infinite loading -Calculation of the capacity required at work centers in the time periods required regardless of the capacity

available to perform this work. Syn: infinite scheduling. With infinite loading, the load on the plant is determined by the customer due date, scheduled backward without regard to standard capacity available to perform the work. Capacity is then reviewed for potential improvements through overtime, subcontracting, etc purchasing lead time - The total lead time required to obtain a purchased item. Included here are order preparation and release time; supplier lead time; transportation time; and receiving, inspection, and put-away time. See: lead time, supplier lead time, time-to-product. Routing - 1) Information detailing the method of manufacture of a particular item. It includes the operations to be performed, their sequence, the various work centers involved, and the standards for setup and run. In some companies, the routing also includes information on tooling, operator skill levels, inspection operations and testing requirements, and so on. Syn: bill of operations, instruction sheet, manufacturing data sheet, operation chart, operation list, operation sheet, route sheet, routing sheet. See: bill of labor, bill of resources. 2) In information systems, the process of defining the path a message will take from one computer to another computer. -- Routings include Operations to be performed and their sequence and Work centers involved in manufacturing as well as setup and run time. They often include inspection operations, testing, and tooling information. Queue - A waiting line. In manufacturing, the jobs at a given work center waiting to be processed. As queues increase, so do average queue time and work-in-process inventory -- Queue time is the time a job waits at a work center before work on setups are performed on the job. By reducing queue time, manufacturing lead time can be shortened. This is quite often the longest portion of the lead time in a factory. -- The priority of the job is the most important factor affecting the queue time at a work center. The queue time will be eliminated if the priority of the job is high enough to bypass all the other jobs waiting for the work center. (e.g. President says to make the job next.)-- Queue size and lead time are interconnected since an increase in queue size will increase lead time. However, if a job is a high priority by management, the queue size won't matter. Backward scheduling - A technique for calculating operation start dates and due dates. The schedule is computed starting with the due date for the order and working backward to determine the required start date and/or due dates for each operation. Syn: backward scheduling. Ant: forward scheduling. Forward scheduling - A scheduling technique where the scheduler proceeds from a known start date and computes the completion date for an order, usually proceeding from the first operation to the last. Dates generated by this technique

are generally the earliest start dates for operations. See: forward pass. Ant: back scheduling. cycle time - 1) In industrial engineering, the time between completion of two discrete units of production. For example, the cycle time of motors assembled at a rate of 120 per hour would be 30 seconds. 2) In materials management, it refers to the length of time from when material enters a production facility until it exits. Syn: throughput time. gapped schedule - A schedule in which every piece in a lot is finished at one work center before any piece in the lot can be processed at the succeeding work center; the movement of material in complete lots, causing time gaps between the end of one operation and the beginning of the next. It is a result of using a batched schedule at each operation (work center), where process batch and transfer batch are assumed to be the same or equal. Syn: gap phasing, straight-line schedule. Ant: overlapped schedule.

Capacity requirements planning (CRP)- The function of establishing, measuring, and adjusting limits or levels of capacity. The term capacity requirements planning in this context refers to the process of determining in detail the amount of labor and machine resources required to accomplish the tasks of production. Open shop orders and planned orders in the MRP system are input to CRP, which through the use of parts routings and time standards translates these orders into hours of work by work center by time period. Even though rough-cut capacity planning may indicate that sufficient capacity exists to execute the MPS, CRP may show that capacity is insufficient during specific time periods. See: capacity planning. -Capacity requirements planning or infinite loading is based on the customer due date. Operations scheduling plans each operation to arrive at a completion date based on a finite capacity. lead time - 1) A span of time required to perform a process (or series of operations). 2) In a logistics context, the time between recognition of the need for an order and the receipt of goods. Individual components of lead time can include order preparation time, queue time, processing time, move or transportation time, and receiving and inspection time. Syn: total lead time. See: manufacturing lead time, purchasing lead time. -- The more work held on the production floor, the longer the lead time will be. This happens because jobs begin to get moved to meet customer demands. The result is that parts get moved and shuffled, reducing capacity.

critical ratio - A dispatching rule that calculates a priority index number by dividing the time to due date remaining by the expected elapsed time to finish the job. For example, CR = (Date required - Current date)/(Days required to complete a job) A ratio less than 1.0 indicates the job is behind schedule, a ratio greater than 1.0 indicates the job is ahead of schedule, and a ratio of 1.0 indicates the job is on schedule. Master Production Schedule (MPS) - The master production schedule is a line on the master schedule grid that reflects the anticipated build schedule for those items assigned to the master scheduler. The master scheduler maintains this schedule, and in turn, it becomes a set of planning numbers that drives material requirements planning. It represents what the company plans to produce expressed in specific configurations, quantities, and dates. The master production schedule is not a sales item forecast that represents a statement of demand. The master production schedule must take into account the forecast, the production plan, and other important considerations such as backlog, availability of material, availability of capacity, and management policies and goals. See: master schedule. -- When the Master Production Schedule is overstated, due dates will become invalid and dates will be missed. Also, the quantities needed will not be valid as partial orders will be completed to partially satisfy customer demands. primary operation - A manufacturing step normally performed as part of a manufacturing part's routing. Ant: alternate operation. released order - Syn: open order. - 1) A released manufacturing order or purchase order. Syn: released order. See: scheduled receipt. 2) An unfilled customer order. --- Prior to releasing an order to the shop floor, components must be available, the required due date should be known, and the tooling must be available. If these requirements are not ready, then the order should not be released. Only jobs which can be worked on should be released to the floor. Overlapped schedule - A manufacturing schedule that "overlaps" successive operations. Overlapping occurs when the completed portion of an order at one work center is processed at one or more succeeding work centers before the pieces left behind are finished at the preceding work centers. Syn: lap phasing, operation overlapping, telescoping. See: send ahead. Ant: gapped schedule, overlapped production. -- The more repetitive the job is and the longer the order quantity must run, the more often this would occur. In selecting software to do this, one must be careful, as not all software can do this. Mixed-model scheduling - The process of developing one or more schedules to enable mixed-model production. The goal is to achieve a day's production each day. See: mixed-model production. --- Mixed-model scheduling allows the factory to

make every model every day so the mix mirrors the sales for the day. This is especially useful in flow manufacturing through an assembly line. Line balancing - 1) The balancing of the assignment of the tasks to workstations in a manner that minimizes the number of workstations and minimizes the total amount of idle time at all stations for a given output level. In balancing these tasks, the specified time requirement per unit of product for each task and its sequential relationship with the other tasks must be considered. 2) A technique for determining the product mix that can be run down an assembly line to provide a fairly consistent flow of work through that assembly line at the planned line rate. --Line balancing refers to the fact that the time taken to perform tasks at each work station is equal or very nearly so. This results in no bottlenecks between work stations and no buildup of work in process inventory. Linearity - 1) Production at a constant quantity. 2) Use of resources at a level rate, typically measured daily or more frequently. --- Linearity is the use of resources at a level rate or maintaining a constant rate. The rate of the production in this kind of environment is controlled by the technology in place to maintain the flow of product, and the maintenance of the technology to avoid disruption. Capacity - is calculated based on the machine efficiency, operator efficiency, and number of shifts being worked. The number of orders released to the floor have no bearing on the availability of capacity to produce the orders. It would just mean the shop is overloaded. Production activity control (PAC) - The function of routing and dispatching the work to be accomplished through the production facility and of performing supplier control. PAC encompasses the principles, approaches, and techniques needed to schedule, control, measure, and evaluate the effectiveness of production operations. See: shop floor control. -- Production activity control is concerned with the execution of the material plans. It includes the shop floor scheduling as well as the supplier follow-up to ensure material availability. Repetitive manufacturing- The repeated production of the same discrete products or families of products. Repetitive methodology minimizes setups, inventory, and manufacturing lead times by using production lines, assembly lines, or cells. Work orders are no longer necessary; production scheduling and control are based on production rates. Products may be standard or assembled from modules. Repetitive is not a function of speed or volume. Syn: repetitive process, repetitive production. See: project manufacturing. --- is defined as "a form of manufacturing where various items with similar routings are made across the same process whenever production occurs." (APICS Dictionary) Schedules are used rather than job orders, work-in-process inventory is backflushed very often, and the number of transactions is minimal. The whole process of tracking the production is easier than a job shop.

Setup reduction - is very important as it allows manufacturing flexibility, reduces lead times, and allows for small lots to be produced. This in turn, allows quality problems to be detected quickly. lean manufacturing - Syn: lean production. - A philosophy of production that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time) used in the various activities of the enterprise. It involves identifying and eliminating non-value-adding activities in design, production, supply chain management, and dealing with the customers. Lean producers employ teams of multiskilled workers at all levels of the organization and use highly flexible, increasingly automated machines to produce volumes of products in potentially enormous variety. It contains a set of principles and practices to reduce cost through the relentless removal of waste and through the simplification of all manufacturing and support processes. Syn: lean, lean manufacturing. JIT - Transaction processing, paperwork, and tracking of operations become much simpler with a JIT operation. Because the flow of materials becomes faster and more reliable, the need for WIP tracking, for example, is unnecessary. Purchasing can be done through vendor managed inventories whereby the parts are paid for as they are consumed, eliminating the need for purchase orders and invoices. In the quality control area, simplified operations eliminate the need for multiple inspections and the paperwork associated with those inspections Simulations - consist of three components: system model and control procedures, exogenous (external) inputs, and performance measures. Exogenous inputs are inputs that are not controllable by the systems designers. For example, the number of customers and their arrival patterns, job orders and equipment failures are all examples of exogenous inputs. Performance measures might include throughput time, facility utilization, and due date performance as examples. takt time - Sets the pace of production to match the rate of customer demand and becomes the heartbeat of any lean production system. It is computed as the available production time divided by the rate of customer demand. For example, assume demand is 10,000 units per month, or 500 units per day, and planned available capacity is 420 minutes per day. The takt time = 420 minutes per day/ 500 units per day = 0.84 minutes per unit. This takt time means that a unit should be planned to exit the production system on average every 0.84 minutes. Syn: tact time. rate-based scheduling - A method for scheduling and producing based on a periodic rate, e.g., daily, weekly, or monthly. This method has traditionally been applied to high-volume and process industries. The concept has also been applied within job shops using cellular layouts and mixed-model level schedules where the production rate is matched to the selling rate.

lot splitting - Dividing a lot into two or more sublots and simultaneously processing each sublot on identical (or very similar) facilities as separate lots, usually to compress lead time or to expedite a small quantity. Syn: operation splitting. overlapped schedule - A manufacturing schedule that "overlaps" successive operations. Overlapping occurs when the completed portion of an order at one work center is processed at one or more succeeding work centers before the pieces left behind are finished at the preceding work centers. Syn: lap phasing, operation overlapping, telescoping. See: send ahead. Ant: gapped schedule, overlapped production. pull system - 1) In production, the production of items only as demanded for use or to replace those taken for use. See: pull signal. 2) In material control, the withdrawal of inventory as demanded by the using operations. Material is not issued until a signal comes from the user. 3) In distribution, a system for replenishing field warehouse inventories where replenishment decisions are made at the field warehouse itself, not at the central warehouse or plant. -- In a "pull" system, the manufacturing should be completed to meet actual demand. That means the actual orders from the customer is driving the demand for final assembly. The final assembly is driving the previous work center, and so forth. This customer order ultimately "pulls" the manufacture of the product. cellular manufacturing - A manufacturing process that produces families of parts within a single line or cell of machines controlled by operators who work only within the line or cell. Backlog - All the customer orders received but not yet shipped. Sometimes referred to as open orders or the order board. See: order backlog, past due order. By keeping the backlogs in production control, the floor will not be overloaded with work which cannot be completed, thereby rendering due dates invalid on the floor. When the shop is overloaded, product gets moved more frequently and changeovers become more frequent, reducing the available capacity. operations scheduling - The actual assignment of starting or completion dates to operations or groups of operations to show when these operations must be done if the manufacturing order is to be completed on time. These dates are used in the dispatching function. Syn: detailed scheduling, order scheduling, shop scheduling. Dispatch list - A listing of manufacturing orders in priority sequence. The dispatch list, which is usually communicated to the manufacturing floor via paper or electronic media, contains detailed information on priority, location, quantity, and the capacity requirements of the manufacturing order by operation. Dispatch lists are normally generated daily and oriented by work center. Syn: work center schedule, priority report. -- Dispatch lists display the priority sequences of the manufacturing order. The "list" is printed in hard copy or displayed on a terminal

and contains information regarding the priority, location, and operation required. It is generally produced daily in work center sequence. -- The purpose of the dispatch list is to provide a list of jobs for each work center in the priority sequence by which they are to run. move time - The time that a job spends in transit from one operation to another in the plant. Due dates - are provided by MRP which maintains the priority, not MPS. shop packet - generally contains all of the above items plus others, such as engineering drawings, manufacturing orders, and labor tickets. Just-in-Time (JIT) - A philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste and on continuous improvement of productivity. It encompasses the successful execution of all manufacturing activities required to produce a final product, from design engineering to delivery, and includes all stages of conversion from raw material onward. The primary elements of Just-in-Time are to have only the required inventory when needed; to improve quality to zero defects; to reduce lead times by reducing setup times, queue lengths, and lot sizes; to incrementally revise the operations themselves; and to accomplish these activities at minimum cost. In the broad sense, it applies to all forms of manufacturing-job shop, process, and repetitive-and to many service industries as well. Syn: short-cycle manufacturing, stockless production, zero inventories. -- In a Just-in-Time environment, inventory is not built to level load the factory. Inventory reduction and increased throughput are more important. -- Just-in-Time has little to no impact on the accuracy of the forecast. However, with the ability of production to meet demand as it is needed, the need for short term forecasting for the master schedule becomes much less important--- In a Just-in-Time manufacturing environment, operations control is simplified to visual methods. This means eliminating expensive exception reporting generated from MRP systems. In place of the shop floor control system are kanban cards to authorize production and moves. The move card is the signal for the work center to produce more product in the priority of the cards zero defects - A performance standard developed by Philip B. Crosby to address a dual attitude in the workplace: people are willing to accept imperfection in some areas, while in other areas, they expect the number of defects to be zero. This dual attitude has developed as a result of the conditioning that people are human and humans make mistakes. However, the zero-defects methodology states that if people commit themselves to watching details and avoiding errors, they can move closer to the goal of zero defects. The performance standard that must be set is "zero defects," not "close enough." stockless production - Syn: Just-in-Time. - A philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste and on continuous improvement of productivity. It encompasses the successful execution of all manufacturing activities required to

produce a final product, from design engineering to delivery, and includes all stages of conversion from raw material onward. The primary elements of Just-in-Time are to have only the required inventory when needed; to improve quality to zero defects; to reduce lead times by reducing setup times, queue lengths, and lot sizes; to incrementally revise the operations themselves; and to accomplish these activities at minimum cost. In the broad sense, it applies to all forms of manufacturing-job shop, process, and repetitive-and to many service industries as well. Syn: short-cycle manufacturing, stockless production, zero inventories. slack time - In project management, the amount of time that an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the project finish date. Syn: slack. shortest processing time rule (SPT) - A dispatching rule that directs the sequencing of jobs in ascending order by processing time. If this rule is followed, the most jobs at a work center per time period will be processed. As a result, the average lateness of jobs at that work center is minimized, but some jobs will be very late. Syn: smallest processing time rule. lot traceability - The ability to identify the lot or batch number of product in terms of one or all of the following: its composition, purchased parts, manufacturing date, or shipped items. In certain regulated industries, lot traceability may be a legislative requirement. Line balancing - 1) The balancing of the assignment of the tasks to workstations in a manner that minimizes the number of workstations and minimizes the total amount of idle time at all stations for a given output level. In balancing these tasks, the specified time requirement per unit of product for each task and its sequential relationship with the other tasks must be considered. 2) A technique for determining the product mix that can be run down an assembly line to provide a fairly consistent flow of work through that assembly line at the planned line rate. --Line balancing in an assembly operation distributes the work in order to maximize the lines' output. Each operation in the line would take approximately the same amount of time to complete. This would minimize the work in process and create no bottlenecks in the line. alternate routing - A routing, usually less preferred than the primary routing, but resulting in an identical item. Alternate routings may be maintained in the computer or off-line via manual methods, but the computer software must be able to accept alternate routings for specific jobs. alternate operation - Replacement for a normal step in the manufacturing process. Ant: primary operation. Internal setup time - The time associated with elements of a setup procedure performed while the process or machine is not running. Ant: external setup time.

Internal setup time occurs when setups are completed while the machine is down. External setups occur while a machine is operating. External setup time - The time associated with elements of a setup procedure performed while the process or machine is running. Ant: internal setup time. -External setup time occurs when a setup is completed while the machine is operating. Internal setup time occurs when the machine is down. Often, reducing setup time involves moving internal setups to external through advanced preparation. open order - 1) A released manufacturing order or purchase order. Syn: released order. See: scheduled receipt. 2) An unfilled customer order. unplanned issue - An issue transaction that updates the quantity on hand but for which no allocation exists. -- An unplanned issue is an issue transaction from inventory which is not on the pick list. Downtime - Time when a resource is scheduled for operation but is not producing for reasons such as maintenance, repair, or setup.--- Idle time or downtime is the amount of time, machines or people are idle due to setup, maintenance, tooling, or waiting for material. An inaccurate planning bill would not directly cause idle time. Autonomation- Automated shutdown of a line, process, or machine upon detection of an abnormality or defect. Andon - 1) An electronic board that provides visibility of floor status and provides information to help coordinate the efforts to linked work centers. Signal lights are green (running), red (stop), and yellow (needs attention). 2) A visual signaling system. -Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - The paperless (electronic) exchange of trading documents, such as purchase orders, shipment authorizations, advanced shipment notices, and invoices, using standardized document formats. -- EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange allows electronic "hookup" for the quick, accurate exchange of information such as schedules, invoices, receiving data, and any other information. It is completed using direct links between computers or through third party translators. It does not ensure error free work. In fact, errors will just be transmitted faster. design engineering - The discipline consisting of process engineering and product engineering. -- Design engineering can improve manufacturability by reducing the number of different components and engineering the cost down through value engineering. By not releasing the design until it is correct, ongoing engineering changes while the product is being produced can be eliminated. focused factory - A plant established to focus the entire manufacturing system on a limited, concise, manageable set of products, technologies, volumes, and markets

precisely defined by the company's competitive strategy, technology, and economics. See: cellular manufacturing.-- A focused factory would have a restricted variety of products which flow down the line. This smaller variety would allow a simplified approach to the factory and make flow manufacturing easier to implement. The simplification would require fewer transactions and inspections. poka-yoke (mistake-proof) - Mistake-proofing techniques, such as manufacturing or setup activity designed in a way to prevent an error from resulting in a product defect. For example, in an assembly operation, if each correct part is not used, a sensing device detects that a part was unused and shuts down the operation, thereby preventing the assembler from moving the incomplete part to the next station or beginning another operation. Sometimes spelled poke-yoke. Syn: failsafe techniques, failsafe work methods, mistake-proofing.

Paypoint backflushing - (also called count point or key point) allows inventory to be automatically removed from inventory with one transaction at a point in the routing. This form of backflushing will charge inventory to the order for all previous operations up to the paypoint. It is very useful in repetitive environments where the inventory moves consistently and quickly through the operations. It is less useful when the cycle times are long and inventory moves in large lots from operation to operation. The problem solving process is to: Define the real problem Determine the root cause of the problem Eliminate the root cause Evaluate the results Only by evaluating the solution can you ensure the root cause has been eliminated permanently. project plan - In project management, a document that has been approved by upper management that is to be used in executing and controlling a project. It documents assumptions, facilitates communication, and documents the approved budget and schedule. It may exist at a summary or a detailed level. continuous improvement - The act of making incremental, regular improvements and upgrades to a process or product in the sarch for excellence. -- Continuous improvement requires that a company first recognize the need for improvement. Once the recognition for improvement has occurred, a shared vision needs to be developed. This is usually done by a cross functional team of mid-level managers.

They need to decide together what the company stands for, and to remain competitive where the company needs to go. prevention costs - The costs caused by improvement activities that focus on the reduction of failure and appraisal costs. Typical costs include education, quality training, and supplier certification. Prevention costs are one of four categories of quality costs prevention, internal failure, appraisal, and external failure. -Prevention quality costs are the only desirable category of quality costs. It includes quality engineering, reliability studies, and design of experiments. appraisal costs - Those costs associated with the formal evaluation and audit of quality in the firm. Typical costs include inspection, quality audits, testing, calibration, and checking time. internal failure cost - The cost of things that go wrong before the product reaches the customer. Internal failure costs usually include rework, scrap, downgrades, reinspection, retest, and process losses. external failures cost - The cost related to problems found after the product reaches the customer. This usually includes such costs as warranty and returns. -include warrant costs, customer returns and recalls, and product liability costs. Quality at the source - A producer's responsibility to provide 100% acceptable quality material to the consumer of the material. The objective is to reduce or eliminate shipping or receiving quality inspections and line stoppages as a result of supplier defects. Input/output control (I/O) - A technique for capacity control where planned and actual inputs and planned and actual outputs of a work center are monitored. Planned inputs and outputs for each work center are developed by capacity requirements planning and approved by manufacturing management. Actual input is compared to planned input to identify when work center output might vary from the plan because work is not available at the work center. Actual output is also compared to planned output to identify problems within the work center. Syn: input/output analysis. See: capacity control. Four Basic Principles I. II. III. IV. Never load in more than you expect out Separate the planning and control of capacity from the planning and control of production Place the due date on the order at the last possible moment capacity should be planned in the largest possible group of items

absorption costing - An approach to inventory valuation in which variable costs and a portion of fixed costs are assigned to each unit of production. The fixed costs

are usually allocated to units of output on the basis of direct labor hours, machine hours, or material costs. Syn: allocation costing. See: activity-based costing. --- The absorption rate is calculated based on the budgeted overhead costs divided by the budgeted labor hours. If either of these factors change through increased or decreased unit volume, then the overhead variance will be under or over absorbed. Sales can remain unchanged even though the unit volume has changed. (Pricing can change with the market.) mean time between failures (MTBF) - The average time interval between failures for repairable product for a defined unit of measure (e.g., operating hours, cycles, miles). See: reliability. ISO 9000 - series standards provide the structure and guidelines for maintaining an effective set of documented procedures for ensuring consistent quality products. A company must successfully pass an independent quality audit which reviews the quality system and the adherence to the system. An audit review must be conducted each year or semi-annually to maintain the certification.