One Piece One Flow

What is one piece flow.

One piece one flow. In opposite conditions we might process an entire batch or lot at each station before moving it to the next station. In the simplest of terms one piece flow means that parts are moved through operations from step to step with no work in process in between either one piece at a time or a small batch at a time. The word one does not necessarily have a literal meaning. One piece flow is a fundamental element of becoming lean.

One piece flow is moving one workpiece at a time between a work station within a cell or shop. One piece flow describes the sequence of a product or transactional activities e g insurance claims through a process one unit at a time. In contrast batch processing creates a large number of products or works on a large number of transactions at one time sending them together as a group through each operational step. It should be related to the customers requirements and could be one unit of order.

To think of processing one unit at a time usually sends a shudder through the organisation which has batch manufacturing as its life blood.