E
Glossary
Application program interface (API).
The interface (calling conventions) by which an application program accesses operating system and other services. An API provides a level of abstraction between applications and ensures portability of applications from different sources.
Architecture.
A model of arrangement and connectivity for the physical or conceptual components of a system.
Computer-aided design (CAD).
A combination of computer software and hardware used in conjunction with computer graphics to enable engineers and designers to create, manipulate, and change designs without conventional paper drafting.
Computer-aided engineering (CAE).
A wide range of computer tools used to analyze and optimize proposed product designs via mathematical and simulation models. CAE tools are also used to optimize the processes for manufacturing a product.
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).
The use of computers to control and monitor manufacturing elements, such as robots, computer numerical control machines, storage and retrieval systems, and automated guided vehicles. At the lowest level, CAM includes programmable machines controlled by a centralized computer. At the highest level, large-scale systems integration includes control and supervisory systems.
Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM).
The integration of computer systems in a manufacturing facility. Integration may extend beyond the factory into the facilities of suppliers and customers. CIM integrates systems that handle everything from ordering to shipment of the final product, including accounting, finance, management, engineering, and manufacturing. The scope of CAM is generally limited to the factory floor, but CIM generally extends beyond the factory floor.
Concurrent engineering (CE).
An approach in which product design, process development, and manufacturing preparations are carried out simultaneously.
Data markup language (DML).
A specification for a fixed data exchange format for Internet applications.
Design Cockpit.
An interface to a Web Information Manager (WIM) that enables users to perform some subset of process activities, such as an iterative study of design trade-offs, in an automated manner.
Distributed enterprise.
An organization that has operations in more than one geographic location.
e-business.
Using the capabilities of Internet technology, including turning raw information and data into actionable intelligence, to conduct business electronically.
e-commerce.
Buying, selling, and exchanging information electronically.
Enterprise architecture.
The body of knowledge for designing, building, operating, and modeling enterprises. The architecture contains guidelines and rules for the representation of the enterprise framework, systems, organization, resources, products, and processes.
Enterprise framework.
A set of standards governing behavior, organization, processes, resources, communication, and information that gives reference, meaning, orientation, or viewpoint to an enterprise and the systems and subsystems related to it.
Enterprise integration (EI).
The process of combining the diverse corporate and social cultures brought on by global partnerships, including the safeguarding of intellectual assets, remuneration based on the value added by each participating organization, local work practices, social customs, liability sharing, and team-based cooperation for the overall benefit of the enterprise.
Enterprise modeling.
The generation of representations (models) of an enterprise or part of an enterprise (e.g., process models, data models, resource models).
Enterprise resource planning (ERP).
An accounting-oriented information system for identifying and planning enterprisewide resources needed to take, make, ship, and account for customer orders. An ERP system differs from the typical MRP II system in technical requirements such as graphical user interface, relational database, use of fourth-generation language and computer-assisted software engineering tools in development, client-server architecture, and open-system portability. More generally, a method for the planning and control of
resources needed to make, take, ship, and account for customer orders in a manufacturing, distribution, or service company.
Expert systems, or knowledge-based systems.
Interactive computer programs that help users with problems that would otherwise require the assistance of human experts. Expert systems capture knowledge in rules that can be communicated to others as advice or solutions. The programs often stimulate the reasoning process used by human experts in certain well-defined fields.
Extended enterprise.
A group of companies that work together as a consortium and act as a single business entity to satisfy a particular set of customer needs. The extended enterprise consists of customers, the original equipment manufacturer, and multiple tiers of suppliers down to the raw material level.
Extensible markup language (XML).
A simple dialect of SGML defined by the World Wide Web Consortium.
Firewall.
A combination of hardware and software designed to make a Web site secure.
Flexible manufacturing.
The ability to manufacture a wide variety of hardware types (products) in a cost-effective and timely manner and the ability to adapt to the changing needs of the organization (customer). Flexible solutions emphasize highly skilled personnel, flexible equipment, facility layouts, and manufacturing processes optimized for a rapidly changing business environment.
G and M codes.
In RS-274, G and M codes cause the machine to change from one mode to another, and the mode stays active until some other command changes it implicitly or explicitly.
Hypertext markup language (HTML).
A hypertext document format used on the Worldwide Web. Tags and directive information are embedded in the document to delimit text and indicate special instructions for processing it.
Information technology (IT).
A general term for computing and telecommunications equipment, plus the software and data that operate on that equipment, and the standards and architectures used to manage it all effectively.
Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES).
A standard for translation of graphics data from one application to another.
Integrated enterprise.
A business or organization composed of individuals who have acquired knowledge and skills to work with others to make the organization a greater success than the sum of each individual’s output. Integration includes increased communication and seamless coordination between individuals and within and across teams, functions, processes, and organizations over time.
Integrated product and process development (IPPD).
The discipline of developing products and the processes used for their manufacture in parallel, so as to reduce the time and cost of moving products from concept to production. Commonly accepted as the next step beyond the practices of concurrent engineering.
Integrated product realization (IPR).
A concept of totally interconnected and interrelated processes for creating product, from generation of the initial product concept and definition of its requirements, to optimization of the design of the product and its manufacturing processes, and to eventual creation of the product itself.
Integrated supply chain.
An association of customers and suppliers who, using management techniques, work together to optimize their collective performance in the creation, distribution, and support of an end-product.
Integration.
The act of linking heterogeneous processes and equipment across companies and among collaborating companies (suppliers, partners, customers). It is particularly important in the area of communication and information exchange.
Intellectual property.
Property created through creative, intellectual pursuits, manifested as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and designs.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
A worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 130 countries to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic activity.
Internet.
A collection of servers and networks that provide users access to information and applications outside of the company firewall.
Interoperability.
The ability of two or more systems, subsystems, products, or applications to work together and share information or inputs and outputs.
Intranet.
A secured network of Web pages and applications that can be accessed by anyone within a company firewall.
Lean manufacturing.
A set of practices intended to remove all waste from a manufacturing system, especially by eliminating or greatly reducing nonvalue-added activities. “Lean” encompasses concepts such as just-in-time, Kaizen, Kanban, empowered teams, cycle time reduction, small lot manufacturing, and flexible manufacturing.
Life cycle.
The collective set of phases a product or system may go through during its lifetime (e.g., concept definition, development, production, operation and support, demilitarization, and disposal).
Local area network (LAN).
A communication system within a facility; the backbone of a communication system that connects various devices in a factory to a control center. The LAN, through the control center, allows devices such as computers, bar code readers, programmable controllers, and CNC machines to communicate with each other for control and exchange of information.
Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II).
A direct outgrowth and extension of closed-loop MRP I through the integration of business plans, purchase commitment reports, sales objectives, manufacturing capabilities, and cash-flow constraints.
Materials requirements planning (MRP or MRP I).
A scheduling technique for establishing and maintaining valid due dates and priorities for production orders based on bills of material, inventory, order data, and the master production schedule.
Modeling and simulation (M&S).
The application of a rigorous, structural methodology to create and validate a physical, mathematical, or otherwise logical representation of a system, entity, phenomenon, or process for making managerial or technical decisions.
Munitions industrial base (MIB).
The set of producers and suppliers that collectively manufacture munitions for the U.S. Includes GOGO (government-owned, government-operated), GOCO (government-owned, contractor-operated), and COCO (contractor-owned, contractor-operated) facilities.
Neural network.
(1) A computer simulation of the brain, (2) Self-organizing systems of simple interconnected processing units that possess a learning rule and are capable of learning.
Next-generation manufacturing (NGM).
A 1996/97 program to develop a broadly accepted, industry-driven model for a next generation manufacturing enterprise and action plans that individual companies can use to help plan, achieve, and sustain world-class manufacturing. NGM was funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institute of Science and Technology, and several industry sponsors and participants.
Open-architecture control (OAC).
A machine control architecture in which servo loops may be accessed and customized by control engineers at the user organization.
Open Modular Architecture Controller (OMAC).
A type of industrial machine controller intended to allow the integration of off-the-shelf hardware and software components into an overall infrastructure using a non-proprietary operating system that is a de-facto standard.
Open systems.
Systems that are designed to interconnect with a variety of products that are commonly available, allowing a large degree of vendor independence.
Outsourcing.
The procurement of goods and services from suppliers outside of the corporation.
Partners.
Companies that agree to work together, often for a specific period of time or to achieve specific objectives, and share the risks and rewards of their relationships.
Partnership.
An agreement between two companies, often formalized in a contract.
Process model.
The defined description or representation of a process.
Product Data Exchange Using STEP (PDES).
A standard for exchange of geometric data (e.g., CAD files, graphics).
Product data management (PDM).
The process of, or a system for, managing all information about a product as it moves through the engineering and manufacturing lifecycle. Generally includes functions such as management of engineering drawings, processing of change notices, and configuration control.
Product model.
Information about a product captured in a standard representation format (e.g., a CAD file).
RS-274.
A programming language for numerically controlled machine tools.
Servo or servomechanism.
An automatic control system where the output is compared with the input through feedback, either continuously or intermittently, so that the difference between the two quantities can be used to control a device or process.
Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP).
A neutral mechanism for describing product data throughout the life cycle of a product independent from any particular system.
Supply chain.
An association of customers and suppliers who, working together yet in their own best interests, buy, convert, distribute, and sell goods and services among themselves resulting in the creation of a specific end-product.
Supply chain management.
The integration of important business processes, from end-user through original suppliers, that provide products, services, and information that add value for customers and other stakeholders.
Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing (TEAM).
A joint industry/government program to develop, integrate, demonstrate, and validate manufacturing technologies that support the vision of manufacturing as a seamless, tightly integrated process from concept to delivery.
Totally Integrated Munitions Enterprise (TIME).
An Army initiative aimed at modernizing the U.S. munitions industrial base through the adoption of CAD/CAM, networking, COTS production equipment, system integration, and supply chain management practices.
Transparency.
The extent that participants are aware of activities throughout the supply chain.
Virtual enterprise.
An opportunity-driven partnership or association of enterprises with shared customer loyalties designed to share infrastructure, research and development, risks, and costs and to link complementary functions.
Web Integration Manager (WIM).
A software element permitting combination of multiple design-and-manufacturing-related functions, including product design, process planning, process simulation, and fabrication controls, into a single interface using World Wide Web standards.
