1. Assembly process: The part of the production process that puts together components.
2. Computer-aided design (CAD): The use of computers in the design of products.
3. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM): The use of computers in the manufacturing of products.
4. Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM): The uniting of computer-aided design with computer-aided manufacturing.
5. Continuous process: A production process in which long production runs turn out finished goods over time.
6. Critical path: In a PERT network, the sequence of tasks that take the longest time to complete.
7. Enterprise resource planning (ERP): A computer application process that enables multiple firms to manage all of their operations (finance, requirements planning, human resources, and order fulfillment) on the basis of a single, integrated set of corporate data.
8. Facility layout: The physical arrangement of resources (including people) in the production process.
9. Facility location: The process of selecting a geographic location for a company’s processes.
10. Flexible manufacturing: Designing machines to do multiple tasks so that they can produce a variety of products.
11. Form utility: The value added by the creation of finished goods and services, such as the value added by taking silicon and making computer chips, or putting services together to create a vacation package.
12. Gantt chart: Bar graph showing production managers what projects are being worked on and what stage they are in at any given time.
13. Intermittent process: A production process in which the production run is short and the machines are changed frequently to make different products.
14. ISO 9000: The common name given to quality management and assurance standards.
15. ISO 14000: A collection of the best practices for managing an organization’s impact on the environment.
16. Just-in-time (JIT) inventory control: A production process in which a minimum of inventory is kept on the premises, and...