Engineering Data Support

Chapter 6. Glossary

A

accepted material
Material that complies with inspection specifications for purposes of reporting the receipt of material.

accessory
See option.

accounting ratio
An indication of the relationship between costs and activity levels on the basis of current operating methods. For example, cost per man employed, per square foot occupied, per unit sold, or per unit purchased.

accumulated costs
Costs that are calculated by adding the costs for all lower-level component items to the cost of the assembly itself. In calculating these costs factors such as shrinkage, scrap, and product structure effectivity are considered.

acknowledgment
A response from the supplier indicating receipt of a purchase order and acceptance of its terms.

acronym
A word formed from the initial letters of a compound term. For example, radar and TFG2000.

action file
A data processing technique used to forward requests for human decision or intervention to the correct individual(s). In TFG2000, an action file is maintained for each functional area and for each management level. Requests for actions that cannot be processed automatically by the system are stored in the appropriate file. Information is usually extracted from the file in priority sequence, first highlighting the most critical situations. If no decision or action occurs within a given time, the next higher level of management can be automatically notified.

action message
A system-generated message advising one or more users that a specific action is required of them.

Activity Chain Database
A database in which data used to control MRP replanning is stored. TFG2000 programs signal the need for replanning by inserting the item number of an assembly which must be replanned into the database.

actual costs
Costs that are derived by company cost control procedures. These can represent the current purchase price, the latest production costs, and so on.

actual demand
See actual sales.

actual input
The number of standard work hours that have arrived at a work center in a given period of time. A move receipt of an order's material at a work center causes the incrementing of actual input to that work center.

actual output
The number of standard work hours that have been reported complete at a work center in a given period of time. Each partial completion or completion reported against an operation causes the incrementing of actual output for that work center.

actual sales
Sales that include all booked (received) customer orders, both shipped and unshipped. (Also referred to as "actual demand" and "customer order".)

actual workload
The number of standard work hours that have been reported received at a work center, but not yet reported complete. This is more commonly referred to as the "queue of work".

adjustment %
A percentage for adjusting Sales Plan quantities when inserting them as Supply Plan quantities. It is also a percentage factor in the product structure used to increase gross requirements to account for anticipated loss within the manufacture of a particular product. (Also referred to as "scrap factor".) See also shrinkage factor.

advanced release
See forced release.

aggregate plan
See production plan.

allocate
To reserve a quantity or amount of a given resource for a particular customer order, shop order, or maintenance work order. The allocation can be either firm or tentative. The term is generally used in regard to inventory. See also allocation, firm and allocation, preliminary.

allocated material
See reserved material.

allocation, firm
An allocation that has been made to an order (normally used in regard to inventory). The order can be a shop order, work order, or customer order. The allocated quantity is reserved for that order until it is physically removed from stock. In the instance of a shop order, the allocated quantity of components is reserved for that order between release time and the time of actual withdrawal (issue) from the designated issue location.

allocation, preliminary
An allocation made during requirements planning. It is only planned and is not firm. For items with pegged requirements (see also pegged requirements), it enables the system to simulate how requirements may be covered by available inventory, released orders, planned orders, or safety stock. Preliminary allocation builds the networks of orders used in Manufacturing Activity Planning.

alternate operation
A substitute operation for the main operation. A single main operation can be substituted by one or more alternate operations. The alternate is generally used because of a machine breakdown or an overload on the machines or work centers specified in the main operation.

alternate work center
See work center, alternate.

amendment
A formal change to the purchase order that must be communicated to the supplier. For example, a change in quantity or due date of a line item.

application data area
The main portion of the TFG2000 screen that is used to accept data input and to display requested data output.

application function
Programs and systems to satisfy user needs.

assemble-to-order products
Products that are partially assembled before a customer order is received, but the final assembly configuration depends on the options specified by the customer. Compare with make-to-order products and make-to-stock products.

assembly
An item made up of one or more components.

assigned material
See reserved material.

asynchronous task
A program run by the start or trigger facility of CICS/VS. Several transactions in TFG2000 can be long-running tasks; they are performed by a non-terminal oriented program at the request of the online task. This frees the terminal and the user to do other work.

asynchronous transaction
The running of a program under control of CICS/VS that does not require data input directly from a user. They are performed by a non-terminal oriented program at the request of an online task. This frees the terminal and the user to do other work.

attachment
See option.

attendance reporting
A procedure for recording the time of arrival and departure, as well as overtime worked, for employees. The information is used to calculate an employee's hours worked and, subsequently, his pay. Entry of arrival times via a terminal allows for quick, automatic assessment of the ratio of planned to available manpower for a work center or department and allows the foreman to make assignments quickly.

audit trail
Stored information that allows the history of an account, item record, order, and so on, to be traced. It may provide, for example, information concerning transactions, status as of a given date, or other information. The more recent information may be stored online in a historical section of the files for retrieval by terminal.

available
Not yet allocated (firm). A quantity of material computed as on-hand minus allocated (firm).

available-to-promise
The portion of a company's inventory or planned production that has not yet been committed to backlog of customer and internal orders.

B

backlog
Includes all customer orders that have been received, or booked, but have not been shipped.

backorder
An unfilled customer order, usually due to insufficient inventory.

backup
A copy of a file or data set that is kept as a reference in case the original file or data set is destroyed.

backup services
Services that partially cover the online functions during system failure and that carry out time-consuming database maintenance, such as mass input, mass replacement, or database verifications against other TFG2000 databases.

backward scheduling
A scheduling technique that starts from the due date of an order and determines the start and end date for each operation by successively calculating and subtracting the various lead time allowances. Compare with forward scheduling.

balanced supplier
A supplier who has been designated to receive a specific percentage of the orders released for a given item. The total of the percentage for all the balanced suppliers of an item should normally be 100%, but it is a user's responsibility to assure that this is the case.

base price
The unit price quoted by the supplier. It does not include any adjustments (discounts or surcharges) and is expressed in terms of the invoice unit of measure.

batch-oriented computer methods
Computer methods that have a time delay between input and processing. The input is usually in card format, which implies prepared input of formulas by keypunching. The output needs to be distributed, checked, and filed.

batch processing
A data processing term that indicates the processing of data accumulated in advance by programs that have no direct user interaction. See also asynchronous transaction for information on batch processing under control of CICS.

bill of capacity
See product resource profile.

bill of labor
See product resource profile.

bill of material
A listing of all subassemblies, parts, and raw materials that go into a parent assembly showing the quantity of each part required to make up the assembly. (Also referred to as "parts list".)

There are many types of bills of material, including the following:

Bill of Material (BOM)
A TFG2000 application program that provides batch programs to create maintain, and process basic retrievals against the TFG2000 relational Product Definition database tables; and online programs for maintaining the basic engineering data that defines products and their bills of materials.

bill of resources
See product resource profile.

bin
A storage location identified by a number that is its geographical address. Normally, only one type of item is stored in a bin at a given time. Examples of bins are: one cell in a bank of shelving, one storage vat, one location in a large field (as for castings and forgings), one position in a rack, an area marked out on the plant floor, and so on.

bin selection
A technique or procedure for selecting a bin in which to store an item. Before an item can be stored in the warehouse, questions concerning a storage location must be answered. For example: Must different lots of this item be segregated? Is there other stock of this item? If so, where? Is there capacity for this receipt in that location? If a new bin is needed, what bin type should be used? Which bin of this type is nearest to existing stock of the item or is most accessible?

blanket order
(1) A long-term commitment to a supplier for material against which short-term releases will be generated to satisfy requirements or long-term customer orders for end items against which short-term delivery will be called-off.
(2) An order that is used when the company intends to purchase a large quantity of an item over an extended period of time.

blanket routing
See routing, blanket.

blending and bleeding
The process of comparing an item production plan to the backlog for the item. The backlog is blended with the item production plan to give the demand plan. The quantity of the item production plan not covered by the backlog is obtained by bleeding the plan by the backlog quantity. See also consolidated demand.

BOM
An abbreviation for the two TFG2000 bill-of-material products, TFG2000 Bill of Material Online and TFG2000 Bill of Material Batch Utilities. See Bill of Material (BOM).

bottleneck
A facility, function, or department that impedes production. For example, a machine or work center where jobs arrive faster than they leave. Also, a shortage of a move facility of a given type or capacity.

branch warehouse
See field or branch warehouse.

browse
Scanning a set of records in sequence. Browse is often used when the individual keys of the records are unknown to the user.

bucketed system
A material requirements planning (MRP) system under which all time-phased data is displayed in accumulated time periods or "buckets". If the period is one week, then the system would be said to have "weekly buckets".

business plan
A statement of income projections, costs and profits usually accompanied by budgets and a projected balance sheet as well as a cash flow (source and application of funds) statement. It is usually stated in financial terms only. The business plan and the production plan, although often stated in different terms, should be in agreement with each other.

by-product
An identifiable, inventoried item, which is the secondary result of the manufacturing process for an ordered item.

C

call-off
A delivery schedule authorized for release against a blanket order.

capacity
The highest sustainable output rate that can be achieved for a product, according to the product specifications and resources.

capacity, daily
A quantity of work, measured in hours, that a work center can perform in a 24-hour day, including adjustments for unproductive work breaks, such as personal time, and for work center efficiency.

capacity, maximum
The maximum number of working hours available at a work center in a given time period. This can vary across the planning horizon.

capacity, normal
The anticipated number of hours to be worked by a work center each time period. This can vary across the planning horizon.

capacity requirements
The workload that will be imposed on a facility if a given amount or quantity of a product(s) is to be produced.

carrying cost
The cost of carrying inventory, usually defined as a percentage of the dollar value per time period.

checkpoint
A designated interval where a computer program run saves all database updates, so that in the event of program failure it can be restarted at some point other than the beginning.

CICS/VS
The acronym for Customer Information Control System/Virtual Storage, an IBM program product. CICS/VS controls online applications and provides terminal interface for TFG2000 application programs. CICS/VS, and the application programs under its control, run under all IBM virtual storage operating systems.

closed loop system
A system where the results of carrying out a plan are fed back to the planner, to keep the planning process updated and valid. It requires the various operating functions to communicate with one another.

closed shop order
A shop order with status code of '90.' No more updating of this order occurs.

commodity code
A code that reflects a logical grouping of related items, such as fasteners, nonmetallic components, metallic components, copper material, steel material, shop supplies, and so on. The commodity code can be 1 to 10 characters long.

common setup
A setup for an operation that is common to more than one part. Scheduling these parts in a sequence saves setup time and cost.

completed shop order
A shop order that has a status code of '80.' The last operation for this shop order is complete.

component
An item that is used on one or more bills of material.

composite routing
See routing, composite.

conditional order
A customer order that has to be confirmed, perhaps because it has been placed via telephone. The order is recorded as conditional and available inventory or future production may be allocated to it. If the order is not confirmed within a given number of days, it is canceled, any allocations are reversed, and the items are made available. (Also referred to as "unconfirmed conditional order".)

configuration control
Ensuring that the product being built and shipped corresponds to the product ordered and designed--that is, that the correct features, customer options, and engineering changes have been incorporated. This is a major problem in industries where there is a long manufacturing lead time for the product and where changes are constantly being made from initial design through delivery of the product.

confirmation
A confirmation letter that is sent to a supplier that indicates that a provisional order is now firm.

consigned material
Inventory that has been issued to a customer, dealer, supplier, or agent that remains the property of the issuing company.

consolidated demand
The result of combining all requirements, both dependent and independent, for all parent products or components, whether the demand comes from customer orders, forecasts, service parts, and so on. See also blending and bleeding.

consumable tool
See tool, consumable.

contention for tools
A simultaneous need for an individual tool by two or more shop orders. This contention is usually resolved in Operation Sequencing, which considers the priority and urgency of jobs.

continuous net change
See net change, continuous.

control center
The point where decisions are made for job dispatching and to which the shop floor feedback is addressed. In a centralized shop floor control system, the key to successful operation is rapid communication between the shop and the control center, through the use of workstations.

control table
A TFG2000 system-created and maintained relational database table named FIJTCONT. The TFG2000 MPR functional area uses this table to store the system run activity control number.

conversational
An interactive program mode in which the program carries on a dialogue with a workstation user, generally leading the user through a series of predefined operations without interruption.

TFG2000
The acronym for Communications Oriented Production Information and Control System.

TFG2000 AF/MRP
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Advanced Function/Material Requirements Planning.

TFG2000 BOM
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Bill of Material

TFG2000 BOM/O
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Bill of Material Online.

TFG2000 BOM/O&B
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Bill of Material Online and TFG2000 Bill of Material Batch Utilities.

TFG2000 COS
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Customer Order Servicing--Order and Date Management and Shipping Management.

TFG2000 CRP
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Capacity Requirements Planning.

TFG2000 FDM
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Facilities Data Management.

TFG2000 IA
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Inventory Accounting.

TFG2000 IPF
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Inventory Planning and Forecasting.

TFG2000 MPSP
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Master Production Schedule Planning.

TFG2000 OLR
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Online Routing.

TFG2000 PCC
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Product Cost Calculations.

TFG2000 PM&C
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Plant Monitoring and Control.

TFG2000 POI
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Plant Operations Interface.

TFG2000 PUR
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Purchasing.

TFG2000 REC
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Receiving.

TFG2000 SL&R
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Shop Order Load Analysis and Reporting.

TFG2000 SOR
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Shop Order Release.

CORMES
The acronym for Communication Oriented Message System, an IBM program product. CORMES, when installed, is used to provide two way communication between the application programs of TFG2000 and terminal users. CORMES also provides communication between terminal users. (Refer to the General Information Manual, GH12-5127, for more information on CORMES.)

COS
An abbreviation for TFG2000 Customer Order Servicing. See Customer Order Servicing (COS).

cost account codes
Codes indicating the account to which an expense should be charged. In a computer-based system, the cost account codes can be as detailed as necessary for effective cost control.

cost center
A cost area of responsibility to which expenses are charged. The criteria in defining cost centers are that the cost be significant and that the area of responsibility be clearly defined.

cost center number
One of the codes provided to allow the grouping of work centers and machines.

cost classification
A classification of cost data.

cost data table
A table relational database table (FIJTCSTD) in the Product Definition database where cost data is stored for an item.

cost type
The designation of a cost element.

critical constraint
See critical resource.

critical item
An item is considered critical if it must be handled immediately upon arrival on the receiving dock or if it must be held for a certain length of time before handling. This condition is indicated in the relational database Item Data table (FIJTITMD) of the Product Definition Database and can be maintained by using the BMPD transaction.

critical resource
In Resource Requirements Planning (RRP), anything that is considered necessary to accomplish a successful production plan or master schedule when limitations exist on the availability of that resource. (Also referred to as "critical constraint" and "key resource".)

critical work center
See work center, critical.

currency code
A code that indicates the currency (monetary unit) in which the supplier has quoted the price for an item.

cursor
A unique symbol that identifies a character position on a display screen where the next data may be entered.

customer delivery instructions
Instructions given for the delivery of goods to be shipped--delivery address, shipping method (truck, rail, air freight, and so on), days and hours when deliveries are accepted, maximum weight and size of packages, special packing instructions, and so on. (Also referred to as "shipping instructions".)

customer order servicing
The TFG2000 customer order servicing. The handling of customer orders, from initial order or request for quotation to shipment of finished product. The objective is rapid and accurate entry of orders into a control system that will ensure on-time delivery and improved response to customer information requirements (Also referred to as "order servicing".)

custom manufacture
Production according to a customer's particular specifications.

cycle counting
A continuous physical inventory count at or near specified intervals of time. Depending on an item's classification, the frequency of its count can be weekly, monthly, annually, and so on. If desired, it can be based on pre-specified management instructions concerning item inventory value, usage, and so on. The count is normally performed by a regular team of inventory checkers and does not require stores to stop inventory transactions. See also inventory, physical.

D

daily capacity
See capacity, daily.

database
A collection of relational database tables managed by DB2, the relational database manager and used by TFG2000 application programs.

database record
All of the data related to a unique identifier. For example, work center number in the Resource/Facility Database.

day length
A factor expressing the number of working hours in a day. It may vary by work center.

default
An alternative action that will be taken by a computer program when the user does not specify a variable parameter.

delivery cycle
The actual time from the receipt of the customer order to the time of shipment of the product.

delivery destination
The specified location for disposition of purchased material after it has been received in the plant. The system uses destination segments to identify original requisitions after requisition grouping. It is possible to associate several destinations within a given delivery schedule.

delivery schedule
The date and quantity information for a scheduled receipt. A purchase order line can have several delivery schedules. For MRP items, each delivery schedule corresponds to an MRP planned order.

demand
A need for a particular product or component. Sources of demand include forecasts, customer orders, interplant orders, warehouse requirements, and service parts requirements. Manufacture of higher-level assemblies, requiring use of a particular product as a component, may also create demand for that component. In order to forecast actual demand, accurate demand data is necessary, taking into account such factors as product shortages and shipment delays. See also consolidated demand, dependent demand, and independent demand.

demand management
The function of recognizing and managing all of the demands for products to ensure the master scheduler is aware of them. It encompasses the activities of forecasting, order entry, order promising, branch warehouse requirements, interplant orders, and service parts requirements.

demand plan
The total schedule of planned requirements for an item. It represents the agreed-to future uses of an item comprising forecasts, customer orders, interplant and warehouse orders, and production.

demand source
The origination of the demand, such as forecasts, customer orders, interplant orders, warehouse requirements, service parts requirements, and so on.

demand time fence
A date within the MPS planning horizon beyond which the item production plan is used to calculate the consolidated demand. Within the demand time fence, only customer order demand is considered when calculating an item's projected balance on hand. This period is often the final assembly lead time for an item.

department number
One of the codes provided to allow the grouping of work centers and machines.

dependent demand
Demand for a component item is dependent when such demand is directly related to the demand for the next higher level assembly. Therefore, these demands should not be forecast. However, an inventory item may have both dependent and independent demand at the same time. See also consolidated demand, and independent demand.

dependent requirement
The quantity of a component item required to produce the order quantity of a parent assembly.

detail capacity planning
A determination and projection of the open-order workload, by time period for each work center, department, plant, and so on.

detail mode
An option provided by the TFG2000 Online Routing Display, Creation, and Maintenance transaction that allows the user to handle all of the information of a single operation without dependent segments. The information can be paged. See also overview mode and reference mode.

detailed scheduling
The actual assignment of target starting and/or completion dates to show when operations must be performed if the manufacturing order is to be completed on time. (Also referred to as "operations scheduling", "order scheduling", and "shop scheduling".)

development shop order
A shop order for items needed for experimental devices or prototypes.

deviation, forecast
The difference between a forecast and actual demand. (Also referred to as "forecast error".)

direct costs
Those cost types which are easily identifiable for assignment to an individual item. Labor (both internal and external), material, and set-up are direct cost types.

direct labor cost variance
The variance or difference between the standard direct labor cost and the actual direct labor cost. It is generally used to determine the total effect of variances on plant profits and the percentage that is attributable to individual managers or cost centers. In this way, performance can be monitored and guidance provided. The cause of variances, such as changes in the labor efficiency, in lot sizes, or in the manufacturing process, should be determined.

direct material price variance
The difference between the standard cost of the material for a given item or order and the actual material cost.

discount
A negative adjustment to the base price specified in a supplier quotation. A discount may be expressed as a percentage or an absolute amount.

DL/I/DOS/VS
Data Language/1 DOS/VS, an IBM program product. DL/I DOS/VS is the database manager used by TFG2000 application programs in the DOS environment.

downtime
The time during which a machine is stopped by a breakdown or when a system is unavailable.

drop shipment
An order to be shipped to a point other than the ordering point, whether it is to a customer, another supplier, or another internal location.

due date
The date that purchased material or production on order is due to be available for use.

dummy requisition
A pre-formatted requisition that can remain permanently on the database to be used to copy an active requisition for items ordered often.

E

earliest start date
The earliest date an operation or order can start based on forward scheduling.

early delivery
A delivery is considered early if it is received prior to the date calculated by subtracting the early delivery tolerance in days from the target date for a delivery schedule.

economic forecast models
Forecast models aimed at establishing a relationship with external economic indicators and with internal factors, such as price changes, type and amount of advertising, salesman's compensation, and so on. (Also referred to as "extrinsic" forecast models.) See also forecasting, extrinsic.

economic indicator
An indicator external to the business but closely associated with the demand for a product. For example, carpet demand may be projected from housing starts.

effectivity date
The date when an engineering change becomes effective. In TFG2000, the effectivity date is stored in the relational database Engineering Change Table (FIJTENGC) and each associated Product Structure Table (FIJTPROD) row. See also effectivity start date and effectivity stop date.

effectivity start date
The date when a product structure entry becomes effective. The effectivity start date is stored in the relational database Product Structure Table (FIJTPROD). The system maintains this field, keeping it equal to the effectivity date of the Engineering Change Table (FIJENGC) row which it is pegged. See also effectivity date.

effectivity stop date
The date when a product structure entry stops being effective. The effectivity stop date is stored in the relational database Product Structure Table (FIJTPROD). The system maintains this field, keeping it equal to the effectivity data of the Engineering Change Table (FIJENGC) row to which it is pegged. See also effectivity date.

efficiency
The relationship between the planned resource requirements for a task, such as labor or machine time, and the actual resource time charged to the task.

efficiency factor (of a resource)
A factor stored in a resource record that reflects the average ratio of standard hours produced to clock hours staffed.

electronic data interchange
A method of transmitting business information over a network, between trading partners who agree to follow approved national or industry standards in translating and exchanging information.

elementary costs
A cost directly related to an item, such as the purchase price or the labor costs incurred in fabrication or assembly of an item. These costs are sometimes referred to as "value added" costs.

elements of interoperation time
See interoperation time.

end item
A finished product sold as a complete item or a repair part. Any item that is subject to a customer order or sales forecast is an end item. Also, an end item is the highest level of assembly shown by the bill of material.

engineering and production data control
Creating, organizing, maintaining, and retrieving the basic engineering records within a company. The data processing methods used for these records may also be used advantageously for other records in most manufacturing companies.

engineering change
Modification of an item and/or an item's product structure. An engineering change may also cause a new item to be added to the TFG2000 databases. Modifications of items may be due to safety, technical improvement, cost reduction, new manufacturing process, and so on.

engineering change control
Estimating the cost and the effect of an engineering change, the parts to be obsoleted or reworked, the loads on production facilities and vendors, and so on. It also implies the ability to maintain consistency of related changes on parent and component items, item data, product structures, requirements, drawings, routings, tools, jigs and fixtures, gauges, test instructions, parts catalogs, maintenance instructions, commercial documentation, and so on.

engineering change coordinator
An individual with final responsibility for planning, checking, and implementing an engineering change, regardless of what help a computer gives in this respect.

engineering change history
See product history data.

engineering change number
A number that uniquely identifies an engineering change. This number is assigned by an engineering change control system outside of the Bill of Material Online system. In TFG2000 implementation, engineering change numbers can be up to 10 characters long. See also internal sequence number.

engineering drawing issue level
A level or issue number of a drawing that tells the last engineering change or change level incorporated.

Environment Table
A system table defined during the installation of a TFG2000 product to set certain parameter values used during execution. The default associated devices, primary and secondary language codes, are examples of such values.

estimated time
An estimate of the time required for an operation. It is usually the standard time for the operation and is expressed as time for one piece, or time for 100 pieces, and so on. It is used as a basis for capacity requirements planning and cost estimating.

exception reports
Reports that list or flag items that deviate from the plan.

exclusive supplier
See sole source.

expected demand
The quantity expected to be withdrawn from stock during the lead time when usage is at the forecasted rate. Also, the quantity required to produce a given quantity of a higher-level assembly or subassembly represented by the bill of material.

expense budget
A budget, itemized by type of expense, normally based on the sales or production activity expected.

explosion, bill of material
A procedure to determine how many of each of the components listed in a bill of material will be required to produce a given quantity of the item or product represented by the bill. For example, if 500 of product A are required and A is composed of two Bs, three Cs, one D, and four Es, the explosion will determine that 1000 Bs, 1500 Cs, 500 Ds, and 2000 Es are needed. If either B, C, D, or E is an assembly, its calculated quantity will then be used in the same way to "explode" its bill of material and determine the quantities needed of its components. See also bill of material.

external item number
An identifier used by a specific supplier to describe the item provided.

external priority
See priority, external.

F

facility
In TFG2000, a work center or machine. (Also referred to as "resource".)

facility record
A record containing data describing production facilities, such as work centers, tools, machine tools, and storage location. The record includes data such as facility description, location, capacity, efficiency, planned loads, maintenance specifications, and cost information.

families
See product group.

family routings
Routings for a family of items (items that are very similar, for example, differing only in size or material).

feature
A component or assembly that may be included in an end item if specified in a customer order. See also option.

feedback data
Data describing the result of a previous decision or action and used to determine actual status and deviation from a plan, so as to initiate corrective action. Also, information giving the current status and location of a shop order.

fence
A time fence is a policy or guideline that defines a point of time in the future that is usually the minimum cumulative lead time for an item. Master Schedule orders should be firm for dates before the time fence. (Also referred to as "time fence".)

field
A specified area of a record used for a particular category of data.

field or branch warehouse
A decentralized warehouse or distribution center in a distribution network.

file
A collection of related records treated as a unit. For example, one line of a bill of material may form a record, a complete bill may form a series of records, and all the bills of material may form a file.

final assembly
The highest or "zero level" assembled product. It is frequently used as a name for the manufacturing department where the product is assembled.

final assembly schedule
A schedule of end items either to replenish finished products inventory or to finish a product as an assemble-to-order product.

finished goods inventory
See inventory, finished goods.

finite loading
See load leveling.

firm allocation
See allocation, firm.

firm order
See firm-planned order.

firm-planned order
An order created or modified by a person responsible for master scheduling or material planning. It cannot be changed by MRP programs automatically. It is considered a scheduled receipt. See also planned order.

fixed costs
Costs applied to each lot of production. For example, set-up is a fixed cost type.

fixed order quantity
A lot sizing technique that will cause planned orders to be generated for a predetermined fixed quantity. If net requirements for the period exceed the fixed order quantity, the requirement quantity is used and an exception message issued.

floor stock
Inventory issued to the plant in excess of immediate requirements. For example, a complete reel of wire when the requirement is only for 50 feet or small parts that are used repeatedly.

forced release
A release of a shop order for which one or more required components are not available. TFG2000 Shop Order Release (SOR) checks the availability of all components of an order to be released. If a shortage is discovered, release is normally delayed while the inventory administrator is notified. When production can start without the missing component(s), the inventory administrator may decide to force release of the order.

forecast
The extrapolation of the past into the future. It is an objective computation of what a company expects the demand to be.

forecast data conditioning
Checking to determine whether there is sufficient demand data for a forecast, whether data is present for all periods, and whether there are periods of very unusual demand that should be suppressed.

forecast error
See deviation, forecast.

forecast judgment modification
An alteration of the forecast to reflect new or unusual factors (such as a sales contest, a new competitor, or market expansion) that may affect demand.

forecast model
A mathematical formula suitable for forecasting the demand, usage, and so on, of an item or group of items. There are two types of models: linear (horizontal, linear trend) and nonlinear (exponential, logarithmic, sinusoidal). The system chooses the model type best fitting the available data.

forecast period
The time unit for which forecasts are prepared, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.

forecasting, extrinsic
A forecast model that associates historical demand data with the values of indicators external to the business, such as the average bank interest rate on loans. The use of regression analysis reveals the indicator and demand and converts the forecast of the indicator to a forecast demand for the item or group.

forecasting, horizon
The time span in the future over which the forecast of demand extends. The length of the time span is normally determined by product lead time but it may be extended to permit long-range company profit planning.

forecasting, intrinsic
A forecast model based on the historical demand data of an item or group. It uses statistical methods and the technique called regression analysis to extrapolate the data into the future.

forward scheduling
The process of calculating operation start and finish dates which can be used for estimating when an operation will arrive in a given work center based on order release date. Compare with backward scheduling.

full pegging
See pegged requirements.

G

gateway work center
See work center, gateway.

GIM
Abbreviation for General Information Manual.

gross requirements
The total of dependent and independent demand for a part or assembly prior to the netting of on-hand inventory and scheduled receipts.

group code
One of the codes provided to allow the grouping of work centers and machines.

group production plan
See production plan.

growth curves
Curves that can be represented by a mathematical equation that show the forecast demand during the introduction and initial acceptance of a product.

H

hand tool
See tool.

hedge
In Master Production Scheduling, a quantity of stock used to protect against fluctuations and uncertainty in demand and supply. This is similar to a safety stock, except that a hedge has the dimension of timing, as well as amount. See also planning adjustment. (Also referred to as "planning hedge".)

high bay warehousing
A method of automated storage in which cells or pallet racks extend vertically beyond the range of normal handling equipment, such as fork lift trucks. Movement of materials into and from these racks is done by stacker cranes remotely directed by an operator or, if greater efficiency is desired, by a computer.

histogram
A type of vertical bar chart. A graph of continuous vertical bars representing a frequency distribution in which the groups or classes of items are marked on the x axis, and the number of items in each class is indicated by a horizontal line segment drawn above the x axis at a height equal to the number of items in the class.

horizon
The period of time into the future for which a plan or forecast is prepared. See also planning horizon.

horizon category code
A code stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database that identifies the order open horizon category to be used for this item.

I

IA
Abbreviation for TFG2000 Inventory Accounting. See Inventory Accounting (IA).

identification area
The portion of the TFG2000 screen that contains the identification information necessary to find a particular set of data.

idle time
The time during which a machine or operator is nonproductive because of lack of work.

IFS
Acronym for Interactive Finance System.

implosion
Data retrieval that shows the usages of a given component item.

IMS/VS
Abbreviation for Information Management System/Virtual Storage, an IBM program product. IMS/VS is the database manager used by TFG2000 application programs in the OS environment.

indented explosion
A batch report or online display that shows both direct and indirect usages of a component and, level-by-level, the tracing of usages of components up to end items. See also "indented bill of material" under bill of material.

independent demand
Demand for products, assemblies, or materials that is not directly related to demand for another item at a higher assembly level. For example: customer demand end items, service parts, and miscellaneous demand. (Also referred to as "independent gross requirements".)

independent gross requirements
See independent demand.

indirect costs
Costs that represent expenses which themselves are not easily associated to specific parts. Fixed and variable burden are indirect cost types. (Also referred to as "overhead".)

infinite loading
See requirements, capacity.

ingredient
See component.

inquiry
A request for information that is communicated directly to a person through the terminal. See also browse.

inspection routings
A group of routings that pertains to inspection and checking of an item.

Integrated Processing of Data and Text
An IBM office/text processor that can be used to enhance editing capabilities for various TFG2000 applications.

interactive
Refers to those applications where a user communicates with a computer program, through a workstation, by entering data and receiving responses from the computer.

Interactive Finance System
An IBM finance system that can receive customer data and posting data from various TFG2000 applications.

internal currency
The currency used by the company for normal monetary transactions.

internal item number
See item number.

internal order
An order from another plant, warehouse, or location within the company, where the requirement date and quantity are developed outside the master scheduling or material planning system of the supplying department.

internal priority
The second of three fields used to determine the priority of a requisition. The value stored is set by the system and cannot be changed by the user. It is set at the time of requisition entry and is not updated again except when it is used as a special indicator during order creation.

internal sequence number
The table column that uniquely identifies relational database Engineering Change Table (FIJTENGC) rows for a given item, which frequently occur multiple times within one assembly. This table column is applicable only in the Bill of Material Online system and is assigned by the workstation user. In addition to being a sequence field, this number also is used to peg the engineering change effectivity to effectivity dates stored relational database in the Product Structure (FIJTPROD) Table rows. See also engineering change number.

internal unit of measure
The unit of measure used for planning and execution within the company. It is the unit of measure used to express the bill of material quantity per assembly and in which all inventory transactions are reported.

interoperation time
The elapsed time between the completion of one operation and the start of the next operation on the same job. It may be subdivided into postoperation time (cleaning or local inspection), wait time (waiting for transport facilities), transport time, queue time (waiting for available labor and machine), and preparation time (any preparatory work not otherwise described).

interplant demand
The supply of components to a separate plant or division within a corporation. See also internal order.

inventory
Items that are on-hand, such as finished goods, parts, work-in-process items and raw materials.

inventory accounting
The administrative, or bookkeeping, aspect of inventory management. It covers the entry, auditing, control, and processing of inventory transactions, including transaction history and audit trails, as well as the gathering of transaction data from remote locations, physical control over stock, and inventory counting procedures. Also, the name of the TFG2000 application program which performs these functions.

Inventory Accounting (IA)
A TFG2000 product which provides a basic inventory status system for all types of items. The application provides online editing and processing transactions for a full range of inventory functions. Online inquiries include display of the transaction history audit trail.

inventory, finished goods
Inventories of finished goods intended to be shipped to customers. Service parts are considered finished goods, although they can also be used as components of other finished goods. (Also referred to as "sales inventory".)

inventory management
The branch of business management concerned with the planning and control of inventories. (Also referred to as "materials management".)

inventory, obsolete parts
Parts waiting for disposition and salvage. They can be stored in separate locations and be subject to special control techniques.

inventory, physical
The counting of inventory items to determine their exact stock status. Despite tight control on transaction reporting, editing, and inventory updating, errors may occur through the reporting of inaccurate quantities, wrong entry of item number or stock location, unauthorized issue or pilferage, and so on. Physical counting is used to locate and correct these errors. See also cycle counting.

inventory, production
Inventories of all raw materials, parts, and assemblies that are purchased, fabricated, or assembled in an effort to produce finished products. (Also referred to as "MRP controlled inventory".)

inventory, semifinished component
Assemblies and components that are stored in a semifinished state. This can help reduce setup costs and lead times. For control purposes, these items usually carry separate part numbers. This function is performed by TFG2000 Master Production Schedule Planning (MPSP) with R type items.

inventory shrinkage
Losses in inventory stock resulting from scrap, spoilage, deterioration, and pilferage. See also shrinkage.

IPDT
An acronym for Integrated Processing of Data and Text.

issue
To subtract from on-hand inventory. The issue of a component to a shop order transfers that inventory to the work-in-progress value of the order.

issue control code
A code stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table which specifies whether planned issues are generated automatically upon parent order completion or entered manually. It also specifies whether the issue-from location is the order-producing location or the item's main stocking location.

item
Any unique manufactured or purchased part or assembly. For example, an end product, subassembly, component, raw material, repair part, or assembly.

item data
Data describing products, the component parts and raw materials from which they are made, the bill of material, and the routing indicating the manufacturing process. Included is data such as item number, description, unit cost, lead time to manufacture or purchase, and other relatively fixed descriptive information. Also included is information subject to frequent change, such as on-hand inventory balance, future requirements, and planned orders.

item, end
See end item.

item number
A number used to uniquely identify an item. In TFG2000, the item number is 19 characters long. (Also referred to as "internal item number" and "part number".)

item production plan
The production plan for each master schedule item. It can be calculated by exploding the group production plan through the product group bill of material. (Also referred to as "production forecast".)

item storage characteristics
Description of an item's physical properties, by which receipts are assigned to a proper storage bin. Characteristics can be weight, dimensions, fragility, special environmental needs, pilferage probability, frequency of movement in and out, shelf life, and so on.

item type
A code, maintained in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database, which specifies the nature of the part. For example, item type 1 means assembly or subassembly. See also master schedule item type.

J

job assignment
The assignment of an employee to a machine or team, or of a job to a machine, employee, or team. Assignment, made by the foreman, is based on information supplied on a dispatch list by the computer through a workstation.

job dispatching
Choosing the next job to run on a particular machine.

K

key machine
A machine that is critical to the plant operation. For example, a unique machine working close to its maximum capacity.

key resource
See critical resource.

L

late delivery
A delivery is considered late if it is received after the date calculated by adding the late delivery tolerance in days to the target date for a delivery schedule.

latest start date
The latest date by which an operation or order can be started in order to meet the due date of the order.

leadman
A special designation that authorizes an employee to perform certain shop order tracking transactions, such as Operation Complete and Receipt of a Shop Order. Any employee could be defined with this authority.

lead time
To TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP), lead time specifies the time required to produce or procure an item and thus determines its release and due dates and the due date for a component used in the production of the item. The following:

lead time deviation
The measure of actual lead time versus the planned lead time weighted by the quantity delivered at the time of measurement. The lead time is determined by subtracting the target time from the order print (release) date.

lead time offset--product structure
The time difference between the release date of a parent order and the due date of its components. If some components are needed at a later time than the parent order start date, this can be specified in the product structure data.

level
Every part, component, subassembly, or assembly that is put together to make an end item or a component of a higher-level assembly is assigned a level code signifying the relative level in which that part or assembly is used within that product structure. Normally, end times are assigned level "0" (highest) and the components or subassemblies immediately making up the end item are assigned level "1"; the components making up the level "1" components/subassemblies are assigned level "2", and so on.

line item
One item on a customer order, regardless of quantity.

line profile
In TFG2000, defines the characteristics of a repetitive line when used to produce a specific item. Line profiles taken together for an item define how production of that item is to be spread across the production lines.

line sequencing
When more than one item is produced on a repetitive line, this value could be used to sequence those items according to requirements.

load
The amount of scheduled work ahead of a manufacturing facility, usually expressed in terms of hours of work or units of production.

load leveling
The procedure of moving operations or orders in such a manner as to smooth, in accordance with the capacity, manpower and machine requirements over part or all of the planning horizon. (Also referred to as "finite loading".)

load profile
A report in numerical and graphical form that shows the projected loads, overloads, and underloads on each resource. See product resource profile.

location
In TFG2000, a 6-character code identifying an inventory control location. The name may indicate a bin number within a store location, but the TFG2000 MP&R product area does not provide transactions to fully implement a random binning system. Location names such as SHOP, STOCK, REWORK, or INSPECT are appropriate.

location code
In TFG2000, a code given to each work center to indicate its geographical location within the plant.

location type
In TFG2000, a 1-character code, used as a prefix to the location code, that identifies the use or owner of the inventory at the location. A blank specifies that the inventory belongs to TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP).

logical deletion
An indication that a product structure entry is no longer effective as of a given date. In TFG2000, this is recorded with data in the stop effectivity table column in the relation database in the Product Structure (FIJTPROD) that is logically deleted.

lot size
A quantity of an item to be produced or purchased. Its value may be calculated by an economic order quantity formula or be established to recognize other factors such as space requirements, tool life, price breaks, and so on.

low-level code
A number, maintained by the TFG2000 system in the relational database FIJTITEM table row of the Product Definition database, that indicates the lowest level at which this item is found in any bill of material in the system.

low-level code update
Requirements that can occur when adding a product structure entry to a bill of material. The proposed component's low-level code must be numerically larger than the low-level code of the specified assembly. Otherwise, before the entry is made the low-level code is updated. In TFG2000, this work is done by a routine of TFG2000 Bill of Material. The task of updating the component's low-level code is complicated when the component itself is an assembly. In that case, the new low-level code must be propagated down through all components and sub-components of the item whose low-level code is changed. The TFG2000 Bill of Materials routine also guards against used-on-itself or continuity errors. When this error is discovered, all low-level code updates are backed out and the proposed product structure entry is rejected.

lumpy demand
An erratic demand pattern in which the difference between minimum and maximum is relatively large.

M

machine number
A number used to uniquely identify a machine. In TFG2000, the machine number is required and is eight characters long. See also machine reference number.

machine reference number
A number used to provide a secondary reference to a machine's database record. It is especially useful where a company's actual machine numbers are longer than eight characters long.

machine utilization
A percentage of time a machine is actually being productive (for example, cutting metal), as opposed to being set up, waiting for tools, or being idle, and so on.

main operation
A regularly used operation within a routing.

maintenance
The regular and consistent updating and verification of information in TFG2000 databases.

maintenance, preventive
See maintenance, repetitive.

maintenance, repetitive
Maintenance work to be repeated at intervals. It includes both minor operations, such as lubrication and inspection, and major jobs, such as the overhaul of a press. (Also referred to as "preventive maintenance" (PM).)

make-to-order products
Customized products for which the design, manufacturing, and assembly activity occur only after the customer order has been received. Compare to assemble-to-order products and make-to-stock products.

make-to-stock products
End items that are completely assembled before a customer order is received. The end item is considered an "off-the-shelf product". Compare to assemble-to-order products and make-to-order products.

manufacturing calendar
See shop calendar.

manufacturing lead time
See "manufacturing lead time" under lead time.

mass input
Large amounts of input data for load or maintenance purposes.

master operation
An operation that is used repetitively in unchanged or partially changed form in various routings. It is especially useful for complex operations.

master production schedule
A statement of requirements for end items. It represents actual and predicted demand from customers, warehouses, and other plants, and can be executed within the available time and capacity.

master routing
A routing that contains one or more master operations. Specific routings can be created by copying and maintaining master operations and master routings.

master schedule (MS)
The master schedule is the result of building an anticipated production schedule that represents what a company expects to manufacture, expressed in specific configurations, quantities, and dates. This process must take important considerations into account, such as management's goals, sales forecasts, market demand, backlogs, inventories, availability of materials, and production capacity limitations, prior to determining the best production strategy.

master schedule (MS) item
An item with an assigned part number and that is critical in terms of its impact on lower level components and/or resources. An MS item is usually an end item, but may also be a lower level critical item.

material
Any commodity used directly or indirectly in producing a product.

material plan
The schedule of manufactured and purchased orders required to satisfy the material requirements of the master production schedule.

Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
A TFG2000 application program that is designed to calculate detailed component quantities and schedules using bills of material, inventory and open order data, and master schedule information. From its calculations, it makes recommendations to release replenishment orders for material and to reschedule open orders according to due dates and demand dates on the orders. Tools for the planner to help keep the material plan valid are also provided.

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) item
An item for which the supply plan is generated by MRP.

materials management
See inventory management.

maximum capacity
See capacity, maximum.

maximum daily production quantity (item level)
Defines the maximum order quantity which MRP should generate during a planning run. It is used to smooth and spread requirements according to the total capacity of the production lines or suppliers.

maximum daily production quantity (line profile level)
Defines the maximum schedule quantity which should normally be scheduled on that line.

maximum number of days supply
The maximum number of shop days for which requirements can be covered by an order for the item, usually based on shelf life or expected obsolescence. This value overrides both minimum order quantity and minimum days between orders.

maximum order quantity
The maximum quantity that should be ordered for an item, usually based on storage or processing capability.

message area
The portion of the TFG2000 screen where system messages are displayed.

message file
Storage for completion messages issued by asynchronous tasks of the TFG2000 system.

minimum daily production quantity (item level)
Defines the minimum order quantity which MRP should generate during a planning run.

minimum daily production quantity (line profile level)
Defines the minimum schedule quantity which should normally be scheduled on that line.

minimum days between orders
The minimum number of shop days for which requirements must be covered by a planned order for the item. It is used to group small, frequent orders. It is overridden by the maximum number of days supply.

minimum order quantity
The minimum quantity that should be ordered for an item, usually based on cost or packaging considerations.

modular bills of material
A technique used to organize bills of material. This technique requires a structuring of bills of material into product modules, whereby optional features are grouped, and common parts are segregated.

move request
A request to the materials handling area.

move time standard
Standards based on estimates of (1) the average time spent by materials waiting for materials handling equipment in a given work center, and (2) the time it takes to move from a specific location to another (transportation time). This can be a significant part of the manufacturing lead time and is used for planning purposes.

MP&R
Abbreviation for material planning and reporting, a grouping of the inventory management functions provided by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP), TFG2000 Inventory Accounting (IA) and TFG2000 Shop Order Release (SOR).

MRACN
Abbreviation for master run activity control number, a counter incremented each time MRPBATCH is run. It is stored in the relational database control table (FIJTCONT) of the Product Definition database control record.

MRP
See Material Requirements Planning.

MRPBATCH
The batch program that maintains the material plan on the basis of the data available in the Product Definition, Planning, and Activity Databases. It is part of the TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) product.

MRP order number
In TFG2000, the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) order number is assigned by MRPBATCH and RPOR when an order is created. MRPBATCH formats the order number in the following manner:
Position 1
0
Positions 2-4
Order release shop date
Positions 5-7
Run activity control number

RPOR formats the order number in the following manner:

Position 1
0-9
Positions 2-4
Order release shop date
Positions 5-7
Literal of nines (999)

RPOR assigns 0 in position 1 to the first order for a specific date, and then numbers sequentially through to 9. RPOR supports up to 10 orders for a single release date.

multiple order quantity
The planned order quantity should be a multiple of this quantity, which is usually based on packaging, tool and die, or raw material stock unit considerations.

N

net change
A mode of operation of FIMBMRPB, specified with a parameter card at program execution time. In the net change mode, only those items that have had changes are replanned, such as unplanned inventory transactions or modifications to due dates, quantities, or planning factors since the last execution of FIMBMRPB. (Also referred to as "selective planning".)

net change, continuous
A technique that allows continuous, online application implementation. It is normally thought of as a material requirements planning method. It is used with a so-called "transaction driven" system that accepts all transactions, including schedule changes, in a random input stream. Only a continuous net change system can actually be completely up-to-date at all times. TFG2000 is designed as a daily net change system. See also net change requirements planning.

net change requirements planning
A method of changing a material requirements plan, whereby the previous plan is retained and modified only with current changes. Computation is limited to the consequences of changes, as opposed to a complete replanning of requirements or orders in the Planning Database.

net demand
See net requirements.

net price
A price for an item that has been adjusted by discounts, surcharges, and/or deductions.

net requirements
In TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP), the net requirements for a part or an assembly are derived as a result of netting gross requirements against inventory on-hand and the scheduled receipts (such as, open production orders and open purchase orders). Net requirements become planned orders after they are lot sized and offset for lead time. (Also referred to as "net demand".)

normal capacity
See capacity, normal.

normalized cost
The supplier quoted price expressed in terms of internal unit of measure and internal currency.

O

obligated material
See reserved material.

obsolete parts inventory
See inventory, obsolete parts.

offset
See lead-time and lead time offset--product structure.

on-hand
Inventory stock currently in stores and not issued to customers or to manufacturing orders.

online
The use of display stations to gain access to the services of the computing system.

online processing
A data processing term connoting direct interaction of a user with a computer through a workstation.

on-order
The total quantity of all outstanding replenishment orders. The on-order balance increases when a new order is released, and it decreases when material is received to fill an order or when an order is cancelled.

on-time delivery
A delivery is considered on time if its arrival falls within the range defined by the early delivery tolerance in conjunction with the target date.

open order
An order's status is open when it is under the control of TFG2000 Shop Order Release (SOR), but production has not yet started.

open requisition
See requisition.

operation, alternate
See alternate operation.

operation number
The number assigned to a manufacturing or assembly process to be performed within a unique routing. Normally it indicates the sequence in which the operation is to be performed in relation to other operations.

operation overlap
See overlapping.

operation splitting
The simultaneous performance of an operation for a job on several machines. (Also referred to as "parallel running".)

operations scheduling
See detailed scheduling.

option
An option is a choice or feature, identified in the option value field on the bill of material, offered to customers for customizing an end item. Sometimes an option is a mandatory choice, meaning that the customer can only select from one of the available choices offered. (Also referred to as "accessory", "attachment", and "feature".)

order
A term that refers to various kinds of orders, such as the following:

order checklist
A system order checklist is stored in the Shop Order Database control record and copied into all orders opened by the system. Settings of checklist flags control certain order-related processing options.

order cutoff date
The earliest due date on which TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) calculation programs can plan an order for a specific item. The date is usually based on availability of production facilities.

order open horizon category
See horizon category code.

order point technique
One of two basic approaches to planning and controlling inventories of independent demand items. It utilizes data on the historical behavior of an inventory item and considers the demand for each item to be independent of the demand for other items. The other basic approach, material requirements planning, can perform the same functions as order point while at the same time planning the requirements for dependent demand items, thus offering the advantage of a single planning system. Order point looks at the past and material requirements planning looks toward the future. (Also referred to as "statistical inventory control".) See also order point technique, time-phased and material requirements planning.

order point technique, time-phased
A technique in which order point records are in time-phased format, using the same materials planning horizon as the dependent demand items. It is used to combine requirements of end products and service parts. This means that the forecast for service parts is extended beyond the next point of replenishment.

order policy modifiers
Codes and values that modify the planned order quantity. For example, min, max, mult, and days supply.

order priority
A value calculated by the system and used to rank an order relative to all others. Among the major factors affecting order priority are order due date, number of days delay expected, slack between earliest and latest start date, and external priority.

order promising
The process of making a delivery commitment. For make-to-order products, this usually involves a check of uncommitted material and availability of capacity.

order release
The connection between the planning and implementation phases. Its function is to change the status of an order from "planned" or "opened" to "released".

order scheduling
See detailed scheduling.

order servicing
See customer order servicing.

order unit of measure
The unit of measure that the supplier has specified that you must use to order material in order to obtain a given price quotation.

order unit of measure conversion factor
A factor representing the relationship between the order unit of measure and the internal unit of measure. This number must be multiplied by the order quantity expressed in terms of the internal unit of measure to produce an order quantity expressed in terms of the order unit of measure.

overhead
See indirect costs.

overlapping
The "sending ahead" of a part of a shop order to the next operation before the entire order has been processed at the current operation. (Also referred to as "operation overlap".)

overshipment
Delivery from a supplier in excess of the quantity ordered.

P

paging
Requesting the next page on the screen when there is too much information to be displayed on one screen.

parallel running
See operation splitting.

partial receipt
The report by a leadman of accepting a portion of an order that is being "sent ahead" of the original order. The encoded send-ahead card should be used to report the receipt of the partial order into an operation. See also send-ahead.

part number
See item number.

parts list
See bill of material and summarized explosion.

PDOM
The acronym for Program Description and Operations Manual.

pegged requirements
Keeping track of the relationship between requirements for specific item orders and the requirements that they generate for lower-level components. Depending on the industry, pegging can be made in different ways: (1) for an individual end item in production on customer order, (2) for a batch of end items in repetitive production, (3) identifying directly the end item for which each component is due (full pegging), or (4) identifying directly the next assembly level only, with the possibility to trace the requirement origin level by level thorough all levels (single-level pegging). Pegging connects all materials into networks that allow a kind of critical path scheduling--earliest dates, latest dates, and so on. It allows a simulation of component allocation in order to plan the production of assemblies and end items. TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) performs single level pegging.

phantom assembly
An assembly that will not be physically assembled, manufactured, or ordered. It can be introduced into the database to structure modular bills of material, to develop kits, or to structure multi-use bills of material for planning purposes.

phantom level code
A code stored in the relational database FIJTROD table of the Production Definition database specifying that a given component (a real part) is to be considered a phantom when used in a particular assembly.

picking list
A document used as an aid in gathering material in a storeroom or warehouse for issuing to production or for shipping.

planned order
An order created by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) calculations to cover requirements. It is modified or deleted by programs if requirements change. See also firm planned order.

planned order schedule
A statement of orders planned for future release. Extending over the planning horizon, it is developed and maintained for each inventory item by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP). After it is converted to machine loads and summarized by work center by time period, it yields an accurate picture of productive capacity requirements.

planned output
The number of standard work hours expected to be produced by a work center. In TFG2000, it is calculated from the work center staffing plan, taking into account the average efficiency of the work center.

planning adjustment
An adjustment made to an item production plan to compensate for factors that are outside the normal planning rules. See also hedge.

planning capacity
See capacity requirements planning.

Planning Database
A database maintained by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) containing material requirements from dependent and independent sources, as well as basic order information for purchase and manufacturing orders. It also contains pegging information.

planning factors
Data, stored by item, which specify rules to be used by TFG2000 products in the MP&R area.

planning hedge
See hedge.

planning horizon
The time span covered by the different planning systems. It can vary from several years in master production schedule planning to a few days in operation sequencing. See also horizon.

planning period
The time unit for which plans are prepared, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.

plant floor computer
A small computer located in the plant to handle sensor-based applications and shop floor control. Usually, each computer operates in a limited area of the shop and, in addition, can be connected to the centralized processing system.

postponed release
Postponement of the release of a shop order because of unavailability of one or more components. Normally, this allows the other components to be used by other orders. However, the inventory administrator can decide to reserve or allocate the available components pending receipt of the short components, if he so desires.

prediction
An intuitive estimate of demand, taking into account changes and new factors influencing the market demand. (Do not confuse this term with "forecast" or "projection".)

preliminary allocation
See allocation, preliminary.

preparation time
The time during which the part is delayed prior to processing, expressed as a percentage of the operation duration (setup plus run). The delay is caused by some preparatory operation not in the routing, such as cleaning, heating, or marking out, and so on (a CAPOSS-E term).

preventive maintenance
Maintenance work to be repeated at intervals. It includes both minor operations, such as lubrication and inspection, and major jobs, such as the overhaul of a press. (Also referred to as "repetitive maintenance".)

price break
A quotation for a price based on a specified minimum order quantity. Different prices for different minimum order quantities are stored as individual quotations.

priming quantity
The required number of totes that must be issued to the line to begin production.

printed purchase order
A released order.

priority code
A code stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database that is used by TFG2000 Shop Order Release (SOR) to prioritize component allocation.

priority, external
A value provided by management to reflect the importance of a customer order. For example, a penalty clause for late delivery of an order would result in a high external priority. This priority is used as a factor in calculating the order priority of associated shop orders.

product
Any commodity produced for sale.

Product Definition Database
The relational database tables used in TFG2000 to record data that uniquely pertains to a specific item or part.

Product Definition Database control record
A system-created and maintained database record in the Product Definition Database. The TFG2000 MP&R product area stores the system run activity control number here.

Product Definition Data Control
An application that addresses the requirement for creation, organization, maintenance, and communication of item data and bills of material.

product group
A group of products having common classification criteria. Design engineering may classify items by function, size, shape, or material in order to retrieve all items having common characteristics, when required for a specific design purpose. This avoids duplication of design, routings, items, stock accounting, and so on. The sales department may classify items by product groups according to potential users, function, size, and so on. (Also referred to as "families".)

product group forecast
A forecast for a number of similar products.

product history data
Data allowing the configuration of any completed item to be retrieved. Depending on the industry, the history file can vary from a complete copy of the bill of material of each individual item built, to an engineering change file specifying the serial number of the end items from which they were applied.

product load profile
See product resource profile.

product mix
The distribution of the various items in a production plan.

product resource profile
A statement of the key resources required to manufacture one unit of a designated product, including all components at all lower levels. It is often used to predict the impact of the item scheduled in the master production schedule on these resources. (Also referred to as "bill of capacity", "bill of labor", "bill of resources", "product load profile", and "resource profile".)

product structure
The relationship between the components and the assemblies that use them. In TFG2000, the structure is maintained in a segment within the Product Definition Database that records which components are used for a given assembly. (Also referred to as "super bill of material".)

product structure prefix/suffix
Fields used with the component item number to uniquely identify or sequence a product structure segment. Use and meaning of these fields vary by company.

product structure sequence
The sequence of a bill of material. Within the Product Definition Database, the bill of material information is held in the product structure segment which records what components are used for a given assembly. The product structure segment can have multiple occurrences. Each occurrence must be uniquely sequenced within any given bill of material. In TFG2000, the sequence filed in the product structure is 27 characters long, consisting of a 4-character prefix, a 19-character component item number, and a 4-character suffix.

production forecast
See item production plan.

production monitoring
Checking the status and progress of production activities. This can be done by workers and terminals or by direct machine control. In the latter case, machines are connected to the computer, which directly monitors the status and performance.

production plan
An agreed upon strategy of setting the level of manufacturing output for each family or group of products using the production planning process. (Also referred to as "aggregate plan" and "group production plan".)

production planning
Production planning establishes the quantity of production deemed necessary to meet a demand throughout a planning horizon. The production rates are established to meet management's manufacturing objectives in terms of raising or lowering inventories or backlogs, while attempting to keep the production rate relatively stable.

production schedule
A plan that gives authorization to manufacture a certain quantity of a specific item. It is usually initiated by the Production Planning department.

projected available balance
In TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP), it is the inventory balance projected into the future.

projection
An estimate based on past data.

Q

quality control
The function of establishing and maintaining specified quality levels for products.

quantity per assembly
A quantity stored in the bill of material or product structure that specifies how much of a specific component is used for the parent assembly.

queue
Work (shop orders) sitting in front of a work center waiting to be worked on.

queue/move time
Elapsed time between the completion of one operation and the start of the next operation on the same job. It can be subdivided into postoperation time (such as cleaning or local inspection), wait time (waiting for transport facilities), transport time, queue time (waiting for available labor and machines), and preparation time (any preparatory work not otherwise described).

queue time
The normal or average time an order is waiting to be worked on. See also interoperation time.

quotation
A commitment of price, terms and conditions, and lease time for an item by a supplier.

quotation validity duration
The length of time, in calendar days, that a quotation is valid.

R

RACN
Abbreviation for run activity control number, the number assigned to a specific FIMBMRPG run.

receipt
An addition to on-hand inventory.

receipt control
A code stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database that indicates the location for increase of on-hand at order close.

reference mode
A transaction option provided by TFG2000 to display, create, and maintain selected fields.

regeneration
See requirements planning regeneration.

regression analysis
A technique used in forecasting that fits, through data points, a line minimizing the distance from the points to the line. This line is called a regression line.

release
The authorization to produce or ship material that has already been ordered. See also "released order" under order.

released input
The number of standard hours of workload for a work center that have been reported released to the shop and not reported complete at the time that the TFG2000 batch scheduling program (RCBATCH) is run.

released workload
The difference between released input at the beginning of a period and actual output reported during the period.

reminder
A letter sent to the supplier to indicate that a purchase order delivery schedule is due or overdue. A second reminder letter for a given schedule is called a warning.

reorder cycle
See "procurement lead time" under lead time.

repair parts business
See service parts demand.

requirements, capacity
The workload that will be imposed on a facility if a given amount or quantity of a product(s) is to be produced. Normally, it is generated by capacity requirements planning from the materials plan developed by material requirements planning. See also capacity requirements planning.

requirements, gross
See gross requirements.

requirements, net
See net requirements.

requirements planning regeneration
A mode of operation of TFG2000 FIMBMRPB, specified with a parameter card at program execution time. In the regeneration mode, all items having requirements or orders in the Planning Database are replanned. (Also referred to as "regeneration".)

requirements regeneration
Regenerating requirements and taking into account all changes to the master production schedule since the last plan was generated. Planned orders are recomputed. However, existing released and firm orders are retained by the system. When requirements are regenerated, the old requirements plan is discarded.

rescheduling
The process of changing due dates on open orders when due dates are out of phase with required dates.

reserve stock
See safety stock.

reserved material
Material that is promised. Also referred to as "allocated material", "assigned material", "mortgaged material", and "obligated material".

reserving material
The reservation of components and raw materials for use in specific orders. In an integrated computer system, physical allocation is not necessary; reserving components is performed in the computer by the procedure of allocation. See also allocation, firm, allocation, preliminary, and staging, material.

resource
In TFG2000, a work center or machine. (Also referred to as "facility".)

resource, critical
See critical resource.

resource profile
See product resource profile.

resource requirements planning
The function of computing long-term requirements on resources such as production facilities, raw materials, or money. A relatively long-range plan is required, as some of the resources (special machines or building) must be planned several years ahead.

Resource Requirements Planning (RRP)
A process of evaluating the impact of the production plan on key resources that have been identified as critical constraints in achieving production objectives. Product resource profiles are used to accomplish this. See rough-cut capacity planning.

responsibility
A responsibility identifier can be assigned to an item, standard text, and a supplier.

returned material
Material that is rejected at the time of receipt and is returned to the supplier.

rework routing
See routing, rework.

rework shop order
A new order created on the plant floor normally for the purpose of reprocessing previously completed scrapped parts. In TFG2000, a maximum of nine operations are permitted.

reworked material
Material that did not meet specifications.

rough-cut capacity planning
The process of evaluating the load on critical resources caused by a master schedule. See also Resource Requirements Planning (RRP).

routing
Sequence of operations to be performed in order to produce a part or an assembly.

routing, blanket
A routing that lists a group of operations needed to produce a family of items. Items using the blanket routing may differ somewhat, but they use the same sequence of operations. Specific information such as tools for each individual item can be included.

routing, composite
A routing that lists a group of operations that are needed to produce a family of items, but which are not all used for all items. The operations used depend on the characteristics of each particular item.

routing number, type
Codes stored in the relational database FIJTITRT table of the Product Definition database that specify the main routing to be used by the shop order create function or alternate routings.

routing, raw materials and purchased parts
A routing for raw materials and purchased parts that usually contains special instructions for receiving, inspection, or storage. This type of routing does not carry information describing the manufacture of the item.

routing, rework
A routing that shows additional work that must be done in order to rework items that failed to meet their quality specifications. Such routings are often developed only when the problem occurs. In some cases, however, because of a high reject rate during a particular process, the rework routing is held permanently in the routing data.

routing, specific
A version of a standard routing, held at a specific engineering level for an individual customer or product.

routing, temporary
A routing used in making a pre-production item, or used for production planning purposes while the permanent routing is being prepared.

S

safety lead time
See "safety lead time" under lead time.

safety stock
A quantity of stock planned to be in inventory to protect against fluctuations in demand or supply. In TFG2000, the amount of inventory not considered as available for covering requirements during FIMBMRPB or master scheduling replanning. Its purpose is to cover variations in forecasted demand and can be calculated to meet a specific level of service. (Also referred to as "reserve stock".)

sales inventory
See inventory, finished goods.

sales plan
Represents what marketing plans to sell. A forecast of sales, often stated by period in which the shipment is to be made.

schedule
A listing of jobs to be processed through a work center, department, or plant and their respective start dates, as well as other related information.

scheduled output
The number of standard hours of workload scheduled to be performed in a work center during a period of time. It is determined from the results of forward scheduling.

scheduled receipts
Orders with a status of firm-planned, open, or released.

scheduling
Establishing the timing for performing a task.

scrap allowance
A factor that expresses the quantity of a particular component that is expected to be scrapped while that component is being built into a given assembly. Also, a factor that expresses the amount of raw material needed in excess of the exact calculated requirement to produce a given quantity of a part. The factor, dependent upon the type of assembly or part, is carried in the relational database Product Structure table (FIJTPROD) of the Product Definition database and is used to increase the requirements as the component requirements are exploded. Compare with yield factor.

scrap factor
A percentage stored in the relational database Product Structure Table (FIJTPROD) of the Product Definition database to be used to increase the quantity of the requirement for a given component when used on a specific assembly to allow for scrap allowance. (Also referred to as "adjustment %".)

scrap rate
The percentage difference between the quantity of an item that started in a manufacturing process and the quantity that was completed at an acceptable quality level. Scrap rate is stored in a table column MSHRF (shrinkage factor) in the relational database FIJTITMD of the Product Definition database labelled shrinkage factor. See shrinkage factor.

scrapped material
Material that was originally accepted, but, after inspection or some other process, was scrapped because it could not be made usable.

security
A transaction and database security facility is provided with TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP), TFG2000 Bill of Material/Online and Batch Utilities (BOM/O&B).

semifinished component inventory
See inventory, semifinished component.

send-ahead
Identifies a certain portion of the order that is sent to another operation ahead of the rest of the order. The quantity sent ahead will be rejoined by the original order prior to the completion of the order. See also partial receipt.

service parts
Parts used for the repair and/or maintenance of an assembled product. Typically, they are ordered and shipped at a date later than the shipment of the product itself.

service parts demand
The need for a component to be sold by itself, as opposed to being used in production to make a higher-level product. (Also referred to as "repair parts business".)

service parts inventory
See inventory, service parts.

setup time
See standard setup time.

shipping
Provides facilities for the outgoing shipment of parts, products, and components. Packaging, marking, weighing, and loading for shipment is part of this activity.

shipping instructions
See customer delivery instructions.

shipping terms code
A code used to indicate the shipping terms specified by the supplier for a quotation.

shop calendar
All valid working days on the planning horizon, expressed in calendar date format (year, week, day), shop date format (year, week, day) and associated with an implied 3-digit shop day.

Shop Order control table
A relational database table containing the next assignable shop order number, horizon category values, and the system order checklist.

shop order identification card
A document that accompanies a shop order. It is used for order identification, particularly when reporting work via a terminal. It includes shop order number, item number, and order quantity. Other data, such as a brief description, can also be included.

Shop Order Release (SOR)
A TFG2000 product which assists with the preparation of shop documentation, preparation and movement of kits and parts, and the release and follow-up of shop orders. The orders that are opened and released are the planned orders developed in either TFG2000 MRP.

shop scheduling
See detailed scheduling.

shortage release option
A code stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database that controls release of orders by batch and online shop order release, depending on component availability.

shrinkage
A reduction of on-hand shelf inventory due to pilferage, deterioration, or similar causes. See also inventory shrinkage.

shrinkage factor
A percentage stored in the relational database FIJTITEM table of the Product Definition database, used to increase order quantity for the item to compensate for expected scrap during production. (Also referred to as "yield rate".)

single-level explosion
A batch report or online display that shows the direct components of an assembly.

single-level implosion
A batch report or online display that shows the direct usages of a component.

single-level pegging
See pegged requirements.

single machine number
A number assigned by CAPOSS-E to serially number the machines in a work center.

skeleton quotation
A quotation established as a result of issuing a request for a quotation to a supplier. When the quotation is received, the terms and conditions are filled in, and the quotation becomes a valid quotation.

smoothing horizon
In TFG2000, defines the range in which the smoothing (order policy L) or spreading (order policy code K) algorithms will be processed. The smoothing horizon must always be a multiple of the smoothing period to ensure consistency during smoothing and spreading.

smoothing period in weeks
In TFG2000, defines the range in which the smoothing (order policy L) and the spreading (order policy code K) is done. The smoothing period should be as long as the unsmoothed period to avoid unnecessary changes to orders or schedules during smoothing or spreading. The minimum smoothing period is one week. The smoothing period must be equal to or less than the smoothing horizon.

sole source
A supplier coded as being the only source for a particular item.

SOR
Abbreviation for TFG2000 Shop Order Release. See Shop Order Release (SOR).

specific routing
See routing, specific.

split order
An order that represents a portion of an original order that is separated for operational reasons. The split order will not rejoin the original at a future operation. It is physically separated from the original order by defining a new shop order with the split order quantity. The quantity of the original order is decremented by the same amount.

stabilization stock
Inventory built up to allow for a regular production rate of an item with a seasonal or irregular demand.

staging, material
A procedure used to reserve components for shop orders. Some time before order release, components are taken out of inventory and grouped in a "staging" area. This is not as necessary in an integrated computer system where "paper staging" can be performed.

standard costs
Estimates, derived by company procedures, representing what the cost types (for example, labor or material) are expected to be.

standard lot size
Average lot quantity produced. It is usually the basis on which fixed costs are developed.

Standard Output Panel (SOP)
The basic screen configuration in TFG2000.

standard run time
Estimated or computed time necessary to perform a given job. When incentives are used, the actual time required will usually be less than the standard time. Consequently, for planning purposes standard times must be corrected by an efficiency factor.

standard setup time
Estimated or computed time to perform a machine setup for a specific operation in a routing.

Standard Text Database
In TFG2000, a relational database table containing user-defined standard text that is recorded once for repeated reference, such as error message texts, display constants and other data that may vary according to the user's environment or language. The database also contains program tables that are referenced by both the system and the user.

start date
The date that an order should be placed into the shop based upon some form of scheduling rules. The start date should be early enough to allow time to complete the work, but not so early so as to overload the shop.

statistical inventory control
See order point technique.

storage bin characteristics
A description of a storage bin's capacity in terms of quantity, weight, maximum dimensions of an item, bin type (shelf, vat, rack), physical location, or ease of access.

stores control
The physical aspect of inventory management. Stores control considers how to enter materials into stores economically, keep control of their location, and pick materials for issue.

Structured Query Language (SQL)
An established set of statements used to manage information stored in a database.

subassembly
An assembly that is not a final product and is used to make up another subassembly or a finished product. See also assembly and component.

subcontracting
Using outside resources to perform operations within a shop order.

subgroup number
A number assigned to a machine by the user. A subgroup number has the effect of subdividing a work center.

substitute time
A value used where no standard or estimated time exists. For example, if the average run time for jobs on center lathes is two hours, this figure can be used as a substitute.

summarized explosion
A batch report or online display that shows summarized quantities of both direct and indirect components of an assembly. There is one line per component regardless of how many times it appears in the bill of material. (Also referred to as a "parts list".)

summarized implosion
A batch report or online display that shows all the usages of a component. There is one line per assembly regardless of how many times and at what level the component is used.

T

table
A storage unit for a collection of Relational application fields managed by DB2.

table type
The basic unit to describe a database structure. It describes a group of tables that have the same format, meaning, and type of storage.

target date
A date used to rate the supplier's delivery performance. At requisition entry time, the system sets this date to the delivery schedule due date. The buyer is free to change this date at any time to accommodate changing conditions.

target price deviation
The cumulative average deviation of the actual invoice price versus the target (or quotation) price. Price deviation is expressed as a percentage. This value is not included or updated by the system, but transactions are provided to maintain it.

teardown
The opposite of setup, taking place at the end of an operation. For example, dismantling of assembly jigs or cleaning of vats or machines, and so on.

temporary badge
A badge that is assigned to an employee who does not have his employee badge. The employee can use this badge with all transactions that require an employee badge. The badge is identified by a unique code 'T' in the first position followed by a six digit number.

temporary order
An order created, by the system, for a supplier during automatic order creation and presented as a recommendation to the supplier for his approval. All applicable requisitions assigned to a particular supplier are grouped together into the temporary order.

temporary routing
See routing, temporary.

text key
In TFG2000, a text key provides access to the Standard Text database. It is a 6-character key consisting of a 2-character text code and a 4-character text identifier.

time estimates
See estimated time.

time fence
See fence.

time phased order point
This technique is used by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) for independent demand items. Gross requirements come from a forecast, not via explosion. This technique can be used to plan warehouse inventories, as well as planning for service and repair parts, since TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) logic can readily handle items with dependent demand, independent demand, or a combination of both.

tool
Any of a broad range of instruments used to facilitate mechanical operations--an implement. The term includes, for example, jigs, fixtures, hammers, saws, twist drills, grinding wheels, milling fixtures, levers, and screwdrivers, as well as machine tools such as grinders, lathes, automatic screw machines, and drill presses. For planning purposes, tools that can cause bottlenecks in production (because only one or two units are available) can be considered machines.

tool, consumable
A tool that has significant consumption and is inventoried as a material or supply item. For example, a twist drill or a grinding wheel. If the tool is usually disposed of after a single job, its requirements can be planned as dependent demand. If the tool can usually be reused, its requirements can be planned as independent demand. See also dependent demand and independent demand.

tool kit
A collection of individual tools.

tool life
The anticipated life of a tool. It is usually expressed as either the number of pieces the tool is expected to make before it wears out or as the number of hours of use anticipated.

tool number
A number used to uniquely identify a tool. In TFG2000, the tool number is eight characters long.

trading partners
Two parties, such as a buyer and a supplier, who agree to exchange information using electronic data interchange.

Transaction Database
The Transaction Database is maintained by TFG2000 Inventory Accounting (IA). All material transactions affecting on-hand inventory in a location are recorded in this database.

transaction definition area
The portion of the TFG2000 screen that contains the program transaction code and the cost classification code.

transaction history, inventory
See audit trail.

translation
The process of converting business information, usually from a format used by an application, to a standard format.

transportation time
The average time required to transport parts between two work centers, expressed as a table (matrix). Transportation time is an element of move time standards. See also interoperation time.

trigger
(1) Message sent from one program to another.
(2) Facility of CICS/VS to execute asynchronous tasks.

two-level master production scheduling
A master scheduling approach, where master schedule end items are scheduled separately from their optional features, which are also master schedule items.

U

UGRM
Abbreviation for User Guide and Reference Manual.

unconfirmed customer order
See conditional order.

unit of measure
See internal unit of measure, invoice unit of measure conversion factor tolerance rate, and order unit of measure.

unprinted purchase order
An order that has not been released for the first time, or has been amended and has not yet been printed.

unprocessed requisition
A requisition that has not had a supplier or quotation firmly assigned.

unsmoothed period
The unsmoothed period is used with the run date to compute the start date (week) of the smoothing horizon and the first smoothing period. This is also the earliest date spreading can start.

usage probability
A percentage, stored in the relational database FIJTPROD table of the Product Definition database, used by TFG2000 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to calculate gross requirements.

used-on-itself
A condition where an assembly is included in its own bill of material, directly or indirectly. This condition is also known as a continuity error. The TFG2000 Bill of Material Online system uses its own routine to prevent the introduction of this error to the database. See low-level code update.

user guidance area
The portion of the TFG2000 screen which contains a list of valid program function codes for the transaction and a brief description of the function code meaning.

user ID
The unique identification of a user of a TFG2000 workstation session. A user is defined with the TFG2000 User Profile Maintenance transaction MFUM. Compare with employee ID.

utilization of machines
The percentage of time a machine is actually being productive (for example, cutting metal), as opposed to being set up and waiting for tools or being idle.

V

variable
A quantity that can assume a choice of a given set of values.

variable costs
Costs applied to each unit of material manufactured or purchased.

variance
The difference between the expected (planned) and the actual.

variant
A category or set of component parts, one of which must be specified for all configurations.

variation (variant)
One of two or more possibilities (for example, manual or automatic gear box) open to a customer when ordering an item. He must specify his choice because the product will not function without it, whereas the product will function with or without an "option" (such as a radio). The forecast for a variation is often expressed as a percentage of the product forecast.

vendor
A company or individual that supplies goods or services.

VSAM
Virtual Storage Access Method, a standard access method provided with all IBM virtual operating systems. VSAM is the access method used by the relational database management system (DB2) to organize files that make up the TFG2000 relational databases.

W

wait time
The average time during which completed parts await transportation. It can be a standard for all work centers. Wait time is an element of move time standards.

warehouse demand
The need for an item in order to replenish a branch warehouse.

warehousing
See stores control.

what-if analysis
The process of evaluating alternative strategies or tactics using simulation methods. For example, evaluating the consequences of changes to forecasts, manufacturing plans, or inventory levels.

where-used
Data that shows the usages of a given component. See implosion.

where-used information
Information on where a particular item, tool, material, or work center is used for each routing or operation.

work area workstation
A workstation used to dispatch job assignments as well as to report completion of work. Dispatching instructions are given either on printed copy or on a display screen.

work center
A specific production facility. It may consist of one or several men or machines. It may be organized by type (a group of milling machines) or it may be a group of dissimilar machines used to produce a part or family of parts. In TFG2000, it should be defined as a group of interchangeable resources.

work center, alternate
A work center that can be used in case of breakdowns or overloads in the "primary" work center.

work center, critical
A work center that is working close to its maximum capacity or where a bottleneck (overload) occurs. Also, a work center that processes the work of an important part of the plant or product line, one where a breakdown would be critical, or one that consists of a machine with unique characteristics for which an alternate is not available.

work center, gateway
A work center where the first operation of many shop orders is performed.

work center number
A number used to uniquely identify a work center. In TFG2000, the work center number is eight characters long.

work-in-process
A product in various stages of completion throughout a plant, including raw material and completely processed material.

work queue
A queue of work that accumulates at a work center.

work station terminal
A type of workstation used to feed data back from the operator's work station on the shop floor to a central computer or control center.

working set
In TFG2000, it is possible to limit the requisitions made available to automatic processing transactions so that neither the system nor the buyer is encumbered by the need to examine requisitions that are of no immediate interest. The limiting of the requisition working set is accomplished by setting the external priority code to the maximum value. That value is initially defined as '*,' but the user may alter the value by changing the MAXPRTY value in the Environment Table.

workstation
A point on a repetitive line where components can be accounted for. In TFG2000, a unique inventory location that can be used as an issuing location and a reporting location.

Y

yield
The ratio of usable output from a process, to the materials of value input to the process. Yield is usually expressed as a percentage and may be in terms of total input or of a specific raw material.

yield factor
A factor that tells by what percentage the quantity of an item or product called for by a shop order must be increased to compensate for expected loss or scrap during manufacture. Compare with scrap allowance.

yield rate
See shrinkage factor.

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