During working in the automotive, it’s good to know terms and abbreviations which are used in this area.
In the article below, we present the second part of the series related to 50 english terms and abbreviations for suppliers producing components for automotive (first is available at the link and the second at the link).
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We hope that it will be very helpful support during Your work.
5S: methodology for maintaining an appropriate level of cleanliness in the workplace. The name is related to five activities that guarantee correct implementation and cleanliness maintenance (Self Discipline, Sustain, Sweep, Sort, Sift).
Action Plan: Action plan prepared for internally or externally identified nonconformities.
Assembly Line: An assembly line for, for example, bumpers, car seats.
Appearance Approval Report (AAR): Aesthetic Assessment Approval Report. It is one of the manufactured product approval elements. It applies to components with graining, painting as well as fabric and leather upholstery.
Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP): Advanced Product Quality Planning. Activity related to product quality planning during its development and pre-series production.
Countermeasure: A term used for countermeasures when solving a problem.
Cycle Time: The cycle time that is calculated for a particular workstation.
Datum Point: A locating point which ensures that the product is properly seated on a gage or other component.
Design Freeze: Design Freezing – one of the milestones of the new launch. It confirms the completion of activities concerning, among others, DFMEA and the final mathematical model. It allows you to start the next step, i.e. building the instrumentation.
Deviation: Deviation from a defined standard. Other terms are waiver or interim.
Downtime: Production downtime due to failure, no orders from OEM or no subcomponents.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Electronic system for the information exchange between supplier and customer. Most often used in logistics.
Emergency Response Action (ERA): Immediate action taken by a manufacturing facility when it receives a notification related to a safety characteristic. The second case is when a problem occurs with a large number of non-compliant components.
Equipment Spare Part: The spare part assigned to the production machine / equipment.
Feedback: Feedback which has to be provided after gap analysis, nonconformity or other issue identified.
Follow-up: Another meeting conducted to verify the status of actions taken, defined e.g. in OIL (Open Issue List).
Forklift: A forklift used to move components and finished products between production line and warehouse.
Final Product Audit: Audit performed randomly on final product which are already packaged. The most popular reference manual for this activity is VDA 6.5.
Green Cross: Visualization showing how to show the number of days without an accident at the production plant.
Identification: Identification of the part status (eg finished product, semi-finished product, product for selection, first good art witness, product intended for testing, non-conforming product).
International Material Data System (IMDS): The system in which the supplier declares the chemical composition of the delivered product. Typically, it is required to be entered before submitting components for approval.
Internal Customer (IC): An internal customer. For example next workstation in the production process.
Long Term Capability: Long term capacity, most often expressed by the Cp, Cpk indices as part of Statistical Process Control.
Material Delivery: Delivery of material to a manufacturing facility or production line (usually by using a Kanban system).
Maintenance: Maintenance Department responsible for machine maintenance and production tools.
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): One of the main indicators of the Maintenance Department.
Mean Time To Repair (MTTR): One of the main indicators of the Maintenance Department.
Measurement: the act or process of drawing characteristic measuring.
Milestone: A milestone identifying a given pre-production phase defined by the customer for the production of a given car model.
Occurrence: One of the indicators calculated in the risk analysis (eg PFMEA).
Pareto Diagram: Diagram used to define priorities for which the team defines appropriate actions.
Plan Do Check Act cycle (PDCA): Continuous improvement cycle according dr. E. Deming approach.
Premium Freight: Special Transport. One of the main indicators of the logistics department. It applies to all transports that were not previously included in the schedule.
Preventive Actions: The preventive actions defined in step D7 during 8D method problem solving.
Process Audit (PA): Audit of the process carried out during commissioning and in running production. It can be performed by both the customer’s representative and the supplier. In cooperation with VW, such an audit is the Process Audit according to VDA 6.3, Stellantis has Mass Production Audit xPCPA and Ford MSA (Manufacturing Site Assessment).
Prototype: Prototype of the component for which they are made, among others. Design Validation tests. If the production plant is responsible for the construction of prototypes, it must additionally create an appropriate Control Plan for it.
Quality Policy: A document presenting the mission of the production plant.
Repair Work Station: Production parts repair station.
Scrap: Term used for non-conforming manufactured products or semi-finished products.
Shadow Board (SB): An element of visual management designed to visualize what tools have been taken from the workplace.
Fig. Example of a Shadow Table.
Short Term Capability: Short term capacity that is calculated with continuous production. Most often expressed by Pp, Ppk indicators.
Special Status: One of the escalation steps defined by the end customer.
Standardization: It’s the basis for producing high-quality products, productivity and continuous improvement. It requires the use of common methods, processes and terminology.
Sub-assembly: Sub-assembly operation.
Team Leader: Leader of the production team.
Team Member: Member of the production team.
Timing Chart / Planning: A supplier development schedule that takes into account customer milestones.
Traceability: Traceability of a final product – used to determine the potentially affected number of products, in relation to the quality claim from the customer. It is part of the risk assessment.
Value Added Work (VAW): work that brings added value. It includes all production operations except first good part approval, part handling, inspection and repackaging.
Variable Data: variable data for which can be performed measurement for which will be presented output as value of dimension, force, voltage, pressure, ect.
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