Glossary

Account: When you start Assembly Planner, the login box has an "account" drop-down. An account is the database for a specific location. That is, one plant may have a different database than the sister plant. Make sure you select the correct account.

Activity: The third level in Assembly Planner's process structure, and not always used. Activities are the individual tasks that a worker is doing. Several activities make up an operation.

Activity Sequence Number (ActSeqNo): Activities in the Activity List will be arranged by default in the order of the Activity Sequence Number.

Administrator (user type): The administrator is responsible for managing the users. The admin can create new users in the users module, set their roles and also remove users from the system. An administrator is able to see all four menus in the Navigation Pane and is the only type of user that can upload reports and templates, manage users, and create custom fields.

Assembly (item type): A container for components. An assembly is made by combining components (assembling them).

Bill of Materials: Structured hierarchical list of product assemblies and parts/components. It shows how parts/components come together to create an end item. Assembly Planner recognizes two BOM types: eBOM (engineering) and mBOM (manufacturing). Note: The BOM does not deal with process data—the way that processes come together to create the end product is defined by the precedence graph.

Check In: Saving changes to the database. Any changes being made to a checked-out entity must be checked in order to save the changes back to the database. Unless the changes are saved in the database, they are for the current session only and will not be made globally.

Check out: The user must check out any entity they wish to edit. Once a entity has been checked by a user, it cannot be checked out for edit by other users until it is checked in again.

Child part: Part of the Bill-of-Materials structure in Assembly Planner. Child parts belong one level under a parent part. The Bill of Materials gains its structure when the ParentID is specified for a component, making the component a child of that parent.

Component: A component is the Assembly Planner term for a part. You can also think of it as a product node in the eBOM or mBOM tree. Components are global to an account (and eBOM and mBOM tree structures are local to a project).

Constraint: Constraints are bounds imposed on a model of an actual system (e.g. Line Balancing) to restrict the number of possible solutions. These bounds or limitations should be used to ensure that the model reflects the real system. However, each added limitation detracts from the possibility of an 'optimal' solution, so using too many constraints is detrimental. In any type of modeling, it is important to consider which constraints are absolutely necessary and which constraints can be relaxed.

Consumption: Consumption defines which parts are consumed to complete an operation.

Custom Field: A custom field is a user-defined property for entities within Assembly Planner. An administrator must create the custom field, then other users may assign values for that custom field.

Delivery Scan: The PFEP Delivery Scan occurs when a full container's Kanban card is scanned, followed by a scan of the appropriate workstation Rack ID; this records the successful delivery and replenishment of the Kanban. The Delivery Scan must be preceded by a Request Scan. (Other interim scans, such as Transit and Hold/Release may occur also, but are not required.)

eBOM: Engineering Bill of Materials. A structured list of parts that come together as an end item, as it comes from design.

Efficiency Rating: The percentage of Takt at which the line is running.

Engineer (user type): An engineer can edit and import data. This type of user can do most of the same things an administrator can, except the three tasks mentioned above (the Admin Tools menu is not visible).

EndItem (item type): The finished product.

Entity: This is the generic term used to refer to any or all of the various independent objects that exist in Assembly Planner. These objects include but are not limited to components, routings, operations, activities, plants, resources.

Group: Assembly Planner recognizes several types of groups, including Option Groups and Task Groups

First, similar types of options are categorized into a group. Each group is a category that contains a number of mutually exclusive options.

Second, tasks can be grouped, either within a line balance scenario or in the Activity List. This forces the grouped tasks to move together as one unit which will always be assigned together to the same station. Note that Assembly Planner does not have permission to split up user-defined groups, meaning that the length of the Takt time must be greater than or equal to the time of the longest group.

History: A log of all of the modifications to the entity. Has a brief description of the event and the date and time on which the change occurred. Reason text can be manually entered by a user.

Hold Scan: A PFEP Hold Scan indicates that requested Kanban cannot be filled due to shortage of parts. The Hold Scan must be followed by a Release Scan when the parts are again available; a Delivery Scan will not be allowed until

Import: Refers to the process of adding an external file to Assembly Planner.

Item (item type): A single, independent component.

Line Rate (in Default Balance Screen): The number of units made per shift.

Lock: Assembly Planner uses a lock system to ensure that entities can only be changed by one person at a time. In order to edit properties of any entity, the entity needs to be checked out to unlock it. No other users can edit the entity when it has been checked out.

Manufactured (item type): A component manufactured by your company.

mBOM: Manufacturing Bill of Materials. A structured list of parts that come together as an end item, including parts used in manufacturing that may not be considered by design (for example, packaging).

MCO Coordinator (user type in optional Change Management System): The fourth type of user, MCO Coordinator is only an option for clients using Assembly Planner's Change Management System. An MCO Coordinator is a user that is able to see the Engineering Change Requests (ECRs), Manufacturing Change Orders (MCOs) and Engineering Change Orders (ECOs).

Model: A unique design of a product.

Model demand: The proportion of time a certain model is ordered by customers. For Model_X, Model Demand = (number of times Model_X is ordered) / (total number of orders).

Model-Option configuration: The way that models and options are combined. Each individual end-item has a model-option configuration.

Model-Option rules: These describe which models are allowed to have certain options (eg, options may not apply to each model). Setting up the model-option rules reduces the number of model-option configurations possible.

Monumental Resources: These are resources that are fixed at a specific location on the plant and would be difficult or expensive to move. For example, a hoist, a fixture, or a pit.

Operation: The second level in Assembly Planner's process structure. Operations can be made up of several activities. One operation is usually the work assigned to one worker at a station. Several operations make up a routing.

Operation Sequence Number (OpSeqNo): Operations in the Operation List is arranged by default in the order of the Operation Sequence Number.

If a line balance scenario is applied to the database, the Operation Sequence Number is updated with the order from the line balance.

Option: Options differentiate products in a smaller way than models. Within the same model, there may be differentiation due to different options.

Option Penetration Percentage: The percentage of time an option appears.

Parent part: To structure the Bill of Materials, Assembly Planner uses the parent-child concept. The parent part is a higher-level part, which contains child parts.

Precedence: Precedence defines the order in which activities must be performed. Some activities are required to precede or succeed other activities, while other activities have no required predecessors or successors.

Purchased (item type): A component purchased from a supplier.

RawMaterial (item type): The material that is used to create a manufactured component.

Release Scan: The PFEP Release Scan effectively negates a Hold Scan, allowing a requested Kanban to be delivered. This indicates that the part is no longer unavailable, but will be replenished.

Resource: A tool, fixture or machine used in the assembly process. Resources are referenced by activities and assigned to locations. Resources can be specified by a class (for example, lathe) or an instance of a class (lathe7).

Request Scan: The PFEP Request Scan occurs when an empty container's Kanban card is scanned, whereby the replenishment request made. The Request Scan must be followed by a Delivery Scan. (Other interim scans, such as Transit and Hold/Release may occur, but are not required.)

Risk Priority Number (RPN): This is a number calculated in the PFMEA module. It helps determine which failure modes need to be addressed first; higher RPNs are higher priority. Calculated as RPN = Severity x Occurrence x Detection.

Roll Up: The value of the parent class is dependent on the values of the children. Values of the children are summed up to obtain the value for the parent.

Routing: The top level in Assembly Planner's process structure. Routings are made up of several operations. One routing is usually associated with a product.

RPN: Risk Priority Number.

Scenario: A snapshot view of the line. A view of process data in a certain situation. You can have multiple views of the same line; perhaps you have a line balance scenario for a three minute Takt time and another scenario for a six minute Takt time.

Series: A series is a group of units with a common date to become active within Assembly Planner. Series can be used instead of beginning and end effectivity dates.

Shift Duration (in Default Balance Screen): The length of time operators are working on production. Shift length minus any breaks.

Standard Fields: A field that is built in to the Assembly Planner database. When importing information, these fields need to be present for Assembly Planner to accept the file.

Status: The status of an entity represents its condition. For example, an item with WIP as the manufacturing status indicates that the BOM is being edited. The status of a routing, operation, or activity indicates whether it is checked in or checked out. A lock symbol means it has not been checked out. If no symbol appears in the status column, it has been checked out for edit.

Take Rate: Calculated by multiplying the model demand and the option penetration.

Takt time: The speed at which end items must be assembled to satisfy customer demand. To put it another way, Takt time = (Net time available per day) / (customer demand per day).

Transit Scan: The PFEP Transit Scan allows users to record interim movement of Kanbans. These scans take place at dock locations.

Undo Check Out: A feature that moves the entity back to its state before the check out. If you choose "Undo Check Out", the previous checked-in version will be reinstated. Any changes made will be lost/undone.

User: Someone with an Assembly Planner account. There are different roles assigned to different types of users. The three standard user-types are administrator, engineer and view. For those using the optional Change Management System, there is a fourth role for MCO coordinators.

Viewer (user type): A viewer cannot make modifications to information in Assembly Planner. The only menus visible to a viewer are Library and Modules.

Violation: A (constraint) violation occurs in a line balance when a precedence, resource, or monumental resource rule has not been followed.

Work Center: Work Center is the term used to refer to the work station at which an operation occurs.

Work Instruction Approver: A work instruction approver is a user responsible for approving or declining updates to work instructions. This user can do everything an engineer user can within Assembly Planner, in addition to the added work instructions rights.

Work Step: A work step is a specific instruction for completing an activity.

Work Zone: When operators are working on multiple sides of the line, "Zone" is the term for the different areas in which they are working (front, rear, above, below). Zone names are user-defined and you can have as many as you would like. The names will be case-sensitive, so "front" and "Front" would be recognized as different zones.