ACMSO ACMS key terms

A structured list of every component, raw material, and quantity needed to build one finished product, often arranged in parent-child levels so assemblies and subassemblies are clearly separated.

The documented sequence of operations, work centers, and standard times required to transform raw material into a finished part, used to plan capacity and estimate labor cost.

A formal authorization that releases a specific quantity of a product to the shop floor, specifying the due date, routing, materials, and quantity to be completed.

The agreed time, including allowances for fatigue and delays, that a qualified operator needs to complete one operation under normal conditions; the basis for labor costing and capacity planning.

The fully burdened hourly cost of an operator or work center, combining wages with benefits, overhead, and equipment costs, used to convert standard time into labor cost.

The process of distributing indirect costs such as supervision, utilities, and facility expense across products or jobs, typically using a driver like direct labor hours or machine hours.

The total direct and allocated manufacturing cost of units actually sold during a period, including material, labor, and applied overhead but excluding selling and administrative expense.

The percentage of material or units lost to defects and waste during production, added to planned quantity so the job yields the required number of good parts.

The percentage of units that pass all inspection steps on the first attempt without rework or repair, a core measure of process health and hidden quality cost.

Additional processing performed on nonconforming product to bring it into specification, consuming unplanned labor and material while still risking a lower final yield.

A record documenting a product or process that failed to meet a requirement, capturing the description, disposition decision, and corrective action taken to close the issue.

A documented change to a process, tool, or procedure intended to eliminate the root cause of a detected problem so that it does not recur.

A structured investigation method, such as the five-why or fishbone technique, used to trace a defect back to its underlying process cause rather than its surface symptom.

The use of control charts and process capability data to monitor whether a manufacturing process remains stable and predictable within its natural variation limits.

A index comparing the spread of a stable process to the tolerance width while accounting for how well the process is centered, indicating how reliably it meets specification.

The permissible total variation in a dimension, stated as a range or plus-minus value around a nominal size, defining the limits within which a part is acceptable.

A symbolic drawing language that defines allowable form, orientation, location, and profile deviation relative to datums, communicating functional intent more precisely than coordinate tolerances.

A theoretically exact reference plane, axis, or point established from a feature on the part, from which other toleranced features are located and verified during inspection.

A workholding device that locates and secures a part in a repeatable position during machining or inspection, ensuring consistent orientation relative to datums and tooling.

A workholding device that not only holds the part but also guides the cutting tool to a defined location, typically used for drilling or repetitive hole patterns.

The practice of shaping a product design so it can be produced economically with available processes, reducing part count, tight tolerances, and difficult features before release.

A design approach that minimizes part count, handling difficulty, and fastening steps so a product can be assembled quickly and with low error risk.

An error-proofing feature built into a process or part design that prevents a mistake from being made or makes it immediately obvious when one occurs.

A measurement systems study that separates variation from the gauge itself and from different operators, confirming that inspection data is trustworthy before it is used for decisions.

The documented comparison of a measuring instrument against a traceable reference standard to confirm and adjust its accuracy within a defined interval.

A supplier document reporting the chemical composition and mechanical properties of a material lot, used to verify that incoming stock meets the specified grade.

A unique identifier assigned to a batch of metal melted in a single furnace run, allowing traceability of composition and properties from mill through finished part.

The ability to follow a part or material lot forward to its customers and backward to its source through recorded lot, serial, and process records.

A cross-functional group authorized to disposition nonconforming material by use-as-is, rework, repair, or scrap, documenting the decision for quality and regulatory records.

The rate at which a material's length changes per unit temperature change, important for matching mating parts and predicting tolerance shift across a shop's temperature range.

A measure of the average roughness of a machined surface, specified on drawings because it affects friction, sealing, fatigue life, and coating adhesion.

The actual elapsed time between one finished unit leaving a process and the next one leaving, used to compare output against customer demand and identify bottlenecks.

The available production time divided by customer demand, setting the pace at which a line must complete one unit to meet orders without overproducing.

The process of comparing required production hours against available machine and labor hours to decide staffing, overtime, or outsourcing before committing to delivery dates.

The nonproductive time needed to change tooling, fixtures, and programs between production runs, a key driver of economic lot size and scheduling flexibility.

The lot size that minimizes the combined cost of holding inventory and placing or setting up orders, balancing carrying cost against setup cost.

A required safety procedure that isolates hazardous energy sources and applies locks and tags so equipment cannot be energized while a worker services it.

Wearable gear such as eye protection, gloves, hearing protection, or respirators required by a hazard assessment to shield workers from specific job risks.

A standardized document listing a chemical's hazards, safe handling, storage, and first-aid measures, required to be accessible wherever that material is used.

Physical barriers, interlocks, or presence-sensing devices that prevent a worker's body from reaching hazardous moving parts during normal operation.