Glossary of Terms

Agile project management
an approach developed originally in the software industry where planning and execution of projects is heavily devolved into self‐organising cross‐functional groups, in contrast to a micro‐managed, centrally planned approach
ALARP
as low as reasonably practicable
Angel investor
a wealthy individual who provides capital, and sometimes expertise, to support an early‐stage business
ASME
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Big Data
data, typically customer usage data, which is so voluminous that traditional methods of analysis are not adequate
BoM
Bill of material(s), a structured parts list that defines the composition of an engineering product or assembly
BSI
British Standards Institution
Business model
a company's plan for how it will generate revenues and profits, including what products or services it plans to manufacture and market, and how it plans to do so
CAD
Computer‐aided design, the creation of engineering information in digital, as opposed to paper, form
Capstone project
an assignment that serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience for students, typically at the end of an academic engineering programme
CEN
European Committee for Standardization, Comité Européen de Normalisation
Collaborative R&D
development work where two or more parties share their joint expertise in a planned programme of R&D
Co‐location
the principle of locating engineering, manufacturing, supplier development and marketing staff alongside each other for the duration of a project
Concept
the basic principles of a new technology or product that can subsequently be developed into a fully detailed solution, usually arrived at after considering a number of alternatives
Consequence analysis
modelling of the wider effects of a major failure, usually in a large‐scale process plant
Cost of quality
an estimate of the total cost of resources that are used to deal with internal and external failures and to prevent poor quality
Critical path
the series of activities in a project that determine the overall timescale of that project
Crowd‐funding
a form of equity fundraising where companies seek a large number of small subscriptions to the equity of the company through an online platform
Design of experiments
systematic experimental methods to determine the relationship between factors affecting a process and its output. It is used to find cause‐and‐effect relationships in order to understand a process better.
DFMA
design for manufacture and assembly
Digital twin
a digital model of a component, system, or process that is usually continuously updated with live data and is used to predict future performance and understand the operating environment more thoroughly
Duty cycle
the operating pattern for a product when in service
Engineering change
a modification to the formal information, e.g. drawing, used to define an engineering solution
Fault tree analysis
a diagrammatic way of showing the potential causes of a top‐level system fault
Five whys
the principle of successively asking ‘why?’ five times when investigating the root cause of a problem
Flow
the continuous processing of information and material without stopping, queuing, or backtracking
FMEA
failure modes and effects analysis, a method of identifying and recording potential defects and their consequences
Fourth Industrial Revolution
a new wave of major industrial development built around digital manufacturing, virtual modelling, embedded computing, artificial intelligence and autonomy
Gantt chart
a time‐based visualisation of the activities or tasks that make up a project
Goal‐directed project management
an approach to managing projects where the project is split into a series of intermediate goals that represent way‐points on the route to completion
Hazard
a potential source of harm
HAZOP
hazard and operability reviews. Used mainly in the process industries, they are systematic searches for hazards that are defined as deviations to operating parameters that may have dangerous consequences.
Hoshin Kanri
an interlocking cascade of objectives from the top of an organisation downwards
IMechE
Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK)
Innovation
making changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products
Intellectual property
a wide range of intangible ideas or creations that might be expressed in the form of drawings, diagrams, or pictures and protected by, for example, patents or copyright
Internet of Things
the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data
IPO
initial public offering, an initial sale publicly of equity (ownership) in a business
ISO
International Organization for Standardization
Kaizen
continuous, small‐scale improvement
Kanban
technically, a card attached to containers of parts to regulate material flow but applied more generally to regulating the flow of information or material on a just‐in‐time basis
Lean thinking
an approach to business management that emphasises value to the customer and that focuses on reducing waste in the processes that deliver customer value
Likelihood
probability of occurrence
Loss function
a concept developed by Taguchi to describe graphically how losses, e.g. customer dissatisfaction, increase as engineering parameters move away from their central value
Manufacturing readiness level (MRL)
a measure of the state of preparedness of a manufacturing system for making a specific product, usually on a scale of 1–10
Mass customisation
the concept of delivering personalised products to customers at close to mass manufacturing costs
Muda
activity that consumes effort but creates no value; waste
OECD
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OEM
original equipment manufacturer. There is some ambiguity concerning the use of this term. It was used to describe the supplier of parts and equipment incorporated into a complex final product. It is now used more describe the company that integrates and assembles the final product.
Open innovation
the deliberate use of inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation and to expand the markets for external use of innovation
P2P
peer‐to‐peer lending
Prevention
the principle of avoiding the creation of defects rather than allowing them to happen and then correcting them
Private equity
used generally to describe a situation where equity ownership of a business is not publicly quoted
Probabilistic risk assessment
see QRA below
Process
a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end
Product development
the development of a specific, commercial product for use in the marketplace, probably using a combination of existing and new technology
Product lifecycle management (PLM) systems
integrated IT systems that manage all product‐related data from concept design through to in‐service operation
Product platform
a common base of designs, systems, and components from which a range of different products can be derived
Project
a piece of planned work or an activity that is finished over a period of time and intended to achieve a particular purpose
Project charter or mandate
a one‐page, agreed summary of the key points and objectives for a new project
Quality function deployment (QFD)
a visual method of linking customer requirements to engineering features
Quantitative risk assessment (QRA)
a numerical estimate of the probability of occurrence of major hazards
Research
the development, for its own sake, of new ideas, knowledge, and science without any firm application in mind
R&D
Research & development, a wide‐ranging term covering basic research through to practical product development
Rework
re‐processing incorrect material or information
Right first time (RFT)
the principle that it is always better to perform a manufacturing operation, or any other activity, correctly in the first place rather than doing it wrongly and having to correct or rework it
Risk
the possibility, often expressed as a likelihood or probability, of loss, damage, or injury caused by a hazard
RTO
Research and technology organisation, a public or private body carrying out technological research work and with the facilities and people to do so
SAE
Society of Automotive Engineers, in the United States
Scalability
the ease with which a design, facility, or business proposition can be adapted to higher business volumes
Science
the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment
Scrums
another agile project management term used to describe the team reviews that take place to plan or review sprints
S Curve
a plot of cumulative cost or man‐hours against time on a project, typically following the shape of the letter ‘S’, as the name implies
Seed funds
a general term for early‐stage equity funding by, for example, friends and family, angel investors, or crowd‐funding investors
Servitisation
development of an organisation's capabilities and processes to create better customer value through a shift from selling products to selling product/service solutions. Also known as ‘Product as a Service’.
Simultaneous engineering
engineering programmes where the technical work, market planning, manufacturing development, and supplier engagement are carried out in parallel with each other rather than in series. Also known as concurrent engineering.
SME's
small and medium‐sized enterprises, defined as having <250 employees and with limits also on sales turnover or balance sheet ‘size’
Spillover effects
in an engineering context, where an idea or technology developed for one application or sector is then adapted for an unrelated area
Sprints
a term used in agile project management to describe short bursts of team activity to produce a defined, useful output
System integrator
a company that engineers a complex product, such as an aircraft, by bringing together multiple products and systems from a range of suppliers, internal or external
Taguchi methods
a suite of quality engineering methods developed by Dr Genichi Taguchi for use in the early stages of product development
Technology
the practical application of research and science to develop new solutions that could subsequently be taken into commercial application through a product or service
Technology readiness level (TRL)
a measurement of the maturity of a technology or product, usually on a scale of 1–9
Validation
the process of confirming that a product performs as intended and will continue to do so reliably throughout its working life
Valley of Death
the period, for a new technology or product, between initial funding of the idea and the point where sales revenue starts to be generated
Value proposition
a summary of the benefits a product provides to a customer
Value stream mapping
a visualisation of the flow of activities that create value in the eyes of a customer
VC
venture capitalist, an investor who provides capital to facilitate the development of early‐stage or growing companies
Virtual reality
a computer‐generated 3D simulation of the real physical world using typically a headset or glasses
Voice of the customer
actual expressed desire for product functions and features
Waterfall model
a V‐shaped model that shows a product moving forward from concept to detail and then being validated from component through to complete product. The model is criticised as being unrealistically ‘linear’.
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