 |
| SAE |
Society of Automotive Engineers |
| safety lead time |
A hedge lead time added to the actual or calculated lead time that initiates earlier order release. Items planned on a to-order instead of a to-stock basis may use safety lead time instead of safety stock to handle critical requirements when carrying additional inventory is not desirable. |
| safety stock |
An inventory quantity planned to be on-hand at all times to provide a hedge against future uncertainty. Planning systems generate planned orders based on the quantity and timing needed to maintain the specified safety stock. |
| sales and operations plan (S&OP) |
The company-wide demand and supply plan that provides the next level of detail in fulfilling business plan objectives by describing family-level sales, production and inventory targets and incorporates the planned effects of new product or promotion introductions. It usually undergoes a monthly joint review by all departments that analyzes current status against the previous plan to provide corrective action. The proposed S&OP is used by rough cut capacity planning (RCCP) to provide the initial view of aggregate capacity requirements, and sets target production and inventory levels for the master production schedule. |
| sales cycle |
The length of time needed to identify and qualify prospects, define the goods or services, and accept and acknowledge the order. The length of the sales cycle often depends on product complexity and degree of custom engineering, and may include the use of firm planned orders based on partially- completed bills of material to order long lead time items. |
| sales force automation (SFA) |
Software and systems that support sales staff lead generation, contact, scheduling, performance tracking and other functions. SFA functions are normally integrated with base systems that provide order, product, inventory status and other information and may be included as part of a larger customer relationship management (CRM) system. |
| sales history |
Actual sales shipment data that records product, quantity, customer, and other pertinent information and can be used in future demand calculations. It usually nets gross (outgoing) sales against customer returns. |
| sales plan |
The aggregate or family-level plan used to provide the demand portion of the sales and operations planning process. It contains unit projections and the associated dollar value, and provides the target for review and corrective action if sales goals are not met. |
| salvage value |
The estimated or actual residual value of items no longer able to be used for their original purpose, or at the end of their useful life. |
| sample |
One or more observations drawn from a larger collection of observations or universe (population). |
| sampling |
The use of a predetermined, finite number of observations to project the characteristics of a larger population. |
| scalability |
The ability of a system to handle increased volume or complexity. |
| scale count |
A physical item count using a weigh scale, usually for small parts. The count accuracy depends on the validity of the sample provided, the specification of container tare weight, and the scale tolerance specification. |
| scan time |
The time required for the CPU to read all inputs, execute the control program and update all local and remote I/Os. |
| scatter diagram |
A chart that plots the relationship of one numeric variable to another on a horizontal and vertical axis, and determines the degree of dependency or interdependency. |
| SCC |
Standards Council of Canada |
| schedule compression |
Expediting or accomplishing an operation or project task in less than its originally-planned duration. |
| scheduled receipt |
A firmed (accepted) production, purchase or interplant replenishment order that is treated as an incoming supply by planning systems and nets against requirements based on the quantity and due date. |
| scheduling |
The process of creating individual orders or time-based schedules that serve as production or purchase authorizations. |
| scope |
A measurable definition of the goals, resources, timing and desired outcome of an implementation project or activity. |
| scope creep |
The tendency of a project to include more tasks or to implement more systems than originally specified, which often leads to higher than planned project costs and an extension of the initial implementation date. |
| SCOR Model |
The Supply Chain Operations Reference Model- developed by the Supply-Chain Council to measure total supply chain performance. It includes delivery and order fulfillment performance, supply chain response time, production flexibility, warranty and returns processing costs, cash-to-cash cycle time, inventory and asset turns, and other factors in evaluating the overall effective performance of a supply chain. |
| scrap |
Action on a nonconforming product to preclude its originally intended use. |
| scrap factor |
A percentage added to the normal or engineered usage quantity of a component to allow for manufacturing loss, either on a global (item master) level or by specific bill of material. |
| seasonality |
Large variations in product demand that reoccur during the same approximate timeframe on a yearly basis and are not due to a trend or promotion (as in the yearly demand for Halloween candy or snow shovels). Products that exhibit a high degree of seasonality normally require an inventory build based on forecast prior to the high demand period, or the flexibility to greatly vary production and supply. |
| seats |
The number of concurrent or maximum users, or sometimes devices, allowed under software license agreements. |
| second order smoothing |
A technique used for time series forecasting that begins with an exponentially-smoothed current forecast and adjusts for trend by using a second smoothed estimate. |
| seiban |
The assignment of a specific number for a top-level manufacturing order that is carried through all succeeding levels and orders, and pegs costs and material to a single project. |
| self-billing |
An application that allows customers to create their own invoices, based on usage, date or other parameters, and provides automatic payment remittance through Internet, EDI or other methods. |
| self-tuning |
A mode which continuously adjusts the tuning parameters as the process characteristics change. |
| semi-finished |
Items processed from an original raw state into an intermediate level, or through a portion of the required operations on a routing. |
| semi-significant part number |
An item number identifier that uses a small portion of the number, normally the first few characters, to categorize it as part of a group and random characters for the rest. |
| sensei |
An outside master or teacher that assists in implementing lean practices. |
| sensitivity analysis |
The process of varying parameters in a given model to assess the level of change in its output. |
| sensor |
A generic name for a device that detects either the absolute value of a physical quantity or a change in value of the quantity and converts the measurement into a useful input signal for an indicating or recording instrument. |
| sequencing |
The arrangement of orders, jobs or activities at a specific resource based on priority and process efficiency logic. |
| sequential changeover |
Also sequential set-up. In a flow process, when changeover times are within Takt Time, changeovers can be performed one after another. Sequential changeover assures that the lost time for each process in the line is minimized to one 'Takt' beat. A set-up team or expert follows the operator, so that by the time the operator has made one round of the flow line (at Takt time), it has been completely changed over to the next product. |
| sequential set-up |
See sequential changeover. |
| serial number |
A set of characters that uniquely identifies a single unit and can be used for traceability and warranty purposes. It does not normally refer to the use of a single identifier for a batch or lot composed of multiple units. |
| service center |
A facility or department that supports customer requirements for repair, returns and sometimes light manufacturing. A facility used strictly to stock material at strategic points is normally referred to as a distribution center. |
| service level |
The extent to which a supplying resource satisfies customer requirements, often expressed in terms of error rate, resource availability or accuracy in meeting requested dates. |
| service part |
Material and components stocked and shipped to meet demand to replace an original part due to failure, age, or other reason. |
| set point |
An input variable, which sets the desired value of the controlled variable. The input variable may be manually set, automatically set or programmed. It is expressed in the same units as the controlled variable. |
| settlement |
The finalization of a sale as determined by the transfer of funds from one account to another. |
| setup reduction |
Reducing the amount of time a machine or a process is down during changeover from the last good piece to the first good piece of the next product. |
| setup |
The set of activities required to prepare a resource for a production run that requires different settings or tooling than the previous run. Setup costs include the labor required for machine adjustments, consumables used and defective items produced while finalizing the setup. |
| setup time |
The total time required to change settings and tooling from one production run to another. Minimizing setup time is a key factor in reducing lot sizes and thus lead time, and has the goal of converting internal activities (those that require the resource to be idle) to external activities (those that occur while usable production is still occurring). |
| seven wastes |
Forms of production waste identified by Taiichi Ohno, specified as: overproduction vs. demand, idle time, unnecessary transport, inventory, excess processing, excess operator motion and production of defective parts. |
| shelf life |
The standard amount of days a given item can be stored after a receipt before it must be tested, or is declared unusable for shipments or production purposes. |
| shop calendar |
The definition of operating or working days available for material and capacity planning, production order release and execution. |
| shop floor control |
The methods and systems used to prioritize, track and report against production orders and schedules. They include the procedures used to evaluate current resource status, and the update of labor, machine hour and other associated information as required to support the overall planning, scheduling and costing systems. |
| shop order |
syn: production order. |
| shop packet |
A printed set of documents generated for a specific production order that often includes the bill of material, routing, pick slip, work instructions, production and labor reporting tickets, move tickets and other support forms. |
| shortage report |
A list of components or finished goods not available to meet requirements for production or purchase orders. Normally a report that nets available quantities against required, and does not provide a bill of material explosion, lead time offset or suggested orders as done by MRP. |
| shrinkage |
The loss generated by comparing an actual quantity to the expected or book amount; commonly refers to a physical count that reduces the perpetual inventory. |
| sigma (σ) |
The Greek letter used to designate the estimated standard deviation. |
| sigma value |
Sigma Value is a statistical unit of measure which reflects process capability. For a business or manufacturing process, the sigma value is a metric that indicates how well that process is performing. The higher the sigma value, the better. Sigma measures the capability of the process to perform defect-free-work. A defect is anything that results in customer dissatisfaction. |
| signal conditioning |
Processing the form or mode of a signal so as to make it intelligible to or compatible with any given device. |
| significant part number |
An item number in which each individual character is coded to represent a product family, physical characteristic or other aspect of the part and does not use random characters. Significant part number schemes attempt to provide identification of the item merely by looking at the part number, and may encounter limitations when grouping or characteristic strategies change and item numbers need to be recoded. Separate fields that fill grouping and characteristic functions eliminate the need for significant part numbers. |
| significant variance |
A reported value outside specified control limits or tolerance levels that indicates a failure condition in the system being measured. The sum of all significant variances are often divided by the total number of observations to indicate the hit/miss ratio. |
| simple moving average |
A moving average calculation in which all past periods considered have equal weight and are not factored or smoothed. |
| simplification |
The philosophy and methodologies that seek to reduce product and process variation, quality problems and cost by identifying and eliminating non-value added tasks, and standardizing component and resource usage. |
| simulation |
The practice of mimicking some or all of the behavior of one system with a different, dissimilar system. The use of models and logic tools to test the outcomes of a proposed group of inputs and processes, prior to or in place of their implementation in a live system. |
| simultaneous engineering |
A way of simultaneously designing products, and the processes for manufacturing those products, through the use of cross-functional teams to assure manufacturability and to reduce cycle time. |
| single level backflush |
The deduction from inventory of only the immediate components when production of the parent is reported, as opposed to also backflushing successively-lower levels of components. |
| single level pegging |
Tracing the source of requirements only to the immediate next higher level, as opposed to full pegging which traces through all higher levels to the end item demand. |
| single level |
The display of only one level on a bill of material or where-used report, as in the set of immediate components for a parent or the next higher level of parent when tracing a component. |
| single minute exchange of dies (SMED) |
The reduction in die set-up time. Set-up in a single minute is not required, but used as a reference. [See One-Touch Exchange of Die, Internal Setup, or External Setup] |
| single loop control |
In a process, one variable is controlled with either an analog or a digital controller. |
| six sigma |
A quality measure and improvement program developed by Motorola that focuses on the control of a process to the point of ± six sigma (standard deviations) from a centerline, or 3.4 defects per million items. It includes identifying factors critical to quality as determined by the customer, reducing process variation and improving capabilities, increasing stability and designing systems to support the six sigma goal. |
| skew |
A data distribution that is not symmetric, or that shows distortion in a positive or negative direction. |
| skills matrix |
A table that matches personnel, or other resources, with desired skills to provide views of the need for additional development, training or the acquisition of new resources. |
| slack time |
The comparison of the projected completion date for an operation or project task as compared to the required date, which indicates the amount of time it could be delayed without impacting later operations or tasks. |
| slow moving inventory |
Items in stock that have had no usage activity for a specified number of days, or whose usage rate is significantly below the historical or expected average. |
| SMED |
See Single Minute Exchange of Dies. |
| smoothing constant |
The number used in exponential smoothing models to give the most recent period a different weight than the previous periods. (syn: alpha smoothing factor) |
| smoothing |
The adjustment or manipulation of a data set to fit a model or curve, as in the use of the alpha factor in exponential smoothing. |
| SMWT |
Self-managed work teams |
| sourcing |
The process of identifying, conducting negotiations with, and forming supply agreements with vendors of goods and services. |
| SPC |
Statistical Process Control (see below) |
| special |
An ordered item that requires custom engineering, components or processing and is not considered a standard offering. |
| special cause |
A source of variation that is intermittent, unpredictable, unstable; sometimes called an assignable cause. See assignable cause. |
| specification |
The engineering requirement for judging acceptability of a particular characteristic. Chosen with respect to functional or customer requirements for the product, a specification may or may not be consistent with the demonstrated capability of the process (if it is not, out-of-specification parts are certain to be made). A specification should never be confused with a control limit. |
| split lot |
The division of a single original manufacturing lot or batch into two or lots due to processing or lead time reduction considerations, or the requirement to modify part of the original batch into another form. |
| SQC |
Statistical Quality Control (see below) |
| stable process |
A process which is free of assignable causes, e.g., in statistical control. |
| staging |
Picking material for a production or sales order and moving to a separate area for purposes of consolidation or identifying shortages. Staged material is normally handled as a location transfer and not as an issue to the destination production or sales order. |
| stakeholder |
A person, department or organization that holds an interest in a process in the form of an obligation or expected return, benefit or service. |
| standalone |
A program, function or system that operates on its own and has no interfaces. |
| standard container |
A box, carton or other container with specified dimensions that will be used on an ongoing (reusable) basis to facilitate item counts, the design of storage and transportation resources and to limit handling damage. |
| standard cost |
The normal or specified cost used as the basis for measurement against an actual. Standard costs for manufactured items include labor, material and overhead, and vendor acquisition, freight, duty fees and other categories for purchased items. |
| standard deviation |
A measure of the spread of the process output or the spread of a sampling statistic from the process (e.g., of subgroup averages), denoted by the Greek letter σ (sigma) for the estimated standard deviation. Calculated by taking the variation of each number from the mean, squaring it, averaging the result (by dividing by n-1, or one less than sample size), and finding the square root. See Sigma. |
| standard operating procedures (SOP) |
Instructions and methods used for a specific process or situation. They document the normal or accepted methodology and help form the basis for conformance evaluation. |
| standard |
The normal or agreed-upon quantity, dollar value or time used as the base against which actual activity is measured. Standards are changed when ongoing, underlying changes in the associated process make continued use of the original value impractical in evaluating performance. |
| standard work |
Standard Work is the most efficient combination of man, machine, and material. The three elements of standard work are 1) takt time, 2) work sequence, and 3) standard work-in-process. Performing standard work allows for a clear and visible 'standard' operation. Deviation from standard work indicates an abnormality, which is then an opportunity for improvement. |
| standard work combination sheet |
Also SWCS. A document detailing the sequence of production steps assigned to a single worker performing Standard Work. This document outlines the best combination of worker and machine. |
| standard work in process |
Also Standard WIP, or SWIP. The minimum work-in-process needed to maintain standard work. Standard WIP parts are 1) parts completed and in the machine after auto cycle, 2) parts placed in equipment with cycle times exceeding Takt time, and 3) the parts currently being worked on or handled by the operators performing standard work. |
| standard work sheet |
Also SWS. A visual work instruction drawing for Standard Work. Shows the work sequence, takt time, standard working process, and layout of the cell or workstation. |
| standardization |
The methods used to reduce or eliminate custom, one-time and seldom-used components and processes that introduce variability and potential added costs and quality problems. Standardization techniques include rationalizing product line offerings and performing cost studies to determine the true costs associated with designing, documenting, performing, etc. a custom or variable process. |
| start date |
The date required to initiate an operation or process in order to achieve on-time completion by the due or finish date. The start date is often determined by establishing a required due date and backing into the start date based on the standard lead time for a given quantity. |
| startup |
The period of time starting with initial design or setup and ending with acceptable volume production, or achieving a stable process. |
| static lead time |
A fixed lead time that does not vary based on process or quantity considerations. |
| statistical control |
The condition describing a process from which all special causes have been removed, evidenced on a control chart by the absence of points beyond the control limits and by the absence of non-random patterns or trends within the control limits. |
| statistical process control |
The use of statistical techniques such as Control Charts to analyze a process or its output to take appropriate actions to achieve and maintain a state of statistical control and to improve the capability of the process. |
| statistical quality control |
The application of statistical techniques to the control of quality. |
| steering committee |
A cross-functional executive group that sets overall parameters and provides high-level project guidance by interaction with the project leader, milestone status review and approval of resource requirements. |
| stochastic |
A model or equation that incorporates a random variable. |
| stock order |
A production order used to replenish inventory to the desired level, as opposed to a requirement for a specific customer order. |
| stock status report |
A report of on-hand inventory that may also include days of supply, allocation and availability information. |
| stock keeping unit (SKU) |
The combination of a specific item and a specific physical location, as in part number A stocked in warehouse B. |
| stockout |
The condition when required material is not available for a production, sales or interplant order. |
| stockroom |
A storage area physically separated from production or other areas that has limited access. It is typically used to control critical or high dollar value items by issuing from the stockroom only against authorized order pick slips, as opposed to keeping them as open stock on the production floor. |
| storage cost |
The cost associated with inventory storage facilities, such as material handling equipment and personnel. It does not include the costs of holding inventory due to insurance, scrap, etc. |
| straight line depreciation |
A depreciation method that writes off an equal amount of the value of an asset over all periods in its estimated useful life. |
| strategic plan |
The long range, highest-level company plan that describes its overall goals and objectives in determining what businesses to participate in, which strategic resources are required, assesses company strengths and weaknesses vs. the competition, and serves as the basis or target for the next detail level (the business plan). |
| stratification |
The process of classifying data into subgroups based on characteristics or categories. |
| sub- optimization |
A condition where gains made in one activity are offset by losses in another activity or activities, created by the same actions creating gains in the first activity. |
| subassembly |
An intermediate level assembly used in the production of an upper level. |
| subcontractor |
A person or organization who performs work and is paid on an hourly or volume basis, but is not considered on the payroll and does not receive company benefits. |
| subgroup |
A logical grouping of objects or events which displays only random event-to-event variations, e.g., the objects or events are grouped to create homogenous groups free of assignable or special causes. By virtue of the minimum within group variability, any change in the central tendency or variance of the universe will be reflected in the "subgroup-to-subgroup' variability. |
| substitution variance |
A cost variance created by using an alternative component or material on a production order that has a higher or lower cost than the standard component. Substitution variances should be separated from usage variances, which track over or under quantity usage of standard material. |
| suggested order |
A planned purchase, production or interplant replenishment order generated by MRP or other planning system in response to a projected shortage against the specified safety stock level or order point. A suggested order generates capacity and lower level component requirements, but is not released and treated as an incoming receipt until reviewed and accepted. |
| summarized bill of material |
A bill that totals the quantities for components used in all levels and does not represent the structure level by level. The requirements for a component used in more than level are added together and shown as one number. |
| sunk cost |
A cost already incurred that is not able to be affected by subsequent actions and thus has no relevance in evaluating future decisions. |
| supermarket |
The supermarket is a tool of the pull system that helps signal demand for the product. In a supermarket, a fixed amount of raw material, work in process, or finished material is kept as a buffer to schedule variability or an incapable process. A supermarket is typically located at the end of a production line (or the entrance of a u-shaped flow line). |
| supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) |
Software systems and algorithms used to provide real-time instructions to plant automation equipment such as programmable logic controllers (PLC). |
| supplier |
An entity who supplies goods or services; often used synonymously with vendor but may also indicate an internal company resource. |
| supplier rating |
A supplier evaluation based on quality, delivery performance, price, involvement in process improvement programs and other parameters that often results in vendor classifications such as preferred, approved (qualified) or unsatisfactory. |
| supplier scheduling |
syn: vendor scheduling. |
| Suppliers Inputs Process Outputs Customer (SIPOC) |
A Six Sigma tool that stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customer. It enables an overall view of a process by a team. Typically a team tool that is used to classify any and all important aspects of any given process to perfect the process prior to beginning work. Usually utilized during the 'Measure' point of DMAIC, (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). |
| supply chain |
The linked set of resources and processes that begins with the sourcing of raw material and extends through the delivery of end items to the final customer. It includes vendors, manufacturing facilities, logistics providers, internal distribution centers, distributors, wholesalers and all other entities that lead up to final customer acceptance. The extended supply chain for a given company may also include secondary vendors to their immediate vendors, and the customers of their immediate customers. |
| supply chain execution |
The set of supply chain activities that focus on fulfillment rather than planning- raw material delivery, manufacturing operations and shipments to customers and internal and external distribution points. Execution functions receive requirements from the planning cycle and provide the actual data in plan vs. actual measurements. |
| supply chain management |
The coordinated set of techniques to plan and execute all steps in the global network used to acquire raw materials from vendors, transform them into finished goods, and deliver both goods and services to customers. It includes chain-wide information sharing, planning, resource synchronization and global performance measurements. |
| supply chain optimization |
The coordination of linked resources across all or part of a supply chain in eliminating or reducing manufacturing and logistics bottlenecks and creating optimized schedules based on shared inventory and order information. |
| supply chain planning |
The set of supply chain activities that focus on evaluating demand for material and capacity and formulate plans and schedules based on meeting that demand and company goals. System functions often involved in the planning cycle include MPS, MRP, Rough Cut Capacity, CRP, DRP and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS). |
| SWOT analysis |
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis- the organization and analysis of factors that will impact organizational effectiveness; often used in formulating strategic and business plans. |
| system integration test |
A project implementation activity that tests the interfaces between sets of programs or functional areas in a proposed new system. It verifies the ability of the system to handle data and operating requirements common to more than area, and to verify the impacts from one department to another. A unit test of a single function may show optimization of that function at the expense of a negative impact on other areas. |
| system |
Set of interrelated or interacting elements. |
