This type of work activity does not meet the criteria of value added work, mainly because a customer is not willing to pay for the product, service, activity or information.  However, the product, service, activity or information although not considered value added is necessary to either protect the company or comply with regulatory requirements. 

  Bias is a term frequently used in forecasting and six sigma.  Bias is the term used when a consistent deviation occurs from the mean/average.  

  Balance in terms of lean six sigma refers to the even distribution of work elements throughout an organization.  A state of balance would be an organization that levels distribution of "hands" performing work and keeps equal or level working times amongst the different types of operations found within the organization.  

See also: Heijunka

  Block Scheduling is a scheduling technique where "blocks of time" are set aside to different tasks or projects, such as:

• A few minutes.
• An hour.
• A week.
• A month.

  The balanced scorecard shows key metrics on a dashboard which provide key performance indicators and insight regarding four main areas of an organization: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes and Learning and Growth.  The balanced scorecard is used in strategic planning and management in a wide variety of industries.  For more in depth study of the balanced scorecard we recommend reading Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton's book titled The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action.

  A backlog is every customer order that has been received as an order that has not yet fulfilled the customers request.

  A bottleneck is the term used for any function, department, resource or facility whose needed capacity is less than the demand being placed upon it.

  The bullwhip effect can be described as an extreme change in the supply chain upstream that is normally triggered by a small change in demand downstream.  This often affects inventory levels which can shift from being on backorder to being in excess of the needed demand.  The general cause of these fluctuations within the supply chain is almost always related to communication.  As communication travels up the supply chain with various forms of waste and delay amounts, times and the accuracy tend to "whip" further from the actual need.  The one sure fire way to eliminate the bullwhip effect is to align supply with demand, including completely transparent communication and synchronization of the supply chain perfectly.  

Reference:  Apics Dictionary 2015 - Bullwhip effect.

  When you buff a car you place a thin layer of wax on the paint of the car.  This glossy wax helps protect the car's paint and body against elements like wind, weather and changes in environmental conditions.  Similarly buffer inventory is meant to help keep productions lines steady when changes in demand occur.  Some common examples of buffer inventory are:

1. Raw materials
2. Semi finished goods
3. backlogs strategically held in different centers.

Reference: Apics Dictionary 14'th Edition