Absenteeism: The failure of workers to report to work as scheduled, which can result in decreased productivity, increased costs, and potential safety hazards.

Activity-Based Costing System: A manufacturing cost accounting method that identifies and assigns costs to specific activities and processes, providing a more accurate view of the true cost of production.

Add-On Work: Additional work added to a maintenance schedule after the scheduled cut-off time.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling System: A manufacturing software tool that uses real-time data to optimize production schedules, improve resource utilization, and increase overall efficiency.

Advanced Product Quality Planning: A manufacturing methodology that helps ensure the development of high-quality products by identifying and addressing potential issues in the design, production, and delivery process.

Agile Manufacturing: The tools, techniques, and initiatives that allow a plant or company to succeed in unpredictable environments by swiftly responding to changing customer needs and unforeseen market shifts through the quick reconfiguration of operations and strategic partnerships. This approach may include the adoption of mass customization to meet individual customer demands.

Annual Total Inventory Turns: A performance metric that measures the number of times a company’s entire inventory is sold and replaced within a year, indicating the efficiency of inventory management and the speed at which products are sold.

Approved Manufacturer List (AML): A list of authorized relationships between a manufacturer’s parts and a company’s internally defined parts. These relationships are established by the R&D team, who identify third-party parts that can be used to meet the manufacturing demand for the internal part.

Approved Vendor List (AVL): A list of all of the suppliers from which materials are purchased.

Assembly Line: A method of manufacturing in which parts, typically interchangeable ones, are added in sequential order as the semi-finished assembly moves from one workstation to another. This allows for faster assembly of the finished product with less labor, as the parts are mechanically transported to each workstation.

Asset Maintenance: The work of servicing, inspecting and repairing physical assets to keep them in, or restore them to, a required functional state. Distinct from asset management, which is the wider set of decisions about acquiring, operating and retiring assets to realize value from them. Read full description.

Asset Turnover: A financial ratio that measures a company’s ability to generate revenue in relation to its assets, by dividing total sales by average total assets, providing insight into how effectively a company is utilizing its resources.

Barcoding: An automatic data-capture technology that allows data to be collected rapidly and accurately from all aspects of a company’s operations, including manufacturing, inspection, transportation, and inventory elements.

Belt: The main component of a conveyor belt system, responsible for carrying the material being transported. It consists of a continuous loop of material made from rubber, plastic, or metal, designed to be flexible and durable enough to withstand the stresses of continuous use.

Benchmarking: A performance measurement process that involves comparing a company’s products, services, processes, or practices against those of industry leaders or competitors to identify best practices and areas for improvement.

Bill of Materials (BOM): An extensive list of raw materials, components, and instructions required to construct, manufacture, or repair a product or service.

Bottleneck: A point in the manufacturing process where production is limited or slowed down due to a constraint, such as a shortage of materials, equipment downtime, or inefficiencies in the production line.

Breakdown: Equipment that fails to operate and is considered broken down and unusable.

Breakdown Maintenance: Maintenance performed on equipment that has broken down and is no longer in operation.

Cellular Manufacturing: A lean manufacturing strategy that involves grouping machines, equipment, and workers into self-contained cells, each dedicated to producing a specific set of products or parts, resulting in reduced lead times, improved quality, increased flexibility, and lower costs.

Center Drive & Take-Up: A type of conveyor system that uses a motorized pulley to drive the belt from the center of the system. The take-up system, located in the center of the conveyor, maintains proper tension in the belt to prevent slipping or sagging.

Change Management: The process of creating, reviewing, and gaining formal approval for engineering change requests, change orders, and change notifications.

Change Request: A document that describes a problem and proposes a change in response. Types include the Document Change Request (DCR), Engineering Change Request (ECR), Field Failure Request (FFR) and Manufacturing Change Request (MCR). A Supplier Corrective Action Request is a related but separate instrument — it demands corrective action on a nonconformance rather than proposing a change.

Changeover: Also known as setup or conversion, the process of preparing a production line or machine for a new product, including cleaning, inspection, adjustment, and reconfiguration.

Compliance: The practice of tracking whether a product complies with government-imposed regulations or a company’s self-imposed standards. Examples include environmental requirements such as RoHS and WEEE, and medical device regulations such as 21 CFR Part 11 and 21 CFR Part 820.

Compliance Mark: A physical mark listed on a product or its packaging to show the product’s compliance with a specific requirement, such as UL, CE, CCC, FCC, and VCCI.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD): A technology that uses computer software to create, modify, analyze, and optimize product designs, allowing manufacturers to create detailed digital models of products, parts, or components, facilitating rapid prototyping, testing, and modification.

Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM): A technology that uses computer software to automate and control manufacturing processes, including planning, design, tooling, machining, and assembly. CAM systems often integrate with CAD systems to provide a seamless end-to-end manufacturing process.

Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP): A technology that uses computer software to create and optimize manufacturing process plans, including selecting the best manufacturing methods, tools, equipment, and materials for each step of the production process.

Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM): A technology that uses computer software and hardware to integrate and automate all aspects of the manufacturing process, including product design, production planning, scheduling, materials handling, quality control, and logistics.

Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS): Software that helps companies manage and track maintenance activities, including scheduling preventive maintenance tasks, managing work orders, tracking inventory and spare parts, monitoring equipment performance, and generating reports. Read full description.

Computerized Process Simulation: A technology that uses computer software to create virtual models of manufacturing processes, allowing manufacturers to test and optimize their processes before implementing them in the real world.

Computerized Statistical Process Control (SPC): A technology that uses computer software to monitor, measure, and analyze manufacturing processes in real time, using statistical methods to detect and correct variations and defects.

Concurrent Engineering: A methodology that emphasizes the simultaneous design and development of products and their manufacturing processes, with the goal of optimizing product design for manufacturability, reducing time-to-market, and increasing efficiency and quality.

Continuous-Replenishment Programs: Supply chain management systems that use real-time inventory monitoring and automated ordering to ensure that materials and products are continuously replenished as they are consumed.

Contract Manufacturer (CM): A firm hired by a company to manufacture or assemble its product or part of its product.

Conveyor: A mechanical device used to move items efficiently and quickly, typically in a straight line or through a series of changes in direction. Conveyors come in different forms such as belt, roller, or screw conveyors, and can be customized to fit specific production and material handling needs.

Coordinate-Measuring Machine (CMM): A machine used to ensure product measurements are accurate. Where a product requires precise measurements, such as perfect flatness, the CMM verifies whether the measurements align with established standards.

Core Competency: The essential processes, functions, and operations of a manufacturing plant or company that generate the highest return on investment or are closely linked with the enterprise’s core market.

Corrective Action Request (CAR): A change request that documents problems with a product.

Corrective Action/Preventive Action (CAPA): A good manufacturing practice concept in which product failures are investigated in an attempt to correct their current occurrence and prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Cost of Quality: The total expenses incurred by a company in ensuring that its products or services meet the desired level of quality. These costs include prevention costs, appraisal costs, and the costs associated with internal and external failures such as scrap, rework, warranty claims, and customer complaints.

Cpk: A process capability index that accounts for how far the process mean sits from the center of the tolerance, calculated as the smaller of (USL − mean)/3σ and (mean − LSL)/3σ. Cp, by contrast, compares spread to tolerance width and ignores centering. Cpk of 1.0 is a bare fit with roughly 2,700 defects per million; 1.33 is the customary minimum.

Cross-Functional Teams: Groups of individuals from different functional areas within a company who come together to collaborate on a specific project or task, bringing diverse backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives to complex problems.

Cross-Training: Skill-development practices that require or encourage production workers and other employees to master multiple job skills, enhancing workforce flexibility.

Customer Leadtime: The duration between when an order is placed by a customer and when the finished product is delivered to them.

Customer Reject Rate (PPM): A metric used to evaluate product quality by calculating the number of finished units rejected or returned by customers, expressed as parts per million. This measure includes units reworked by customers and applies to all shipped units.

Customer Retention Rate: The percentage of customers who continue to do business with a company across a defined measurement period — most often a year, or one billing or contract cycle.

Cycle Time: The amount of time required to complete a single cycle of a process or operation, from start to finish, including all processing time as well as any waiting or delay time.

Days of Inventory: A metric used to calculate the number of days that a company’s inventory can sustain its daily operations, calculated by dividing the average inventory on hand by the average daily usage.

Demand-Driven Scheduling Systems: Software systems that optimize manufacturing techniques based on demand, ensuring that production matches customer orders in real time.

Design for Assembly: The practice of designing products in a way that prioritizes ease and cost-effectiveness of assembly during the product design stage.

Design for Logistics: A practice that focuses on optimizing the physical handling and distribution of a manufactured product during the product design stage, so the product can be easily transported, stored, and delivered while minimizing logistics costs.

Design for Manufacturability: A practice that emphasizes ease, cost, and quality of manufacturing during the product design stage, so the product can be efficiently produced while maintaining quality standards.

Design for Procurement: A practice that involves collaborating with suppliers and sourcing personnel during the product design stage to identify technologies or designs that can be used in multiple products, facilitating standardized components and continuity of supply.

Design for Quality: The practice of prioritizing quality assurance and ensuring that customer perception of product quality is considered as an integral part of the design process.

Design for Recycling/Disposal: A practice that focuses on considering the ultimate disposal and recycling of the manufactured product during the product design stage.

Design of Experiments: A methodology used by process designers to determine optimal product and process parameters by conducting a limited number of experiments involving combinations of variables, in order to identify the most critical variables for quality control.

Discrete Manufacturing: The production or assembly of parts and finished products that can be identified as distinct units using serial numbers or other labeling methods. These products are typically measurable in numerical quantities rather than by weight or volume.

Downtime: The amount of time a plant, cell, line, or machine is down or off-line and not producing any product. Read full description.

Economic Value Added (EVA): A metric used to measure the wealth created for shareholders by an investment center.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Information-system linkages based on communication protocols and document formats that enable computer-to-computer communications between companies. Typical EDI applications include purchase orders and invoices exchanged between a customer and supplier company.

Empowered Natural Work Teams: Teams that share a common workspace or responsibility for a particular process or process segment, with clearly defined goals related to day-to-day production activities and the authority to plan and implement process improvements. Unlike self-directed teams, they typically do not assume supervisory roles.

Enterprise Integration (EI): The broad implementation of information technology to connect various functional units within a business enterprise. In a manufacturing enterprise, EI may be seen as an extension of CIM that integrates financial or executive decision-support systems with manufacturing tracking and inventory systems.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): An extension of MRP II software designed to operate on enterprise-wide computing platforms. ERP systems integrate materials management, supply-chain management, production, sales and marketing, distribution, finance, field service, and human resources.

Expert Systems: Software-based artificial intelligence systems that capture the knowledge and experience of experts in a specialized field and make that expertise available to less-skilled personnel.

Extranet: An exclusionary network that operates like the internet and securely connects customers and suppliers to a corporate or plant intranet to access information deemed sharable by the intranet operators.

Finished Goods: Products that have undergone all stages of production and are prepared for distribution to customers. Precisely calculating and reporting finished goods inventory helps manufacturers prevent waste from overproduction and gauge profitability upon sale.

Finished-Goods Turn Rate: A measure of asset management calculated by dividing the total value of annual shipments at plant cost by the average value of finished-goods inventory. This includes the cost of materials, labor, and plant overhead.

Finite Capacity Scheduling: Software-based systems that allow the simulation of production scheduling and determination of delivery dates based on the actual unit-hour capacity at each step in the production routing, adjusting for the infinite-capacity assumptions found in traditional MRP II systems.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA): A mathematical method for analyzing stress, used in product design software to graphically analyze a model’s reactions under various load conditions.

First-Pass Yield: A measure of the percentage of finished products that meet all quality-related specifications at the final test point. For components, it measures the percentage that meets all quality-related specifications at a critical test point without being scrapped, rerun, or reworked.

5S (Five S): A method of creating a clean and orderly workplace that exposes waste and errors, from the Japanese terms translated as Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. Filed under F for “Five S.”

Flexible Assembly Systems: Automated assembly equipment or cross-trained work teams that can accommodate a variety of product configurations in small lots.

Flexible Conveyor: Also known as an expandable conveyor, a type of conveyor system that can be expanded or contracted to fit the needs of a particular application, typically consisting of interconnected rollers or skate wheels that can be adjusted to the desired length.

Flexible Machining Systems: Automated machining tools that can be quickly reprogrammed to handle the production of a variety of products or component configurations in small batches.

Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS): A system composed of automated manufacturing equipment or cross-trained work teams designed to accommodate small-lot production of a variety of products or part configurations. It typically includes computer-based machine tools with integrated material handling capable of producing a family of similar parts.

Focused-Factory Production: A plant configuration and organization structure that creates self-contained mini-businesses, each with a specific product line or customer focus. Each unit has control over support activities such as maintenance, manufacturing engineering, purchasing, scheduling, and customer service.

Forecast/Demand Management Software: Software that provides input to master production scheduling systems and helps optimize inventory planning. It considers historical demand trends and may calculate the impact of planned sales promotions, price reductions, and other factors that cause spikes in demand.

Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP): A set of guidelines for managing each aspect of production and testing that can impact the quality of a product. GMPs are part of a quality system covering the manufacture and testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, diagnostics, foods, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices.

Gravity Conveyor: A type of conveyor system that uses the force of gravity to move products or materials from one location to another, typically consisting of rollers or skate wheels mounted on a slight incline or decline.

Human-Machine Interface (HMI): A user interface that enables human operators to interact with machines, often including an operator interface that allows machine operators to input data throughout the manufacturing process.

In-Plant Defect Rate: The proportion of components in manufacturing and assembly that fail quality tests at any stage of the production process, expressed as parts per million.

Internet of Things (IoT): A system of interrelated smart devices. In manufacturing, the internet of things applies to remote monitoring and operations, predictive maintenance, smart asset management, and autonomous manufacturing.

Inventory Turn Rate: A measure of asset management capability. See annual total inventory turns.

ISO 9000: An international quality-process auditing program, based on a series of standards published by the International Organization for Standardization, through which manufacturing plants receive certification attesting that their stated quality processes are adhered to in practice.

ISO 13485: Quality system standards and guidelines published by the International Organization for Standardization for the development of medical devices.

ISO 14000: Standards and guidelines defined by the International Organization for Standardization for environmental management systems.

JIT Delivery: The delivery of parts and materials in small lots, frequently and timed to the needs of the production system. Also called supplier JIT deliveries.

JIT/Continuous-Flow Production: The implementation of just-in-time techniques aimed at reducing lot sizes, setup times, work-in-process inventory, waste, non-value-added activities, and manufacturing cycle time while improving throughput. This production system often uses pull signals to initiate production activity, as opposed to work-order push systems that rely on forecasted demand.

Kaizen: A structured and methodical approach to process improvement by the individuals who are directly involved in those processes, using simple analysis techniques. This approach emphasizes continuous improvement and an immediate action-oriented mindset.

Kaizen Event: A concentrated effort, typically lasting several days, in which a team collaborates to plan and implement significant process changes that result in a notable improvement in performance.

Kanban Signal: A technique for communicating to suppliers or upstream production operations that it is time to restock a limited inventory of components or subassemblies in a just-in-time system. Today’s kanban signals include empty containers and electronic messages as well as cards.

Kitting: A process where assemblers are given containers of all parts needed for the production of a product. Kitting eliminates the need for constant movement of inventory and tools, as all items or subassemblies are placed into a kit and staged at the point of use.

Labor Turnover Rate: A measure of a plant’s ability to retain workers, expressed as a percentage of the production workforce that annually departs, regardless of the reason. High turnover rates often indicate employee dissatisfaction with working conditions or compensation.

Lean Manufacturing: A practice that aims to reduce wasted time, effort, and other resources in the production process without sacrificing productivity and efficiency. Lean manufacturing is built on the idea that the reduction of waste can be more profitable than an increase in sales. Read full description.

Lineshaft: A roller conveyor in which one long rotating shaft runs the length of the frame and drives each roller through an elastic polyurethane O-ring belt from a spool on the shaft. A single motor turns the whole shaft, which makes it quieter and lower-maintenance than individually driven rollers. Chain-driven rollers are a different type — chain-driven live roller (CDLR) — and have no line shaft.

Machine Availability: The amount of time a machine is actually accessible for product production, typically expressed as a percentage of the total planned production time. A manufacturing analytics platform can assess machine availability by gathering and analyzing data on machine downtime.

Machine Vision: Optical systems in which video equipment is used to guide robotic or automated equipment during production operations, and computerized visual inspection systems used for quality control.

Make to Assemble (MTA): A production process that involves having pre-made parts available but deferring the assembly of finished products until an order has been received, allowing for some level of customization.

Make to Order (MTO): A manufacturing process that involves producing a product only after a customer has placed an order. These products are often highly personalized and tailored to meet the specific requirements of each customer.

Make to Stock (MTS): A traditional manufacturing strategy where products are manufactured and stocked in anticipation of customer demand. This approach relies heavily on accurate forecasting; inaccurate forecasting can result in excess inventory or stock shortages.

Manufacturing Cost: The cost of producing goods: direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead, which includes equipment maintenance and repair, manufacturing support and quality-related costs. It excludes non-production functions such as sales and administration. Note that some benchmarking surveys report manufacturing cost with purchased materials stripped out, to compare plants on conversion cost alone.

Manufacturing Cycle Time: The duration from when a customer order is released to the production floor until the manufacturing, assembly, and testing of that product are completed. It does not include front-end order-entry time, engineering time for custom configurations, or time spent in finished goods inventory.

Manufacturing Deviation: A temporary change in production or a manufacturing procedure, such as the use of a substitute part. Deviations may be planned or unplanned.

Manufacturing Execution System (MES): A software-based system that serves as a bridge between planning and administrative systems and the production floor. It performs planning, scheduling, production tracking and monitoring, equipment control, product history, and quality management functions.

Manufacturing Order: A set of documents conveying the authority to manufacture parts or products in specified quantities. Also called batch cards, job orders, production orders, run orders, shop orders, or work orders.

Manufacturing Order Receipt: A document where material, labor, and machine costs in work-in-process are applied to finished goods received in inventory. Costs for backflushed materials, labor, and machine time are also applied to the cost of the finished goods.

Manufacturing Order Routing: A routing used to complete a specific manufacturing order, including all the necessary requirements to fill the order such as workers, machine time, and raw materials. Also known as manufacturing routing.

Manufacturing Picklist: A list of the items and quantities of items required to fill a manufacturing order.

Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II): Systems that translate forecasts into master production schedules, maintain bills of material, create work orders for each step in the production routing, track inventory levels, coordinate materials purchases with production requirements, generate exception reports identifying expected material shortages, and record shop-floor data.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): A KPI that measures equipment reliability and the amount of time that elapses between one failure and the next.

Mean Time Between Repairs (MTBR): Total operating time divided by the number of repair events, counting every intervention including planned maintenance — not just functional failures. Because it counts more events than MTBF, MTBR is always equal to or shorter than MTBF.

Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): A KPI that represents the average time required to troubleshoot and repair failed equipment and return it to normal operating conditions.

Motorized Roller Chain: A type of conveyor system that uses a continuous chain of motorized rollers to move products along the conveyor line. Commonly used in warehouse and distribution facilities due to its ability to transport heavy loads and its ease of maintenance.

MRP Shortage: A lack of resources to produce the required amount of an item to fill outstanding orders. Manufacturing orders can be entered regardless of the current stock of available materials.

Natural Work Team: A group of employees, typically comprised of hourly personnel, who work together in a shared workspace and are collectively responsible for a specific process or segment of a process.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): A coding system of the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian governments that identifies specific economic sectors. It replaces the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. Coding for most manufacturers encompasses the 6-digit subsets of numbers 31 through 33.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): A United States government agency responsible for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for employees. OSHA was created in 1970 through the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and it sets and enforces safety standards, provides training and education, and conducts inspections.

Off-the-Shelf: An item that is procured from a supplier as-is, with no modifications.

On-Time Delivery Rate: The percentage of products ordered by customers that are delivered by the specified time or date.

Online Order Entry System: A computer-based tool that allows distributors, field sales representatives, and customers to place orders directly via the internet or a corporate intranet without an inside salesperson. The system often includes a product configurator and pricing engine, which may be linked to production scheduling systems.

Open Platform Communications (OPC): A set of standards used for industrial telecommunications, specifying the communication of real-time plant data between control devices from different manufacturers.

Operation Code: A code that defines the various processes performed to manufacture the final product or parent item.

Operational Technology (OT): The programmable systems and devices that interact with the physical environment in a plant, or that manage devices which do — PLCs, DCS and SCADA systems, sensors, actuators and their control software. OT is hardware and software together, and the counterpart to the IT systems that run the business side.

Order Fill Rate: Annual sales orders filled completely divided by the total annual number of sales orders.

Order-to-Delivery Leadtime: The time from when a specific customer order is received by the plant until the product is delivered to the customer, including any warehousing, cross-docking, and transportation time.

Order-to-Shipment Leadtime: The time from when a specific order is released to the shop floor until that order is shipped to the customer, including any storage time in finished goods inventory.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): The original manufacturer of a product that may be sold or marketed by another company.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): A prominent metric used in manufacturing to evaluate the effectiveness of machines. It measures availability, performance, and quality, multiplied together to obtain a single metric.

Parent Item: An item that contains another item, a child item, in its bill of materials. An assembly-component or assembly-subassembly relationship can be described as a parent-child relationship.

Part Name: A unique name assigned to a part.

Part Number: A unique identifier assigned to a part design. Part numbers are commonly alphanumeric and may carry prefixes, dashes or significant codes that encode family, revision or material.

Performance %: The OEE factor that captures speed loss: ideal cycle time multiplied by total count, divided by run time. It measures only how fast the machine ran while it was running — slow cycles and small stops — and says nothing about schedule attainment or on-time delivery.

Pick-to-Ship Lead Time: The time period starting from when an order is released to be picked from inventory until the order is shipped.

Planned Maintenance (PM): Scheduled maintenance activities carried out according to a documented plan of tasks, skills, and resources. Read full description.

Planned Maintenance Optimization: A process for improving maintenance strategies based on existing preventive maintenance routines and available failure history.

Planned Maintenance Percentage (PMP): A percentage that documents the amount of maintenance time used toward planned maintenance tasks, measured against the total amount of maintenance hours in a given time period.

Poka-Yoke: Fail-safing techniques designed to prevent errors or defects in the production process as early as possible, such as requiring completed components to pass through a customized opening to ensure dimensions are within tolerance limits.

Pop-Up Transfer: A component of a conveyor belt system that allows the smooth transfer of products from one conveyor line to another. It consists of a section of conveyor that can be raised or lowered to allow products to move onto or off the transfer.

Power Conveyor: A type of conveyor system that uses motors or other power sources to move products or materials. Power conveyors include belt conveyors, roller conveyors, and chain conveyors.

Power Feeder: A device used in conveyor belt systems to supply a controlled flow of material to the belt, typically consisting of a motorized roller or belt that rotates at a consistent speed.

Precision Maintenance: Performing maintenance tasks so they are always done with consistency, accuracy, and in line with industry best practices.

Predictive Maintenance (PdM): A type of condition-based maintenance where assets are monitored with sensor devices that provide data about the asset’s condition, used to predict when the asset will require maintenance. Methods include vibration analysis, sonic testing, dye testing, infrared testing, thermal testing, and coolant analysis. Read full description.

Premium Freight: A shipping method involving expedited or rushed delivery of goods to customers, used when there is a need to meet a customer’s urgent demand or deadline. Premium freight typically incurs additional costs such as higher transportation fees and overtime labor.

Preventive Maintenance (PM): Proactive maintenance regularly performed on a piece of equipment to lessen the likelihood of it failing. It is performed while the equipment is still in operation so that it does not break down unexpectedly. Read full description.

Proactive Environmental Practices: The voluntary implementation of advanced environmental practices by plant management, aimed at reducing pollutants, emissions, and other environmental impacts before regulatory requirements are imposed.

Problem-Solving Methodologies: Approaches to addressing and resolving problems, typically used by individuals or teams within an organization. Examples include the Deming Circle (Plan-Do-Check-Act).

Process Manufacturing: The production of goods by formula or recipe, where output cannot be separated into distinct countable units — chemicals, beverages, food, refined fuels, cement. It runs in batch mode or continuous mode, and often uses heat, pressure or time to achieve thermal or chemical conversion. The counterpart to discrete manufacturing.

Product Data Management (PDM): Software-based systems that enable the integration, management, and organization of product-related data from multiple sources across different departments, divisions, geographic locations, and computer platforms. PDM typically incorporates CAD files and manufacturing data.

Product Development Cycle: The elapsed time from the start of design and development work to commercial availability of the finished product. See also Time to Market, which measures a similar span from project approval to first shipment.

Productivity Change: The overall change in plant-wide value-added per employee over the course of a year, based on the total number of employees in the plant. Value-added is calculated by subtracting the cost of purchased materials, components, and services from the total value of shipments.

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC): An industrial computer adapted for the control of manufacturing processes such as assembly lines, machines, and robotic devices, or any activity that requires high reliability, ease of programming, and process fault diagnosis. Read full description.

Pull System: A method for controlling workflow and prioritizing tasks in which processes that require materials or attention draw these resources from feeding processes or storage areas as needed, typically through kanban signals, as opposed to push systems in which materials are processed and pushed to the next stage regardless of actual need.

QS 9000: A quality certification program for automotive suppliers, developed by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. It was discontinued at the end of 2006 and replaced by ISO/TS 16949, which the International Automotive Task Force in turn superseded with IATF 16949:2016; that transition completed in September 2018. Listed here because older contracts and documentation still reference it.

Quality %: A measure of the level of excellence of the products being produced by a machine. Manufacturing analytics can determine the quality of a part by gathering part count and reject reason codes, complemented by input from human operators.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD): An approach to quality improvement that focuses on understanding and analyzing customer needs at the design stage, translating them into specific product and process requirements for the supplier organization.

Quick-Changeover Methods: A set of techniques aimed at reducing the time it takes to change over equipment setups, such as SMED (single-minute exchange of dies), in order to improve equipment flexibility, reduce lot sizes, and shorten lead times.

Rapid Prototyping: Techniques used to quickly convert CAD-generated product designs into accurate physical models, typically using computer-controlled systems. Stereolithography is an example, where laser beams guided by CAD designs create precise plastic models.

Raw-Materials Turn Rate: A measure of asset management, calculated by dividing the value of total annual shipments at plant cost by the average value of raw-material inventory. Shipments at plant cost include material, labor and plant overhead; raw-material inventory is valued at purchase cost, since labor and overhead are absorbed only once material moves into work-in-process.

Real-Time Feedback: The instantaneous communication of electronically captured data, such as quality data, to process operators or equipment to enable rapid or automated adjustments that keep production processes operating within quality parameters.

Redline: The marking of an assembly drawing or bill of materials to indicate a modification.

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC): A measure of how effectively a company uses the money invested in its operations, calculated as net operating profit after taxes divided by capital invested.

Rolled-Throughput Yield: Also called multiple-point yield, a measure that multiplies quality yield values at various points in a production process rather than only at the end of the line, making problem areas within a process more visible.

Safety Improvement Programs: Practices implemented to continuously enhance safety within a plant or across a company, including safety teams, awareness programs, training, and continuous improvement goals targeting metrics such as OSHA incidents or lost-workday rates.

Scrap/Rework Costs: The costs incurred due to wasted parts or materials during the production process, as well as the cost of repairing defective products so they can pass final inspection.

Self-Directed Natural Work Teams: Nearly autonomous teams of empowered employees that share a common workspace or responsibility for a particular process. These teams usually have authority for day-to-day production activities and many supervisory responsibilities, such as job assignments, production scheduling, maintenance, materials acquisition, training, quality assurance, and performance appraisals. Also called self-managed work teams.

Shop-Floor Data Collection: The automated collection of data on factory production activities, including units produced, labor hours per unit or customer order, time and date of specific production activities, maintenance, and quality data.

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit): A unique sales stock identifier usually controlled by the business side of a company. A SKU is generally disassociated from the engineering definition and engineering change controls for a product.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): A written document or instruction detailing the steps and activities included in a process or procedure. SOPs increase efficiency through detailed instructions and help ensure manufacturing regulations are met.

Statistical Process Control (SPC): The use of variation analysis, with manual or computerized control charts, to quickly detect non-normal variations in a process. SPC charts often display upper and lower limits for part characteristics or process parameters, showing trends over time.

Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR): A formal request requiring a supplier to contain a nonconformance, determine its root cause, and implement and verify corrective action — often documented through an 8D report. Distinct from a change request, which proposes a design or specification change rather than correcting a failure.

Supplier Partnerships: Agreements with suppliers that link operations, share information openly, and jointly solve problems in order to improve the performance of both parties. They usually include multi-year purchase agreements.

Supply Chain: The sequence of processes involved in the manufacturing, transportation, and selling of a product.

Supply-Chain/Logistics Systems: A class of manufacturing software designed to optimize scheduling and other activities throughout the supply chain, including transportation and distribution functions, to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Table Top: A type of conveyor system that uses a flat surface with raised edges to transport products.

Takt Time: The optimal frequency of production required to meet customer demand, calculated by dividing the available work time per shift by actual customer demand. For example, an 8-hour shift with 435 minutes of available time and daily demand of 1,305 products has a takt time of 20 seconds.

Technologies for Planning and Scheduling: Diverse software-based systems for advanced planning, scheduling, and optimization.

Time Study: An analysis of every step of the manufacturing process to determine on average how long each step takes.

Time to Market (TTM): The elapsed time from the point a development project is approved and resources are committed to the point the finished product ships to customers. Closely related to the product development cycle, which is measured from the start of design work to commercial availability.

Title 21 CFR Part 11: A section of the Code of Federal Regulations covering Food and Drug Administration guidelines on electronic records and electronic signatures in the United States. It defines the criteria under which electronic records and signatures are considered trustworthy, reliable, and equivalent to paper records.

Title 21 CFR Part 820: The US Food and Drug Administration regulation governing quality systems for medical device manufacturers. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is covered separately by 21 CFR Parts 210 and 211. Part 820 has been amended into the Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR), which incorporates ISO 13485:2016 and takes effect February 2, 2026.

TL 9000: A quality system certification program developed by the Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications Leadership Forum. The program builds upon the ISO 9000 family of standards and includes specific performance metrics and a formal benchmarking mechanism.

Total Cost of Quality: The total cost of poor quality or product failures, including scrap, rework, and warranty costs, as well as expenses incurred to prevent or resolve quality problems, including the cost of inspection.

Total Logistics Costs: The overall cost for inbound delivery and storage of material and parts, plus the cost to store, transport, and deliver the final product to the customer.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): A plant-wide program to maximize overall equipment effectiveness — availability, performance and quality together. Production operators take on routine maintenance while technicians and engineers handle specialized work. TPM covers maintenance prevention through equipment selection, equipment improvement, preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance.

Total Quality Management (TQM): A company-wide approach to improving all aspects of quality and customer satisfaction, including fast response and service as well as product quality. TQM begins with top management and assigns responsibility to all employees and managers who can impact quality.

Transitional Work Program: A program that provides options to assist an injured worker in gradually resuming the duties of a targeted job.

Unit of Measure (UOM): A description of how manufacturers use or buy a part. The most common UOM is each, but standard measures like feet, inches, pints, drops, and boxes can also be used.

Utilization: Often used in conjunction with capacity, capacity utilization is a percentage or KPI showing the amount of total capacity being used at a particular time.

Value-Added Per Employee: Calculated by subtracting the cost of purchased materials, components, and services from the value of shipments, divided by the number of employees.

Vendor-Managed Inventory: An arrangement in which the supplier takes responsibility for monitoring stock at the customer and replenishing it, using shared inventory and demand data rather than customer purchase orders. The supplier is normally remote; stationing supplier staff on site is a separate arrangement, known as an in-plant or resident supplier.

Visibility Systems: Visual systems that use standard layouts, signal lights, kanban systems, or other methods to provide quick communication and allow anyone familiar with the work to understand its status and condition at a glance.

Voice Recognition/Response: Computerized systems that can recognize or synthesize human voices for purposes such as capturing verbalized data for quality control or inventory tracking, activating equipment through spoken commands, or converting computer data into audible information.

Wear Strip Deck: A component of a conveyor belt system consisting of plastic or metal strips attached to the top of the conveyor frame. These strips reduce friction and wear on the conveyor belt by creating a smooth, low-friction surface for the belt to slide on.

WIP Turn Rate: A metric that measures the rate at which work-in-process flows through a manufacturing plant, typically calculated by dividing the total annual shipment value at plant cost by the average WIP value at plant cost.

Work-In-Process Inventory (WIP): The value or amount of materials, components, and subassemblies that are partially completed between the raw material stage and the finished goods stage. This value should be calculated at plant cost, including material, direct labor, and overhead.

World-Class Manufacturer: An industry term describing manufacturers who achieve superior results across manufacturing metrics, generally used to identify companies recognized as leaders in their field, delivering the highest value at a given price point.

X-Bar Chart: A statistical process control chart that plots the average of sample measurements taken from a production process over time, used alongside a range chart to detect shifts in process centering before defective parts are produced.

Yield Improvement: The change in yield — typically first-pass yield or rolled-throughput yield — over a defined measurement period, expressed as a percentage.

Zone Powered Accumulation (ZPA): A type of conveyor system that allows products to accumulate in zones along the conveyor line, controlled by sensors and powered rollers. This system is often used in manufacturing and distribution facilities to automate the movement of products and increase efficiency.

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