Manufacturing Glossary of IT Terms

7/31/2019 Manufacturing Glossary of IT Terms

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Manufacturing Glossary of IT Terms

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS): A subcomponent of supply-chain planning, typically

contextually describing manufacturing planning and scheduling.

Application Service Provider (ASP): Gartner defines the ASP market as the delivery of standardized

application software via a network, though not particularly or exclusively the Internet, through an

outsourcing contract predicated on usage-based transaction pricing. The ASP market is composed of a

mix of service providers (Web hosting and IT outsourcing), independent software vendors and

network/telecommunications providers

Balanced Scorecard: A performance measurement and management approach that recognizes financial

measures alone are not sufficient, and that an enterprise needs a more holistic, balanced set of measures

that reflects the different drivers that contribute to superior performance and the achievement of the

enterprise's strategic goals. A balanced scorecard involves an analytical process that creates an

organizational understanding of the causal relationships and linkages between performance drivers.

Bill of Materials (BOM): A structured list of the raw materials, parts and assemblies that constitute a

product to be manufactured. Typically used as part of a materials requirements planning (MRP) or

manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) system.

Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP): The process of specifying the level of resources (facilities,

equipment and labor force size) that best supports the enterprise's competitive strategy for production.

C-Commerce: Refers to collaborative, electronically enabled business interactions among an enterprise's

internal personnel, business partners and customers throughout a trading community (see Figure 1). The

trading community could be an industry, industry segment, supply chain or supply chain segment

Collaborative Product Commerce (CPC): This is an e-business strategy for exploiting new Web-based

commerce opportunities across product development and product life cycle processes. CPC opportunities

include both inbound (business-to-business) and outbound (business-to-consumer) commerce, such as

collaborative product development, customer-driven design, collaborative product and component

sourcing, manufacturing and supply-chain collaboration, and product maintenance self-service portals.


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Competency Center (CC): A central pool of resources and skills that supports the enterprises goal of

implementing and managing common systems and processes. Typical roles include knowledge center for

the enterprise, champion of new system and process designs, supporter of key interfaces, central

management of upgrade cycles, test site for new releases and cutover planning, group of expert

package implementers and help desk for internal help desks.

Component Supplier Management (CSM): This was originally covered as an adjunct PDM technology.

CSM centers around the desire to increase design reuse of proprietary and standard part components

and to lower the cost of procuring components by improving the ability to manage supplier issues

effectively. CSM systems contain four major elements: part classification and retrieval, component

libraries, Web component cataloging, and component and supplier process management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): An enterprisewide business strategy which has as its goal

outcomes that optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by organizing the enterprise

around customer segments, fostering customer-satisfying behaviors and linking processes from

customers back through suppliers.

Data Acquisition: The process of converting a physical phenomenon in a manufacturing process (such

as temperature or pressure) into an electrical signal and measuring that signal to extract information. A

transducer converts the physical phenomenon into an electrical signal. Then the signal is measured using

signal conditioning and data acquisition hardware.

Discrete Manufacturing: The production of distinct individual goods such as automobiles,aircraft,

computers or component assemblies on a unit-by-unit basis.

Distributed Control System (DCS): A form of direct digital control for process automation,distributing

specialty purpose controllers across a common communication network throughout the plant. In DCSs,

measurement, control and communications are distributed in function and location. By partitioning and

distributing control functions, local controllers throughout the plant remain in control of the process if

central control-room consoles are lost. Likewise, if one local control station fails, other local controllers

continue to operate. DCSs are usually deployed in fault-tolerant modes using redundant systemconfigurations to achieve high measures of system availability. This configuration, coupled with PID

algorithms, makes DCSs especially well-suited to the regulatory control requirements of large process

manufacturers.

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM): These systems, previously a part of computerized maintenance

management systems (CMMS) functionality, have traditionally been a key tool in MRO procurement. EAM

is a key strategy to increase plant capacity, using information technology in lieu of new construction in

large, asset-intensive enterprises. It integrates key open

control systems (OCS), ERP, and maintenance activities and functions to reduce downtime without

significantly increasing maintenance spending.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Due to the increasing number of application assortments,ERP

has become synonymous with nearly every enterprise application, which has clouded the founding and

original intent of the concept. ERP has evolved into a business strategy that improves shareholder and

customer value by integrating manufacturing, financial and distribution functions to dynamically balance

and optimize an enterprises resources.

Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H): A collection of software applications dealing with regulatory

compliance for EPA, OSHA, SARA and state and local reporting.


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Flow Manufacturing (FM): This is a form of techniques and processes that make possible continuous

throughput within selected manufacturing operations. FM requires a reallocation of work steps, direct

management of the time required for these steps, and a redesign of typical MRP floor operations to

achieve a reduction in production costs, work in progress (WIP) and time to market. FM is synonymous

with flexible, lean and synchronous manufacturing and is very similar to continuous flow operations.

Integrated Plant System (IPS): Integrated plant management functions include components for open

control, production management, production information management and analysis, process modeling

and knowledge management, plant resource planning and plant resource reconciliation functions. IPSs

combine OCS, MES and PIMS functionality in the broader context of enterprise and supply-chain

management applications.

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS): These are specialized applications that are used

to manage the collection of samples, collection and formatting of test results and the reporting of results

by sample or product category. LIMS applications may be generic, product/manufacturing-specific,

environmentally focused, R&D-focused or medical applications.

Line Balancing: The optimization of the assignment of operations to workstations in an assembly line to

minimize the number of workstations required and the idle time at all workstations for a given production

quantity.

Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) Procurement: Also referred to as Maintenance, Repair

and Overhaul or Maintenance, Repair and Other, MRO procurement deals with the acquisition of indirect

materials and services, i.e., goods and services not incorporated into the final delivered product or

service. Maintenance and repair items such as spare parts and construction materials are referred to as

"blue collar" MRO items; office supplies, travel and staff support services are often called "white collar"

MRO items.

Manufacturing Execution System (MES): A computerized system that formalizes production methods

and procedures within the manufacturing environment, providing online tools to execute work orders.

Marketplaces and Exchanges (Is there a Difference?): Electronic marketplaces or exchanges are

Internet-based sites where buyers and sellers of products congregate to conduct business.They may

contain both regular and reverse auctions, catalog sales, classified advertisements,and facilities for point-

to-point business transactions. They may be broad, open horizontal exchanges selling any and all items,

company marketplaces promoting commerce with a particular enterprise, or vertical industry exchanges

driven by one or more channel masters that endeavor to provide deep vertical coverage specific to a

single industry. Exchanges may also include some portal characteristics, such as community news, chat

facilities or employment information.

Open Control System (OCS): A contemporary form of a DCS, PLC or SCADA system based on a set of

commercially available, standards-based technologies that permits the open exchange of process data

with plant and business systems throughout the manufacturing enterprise.

Process Manufacturing: Manufacturing that adds value by performing chemical reactions or physical

actions to transform materials or by extracting, mixing, separating or forming materials in batch or

continuous production modes.

Product Data Management (PDM): A set of technologies and capabilities for comprehensively managing

design intent and product development processes across the enterprise. The three fundamental PDM

technologies used are document vaulting, workflow and configuration management.


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Product Development Management (PDM II): A new strategy for managing the interenterprise product

development process from concept through production. The goal of a PDM II strategy is to provide the

proper combination of people, process and technologies to support the management of the entire

interenterprise product development commercialization process to enhance competitiveness. The PDM II

vision provides a framework for rationalizing the roles of virtual product data management (VPDM),

product development management and ERP technologies.

Production Information Management System (PIMS): A client/server application to the acquisition,

display, archiving and reporting of information from a wide variety of control, plant and business systems.

A critical component in a manufacturing enterprises application architecture for creating a common

repository of plant information that can be effectively leveraged in enterprise and supply-chain

management applications.

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC): The fundamental building block of factory and process

automation. A specialty purpose computer, including input/output processing and serial communications,

used for executing control programs, especially control logic and complex interlock sequences. PLCs can

be embedded in machines or process equipment by original equipment manufacturers, used stand-alone

in local control environments or networked in system configurations.

Rosetta Net: An independent, nonprofit standards body that is working on defining a set of Internet

trading standards for manufacturers, distributors and retailers that will outline how processes and

products are described in databases and electronic catalogs.

Shop Floor Control (SFC): A system of computers and controller tools used to schedule,dispatch and

track the progress of work orders through manufacturing based on defined routings.SFCs typically

calculate work in process based on a percentage of completion for each order and operation useful in

inventory valuations and materials planning.

Spares/Service Parts Planning (SPP): A specific aspect of supply-chain planning dealing with parts

used to repair or maintain products, as opposed to direct materials planning for new production or MRO

procurement planning for indirect materials.

Statistical Process Control: Maintaining or improving process capability by employing statistical

techniques to analyze process outputs and provide feedback for process control loops.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA): A system for acquiring measurements of process

variables and machine states and performing regulatory or machine control across a process area or

work cell. SCADA also refers to a software package that enables the use of computers for the

programming of control loops, machine logic, database configuration and graphical displays, typically in

conjunction with PLCs and process instrumentation.

Supply-Chain Management (SCM): At a high level, SCM is a business strategy to improve shareholder

and customer value by optimizing the flow of products, services and related information from source to

customer.


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Supply-Chain Planning (SCP): A subset of SCM, SCP is the process of coordinating assets to optimize

the delivery of goods, services and information from the supplier to the customer, while balancing supply

and demand. SCP answers the question, "What should I plan to do given past, current and expected

conditions to best use my enterprise assets and make the most money?" An SCP suite sits on top of a

transactional system, such as an ERP system, and provides planning and what-if scenario analysis

capabilities as well as real-time demand commitments.Typical modules include network planning,capacity planning, demand planning, manufacturing planning and scheduling, distribution and deployment

planning, and transportation planning and scheduling.

Virtual Product Development Management (VPDM): The VPDM vision describes a new application

realm that combines the characteristics of computer-aided design, PDM and Web technologies focused

primarily on the front end of the design process, where the greatest competitive gains for design

innovation occur. Although PDM and ERP technologies have proven themselves in the detail and

production stages of product design, they are not yet effective in the conceptual product design stage,

which has a much different process model and functional demands, particularly when interenterprise

collaboration on large design projects is required.Much of the VPDM vision is still in the early formative

stages; no vendors are completely satisfying all of the outlined characteristics.

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Manufacturing Glossary of IT Terms