1.0 INTRODUCTION
The requirement is to review a current article or situation relating to lean manufacturing or Toyota production system.
1.1 PURPOSE
The purpose of this assignment will provide an opportunity to evaluate the content and quality of an article or situation.
1.2 DEFINITIONS
Andon
A visual management tool that highlights the status of operations in an area at a single glance and that signals whenever an abnormality occurs. An andon, which is the Japanese term for “lamp,” can indicate production status (for example, which machines are operating), an abnormality (for example, machine downtime, a quality problem, tooling faults, operator delays, and materials shortages), and needed actions, such as change overs.

Five Whys
The practice of asking why repeatedly whenever a problem is encountered in order to get beyond the obvious symptoms to discover the root cause. The specific number five is not the point. Rather it is to keep asking until the root cause is reached and eliminated.

Heijunka
Japanese technique of achieving even output flow by coordinated sequencing of very small production batches throughout the manufacturing line in a lean production or just in time (JIT) system.

Jidoka
Japanese term that provides machines and operators the ability to detect when an abnormal condition has occurred and immediately stop work. This enables operations to build in quality at each process and to separate men and machines for more efficient work. Jidoka is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System along with just-in-time.
Jidoka highlights the causes of problems because work stops immediately when a problem first occurs. This leads to improvements in the processes that build in quality by eliminating the root causes of defects.

Kaizen
Japanese term for a gradual approach to ever higher standards in quality enhancement and