ONIQ Glossary

Autonomous, AI-driven software components that monitor production data, detect deviations, and proactively issue recommendations or alerts to the people responsible.

The data-based depiction of the actual current value stream, as opposed to the targeted to-be state that serves as the goal for improvement measures.

A bottleneck is the station with the lowest capacity in a value stream; it determines the overall throughput of the system. The Theory of Constraints is the related management theory developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.

A structured, often multi-level list of all components, assemblies, and quantities that make up a product, known in German as Stückliste.

The quantity of units manufactured together in one production order without a changeover in between.

The deliberate planning and control of material or capacity buffers between two stations to absorb fluctuations in material flow.

A systematic overview of all changeover times between different products or variants on a machine, showing which sequences are especially time-consuming or especially efficient.

The German equivalent of Kaizen, often organized as a structured company program for systematically capturing and implementing improvement suggestions.

The time required to complete one unit at a specific workstation or process step, measured from the start to the completion of the same operation on one unit.

A central, usually digital control unit that creates visibility across multiple plants, suppliers, or value streams and makes cross-site deviations visible.

The automated comparison between the planned sequence (for example according to a routing or work plan) and the actually recorded sequence, making deviations systematically visible.

A virtual representation of a real object, process or system that synchronizes with the original based on data and is used for analysis, simulation or prediction.

A digital twin of the real production flow, generated live from operational data, mapping material, information and time flows across all manufacturing stages.

The structured handling of short-term deviations, bottlenecks, and disruptions in the production flow, from detection through prioritization to implementing countermeasures.

Rules that determine the sequence in which orders are processed at a station, for example first-in-first-out (FIFO) or priority rules based on due date.

Enterprise Resource Planning: a company-wide IT platform that integrates commercial and logistical processes: bills of materials, routings, orders, inventory, purchasing and finance.

The chronological record of individual transactions (each with a timestamp, activity, object, and station), from which value streams can be reconstructed automatically.

A production form in which products move continuously through a fixed sequence of consecutive workstations, as opposed to job shop production with varying processing paths.

Japanese for "the real place": in Lean management, the principle of understanding problems directly where value creation happens rather than judging them purely from reports or meeting rooms.

A Lean principle for leveling production volume and product mix over time, aimed at smoothing fluctuations in order sequencing and achieving even utilization.

A Lean principle under which only the quantity actually needed at the required time by the next process step is produced or supplied, minimizing inventory and overproduction.

A Japanese concept of continuous, incremental improvement, based on many small changes made by all employees rather than infrequent large-scale projects.

The total time an order or product spends in the production system from the start of processing to completion, including all waiting, queue and setup times.

A software category that combines Lean methodology with AI and data analytics to support continuous improvement in production with data.

A management philosophy rooted in the Toyota Production System that aims to eliminate waste, maximize value creation and institutionalize continuous improvement.

Manufacturing Execution System: an IT layer between ERP and the machine level that controls production orders, captures operational data and provides real-time transparency on production status.

The movement of material, parts, and orders through the individual stations of a value stream, from incoming goods to shipping.

Very short interruptions of a machine, often only a few seconds long, that barely stand out individually but add up to significant losses over a shift.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness: a metric that measures overall equipment effectiveness as the product of availability, performance and quality, making productivity losses visible.

The volume of orders waiting for processing at a station or within a value stream, often used as an early indicator of a developing bottleneck.

A specific, actually occurring sequence of stations and activities that a particular order type follows through production, as opposed to the theoretically planned standard flow.

A control principle in which an upstream station only produces once the downstream station actually signals demand, as opposed to the push principle, where production follows a fixed plan regardless of actual demand.

The systematic monitoring and control of production performance at the shift and line level, typically based on metrics such as utilization, output, and shift comparison.

Additional processing steps needed to bring a defective or out-of-specification part back into a sellable condition.

The systematic tracing of an observed symptom (such as a bottleneck or a schedule deviation) back to its actual, usually upstream cause in the value stream.

The defined sequence of process steps and machines that a product goes through during manufacturing, known in German as Arbeitsplan.

A Lean leadership methodology that anchors steering, problem-solving and continuous improvement where value is created, directly on the production floor.

The share of production units that can no longer be used or sold due to quality defects and are removed entirely from the production process, measured as a percentage of total output.

The time needed to change a machine over from one product or variant to the next.

Additional inventory held beyond calculated requirements to buffer fluctuations in demand or delivery time.

Two opposite disruption states in material flow: starvation means a station lacks material; blocking means a station cannot pass on its finished material to the next process step.

The long-term planning and design of value streams, production flows, and plant structures, often supported by scenario analysis, simulation, and capacity planning.

The planning, control, and monitoring of the entire supply chain from raw material to finished product, including the dependencies between plants and value streams.

The calculated target pace of production, calculated as available production time divided by customer demand in the same period. It dictates the rhythm at which production must occur.

The ability to fully track the path of a material, part, or order through all production stages.

Time during which a piece of equipment does not produce during scheduled production time without being planned to stop, for example due to faults, material shortages, or technical defects, as opposed to planned stops like maintenance or breaks.

The sum of all value-adding and non-value-adding activities a product goes through, from raw material sourcing to delivery to the customer.

The calculation of what-if scenarios on a digital value stream to make the effects of changes on lead time, inventory, bottlenecks and throughput visible before implementation.

In Lean Management, any activity that consumes resources but creates no value for the customer, classically divided into seven types of waste according to Taiichi Ohno.

All orders or materials currently in the production process, meaning started but not yet completed.

The planning and control of staff assignment across the stations of a value stream, adapted to the current order mix and demand.

Capital tied up in current assets, including raw material, WIP, and finished goods inventory.

The share of defect-free units produced out of the total number of units manufactured in a process step or across several production stages, often distinguished into First Pass Yield and Rolled Throughput Yield.