E
Effect: The result of an action being taken; the expected or predicted impact when an action is to be taken or is proposed.
Effectiveness: 1) The state of having produced a decided upon or desired effect. 2) A measure of the appropriateness of the goals chosen and the degree to which they are achieved.
Efficiency: The state of being efficient (see entry). Also the ratio of the useful work performed in a process to the total resources required.
Efficient: Achieving maximum productivity with the optimal resources.
New! Eight disciplines (8D) model: A problem-solving approach to identify, correct and eliminate recurring problems.
Eight wastes: Taiichi Ohno originally enumerated seven wastes (muda) and later added underutilized people as the eighth waste commonly found in physical production. The eight are: 1) overproduction ahead of demand; 2) waiting for the next process, worker, material or equipment; 3) unnecessary transport of materials (for example, between functional areas of facilities, or to or from a stockroom or warehouse); 4) over-processing of parts due to poor tool and product design; 5) inventories more than the absolute minimum; 6) unnecessary movement by employees during the course of their work (such as to look for parts, tools, prints or help); 7) production of defective parts; 8) under-utilization of employees’ brainpower, skills, experience and talents.
Eighty-twenty (80-20): A term referring to the Pareto principle, which was first defined by Joseph M. Juran in 1950. The principle suggests most effects come from relatively few causes; that is, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the possible causes. Also see “Pareto chart.”
Electric data interchange (EDI): The electronic exchange of data from customers to suppliers and from suppliers to customers.
New! Employee empowerment (EE): A condition whereby employees have the authority to make decisions and take action in their work areas, within stated bounds, without prior approval.
Employee involvement (EI): An organizational practice whereby employees regularly participate in making decisions on how their work areas operate, including suggestions for improvement, planning, goal setting and monitoring performance.
EN 46000: A European quality management system standard for the medical device industry. Technically equivalent to ISO 13485:1996, an international medical device standard.
EN 9100: A European quality management standard for the aerospace industry. Considered the technical equivalent of AS9100.
End user: See “consumer.” Someone who purchases products or services for their own use.
New! Environmental management system: A set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and promote environmental sustainability.
Equipment availability: The percentage of time during which a process (or equipment) is available to run. This can sometimes be called uptime. To calculate operational availability, divide the machine’s operating time during the process by the net available time (production time / potential production time) x 100.
Error detection: A hybrid form of error proofing. It means a bad part can be made but will be caught immediately, and corrective action will be taken to prevent another bad part from being produced. A device is used to detect and stop the process when a bad part is made. This is used when error proofing is too expensive or not easily implemented.
Error proofing: Improving designs to prevent mistakes from being made. Contrasted with mistake proofing, which is improving processes to prevent mistakes from being made or passed downstream. Some consider the terms to be synonymous, however, and applicable to both products and processes.
Ethics: The practice of applying a code of conduct based on moral principles to day-to-day actions to balance what is fair to individuals or organizations with what is right for society.
European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA): A cooperative organization of accreditation bodies.
Exciter: See “delighter.”
Exemplar Global: A U.S. certification body for personnel certification or training course certification.
Expectations: The act or state of expecting. To wait in expectation of, or looking forward or anticipating. Also, customers’ perceptions about how an organization’s products and services will meet their specific needs and requirements.
Experimental design: In quality management, a plan for conducting an experiment that includes considerations such as which conditions, factors, responses, tools and treatments are to be included or used.
External customer: A person or organization that receives a product, service or information but is not part of the organization supplying it. Also see “internal customer.”
External failure: A nonconformance identified by a source outside of the producing organization. Discovered after a product or service has been passed downstream, for example, to users or customers.
External setup: Setup procedures that can be performed safely while machines or equipment are in motion. Also known as outer exchange of die. Also see “internal setup.”