LEANTA · Dictionary
The operator’s
dictionary.
Plain-language definitions of the terms that decide whether a floor makes money — each with an operator’s layer: the first lever to pull, the common misreading, and what good looks like. Sourced to the primary literature, not to other glossaries. A new term lands every fortnight.
OEE
One number, three honest questions — and the most misquoted metric on any factory floor.
Definition + operator’s layer →
OEE componentAvailability
Of the time it was scheduled to run, how much did it actually run?
Definition + operator’s layer →
OEE componentPerformance rate
While it ran, did it run at the speed it was designed for?
Definition + operator’s layer →
OEE componentQuality rate
Of what it made, how much was right the first time?
Definition + operator’s layer →
ManufacturingSix Big Losses
Nakajima's taxonomy of where capacity actually goes — two losses per OEE component.
Definition + operator’s layer →
MethodSMED
Single-Minute Exchange of Die — Shingo's method for cutting changeovers to single digits.
Definition + operator’s layer →
ManufacturingMicro-stop
Stops too short to log, too frequent to remember — the loss that never makes the minutes.
Definition + operator’s layer →
MethodCapability trap
Why improvement time gets eaten by firefighting — and gains decay back to baseline.
Definition + operator’s layer →
AutomationAutomation bias
The tendency to trust the system on the day it's wrong — because it's usually right.
Definition + operator’s layer →
AutomationHuman gate
The LEANTA rule: nothing irreversible runs without a person approving it first.
Definition + operator’s layer →
LEANTA Dictionary
A new term lands every fortnight.
Definitions are free and stay free. The operator’s layer — the judgment under each term — is open during launch. Get new terms and Field Notes before they’re on every floor.