| Backflush | Calculating how many of each part were used in production and using these calculations to adjust actual on-hand inventory balances. This eliminates the need to actually track each part used in production. |
| Freeze Window | The period of time during which the schedule is fixed and no further changes are possible. |
| Group Technology | A philosophy in which similar parts are grouped into families and the process required to make the parts are arranged in a specialized work cell. |
| Lean Production | Integrated activities designed to achieve high-volume high quality production using minimal inventories of raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. |
| Kanban and the Kanban Pull System | An inventory or production control system that uses a signaling device to regulate flows. |
| Level Schedule | A schedule that pulls material into final assembly at a constant rate. |
| Preventive Maintenance | Periodic inspection and repair designed to keep equipment reliable. |
| Quality at the Source | Philosophy of making factory workers personally responsible for the quality of their output. Workers are expected to make the part correctly the first time and to stop the process immediately if there is a problem. |
| Uniform Plant Loading (heijunka) | Smoothing the production flow to dampen schedule variation. |
| Value Stream Mapping | A graphical way to analyze where value is or isn’t being added as material flow through a process. |
