Reference
Manufacturopedia
A dictionary of manufacturing terms, written for Canadian plants.
Look up the words that turn up on a drawing, a purchase order, a customs entry or a quality file. Every entry starts with a one-sentence answer, then explains it, then shows it with real numbers. Where a term means something different in Canada, the entry says so: which standards body applies here, what the Canada Border Services Agency expects, and what the term is called in French.
77 entries
- 5SA five-step method for organizing a work area so that anything missing or out of place is obvious immediately.sort set shine standardize sustain · 5S audit · workplace organization
- A3 reportA whole problem, its analysis and its plan, forced onto one sheet of A3 paper.A3 thinking · A3 problem solving · one-page report
- ABC analysisSorting parts into three classes by how much of your annual spend they account for, so attention goes where the money is.Pareto analysis · ABC classification · 80/20
- American National Standards Institute (ANSI)The American body that accredits standards developers in the United States. It does not write most standards itself.ANSI · American National Standard
- AndonA light, board or cord that lets anyone signal a problem the moment it happens, and shows the whole area that help is needed.andon cord · andon board · call light
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)The federal agency that funds business growth in the four Atlantic provinces.ACOA · APECA · Business Development Program
- Bill of materials (BOM)The full list of what goes into a product, level by level, with quantities.BOM · parts list · EBOM · MBOM
- BottleneckThe one step whose pace sets the pace of everything else.constraint · theory of constraints
- Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)A federal bank that lends to Canadian businesses on longer terms and against less security than a commercial bank will.BDC · BDC financing
- CalibrationChecking a measuring instrument against a known standard, on a schedule, and keeping the record.traceability · NRC traceable · calibration certificate · out of tolerance
- Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)The agreement between the provinces meant to let goods, services and workers move freely within Canada.CFTA · ALEC · internal trade · interprovincial trade
- Canadian Welding Bureau certification (CWB)The certification a Canadian company must hold to weld structural steel, covering the company, its procedures and its welders.CWB · CSA W47.1 · welding procedure specification · WPS
- CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM)The Canada Border Services Agency system that made every importer hold their own account, their own security and their own liability.CARM · CARM Client Portal · release prior to payment · RPP
- ChangeoverThe time between the last good part of one job and the first good part of the next.setup · setup time · change-over
- Control planA table saying, for every characteristic that matters, what gets measured, how, how often, and what happens when it is wrong.quality control plan · reaction plan
- CSA GroupThe Canadian organization that writes many of Canada’s safety standards and certifies products against them.Canadian Standards Association · CSA · CSA mark
- Cycle countingCounting a few parts every week all year, instead of shutting the plant to count everything once.perpetual inventory · ABC counting · inventory accuracy
- Cycle timeHow long one station actually takes to complete one part, start to start.
- Duty drawbackGetting back duty you paid on imported material that you then exported, either as it was or built into something else.duties relief · drawback · duty refund · K32
- Economic order quantity (EOQ)The order size where the cost of ordering and the cost of holding stock together come out lowest.EOQ · economic batch quantity · Wilson formula
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)The central system that runs the business: orders, inventory, jobs, purchasing, costing and the general ledger.ERP · PGI · system of record
- Export Development Canada (EDC)Canada’s export credit agency, which insures you against a foreign customer not paying and helps finance export sales.EDC · EDC · export credit agency · receivables insurance
- Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)Working through every way a design or process could fail, before it does, and fixing the ones that matter most.FMEA · DFMEA · PFMEA · AMDE
- First pass yield (FPY)The proportion of parts that come out right the first time, with no rework.FPY · right first time · rolled throughput yield · RTY
- Five whysAsking why repeatedly until you reach a cause you can actually fix, rather than stopping at the first answer.5 whys · root cause analysis · why-why
- Gauge repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R)A study that checks whether your measuring is trustworthy before you draw conclusions from the measurements.gauge R&R · GR&R · measurement system analysis · MSA
- GembaThe place where the work actually happens, and the instruction to go and look at it before deciding anything.gemba walk · go and see · genchi genbutsu
- Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)The symbol language on a drawing that says how much a feature may deviate, and from what.GD&T · geometric tolerancing · ASME Y14.5 · feature control frame
- Harmonized System code (HS code)The international number that classifies a product for customs, and decides the duty on it.HS code · tariff classification · HTS code · CBSA
- HeijunkaSmoothing the production schedule so the plant makes a steady mix every day instead of lurching between big batches.production levelling · level loading · heijunka box
- IATF 16949The automotive quality standard, which sits on top of ISO 9001 and adds a long list of customer-driven requirements.TS 16949 · automotive quality standard · customer-specific requirements
- IncotermsThe three-letter shipping terms that decide who pays for what, and where the risk changes hands.FOB · EXW · DDP · DAP
- Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)A federal programme that gives small and medium companies both money and hands-on technical advice for innovation projects.NRC IRAP · IRAP · PARI · industrial technology advisor
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO)The international body that publishes worldwide standards, made up of the national standards bodies of its member countries.ISO · international standard
- ISO 9001The international standard for a quality management system, and the certificate customers ask to see.ISO 9001 certification · quality management system · QMS · registrar
- JidokaMachines and people stop the moment something goes wrong, instead of carrying on and making a hundred bad parts.autonomation · stop the line · built-in quality
- Joint health and safety committee (JHSC)A committee of workers and managers, required by law at most workplaces, that inspects and raises safety problems.JHSC · health and safety committee · due diligence · internal responsibility system
- Just-in-timeMaking or buying only what is needed, in the quantity needed, at the time it is needed.JIT · pull production
- KaizenSmall improvements made constantly by the people doing the work, rather than big changes made occasionally by managers.continuous improvement · kaizen event · kaizen blitz
- KanbanA card or signal that tells the step before you to make or fetch more, so nothing gets made until it is needed.pull system · two-bin system · card system
- Lead timeHow long the customer waits, from placing the order to having the goods.order to delivery · quoted lead time · procurement lead time
- Lean manufacturingRunning the plant so that anything the customer would not pay for gets found and removed.lean · Toyota Production System · TPS
- Lockout and tagout (LOTO)Physically isolating a machine’s energy and locking it, so it cannot start while somebody is inside it.LOTO · control of hazardous energy · lockout · CSA Z460
- Material requirements planning (MRP)Working backwards from what you have promised to what you must order, and when.MRP · MRP II
- Measurement CanadaThe federal agency that regulates any measuring device used to decide how much a customer pays.Weights and Measures Act · trade measurement · legal metrology
- Mill test report (MTR)The mill’s certificate of what a batch of material actually is: chemistry, mechanical properties and heat number.MTR · mill certificate · material test report · heat certificate
- MudaThe Japanese word for waste: anything you do that the customer would not pay for.waste · seven wastes · eight wastes · TIMWOOD
- MuraThe Japanese word for unevenness: a schedule that lurches between flat out and idle.unevenness · variability
- MuriThe Japanese word for overburden: pushing people or machines beyond what they can sustain.overburden · overload
- Non-conformance report (NCR)The document raised when something does not meet the specification, recording what, how much, and what was decided.NCR · non-conformity · discrepancy report · CAR
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)The number that classifies what industry your business is in, used by government for statistics, programmes and procurement.NAICS · SCIAN · industry code
- On time in full (OTIF)The share of orders delivered complete and on the promised date. Both conditions, or it does not count.OTIF · on-time delivery · OTD · fill rate
- Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)One number for how much good product a machine made against what it could have made if it never stopped, slowed or scrapped.OEE · TRG
- Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)A four-step loop for making a change: decide what you expect, try it small, measure what happened, then keep it or change it.PDCA · Deming cycle · Shewhart cycle · PDSA
- Poka-yokeDesigning the job so the mistake is physically impossible, instead of asking people to be careful.mistake-proofing · error-proofing · baka-yoke
- Predictive maintenanceServicing equipment when its measurements say it is heading for failure, rather than on a schedule.condition-based maintenance · CBM · condition monitoring
- Preventive maintenanceServicing equipment on a fixed schedule, by elapsed time or cycle count, whatever its condition.PM · planned maintenance · scheduled maintenance
- Process capabilityA number saying whether your process is actually capable of holding the tolerance on the drawing.Cp · Cpk · Pp · Ppk
- Production part approval process (PPAP)The evidence package an automotive customer requires before you are allowed to ship production parts.PPAP · part submission warrant · PSW · APQP
- Red SealThe endorsement on a trade certificate that lets a tradesperson work in that trade anywhere in Canada without requalifying.Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program · interprovincial certification · journeyperson
- Regional development agencies (RDAs)Seven federal agencies, each covering one part of Canada, that fund business growth in their own region.RDAs · RDA · ACOA · PrairiesCan
- Reorder pointThe stock level that triggers a new order, set so the delivery arrives before you run out.order point · min level · min-max
- RoutingThe ordered list of operations a part goes through, with the work centre and the time allowed for each.routings · process routing · operation sequence · work instructions
- Rules of originThe test that decides whether your product counts as Canadian, and therefore whether it crosses a border duty-free.CUSMA · USMCA · ACEUM · certificate of origin
- Safety stockInventory held deliberately to absorb demand that is higher than expected or supply that is later than promised.buffer stock · service level · safety lead time
- Sales and operations planning (S&OP)A monthly meeting where sales, operations and finance agree one set of numbers for the months ahead.S&OP · integrated business planning · demand planning
- Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit (SR&ED)Canada’s research and development tax credit, which pays back a share of what you spent solving a technical problem.SR&ED · RS&DE · R&D tax credit
- Single-minute exchange of die (SMED)A method for cutting changeover time to single digits of minutes, by moving work off the stopped machine.SMED · setup reduction · quick changeover · single minute exchange of dies
- Six SigmaA structured, statistical method for reducing variation, used on problems where nobody knows the cause.DMAIC · black belt · green belt · Lean Six Sigma
- Standard workThe current best known way to do a job, written down by the people who do it, and followed until somebody finds a better way.standardized work · standard operating procedure · SOP
- Standards Council of Canada (SCC)The federal body that accredits the organizations allowed to write standards and certify products in Canada.SCC · accreditation · Conseil canadien des normes
- Statistical process control (SPC)Measuring a process while it runs and acting only when the numbers show something has genuinely changed.SPC · control chart · X-bar and R chart · MSP
- Takt timeHow often you must finish a part to keep up with what the customer is actually ordering.takt · customer demand rate
- Trade Commissioner Service (TCS)Canadian government staff in embassies abroad whose job is finding and vetting customers and partners for Canadian exporters.TCS · trade commissioner · Global Affairs Canada
- Value stream mapping (VSM)Drawing every step a product goes through, with the waiting time between them, on one page.VSM · value stream map · material and information flow
- Work in process (WIP)Everything started and not yet finished, sitting between operations.WIP · in-process inventory
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)Canada’s system for labelling hazardous workplace chemicals and giving workers the safety information about them.WHMIS · SIMDUT · safety data sheet · SDS
Browse by section
How the work runs
Measuring and running the work on the floor.
- Bottleneck
- Changeover
- Cycle time
- Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
- Predictive maintenance
- Preventive maintenance
8 entries
Quality and conformance
How a part is proven to be what the drawing said, and what happens when it is not.
- Calibration
- Control plan
- Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)
- First pass yield (FPY)
- Gauge repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R)
- Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
13 entries
Planning and materials
Getting the right material to the right place before the job needs it.
- ABC analysis
- Bill of materials (BOM)
- Cycle counting
- Economic order quantity (EOQ)
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Lead time
12 entries
Continuous improvement
The lean vocabulary: the Japanese words, what each one actually asks you to do, and which ones are worth the trouble.
20 entries
Canadian programs and agencies
The money, the regulators and the certifications that only apply here, and that a search will usually answer with American information.
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
- Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
- Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
- Canadian Welding Bureau certification (CWB)
- CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM)
- Export Development Canada (EDC)
16 entries
Trade, standards and compliance
Selling across the border, and the bodies that decide what counts as acceptable.
- American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
- CSA Group
- Duty drawback
- Harmonized System code (HS code)
- Incoterms
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
8 entries
