 Click on the Picture to Subscribe on YouTube! Standard costs are actually estimates of the actual costs in a company’s production process. These estimates are used because knowing the exact costs would be impossible until the process is performed. Another way to think of standard costs is as the target or budgeted costs involved in a businesses processes. Standard costs usually include: material costs, labor costs and overhead costs.
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The specific identification inventory valuation method is used to track each and every item in your inventory individually. This includes the time it enters the inventory until the time it leaves it. Let’s not get confused here, specific identification is different from LIFO and FIFO. LIFO and FIFO groups pieces of inventory together based on when they were purchased and how much they cost, while specific identification identifies and tracks every piece of inventory individually. The specific inventory method tags or marks each item with its purchase cost and any additional costs that are incurred in the transformation process until it is sold.
 Click on the photo to subscribe to our YouTube! Whether it’s materials or information, if the inventory is not there when a customer wants it, chances are they will go somewhere else to find it. Next, revenue is lost and then it gets worse and worse. For example if inventory is not available throughput is decreased, waste is introduced and supply chains slow down. With that being said, many traditional manufacturers and service providers use a type of inventory known as Safety Stock to solve these sometimes catastrophic issues. In this module we will introduce you to Safety Stock.
 Click on the picture to visit our Training Page. A subassembly is used to build an assembly. A subassembly is not a component, it is an assembly that is used in a higher level of a bill of materials.
 Click on the photo above to see Lean Strategies International LLC's Services. Single minute exchange of die is a concept developed by Shigeo Shingo which seeks to perform all setup/changeover times under ten minutes (single minute).
The video above is from Lean Strategies International LLC's Quick Changeover with REDUCE Course. A setup is the work required to change a specific machine, resource, work center or line from making the last good piece of an item to making the first good piece of another item. This includes the preparation and adjustments that are performed until the first good piece is processed.
Six Sigma is a strategy that gives organizations a structured means to improve business processes and solve problems. The result of improved business processes leads to increased performance, reduced defects, reduced variation, improved use of capital and resources and more stable and consistent results/outputs.
 Click on the photo above to see Lean Strategies International LLC's Services. Standard work is a detailed definition of the current agreed-upon steps needed for a person to complete one work cycle in the absolute best and most reliable method possible.
 Click on the photo above to see Lean Strategies International LLC's Services. The STANDARDS Methodology is a simple 9 step process that can be used as a method for standardizing.
Strategy is defined as a plan or method chosen to bring about a desired future. Such as; the achievement of a goal, objective, countermeasure or solution to a problem. In other words strategy reveals how you will inspire or marshal all of your resources to come together in an efficient and effective manner while working towards a defined mission or goal.
 Click on the photo above to see Lean Strategies International LLC's Services. A standard is a rule, example or guideline of how to perform an activity correctly. Standards should be the best known way of performing, building or producing a product, task, process or service. All standards should set clear expectations.
 Click here to purchase this helpful reminder. The seven management and planning tools are often referred to as the seven new tools. This set of tools was developed, tested and used by the Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). The seven new tools are:
 Seasonality is the characteristic of data that is predictable and more often than not can be seen in predictable and repetitive patterns. The patterns can occur: annually (or longer), monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, by the minute, second or less if you can measure it.
 Setup time is the time required for a specific machine or resource to convert from the production of the last good piece to the next pieces first good part.
 A spaghetti diagram is a tool used to track the amount of movement or distance traveled by a worker or materials. You can then use a spaghetti diagram to analyze what you tracked and improve the flow. As a tool that is used in the analysis of process flows, a spaghetti diagram reveals redundancy in processes and helps users to identify various forms of waste.
The name comes from the reference of laying spaghetti noodles out to show the flow of materials or workers.  Click here to purchase a copy. The Sales and Operations or S&OP processes mission is to balance supply and demand at an aggregate level, to align operational planning with financial planning, and to link strategic planning with tactical/operational planning. It does this through a series of meetings which are designed to guide a group of individuals towards consensus of "ONE" plan.
 Strategic drivers are the forces or factors that are influential in an organizations strategy.
 Photo Credit: Working Mouse Scope Creep is a common challenge in project management. Scope Creep is sometimes referred to as Scope Slip. Scope Creep is any activity that was not part of the initial plan for a project. It often can be seen in activities, services or additional features that are not covered in a project quote, out of the initial timeline or characteristics that are not within tolerance. To prevent scope creep improvements must be monitored closely often on a very granular perspective so that the outputs do not exceed to the initial agreements and do not fall outside of timelines, project costs or quality.
 Click here to learn more about standard costing. Standard costing is a predetermined or estimated cost of performing a service, operation or producing goods. Standard costing takes into account the volume and rate of items or services to calculate costs. For more information on standard costing click on the link below.
 The scatter diagram graphs pairs of numerical data, with one variable on each axis, to look for a relationship between them. If the variables are correlated, the points will fall along a line or curve. The better the correlation, the tighter the points will hug the line.
Reference: ASQ - Scatter Diagram  Click here to enroll in the 8 forms of waste and complete the ©STUDY activity. The ©STUDY activity was inspired by Mr. Taiichi Ohno's famous stand in the circle training method. Whether you're a consultant looking to add to your repertoire, an organization looking for a specific training method or an individual trying to develop their skill set in identifying waste, the ©STUDY activity is a perfect way to help employees:
The ©STUDY Activity is included in the 8 Forms of Waste Course, The Introduction to Lean Course and The ©Gemba Methodology Course.  Like many other areas that lean is applied to a company's supply chain or "extended value stream" is a tightly linked set of processes. These processes extend beyond one's organization and connect the entire system together. The Apics dictionary ©2015 defines the term supply chain as the global network used to deliver products and services from raw materials to end customers through and engineered flow of information, physical distribution and cash. This includes everything from purchasing, manufacturing, moving, storing and selling.
Lean principles and concepts can be applied to this global network just like it can be applied to our door to door value streams. Some benefits of applying lean principles to the supply chain are:
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