Glossary

Abandonment means stopping, often before completion. In the oil and gas sector, abandonment is the name of an end of life process for an uneconomical reserve. This includes elimination of the extraction capability that removes the oil or gas from the field, attention to environmental and clean-up requirements, and disposal of the residual property and/or resource.

A basic chemical building block, acetic acid is familiar in the homes as vinegar. It is liquid at room temperature, and manufactured from methanol. It is used in a variety of applications including the foodstuffs industries, manufacture of paints, dyes and pharmaceuticals, and the production of PET.

Activity Based Costing (ABC) is a costing method which identifies and estimates the cost of each activity (including use of resources), and allocates costs to each product and service as a direct consumed cost. This enables companies to identify non value-add costs, the profitability for each product and service, and areas for process improvements.

Actuator is motor for inducing movement in a mechanism or system. An electronic control system uses actuators to adjust a device or machine, for example, to open or close a valve.

Added value is the difference between a product’s final selling price and the costs involved in making the particular product. For a business to survive, the added value of a product or service must be more than the cost. Examples of the expertise which allows companies to make a profit in this way include innovative design, new production processes, efficient ordering and delivery processes, using new technologies or materials, or supplying complementary services.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is a integrated network of devices that allows two-way automated communication between a utility smart meter (located at the customer site) and the utility company. Information allows both provider and customer access to real-time data about how much power is being used and at what time of the day. The system also communicates pricing and energy information from the utility company to the consumer.

In manufacturing environments that are subject to fluctuations of supply and demand, Advanced Planning and Scheduling modules (APS) enable companies to tune their production and distribution facilities to better meet the demands of customers.

Also referred to as Advanced Planning Engines, Advanced Planning Systems are a new generation of planning and scheduling tools. Unlike MRP II, it includes constraint models that deal with both materials and capacity. These technologies can be applied along a continuum extending from short-term plant-floor scheduling to strategic planning of supply chains.

Advanced Product Quality Planning is a structured method of defining and establishing the steps necessary to ensure that a product satisfies the customer. By moving quality efforts into planning and prevention, this multistage process identifies and anticipates potential problem areas.

The aftermarket is the market for parts used to maintain, repair or enhance purchased goods. For example, accessories such as windscreen wipers or exhaust pipes for cars.

Agile Manufacturing (AM) shares some concepts with the agile development methods common in high-tech industries, such as flexibility and rapid iterations, but AM must also equip and operate production facilities with tools, techniques, and initiatives that enable it to thrive under conditions of unpredictable change. AM enables a plant to achieve rapid response to customer needs, and quickly reconfigure operations  and supply chain relationships to respond rapidly to unforeseen shifts in the marketplace.

Aircraft on Ground (AOG) is a term in aviation maintenance indicating that a problem is serious enough to prevent an aircraft from flying.

Airworthiness defines whether an aircraft is capable of safe flight. When registered, an airworthy aircraft receives a certificate of airworthiness from its national registration authority. This certificate remains valid if specified maintenance procedures are followed. It is illegal to fly an aircraft without an airworthiness certificate.

The albedo is the fraction of light that is reflected by a body or surface. It is commonly used to describe the reflective properties of planets, satellites, and asteroids. The normal albedo of snow is nearly 1.0 whereas that of charcoal is about 0.04.

The American Petroleum Institute is an organization whose members have a common interest in the Oil & Gas sector, and which provides information on a wide range of environmental, performance, health and safety, and other matters of interest to that industry.

An analog signal is any form of data transmission where the pneumatic, mechanical, or electrical energy signal varies continuously in direct proportion to the intensity of the physical quantity, property, or condition represented. This is typical of process Industries like Oil/Gas, Pharma, Food and Chem. Many sensors create analog signals. If required, conversion from analog to digital usually possible.

Short form of ‘Data Analytics’. Analytics means the use of data warehousing, data mining and online analytical processing to rapidly analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured data from multiple types of systems. Data analytics is used to interpret data and identify meaningful insights, trends, patterns, and information for example, relationships between production machine settings and the quality and quantity of output; or customer buying patterns by category.

An Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is an integrated circuit (IC) customized for a specific function rather than general-purpose use. Examples of ASICs can be found in high volume consumer goods as well as specialized equipment.

An Application-Specific Standard Product (ASSP) is an ASIC which has sufficiently widespread application that it can be sold as a standard product. Examples include chips to drive USB or Bluetooth interfaces, and chips used to run digital communications inside an automobile.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Created in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. By 2021 ASEAN had grown to include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia, representing nearly 700 million people.  Extended groups have been used for economic development discussions –  ‘ASEAN plus 3’ adds China, Japan, South Korea;  ‘ASEAN plus 6’ further adds India, Australia and New Zealand.

Assemble to Order (ATO) is a production method that occurs when an item is assembled after receipt of a customer’s order. The key items used in the assembly or finishing process are planned and usually stocked in anticipation of a customer order. Receipt of an order initiates assembly of the customized product.

Asset turnover measures the efficiency of the use of assets to produce sales. It is a ratio which shows how many dollars of sales were generated by each dollar of assets. Calculate by dividing net sales by average total assets.

(1) Use of devices, especially mechanical and electronic, to reduce human activity required for procedures, processes, or operation of equipment.

(2) The entire field of investigation, design, development, application, and methods to render or make manual processes or operations partially or fully automatic.

The term AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), is widely used to include the aircraft which carries the radar and control systems, and provides the capability to direct military operations from high altitude hundreds of miles away.