Management and Systems Glossary

• See Articles  -  List of Tags, List of Categories, List of Articles, List of Glossaries, Nomenclature and Symbols

A        

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• Advanced Product Quality Planning  -  A structured method of defining and establishing the steps necessaty to assure that a product satisfies the customer.
• Accured Cost  -  Earmarked for the project and for which payment is due, but has not been made.
• Activity  -  The smallest unit of work necessary to complete project work package.
• Activity List  - Documents all the activities necessary to complete a project.
• Actual Cost  -  The realized cost incured for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.
• Advanced Product Quality Planning  -  A structured method of defining and establishing the steps necessaty to assure that a product satisfies the customer.
• Allocation  -  The assigning of resources for scheduled activities in the most efficient way possible.
• Apprenticeship  -  A form of on-the-job training for practitioners that will give them a license or journeyman's level of competencies.
• Approved Manufacturer List  -  A set of approved relationships between manufacturer parts and a company's internal parts.
• Approved Vendor List  -  Ensures purchased products arrive on time and meet your quality control.
• Assembly Bill of Materials  -  A list of the items and resources that are required to assemble the parent item.
• Asset Turnover  -  A measure of how efficiently assets are used to produce sales.
• Authorization  -  The dicision that triggers the allocation of funding needed to carry out the project.
• Authorization Work  -  The effort which has been defined, plus that work for which authorization has been given, but for which defined contract costs have not been agreed upon.
• Availability  -  Takes into account all events that stop planned production like breaks, lunches, or pre-arranged time.
• Avoided Cost  -  An estimated saving based on preventive measures.

B         

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• Baseline Schedule  -  A fixed project schedule.
• Best Practice  -  Something that we have learned from experience on a number of similar projects.
• Bill of Materials  -  A list of parts, raw materials, and accessories, descriptions, part name, part number, quantity, reference designation, procurement type, that make up the assembly or entire product.
• Bill of Materials Level  -  The place occupied by a part on the ranking of the bill of materials.
• Brainstorming  -  The unstructured generation of ideas by a group of people.
• Budget  -  The funds allocated to the project that represent the estimated planned expenditures.
• Budget at Completion  -  The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed.
• Budget Cost  - The cost anticipated at the start of a project.
• Budgeting and Cost Management  -  The estimating of costs and the setting of an agreed budget, and the management of actual and forcast costs against that budget.
• Budgeting  - Time phased financial requirements.

C         

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• Capital Cost  -  The carrying cost in a balance sheet or acquiring an asset and bringing it to the condition where it is capable of performing its intended function over a future series of periods.
• Cash Flow  -  Cash receipts and payments in a specific period.
• Change Request  -  Outlines a problem and proposes an action to address the problem.
• Changeover  -  The time required to modify a system or workstation, including teardown and setup.
• Child Item  -  An item that appears in the bill of materials of another item.
• Commercial off-the-shelf  -  Commercially available items that do not require the procuring organization to perform modification to meet requirements.
• Concept of Operation  -  A document describing how a system operates during the life cycle phase to meet stakeholder expectations.
• Configurable Bill of Materials  -  Contains all the components that are required for manufacturing the material to the customer's detailed requiremenrs.
• Conflict Management  - The process of identifting and addressing differences.
• Contingencies  -  Planned actions for minimizing the damage caused by a problem.
• Contract Manufacturer  -  A third-party manufacturer of parts or products for a company.
• Constraint  -  A condition or occurance that might limit, restrict, or regulate the project.
• Corrective Action/Protective Action  -  Investigates and solves problems, identifies causes, and takes corrective action to solve the problem.
• Corrective Action Request  -  Sent to a supplier when an item or process needs a remedy.
• Cost  -  Expenses, overhead or the price of a product or service.
• Cost Baseline  -  The approved version of work package cost estimates and contingency reserve that can be changed using formal change control procedures.
• Cost Benefit Analysis  -  The relationship between the costs of undertaking a task or project, and the benefits likely to arise from the changed situation.  
• Cost Management Plan  -  A component of a project or program management plan that describes how costs will be planned, structured, and controlled.
  
• Cost Performance Index  -  A measure of the cost efficency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
• Cost of Quality  -  The sum of all costs associated with conformance and nonconformance.
• Critical Activity  -  A critical activity has zero or negative float.  This activity has no allowance for work slippage.
• Critical Path  -  The path in a project schedule that has the longest duration.
• Critical Path Activity  -  Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule.
• Cycle Time  -  The time it takes one part to be processed at an individual process step.

D        

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• Database  -  An organized collection of data with a means of identification and retrieval.
• Data Management  -  A process to plan for, acquire, access, manage, protect, and use technical data over the entire life cycle of a system.
• Deliverable  -  Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is performed to complete a process, phase, or project.
• Design  -  A process to develope and document a solution to a problem utilizing technology, tools, and experts.
• Design Deliverables  -  Technical drawings and schematics, presentations, reports, and specifications for engineering.
• Design History File  -  Contains or references the records necessary to demonstrate that the design was developed in accordance with the approved design plan.
• Device Master Record  -  A record of all information about how a product was produce, including drawings, instructions, and any other records.
• Direct Costs  -  Costs specifically attributed to an activity or group of activities without apportionment.
• Direct Labor  -  The time spent by one or more production workers on filling a specific manufacturing order.
• Discounted Cash Flow  -  The relating future cash flows and outflows over the life of a project or operation to a common base value.
• Document Control  -  The function of management and controlling product documentation.
• Down Day  -  A day when the facility, entire shop floor, or a specific work place is not in production.
• Duration  -  The length of time required or planned for the execution of a project activity.

E        

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• Earned Value  -  The measure of work performed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.
• End User  -  The person or persons who will eventually use the product of a project.
• Engineering Bill of Materials  -  Specifies parts or assemblies designed by the engineering department.
• Engineering Change Notice  -  A form that communicates the details of an approved change to someone who needs to know about the change.
• Engineering Change Request  -  A suggestion that can be submitted to management to solve a problem or make improvement to a product.
• Estimating  -  An approximation of project time and costs targets that is refined throughout the project life cycle.
• Environmental Consequences  -  A failure that can have a potential impact on the environment.
• Expert Judgment  - The practice of using expert opinion to guide decision making.

F        

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• Failure Rate  -  The anticipated number of times that an asset or piece of equipment fails in a specific period of time.
• Fast Tracking  -  A schedule compression technique in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration.
• Fill Order  -  An order that has had all its requirements met and can be closed.
• Fill Rate  -  The percentage of orders that are shipped in full and on time and were met through current available stock.
• Finished Goods  -  An item that is manufactured for sale.
• Fixed Asset  -  A long-term tangible asset or piece of equipment that a business owns and uses in its operations to generate income.
• Fixed Duration  -  A task in whick the time required for completion is fixed.
• Fixed Units  -  A task in which the number of resources used is fixed.
• Fixed Work  -  A task in which the amount of effort required is fixed.
• Floor Stock  -  Low-cost items that do not require inventory control.
• Float  -  The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
• Flowchart  -  A diagram that lays out the complete sequence of steps in a process or procedure.
• Forecast  -  An estimate of how much of an item should be produced over a specific period of time.
• Forward Scheduling  -  Businesses that complete manufacturing their products as soon as possible before the due date.
• Forward Workload  -  All backlog work, work that is due or predicted to become backlog work within a pre-specified future time frame.

G        

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• Good Manufacturing Practice  -  A system of processes, procedures, and documents that help ensure that the products are consistantly produces and controlled according to quality standards.

H        

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• Historical Data  -  Information on archived projects, including documents and reports.
• Hours per Shift  -  The amount of time per shift actually spent working on the assigner task.

I         

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• Incurred Costs  -  Sum of actual and committed costs, whether invoiced/paid or not, at a specific time.
• Indirect Cost  -  Costs associated with a project that cannot be directly attributed to an activity or group of activities.
  
• Indirect Labor  -  The time spent on tasks that are not directly related to filling a specific manurfacturing order.
• Information Systems Steering Committee  -  A committee that provides management representatives from all the key organizations across the institution.
• Item Type  -  A code to designate the accounting class for the item, such as discontinued, inventory, and miscelaneous charges.

J         

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• Just-in-time Manufacturing  -  A production model in which items are created to meet demand, not created in surplus of in advance of need.

K       

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• Key Performance Indicators  -  Calculations that helps you measure the sucess about the performance of the line, plant, and/or company.
• Kickoff Meeting  -  The first meeting between a project team and stakeholders. 
• Kit  -  A group of finished items that compose a set.
• Kitten  -  A process where assemblers are given containers of all parts needed for the production of a product.

L         

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• Labor Time  -  The number of employee hours required to complete the operation.
• Lag/Lag Time  -  The minimum necessary lapse of time between the finish of on activity and the finish of an overlapping activity or delay incurred between two specified activities.
• Lead/Lead Time  -  The time between a customer's initial purchase and the delivery of the product.
• Lessons Learned  -  A set of statements captured after completion of a project or a portion of a project.
• Life Cycle  -  The entire process used to build its deliverables.
• Linear Scheduling  -  A graphical scheduling technique used to assign resources when project work consists of repetitive tasks.

M         

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• Management  -  The act of overseeing planning, personnel, and resources to achieve a goal.
• Management Developement  -  All aspects of staff planning, recruitment, developement, training and assessment.
• Management Process  -  The act of planning and executing a project or process to meet a defined set of objectives or goals.
• Manufacturing Bill of Materials  -  A list of all sub-assemblies or items essential to produce a shippable finished product.
• Markup  -  A markup of price spread is the difference between the selling price of a product and the cost incured to manifacture it.
• Mission Statement  -  A brief summary, approximately one or two sentences, that sums up the background, purposes and benefits of the project.
• Mitigation  -  Actions taken to eliminate or reduce risk by reducing the probability and/or impact of occurrence.
• Multi-level Bill of Materials  -  A list of all components directly or indirectly involved in building the parent part, togeather with the required quantity for each item.

N         

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• Negotiation  -  Satisfying needs by reaching agreement or compromise with other parties.
• New Product Developement  -  The total process that takes a service or a product from concept to market.
• New Product Introduction  -  All the activities within an organization to define, develope and launch a new or improved product.

O         

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• Objective  -  Something towards which work is to be directed.
• Off-the-shelf  -  An item that is producedfrom a supplier as-is, with no modifications.
• Operative Rule  -  The business rules an organization chooses to enforce as a matter of policy.
• Opportunity Gap  -  The difference between what an asset is capable of producing and what it actually produces.
• Organization  -  An autonomous unit within an enterprise under the management of a single individual or board.
• Organization Modeling  -  An analysis technique used to describe roles, responsibilities and reporting structures that exist within an organization.
• Organizational Process Asset  -  All materials used by groups within an organization to define, implement, tailor and maintain their processes.
• Organizational Unit  -  A recognized association of people in the context of an organization or enterprise.
• Original Equipment Manufacturer  -  A company that manufacturers a product that is sold to another company.
• Output  -  The number of parts produced during a given time.
• Outsourced Service  -  A service that is part of the manufacturing processes that is purchased from the vender.
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness  -  Measures the efficiency and effectiveness of a process.
• Overhead  -  Costs incured that cannot be directly related to the prducts or serviced produced.

P         

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• Parent Item  -  An item that contains another item in the bill of materials.
• Part Name  -  A unique name assigned to a part.
• Part Number  -  A unique numerical value assigned to a part.
• Peer Review  -  A validation technique in which a small group of stakeholders evaluates a portion of a work product to find errors to improve its quality.
• Performance  -  Anything that causes the manufacturing process to run at less than maximum possible speed.
• Performance Reporting  -  Collecting and dissemination information about project performance to help ensure project progress.
• Phase  -  A distinct stage in a project life cycle.
• Pick-to-ship Cycle Time  -  The period from when an order is released to be picked until the time the order has shipped.
• Policy  -  A set of ideas, course of principles of action adopted by or proposed for a system or organization.
• Preventative Maintenance  -  Maintenance activities performed by machine operators at regularly scheduled intervals to keep equipment in good working order.
• Process  -  Also called procedure, an operation or an activity.
• Process Center  -  A resource or collection of resources, commonly people or machines, where an operation or set of operations is performed.
• Process Control  -  The monitoring of the production process through software.
• Process Management  -  The act of planning, coordinating, and overseeing processes with a view to improving outputs and reducing costs.
• Process Map  -  A graphical flowchart identifying the operations in a process, steps in each operation and work time for each step.
• Process Model  -  A visual model or representation of the sequencial flow and control logic of a set of related activities or actions.
• Process Security  -  A type of security that allows you to restrict authority for completing a manufacturing process.
• Process Time  -  The time a job spends at an individual station in a production system from the time the station begins working on it, till the time the station finishes.
• Product  -  Something that is produced.
• Product Data Management System  -  System used to hold mechanical CAD files, including parts and assembly models as well as drawing files.
• Product Developement Process  -  Begins with market research and idea generation, and ends with a successful product offered to the general public.
• Product Scope  -  The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result.
• Production Lifecycle Management  -  Management of the products records, including bill of materials, specifications, changes and revisions from beginning to end.
• Production Planning  -  The process of devising or estimating the conversion of resources and information to achieve an end.
• Production System  -  A specific or defined set of operations within a large supply network or value chain that produces technical or physical output to satisfy an external demand.
• Project  -  The application of resources to a unique set of coordinated activities, with a defines start and finish, undertaken to meet specific objectives with defined costs.
• Project Life Cycle  -  All phases or stages between a project's conception and its termination.
• Project Life Cycle Cost  -  Cumulative cost of a project over its whole life cycle.
• Project Management  -  The application of knowledge, skills, and principles to a program to achieve the program objectives.
• Project Management Plan  -  A document that integrates the program's plan and establishes the management controls and overall plan for intergrating and managing the program's individual components.
• Project Manager  -  The stakeholder assigned by the performing organization to manage the work required to achieve the project objectives.
• Project Phase  -  A collection of related project activities, usally culminating in the completion of a major deliverable.
• Project Planning  -  The developement and maintenance of the project plan.
• Project Schedule  -  The planned dates for performing activities and meeting milestones.
• Promise Date  -  The date that the customer has been told to expect to receive the order. 
• Prototype  -  A sample built of a product.
• Pull Production  -  The process in which products are made only when the customer has ordered a product, and not before.
• Push Production  -  The process in which products are made using customer estimates rather than the customer has ordered a product, and not before.

Q        

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• Quality  -  The ratio between good count produced and the total units that were started.
• Quality Assurance  -  Ensures you are doing the right thing the right way.
• Quality Control  -  Ensures that the results of what you have done is what is expected.
• Quality Planning  -  Involves identifying expected quality standards and creating mechanisms to ensure these standards are met.
• Quality Management System  -  A framework for product and service developement that optimizes for the continuous improvement of quality.
• Quantitative Risk Analysis  -  The mathematical analysis of risk probability and impact.
• Quantity to Fill  -  An amount of a product that was ordered but has not been received.

R         

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• Replaced Item  -  An item in a mass uptate to bill of materials that is removed from the bills of materials.
• Return  -  An item or merchandise returned by a customer to your company.
• Risk  -  A future event or problem that exists outside of the control of the project that will have an adveres impact on the project if it occures.
• Risk Acceptance  -  Acknowledging a risk and not taking preemptive action against it.
• Risk Assessment  -  An activity that involves identifying possible risks to a project and examining how these risks, if they occure, would affect objectives.
• Risk Analysis  -  The examination of risk areas or events to access the propbale consequences for each event, or combination of ecents.
• Risk Avoidance  -  A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact.
• Risk Gap  - The difference between estimated risk and the tolerable risk.
• Risk Identification  -  The process of identifying and examining risks and their affects on project objectives.
• Risk Impact  -  The harm or consequences for a project of a risk if it occures.
• Risk Management  -  A process to access potential problems, determine which risks are important to deal with, and impliment strategies to reduce consequences.
• Risk Mitigation  -  A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to decrease the probability of occurance or impact of a threat.
• Risk Plan  - The process of deciding how to approach and conduct the risk management activities of a project.
• Risk Ranking  -  A process for ranking the severity and likelyhood of a hazard sequence of events to ensure the estimated risk of the sequence of events.
• Risk Tolerance  -  The level of variation in performance measures that an organization is willing to accept.
• Risk Sharing  -  The hand ownership of a positive risk to a third party who is typically specialized and better able to realize the opportunity.
• Run Time  -  The scheduled production time and its running.

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• Sales Bill of Materials  -  Provides information about a product in the sales stage.
• Sales Order  -  A request for goods or services.
• Scope  -  Work that must be performed to deliver a product, service, or their related functions.
• Scope Change  -  Any change to the project scope, which includes any adjustment to the cost, quality, or schedule.
• Scope Creep  -  Adding features and functions to the project scope without approval.
• Scope Model  -  A model that defines the boundaries of a business domain or solution.
• Setup Time  -  The number of hours needed to prepare the work area prior to the operation.
• Shipping Date  -  The date when a sales order leaves your warehouse or office. 
• Shipping Method  -  The manner in which the items are transported from the supplier to be manufacturer.
• Shrinkage  -  The loss of materials.
• Single-level Bill of Materials  -  A simple list of of parts, not ment for a complex product list.
• SKU  -  A unique numerical sales stock identifier usually controlled by the business side if the company.
• Stakeholder  -  A person or group who has intrests that may be affected by an initiative or influence over it.
• Standard Operating Procedure  -  A set of clearly written instructions which outline the steps or tasks needed to complete a job.
• Start-to-finish  -  A logical relationship in which a succesor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has started.
• Start-to-start   -  A logical relationship in which a succesor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.
• Stock   -  A set of complete transformations or entities.
• Successor Activity  - A dependent activity that logically comes after another activity in the schedule.
• Sunk Cost  -  Past costs in a project that can never be recovered.
• Supplier  -  A person or company that supplies goods or services to a manufacturer.
• Supply Chain  -  A sequence of processes involved in the manufacturing, transportation and selling of a product.
• System Design  -  The process by which solutions to users requirements can be defined, selected and described.

T         

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• Total Cost  -  The total of all expenses associated with the manufacturing order.
• Training  -  An imoortant part of the system since it is unlikely that the delivery system has been operated, maintained or supported by the user before.

U         

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• Unit Cost  -  The value of resources and time consumed to create one unit of product.
• User  -  A stakeholder, person, device, or system that directly or indirectly accesses a system.

V         

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• Validation  -  The process of checking a product to ensure that it satisifies its intended use and confronts to its requirements.
• Variance  -  The difference between two values like estimated and calculated expenses

W

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• Walkthrough  -  A type of peer review in which participants present, discuss, and step through a work product to find errors.
• Warehouse Automation  -  Includes hardware, software, people and processes that are needed to automate warehouse tasks to increase efficiency and improve accuracy.
• Warehouse Logistics  -  All of the resources, processes and programs required to keep assets and equipment moving in, around, and through a warehouse.
• Work Around   -  An immediate or temporary response to an issue for which a prior response had not been planned.
• Work Flow  -  The relationship of the activities in a project from start to finish.
• Work in Progress  -  The set of entities that are partially transformed within any given process.
• Work Product  -  The document, collection of notes or diagrams used by the business analyst during the requirements developement process.

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