Manufacturing and Quality

The worst tolerable process average (mean) in percentage or ratio that is still considered acceptable.

Statistical sampling to determine whether to accept or reject a production lot of material.

An extensive list of raw materials, components, and assemblies required to construct, manufacture, or repair a product or service.

Analysis to identify the point of congestion in a production system (such as an assembly line or a computer network) that occurs when workloads arrive too quickly for the production process to handle.

An evaluation of the production capabilities at a plant or similar facility.

An integrated system that feeds the computer-generated design directly into the manufacturing system.

An analytic framework incorporated as the basis of a generative computer process planning system.

A manufacturing approach using computers to control the entire production process.

A methodology to define and measure where and what amount of an organization’s resources are used for preventive activities and maintaining product quality as opposed to costs resulting from internal and external failures.

The combination of two methodologies:  Design for Manufacture (for ease of manufacture of the parts that will form a product), and Design for Assembly (for ease of assembly of a product). 

The process of using a computer model to understand and improve a real production system. Simulation technology allows organizations in the industry to analyze and experiment with their processes in a virtual setting, reducing the time and costs of physical testing. Materials, equipment, and personnel all can be considered within a simulation model, resulting in information that can maintain or improve production at the lowest possible cost.

The amount of time that passes from the start of a process until its conclusion. Companies review lead time in manufacturing, supply chain management, and project management during pre-processing, processing, and post-processing stages. By comparing results against established benchmarks, they can determine where inefficiencies exist.

The analysis of proposed learning curves being used to forecast the cost and schedule to ensure their accuracy.

A management control process for collecting, measuring, and presenting facts relating to schedule measured against a specific plan.

An assessment of a program’s manufacturing readiness using Manufacturing Readiness Levels to identify and resolve manufacturing risk.

Quality control charts used to assess manufacturing process capability.

A structured analytical tool used by an organization, business unit, or cross-functional team to identify and evaluate the potential failures of a process.

Charts that display process performance over time showing all the steps necessary to produce the products.

Assessment of the ease of manufacturing by reviewing the characteristics and design features of an item that enable its economical fabrication, assembly, and inspection or testing by existing or available technology.

A method to transform qualitative user demands into quantitative parameters, to deploy the functions forming quality, and to deploy methods for achieving the design quality into subsystems and component parts, ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process.

A method of quality control that employs statistical methods to monitor and control a process.

Determining the amount of a product or service a company can produce and deliver within a specified time period.

A study that identifies a preferred solution among a list of qualified solutions; the study examines the solutions against criteria such as cost, schedule, and performance.

A visual tool that displays all critical steps in a specific process and quantifies the time and volume taken at each stage.

An organization unit where manufacturing activities are performed.

The application of techniques designed to establish the time for an average worker to carry out a specified manufacturing task at a defined level of performance.