise is that generally when a problem occurs the effect is very obvious and the temptation is to treat the effect. With the Ishikawa approach the causes of the effect are sought. Once the cause is known and eliminated the effect will not be seen again.
Fit Sigma 
Also see Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma and Lean Sigma. Fit Sigma incorporates all the advantages and tools of TQM, Six Sigma and Lean Sigma. The aim is to get an organisation healthy (fit) by using appropriate tools for the size and nature of the business (fitness for purpose) and to sustain a level of fitness. Fit Sigma is a holistic approach.
Flow Process Chart 
A flow process chart sets out the sequence of the flow of a product or a procedure by recording all the activities in a process. The chart can be used to identify steps in the process, value adding activities and non-value adding activities.
Gantt Chart 
See Bar Chart.
GCP 
The Global Carbon Projects established in 2001 as a global research project on carbon emissions.
GEF 
The Global Environmental Faculty set up in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit.
Green Belts 
These are staff trained to be Six Sigma project leaders. They work under the guidance of Black Belts (see Black Belts).
Greenhouse Gases 
Polluting gases in the environment causing global warming. These are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour and ozone.
Green Premium 
This is the difference between the cost of a green solution and the existing option.
Green Six Sigma 
This is an adaptation of Lean Six Sigma and FIT SIGMA for climate change initiatives.
GSHP 
Ground source heat pump.
Histogram 
A histogram is a descriptive and easy to understand chart of the frequency of occurrences. It is a vertical bar chart with the height of each bar representing the frequency of an occurrence.
ICAP 
International Carbon Action Partnership.
IEA 
International Energy Agency.
IoT 
Internet of Things to describe a network of physical objects connected by sensors with the Internet.
IPCC 
The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change is the most effective body of international scientists to monitor climate change activities.
IPMVP 
The International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol.
IPO (Input Process Output) Diagram 
All operations or processes have inputs and outputs. The process is the conversion of inputs into outputs. Analysis of inputs should be made to determine factors that influence the process, for example input materials from suppliers meeting specification, delivery on time and so on.
Ishikawa 
The Ishikawa, or fishbone, or cause and effect diagram was developed by Kaoru Ishikawa. The premise is that generally when a problem occurs the effect is very obvious, and the temptation is to treat the effect. With the Ishikawa approach the causes of the effect are sought. Once the cause is known and eliminated the effect will not be seen again.
ISO 9000 
To gain ISO 9000 accreditation an organisation has to demonstrate to an accredited auditor that they have a well-documented standard and consistent process in place that achieves a defined level of quality or performance.
JIT 
Just in Time was initially a manufacturing approach where materials are ordered to arrive just when required in the process, no output or buffer stocks are held and the finished product is delivered direct to the customer. Lean Six Sigma incorporates the principals of JIT.
Kaizen 
Kaizen is a Japanese word derived from a philosophy of gradual day by day betterment of life and spiritual enlightenment. This approach has been adopted in industry and means gradual and unending improvement in efficiency and/or customer satisfaction. The philosophy is doing little things better so as to achieve a long-term objective.
Kanban 
Kanban is the Japanese word for card. The basic kanban system is to use cards to trigger movements of materials between operations in production so that a customer order flows through the system.
KPIs 
Key performance indicators include measurement of performance such as asset utilisation, customer satisfaction, cycle time from order to delivery, inventory turnover, operations costs, productivity, and financial results (return on assets and return on investment).
Kyoto Protocol 
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto in December 1997 by 192 countries. It extends the 1992 UNFCCC objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the scientific consensus on global warming.
Lean Six Sigma 
Also see Just in Time (JIT). Lean Six Sigma was initially a manufacturing approach where materials are ordered to arrive just when required in the process, no output or buffer stocks are held and the finished product is delivered direct to the customer. Lean Six Sigma incorporates the principals of Six Sigma and is related to the supply chain from supplier and supplier's supplier through the process to the customer and the customer's customer.
MFA 
Material Flow Analysis is an analytical method to quantify and balance the flow of materials in a well-defined system.
Minitab 
This is a statistical package developed at the Pennsylvania State University and distributed by Minitab Inc. Today, Minitab is often used in conjunction with the implementation of Six Sigma and other statistics-based process improvement methods.
Mistake Proofing 
Refers to making each step of production mistake free. This is also known as Poka Yoke, which was developed by Shingo (also see SMED) and has two main steps: (1) preventing the occurrence of a defect and (2) detecting the defect.
Monte Carlo Technique 
This is a simulation process. It uses random numbers as an approach to model the waiting times and queue lengths and also to examine the overall uncertainty in projects.
MRP (II) 
Manufacturing resource planning is an integrated computer-based procedure for dealing with all of the planning and scheduling activities for manufacturing, and includes procedures for stock re-order, purchasing, inventory records, cost accounting and plant maintenance.
MRV 
Monitoring Reporting and Verification standards are used to monitor progress as part of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Mudas 

Muda is the Japanese for waste or non-value adding. The seven activities that are considered are:

  • Excess production, Waiting, Conveyance, Motion, Process, Inventory and Defects.
NDC
Nationally determined contributions are plans and targets for the participating countries of the Paris Climate Agreement.
NGO
Non-governmental Organisation.
NLGCC 
The National Leading Group on Climate Change in China.
Nominal Group Technique 
This is a brainstorming tool for a team to come to a consensus on the relative importance of ideas by completing importance rankings into a team's final priorities.
Normal Distribution 
Normal distribution, or Gaussian Distribution, is a graph of the frequency of occurrence of a random variable. The distribution is continuous, symmetrical, bell shaped and the two tails extend indefinitely.
OEE 
Overall Equipment Effectiveness is the real output of a machine. It is given by the ratio of the good output and the maximum output of the machine for the time it is planned to operate.
Pareto 
Wilfredo Pareto was a nineteenth century Italian economist who observed that 80% of the wealth was held by 20% of the population. The same phenomenon can often be found in quality problems. This is also known as the 80/20 rule.
Paris Climate Agreement 
The Paris Climate Agreement (also known as the Paris Accord) is an international treaty on the climate crisis. Its stated aim is to radically reduce global carbon emissions and restrict the rise in the Earth's temperature to less than 2 degrees centigrade. This treaty was signed by all 189 participating countries in Paris in December 2015 at COP 21.
PDCA 
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle was developed by Dr W.E. Deming. It refers to: Planning the change and setting standards; Doing, making the change happen; Checking that what is happening is what was intended (standards are being met); and Act, taking action to correct back to the standard.
Performance Charts 
These show that upper control limits (UCL) and lower control limits (LCL) are used to show variations from the specification. Within the control limits performance will be deemed to be acceptable. The aim should be over time to reduce the control limits.
PESTLE 
Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Legal and Environmental is an analytical tool for assessing the impact of external contexts on a project or a major operation and also the impact of a project on its external contexts. There are several possible contexts.
PET 
This stands for polyethylene terephthalate. It is a form of polyester that is recyclable.
PEV 
Plug-in electric vehicle.
PM 2.5 
Pollution for particulate matter.
Poka Yoke 
This refers to making each step of production mistake-free. This is known as mistake proofing. Poka Yoke was developed by Shingo (also see SMED) and has two main steps: (1) preventing the occurrence of a defect and (2) detecting the defect.
Process Capability 
Process capability is the statistically measured inherent reproducibility of the output (product) turned out by a process that is within the design specifications of the product.
Process Mapping 
Process Mapping is a tool to represent a process by a diagram containing a series of linked tasks or activities that produce an output.
Project 
A project is a unique item of work for which there is a financial budget and a defined schedule.
Project Charter 
A Project Charter is a working document for defining the terms of reference of each Six Sigma project. The charter can make a successful project by specifying necessary resources and boundaries that will in turn ensure success.
Project Management 
This involves the planning, scheduling, budgeting and control of a project using an integrated team of workers and specialists.
PV System 
Photovoltaic System in solar energy.
QFD 
Quality Function Deployment is a systematic approach of determining customer needs and designing the product or service so that it meets the customer's needs first time and every time.
Quality Circles 
Quality circles are teams of staff who are volunteers. The team selects issues or areas to investigate for improvement. To work properly teams have to be trained, firstly in how to work as a team (group dynamics) and secondly in problem-solving techniques.
Quality Project Teams 
Quality project teams are a top-down approach to solving a quality problem. Management determines a problem area and selects a team to solve the problem. The advantage over a quality circle is that this is a focused approach, but the disadvantage might be that members are conscripted rather than volunteers.
Regression Analysis 
This is a tool to establish the ‘best fit’ linear relationship between two variables. The knowledge provided by the scatter diagram is enhanced with the use of regression.
Rolled Throughput Yield 
Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY), aka First Pass Yield (FPY), is the ratio of the number of completely defects free without any kind of rework during the process units at the end of a process and the total number of units at the start of a process. The theoretical throughput rate is often regarded as the number of units at the start of the process. RTY/FPY is used as a key performance indicator to measure overall process effectiveness.
RU/CS 
Resource Utilisation (RU) and Customer Service (CS) Analysis is a simple tool to establish the relative importance of the key parameters of both Resource Utilisation and Customer Service and to identify their conflicts.
Run Chart 
This is a graphical tool to study observed data for trends or patterns over a specific period of time.
5 S's 
These represent a set of Japanese words for excellent house keeping (Sein – Sort, Seiton – Set in place, Seiso – Shine, Seiketso – Standardise and Sitsuke – Sustain).
SaaS 
Software as a Service is a software licensing model in which software is licensed on a subscription or rental basis.
SAF 
Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
S & OP 
Sales and Operations Planning is derived from MRP and includes new product planning, demand planning, supply review, to provide weekly and daily manufacturing schedules, and financial information.
Scatter Diagrams 
These diagrams are used to examine the relationship between two variables. Changes are made to each and the results of changes are plotted on a graph to determine cause and effect.
SCM 
Supply chain management.
Sigma 
Sigma is the sign used for standard deviation from the arithmetic mean. If a normal distribution curve exists one sigma represents one standard deviation either side of the mean and accounts for 68.27% of the population. This is more fully explained in Chapter 3.
SIPOC 
This is a high level map of a process to view how a company goes about satisfying a particular customer requirement in the overall supply chain. SIPOC stands for supplier, input, process, output and customer.
Six Sigma 
Six Sigma is a quality system that in effect aims for zero defects. Six sigma in statistical terms means six deviations from the arithmetic mean. This equates to 99.99966% of the total population, or 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
SME 
Small and medium enterprise with a staff headcount of less than 250.
SMED 
The Single Minute Exchange of Dies was developed for the Japanese automobile industry by Shigeo Shingo in the eighties and involves the reduction of a changeover of production by an intensive work study to determine in-process and out-process activities and then to systematically improve the planning, tooling and operations of the changeover process.
SoQ 

The Signature of Quality is a self-assessment process supported by a checklist covering:

  • Customer focus, Innovation, Personnel and Organisational Leadership, use of Technology and Environment and Safety issues. It is useful in Fit Sigma for establishing a company ‘health’ report.
SPC
Statistical Process Control (SPC) uses statistical sampling to determine if the outputs of a stage or stages of a process are conforming to a standard. Upper and lower limits are set and sampling is used to determine if the process is operating within the defined limits.
SPSS
The Statistical Process for the Social Sciences is a software used for interactive statistical analysis.
SUD 
Sustainable Drainage System.
SUV 
A sport utility vehicle combines features of road-going passengers and raised ground clearance with a four-wheel drive.
SWOT 
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is a tool for analysing an organisation's competitive position in relation to its competitors.
The Seven Wastes 

Also see Mudas. Muda is the Japanese for waste or non-value adding. The seven activities that are considered are:

  • Excess production, Waiting, Conveyance, Motion, Process, Inventory and Defects.
Tolerance Charts
Upper control limit (UCL) and lower control limit (LCL) are used to show variations from specification. Within the control limits performance will be deemed to be acceptable.
TPM 
Total Productive Maintenance requires factory management to improve asset utilisation by the systematic study and elimination of major obstacles – known as the ‘six big losses’ – to efficiency. The ‘six big losses’ in manufacturing are breakdown, set-up and adjustment, minor stoppages, reduced speed, quality defects and start-up and shut-down.
TPS 
Toyota Production System.
TQM 
Total Quality Management is not a system it is a philosophy embracing the total culture of an organization. TQM goes far beyond conformance to a standard, it requires a culture where every member of the organisation believes that not a single day should go by without the organisation in some way improving its efficiency and/or improving customer satisfaction.
UCL/LCL 
Upper control and lower control limits are used to show variations from a specification. Within the control limits performance will be deemed to be acceptable. The aim should be over time to reduce the control limits.
UNEP 
United Nations Environment Programme.
UNFCCC 
United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change.
Value Analysis 
Very often a practice in purchasing is the evaluation of the expected performance of a product relative to its price.
Value Chain 
Also known as Porter's Value Chain for, according to Michael Porter, the competitive advantage of a company can be assessed only by seeing the company as a total system. This ‘total system’ comprises both primary and secondary activities.
Value Stream Mapping 
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a visual illustration of all activities required to bring a product through the main flow, from raw material to the stage of reaching the customer.
World Class 
World class is the term used to describe any organisation that is making rapid and continuous improvement in performance and who is considered to be using ‘best practice’ to achieve world class standards.
Zero Defects 
Philip Crosby made this term popular in the late seventies. The approach is right thing, right time, right place and every time. The assumption is that it is cheaper to do things right the first time.
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