# Lean Manufacturing Japanese Terms Glossary

> Source: https://netray.co/tools/lean-japanese-terms-glossary-reference
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Free Tools

## Short answer

A searchable list of common lean and Toyota Production System terms with plain English meaning and where each is used.

## Category

manufacturing

## Audience

- Lean practitioner
- Operations manager
- ERP consultant

## Tool

**Kind:** worksheet

**Mode:** reference

**Columns:**

#### Term

**Key:** term

**Type:** text

#### Literal sense

**Key:** literal

**Type:** text

#### Meaning in lean

**Key:** meaning

**Type:** text

#### Used in

**Key:** area

**Type:** text

**Rows:**

#### Andon

**Literal:** Lamp or signal

**Meaning:** A visual or audible signal that shows a problem so help arrives and the line can be stopped if needed.

**Area:** Jidoka, shop floor

#### Gemba

**Literal:** The actual place

**Meaning:** Where the work is done and value is created. Managers go to the gemba to see facts.

**Area:** Management practice

#### Genchi genbutsu

**Literal:** Go and see

**Meaning:** Go to the source and observe the real thing before deciding.

**Area:** Problem solving

#### Hansei

**Literal:** Reflection

**Meaning:** Honest reflection on what went wrong and what to improve next.

**Area:** Kaizen, learning

#### Heijunka

**Literal:** Leveling

**Meaning:** Leveling production by volume and mix so work flows evenly instead of in batches and peaks.

**Area:** Scheduling

#### Hoshin kanri

**Literal:** Policy deployment

**Meaning:** A method to align company goals with daily improvement activity at every level.

**Area:** Strategy

#### Jidoka

**Literal:** Automation with a human touch

**Meaning:** Build quality in by stopping automatically when an abnormality occurs.

**Area:** Quality, TPS pillar

#### Just-in-time (JIT)

**Literal:** In English

**Meaning:** Produce and deliver only what is needed, when it is needed, in the quantity needed.

**Area:** TPS pillar

#### Kaikaku

**Literal:** Radical change

**Meaning:** A fast, large step change in a process, as opposed to incremental kaizen.

**Area:** Improvement

#### Kaizen

**Literal:** Change for the better

**Meaning:** Continuous improvement by everyone, in small steps, every day.

**Area:** Improvement

#### Kanban

**Literal:** Signboard or card

**Meaning:** A signal that triggers replenishment or production in a pull system.

**Area:** Pull systems

#### Mizusumashi

**Literal:** Water spider

**Meaning:** A material handler who feeds lines on a fixed route and schedule.

**Area:** Logistics

#### Muda

**Literal:** Waste

**Meaning:** Any activity that consumes resources without adding customer value.

**Area:** Waste elimination

#### Mura

**Literal:** Unevenness

**Meaning:** Variation in workload or flow that creates peaks and idle time.

**Area:** Waste elimination

#### Muri

**Literal:** Overburden

**Meaning:** Unreasonable strain on people or equipment.

**Area:** Waste elimination

#### Nemawashi

**Literal:** Preparing the roots

**Meaning:** Building agreement informally before a formal decision.

**Area:** Change management

#### Obeya

**Literal:** Big room

**Meaning:** A room where project or production information is displayed and reviewed by the team.

**Area:** Visual management

#### Poka-yoke

**Literal:** Mistake proofing

**Meaning:** A device or method that prevents an error or makes it immediately obvious.

**Area:** Quality

#### Seiri

**Literal:** Sort

**Meaning:** First S of 5S. Remove what is not needed from the work area.

**Area:** 5S

#### Seiton

**Literal:** Set in order

**Meaning:** Second S. A place for everything and everything in its place.

**Area:** 5S

#### Seiso

**Literal:** Shine

**Meaning:** Third S. Clean the area and inspect while cleaning.

**Area:** 5S

#### Seiketsu

**Literal:** Standardize

**Meaning:** Fourth S. Make the first three S's the standard.

**Area:** 5S

#### Shitsuke

**Literal:** Sustain

**Meaning:** Fifth S. Discipline to maintain the standards as a habit.

**Area:** 5S

#### Shojinka

**Literal:** Flexible workforce

**Meaning:** Adjusting the number of operators to match demand through cross training and cell design.

**Area:** Staffing

#### Takt time

**Literal:** Beat or rhythm (German origin)

**Meaning:** Available production time divided by customer demand. The pace the customer sets.

**Area:** Flow

#### Yokoten

**Literal:** Across everywhere

**Meaning:** Sharing a successful improvement horizontally to other areas.

**Area:** Standardization

**Notes:** Takt is a German word adopted into the Toyota Production System. Literal senses are simplified for readability.

## Content

**Intro:** Lean vocabulary can sound like jargon on a first workshop. This glossary lists the Japanese and Toyota Production System terms you will meet most often, with a plain meaning and where each is used. Search it, print it for the team, or export it to Excel.

**Sections:**

#### How to use the glossary

**Body:** Type a term or keyword to filter. Use the Used in column to group terms by theme, for example 5S, pull systems or quality. Export the PDF as a one-page handout for the start of a kaizen event, so that everyone uses the same words. It is more effective to teach five terms that the team will use that week than to hand over a long vocabulary list on day one.

#### Terms that are easily confused

**Body:** Kaizen is small and continuous, while kaikaku is a radical change; both are needed. Jidoka is about stopping to prevent defects, while poka-yoke is about preventing the error from happening. Just-in-time and jidoka are the two pillars of the Toyota Production System house. Kanban is a signal and not a schedule: a card does not say when to make, only that stock has been consumed.

**Bullets:**

- Kaizen: continuous, daily, everyone.
- Kaikaku: radical, project based, led by management.
- Heijunka levels the schedule; takt sets the pace.

#### Terms in an ERP context

**Body:** Several terms map onto ERP functions. Kanban cards correspond to replenishment signals such as kanban control cycles or supermarket pull lists. Heijunka is reflected in leveled master scheduling and production versions. Takt time sets rate based planning and line capacity. Andon events can be logged as downtime reasons in MES. Knowing the mapping helps a lean team and an ERP team talk to each other.

#### Common mistakes

**Body:** The usual error is using the vocabulary as decoration without changing how work is done. Another is translating terms inconsistently: pick one meaning and use it across the site. Be careful with 5S in particular, where Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain are English approximations of the Japanese words and different sites use slightly different wording.

**Cta:** If you want lean signals such as kanban status, downtime reasons and leveled schedules visible in plain language from your ERP, we can discuss an on-prem natural language layer over your existing data.

**Faq:**

#### What does gemba mean?

**Answer:** Gemba means the actual place where work happens and value is created, such as the shop floor. In lean, managers are expected to go to the gemba to observe and talk to people rather than rely only on reports.

#### What is the difference between jidoka and poka-yoke?

**Answer:** Jidoka means building quality into the process by stopping the machine or line when an abnormality is detected. Poka-yoke is a mistake proofing device or method that prevents an error or makes it immediately visible. Poka-yoke is often one way to achieve jidoka.

#### What is takt time?

**Answer:** Takt time is the available production time divided by customer demand for the same period. It sets the pace at which you must complete a unit to meet demand. It is a target based on the customer, not the measured cycle time of the process.

#### Is heijunka the same as scheduling?

**Answer:** No. Heijunka is leveling production by both volume and product mix over time to remove peaks. It uses scheduling tools, but the idea is to smooth demand into a repeating pattern so that people and equipment are not overburdened.

## Search terms

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