Glossary

Terms and definitions to help you understand the foundational elements of PLM software

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1D analysis refers to the application of finite element analysis on 1-dimensional models comprised of only 2 nodes.

3D CAD is a robust technology that allows engineers and product developers to digitally create, test and document three-dimensional objects.

3D modeling describes the use of software tools, such as computer-aided design (CAD) programs, to create 3D digital representations of objects.

3D printing technology is rapidly evolving and can be harnessed to create better products for both design and manufacturing engineers.

3D software development is used to build software that helps design engineers create and modify three-dimensional models and digital prototypes of new products.

An 8D report is the result of an 8-step process of problem solving designed to address manufacturing nonconformances and implement continuous improvement.

AUTOSAR is an open system architecture solution that standardizes software for basic automotive functions.

Additive manufacturing refers to adding layer-upon-layer of material using data-driven automation to form a product.

Advanced Planning software takes account of production forecasts and long-term orders and supports decision making.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling is a digital solution that helps manufacturers to balance demand and production capacity.

Advanced Scheduling software enables manufacturers to make production scheduling decisions based on an accurate model of a manufacturing environment.

Aerospace composites are high performance raw materials used in the design and development of aircraft components.

Aggregate planning is a method for developing an overall manufacturing plan that ensures uninterrupted production at a facility. Aggregate production planning typically is applied to a 3- to 18-month period.

ALM is the process of managing all of a software application’s project planning and executions stages, from conception through to discontinuation.

Artificial intelligence simulates aspects of human intelligence and can be programmed to analyze vast amounts of data for predictive purposes.

Assembly automation uses technology to maximize cost-efficiency and productivity in component manufacturing.

A manufacturing BOM (MBOM) lists all materials and parts needed to produce a specific product and informs the shop floor what to make.

Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) is an authorization model where users get access to data based on real-time evaluation of their attributes.

Automotive Ethernet is a network for communication of increasing data supporting more complex system functions distributed across in-vehicle networking.

Automotive lightweighting is an engineering concept focused on reducing the weight of vehicle designs without compromising safety or performance.

Autonomous vehicles are automobiles that can operate and navigate without human input by leveraging various integrated technologies.

A bill of process (BOP) details the planned manufacturing approach for a product, including instructions, machinery, line configurations, and tools.

Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing process in which liquid adhesive is selectively deposited onto powdered materials to create solid objects.

A blockchain is a database that stores information as across a P2P network instead of a central location.

Bootloader is a computer program that ensures that data of an operating system is loaded into the main memory during the start-up of an electronic device.

CAD CAM is the integration of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing software for easy design-change management, concurrent design conception and flexible manufacturing process configuration—especially for the design and manufacturing of prototypes and finished parts.

CAD (computer-aided design) software is used to create, analyze and change 2D and 3D designs and models in a digital environment rather than using manual drafting methods.

CAD student software is functionally the same as the commercial version, but with a different licensing agreement.

A CAPA system performs corrective and preventive action: It analyzes a production problem, finds the root cause, corrects it and documents the correction.

CFD simulation is the prediction and visualization of the motions of liquid and gases.

Camstar Systems, now part of Siemens Opcenter, offer manufacturing execution system (MES) capabilities within manufacturing operations management (MOM).

Capital asset lifecycle management (CALM) consolidates asset data to create a digital twin of the physical asset. Learn how CALM improves collaboration.

Cloud PLM revolutionizes the industry by letting users securely access product lifecycle management (PLM) information from anywhere, on any device, and at any time. Cloud PLM helps companies manage their digital twin efficiently so they can bring innovative products to market, faster.

Cloud ready applications were originally created to run in an onsite hosting environment, but have been reengineered so they can run in the cloud.

Complaint management software enables the timely handling of complaints and feedback to production planning and process engineering of product-in-use data.

Compliance software manages communication, monitoring, and documentation of compliance activities for regulations and standards in a manufacturing business.

Component software is designed to work within a larger application to provide that application with new tools and functionality.

Composite tooling refers to the use of composites as raw materials in the engineering of tools for the manufacturing of new parts or product components.

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is the use of computer software to simulate performance in order to improve product designs or assist in the resolution of engineering problems for a wide range of industries.

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) commonly refers to the use of numerical control (NC) computer software applications to create detailed instructions (G-code) that drive computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools for manufacturing parts.

Computer-aided quality (CAQ) software helps manufacturers ensure consistent product and process quality from design through production.

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer programs to create, modify, analyze and document 2D or 3D graphical representations of physical objects.

Conditions of supply are the required design & assembly specifications for supplier-provided parts and components.

With configure-to-order, customers make custom selections of product components that a vendor then uses to build the product upon placement of the order.

Convergent Modeling technology enables facet data and B-Rep models to be combined in a unified 3D modeling environment.

Defect management enables manufacturers to track and trace quality events and corrective actions.

Demand-driven material requirements planning (DDMRP) is a planning approach designed to reduce overstocks and shortages in the manufacturing supply chain.

Design simulation helps manufacturers verify and validate the intended function and manufacturability of a product under development.

DFMA is an engineering methodology that focuses on simplifying the design of a product to improve ease of manufacture and efficiency of assembly.

Design for service (DFS) is a product lifecycle strategy that addresses serviceability attributes that affect cost and efficacy of servicing the product.

A digital enterprise is a company where all business processes are driven by digital technology and big data.

Digital manufacturing is the use of an integrated, computer-based system comprised of simulation, 3D visualization, analytics and collaboration tools to create product and manufacturing process definitions simultaneously.

Digital transformation is the process of digitalizing business processes and information in the pursuit of a more agile and efficient business model.

A digital twin is an exact, virtual representation of a product or process used to virtually validate the performance of its physical counterpart.

Digitalization is the analysis and application of digital data insights to improve products, processes, and operations.

Digitalization in education refers to the use of digital technology to teach students.

Discrete manufacturing uses machining, assembly, and other production steps to make individual products from materials, parts, and works-in-progress.

E/E systems development is the robust integration of three electrical design domains and disciplines – systems, software and electrical.

EWIS embraces wires, cables, harnesses, connectors, terminals, attachments and all other electrical devices found on an aircraft as part of a system.

An eVTOL aircraft is an aircraft that uses electrical power to hover, take off and land vertically. It is a zero-emissions aircraft.

The Camstar Enterprise Platform provides an electronic batch record that is a complete manufacturing audit trail of every batch produced

Electronic design automation is the use of computer programs to design, simulate, verify, and manufacture integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.

eDHRs, or Electronic Device History Records, are paperless, electronic systems within manufacturing execution systems (MES) that enforce production processes and capture all information associated with as-built production records.

Camstar’s Electronic Procedures are step-by-step instructions or tasks that automatically guide an operator progressively through work at a work station.

Electronic work instructions (EWI) provide manufacturing personnel with intuitive, step-by-step procedures and tasks to perform their job.

Embedded software is programming that is part of the hardware of non-computer devices that performs a specific task as part of the device's overall functionality.

Engineer-to-order is a manufacturing process where a vendor works with a customer to design and engineer a product before manufacturing it.

An engineering academy is a sponsored program that provides high school or college students with real-world engineering experience and training.

Engineering automation tools use pre-defined rules to automatically create designs, write documentation, and do other repetitive engineering processes.

Environmental compliance management software (ECMS) provides a manageable framework that helps enterprises use sustainable raw materials and reduce waste.

Equipment Maintenance Management Software electronically tracks equipment usage and manages preventative maintenance and corrective maintenance.

Fiber orientation refers to the structural positioning of reinforcing fibers in the fabrication of composite materials.

Finite element analysis (FEA) is the modeling of products and systems in a virtual environment, for the purpose of finding and solving potential (or existing) structural or performance issues.

Camstar’s Flow Management controls and enforces the flow of materials through the manufacturing process

A food supply chain is the sequence of processes for the production and distribution of food products, and the organizations involved in these processes.

A formboard design is for diagramming one-to-one, full-scale representations of harness design data, enriched with additional manufacturing information.

Generative design is an engineering approach that uses algorithms to discover every possible iteration of a solution.

A geometric constraint solver is an application that applies parameters to geometric features in two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) designs.

A geometric modeling kernel is component software that provides 3D solid modeling tools to CAD software users in the manufacturing, architecture, engineering, and construction industries

IBS QMS, now part of Opcenter, offers a holistic quality solution across the entire product life cycle and supply chain. IBS QMS software helps manufacturers control quality, production, traceability, and compliance efforts to optimize process and product value. It helps manufacturers address all quality issues by building in both cross-industry and industry-specific best practice solutions.

One of the principal standards relating to MOM is ISA-95, the international standard for the integration of enterprise and control systems. ISA-95 consists of models and terminology.

ISO 9001 is the international standard that sets out requirements for quality management systems (QMS).

Incoming Quality is the establishment and maintenance of inspection processes that identify defective or out-of-spec parts from suppliers.

Industrial 3D printing is a manufacturing method for the creation of a solid, three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design (CAD) digital file.

Industrial cloud computing refers to virtualized computing resources & infrastructure used by asset-intensive enterprises.

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), also known as Industry 4.0, is the application of an IoT framework to devices and machines within manufacturing. The IIoT is part of a larger concept known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is a network of intelligent computers, devices, and objects that collect and share huge amounts of data. The collected data is sent to a central Cloud-based service where it is aggregated with other data and then shared with end users in a helpful way

Industry 4.0 is a concept that describes the use of digitalization and networked technology to create the 4th industrial revolution.

Just-in-time scheduling is a strategy to reduce quantities of manufacturing work in progress (WIP) and inventories of raw materials and finished goods.

KSK (Kundenspezifischer Kabelbaum) translates to a customer-specific wire harness. Auto manufacturers manage wire harness complexity with KSK solutions.

Lean manufacturing is the production practice that considers it wasteful to use resources for anything except the creation of value for the end customer.

A lights-out factory, or “dark factory,” has such minimal requirements for human activity that the facility can operate in the dark with zero human intervention onsite.

In manufacturing, lot traceability is readily-available access to the complete history of all manufactured lots, batches and serialized units, spanning production in multiple plants.

MRP Planning (Manufacturing Resource Planning), handled by Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software, optimizes inventory and production schedules.

Machine learning, a branch of AI, uses algorithms and statistical models to get computers to perform a task effectively without being programmed explicitly

Maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) is a strategy that addresses the ongoing service needs of high-value physical assets.

Make-to-order is an approach to production planning in which manufacturing is initiated once a customer order is received.

Make-to-stock (MTS) is a manufacturing strategy in which production planning and scheduling are based on forecasted product demand.

A manufacturing BOM (MBOM) lists all materials and parts needed to produce a specific product and informs the shop floor what to make.

Manufacturing capacity planning determines a plant’s maximum production rate, compares it to anticipated demand, and plans how to maximize actual output.

Manufacturing compliance comprises the technical, legal, and corporate requirements, regulations, and practices manufacturers must comply with in order to produce and market products.

Camstar's Enterprise Manufacturing Execution and Quality systems help you create lean manufacturing and production control practices and flow.

Manufacturing education teaches students about simulation technology, robotics, systems engineering, facilities planning, and more.

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are software solutions that ensure quality and efficiency are built into the manufacturing process and are proactively and systematically enforced.

Manufacturing Intelligence is a software solution that pulls together data from diverse manufacturing source to enable enhanced reporting and analysis capabilities.

Manufacturing operations management (MOM) software provides full visibility into manufacturing processes to optimize manufacturing operations performance.

Manufacturing planning and control software links, tracks and uses product, operations, resource and facilities data to ensure production efficiency.

Manufacturing process planning helps engineers to author, simulate, and manage manufacturing information, and align manufacturing plans with product design.

Quality of design and conformance to specifications provide the fundamental basis for managing operations to produce quality products.

Manufacturing Scheduling software supports improved scheduling decisions by accurately modeling the manufacturing environment, resources and constraints.

Manufacturing simulation is the use of computer modeling to test manufacturing procedures before physically building them.

Manufacturing resource planning (MRP 2) optimizes inventory and production schedules, considering raw materials, components, personnel, equipment and more.

A master production schedule (MPS) delineates what products a manufacturer will produce, when and in what quantities.

A master batch record (MBR) contains the instruction, recipe or formula, and specific manufacturing process for a particular product.

Material extrusion is an AM methodology where build material is pushed through a heated nozzle and deposited in layers to create a 3D object.

Material jetting is an AM process in which droplets of build material are selectively deposited and then cured to develop a solid object.

Material requirements planning (MRP 1) is a strategy used to optimize the acquisition, storage and deployment of materials needed in production runs.

Mechatronic system simulation, also referred to as one-dimensional computer-aided engineering (1D CAE), is an approach to modeling and analyzing multi-domain systems, and thus predicting their multidisciplinary performance.

Mission engineering (ME) coordinates systems of systems with respect to a defining objective. Learn about the origins of ME and guidelines for its use.

Modal analysis is the study of the dynamic properties of linear structures, based on structural testing or finite element analysis-based simulation.

Model Based Systems Engineering helps companies develop the complex products their customers demand. Model Based Systems Engineering focuses on creating and exploiting domain models as the primary means of information exchange between engineers

Noise and vibration testing is the analysis of products for quality via the detection of noises and vibrations that indicate faulty systems or parts.

A manufacturing nonconformance is an unexpected event that occurs in the manufacturing process that deviates from a set standard or requirement.

Paperless manufacturing refers to the use of software-based electronic systems to monitor and enforce manufacturing production processes, while capturing all information associated with production records.

Part manufacturing is the process of following a specialized plan in order to fabricate products that meet their design goals.

Personalized Ad hoc queries answer critical questions and provide the results to take systematic actions on affected materials

Physical asset configuration is a comprehensive, actionable digital twin, or virtual representation, that contains up-to-date information on the composition and structure of a managed item or property.

Physical asset management superintends the entire lifecycle of produced items or property, including maintenance, repair, upgrades, and final disposition.

Place and route is a stage of electronics design for PCB, IC and FPGA. It determines the electronic component placement and wire routing to connect them.

Platform economy refers to the current transition companies are making from being product-centric to becoming platform-centric via multiple digital capabilities.

Powder bed fusion (PBF) is a category of additive manufacturing (AM) that uses thermal energy to selectively fuse granular materials into solid shapes.

Preactor Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software

Predictive analysis helps predict future outcomes based on the analysis of past data using statistical modeling and machine learning techniques.

Predictive engineering analytics combines multidiscipline simulation, test and intelligent analytics to predict product performance throughout the lifecycle.

A printed circuit board (PCB) is a laminated stack of layered sheets of insulating material and copper foil on a substrate.

Process manufacturing produces goods by mixing ingredients and executing a series of actions until the product reaches its final formulation and state.

Camstar Manufacturing is designed to easily integrate with shop floor equipment, collecting data, tracking results and alerting on process control limits and suspect trends.

Product data management (PDM) is the use of software to manage product data and process-related information in a single, central system.

PLM software manages information throughout the entire product lifecycle from ideation, design and manufacture through service and disposal.

Production management is the discipline of planning, analyzing, and directing the manufacture of goods in a timely, safe, and cost-effective manner.

Production planning software helps orchestrate manufacturing processes in a way that optimizes production efficiency and productivity.

Production scheduling software helps determine the optimum sequence of operations in order to achieve lean and agile production.

Quality Management Systems (QMS) are software solutions that provide the procedures, processes, structure, and resources necessary to streamline manufacturing and ERP operations and cost effectively manage quality issues.

Quality standards are sets of good management practices, methods, systems, requirements and/or specifications established by industry advisory groups to help manufacturers achieve and demonstrate consistent production and product quality. Some quality standards are applicable to a broad spectrum of manufacturing and service organizations, while others are industry specific

The core mandate that guides FDA regulatory oversight is consumer safety.

Reverse engineering is the process of deconstructing a thing to learn how it works, what it’s made of, and how it is assembled.

Robotics simulation uses digital representations and dynamic interactions with robotics and equipment to engineer automated production systems virtually.

Robotics virtual commissioning uses robotics simulation, rather than the physical system, to test behavior based on the real control system.

SIMATIC IT is an MES (Manufacturing Execution System) software portfolio designed to help manufacturers ensure maximum quality and productivity.

Software as a service, delivered via an internet connection that can be accessed by any device without the need to install on a computer.

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a manufacturing technique that uses a laser to heat powdered materials so they fuse together into solid parts.

Semiconductor Manufacturing Execution Systems (semiconductor MES) serve as the intermediary between a business system such as ERP and a manufacturer's plant floor control equipment.

Service asset management offers manufacturers and service providers full visibility of a manufactured item or property’s configuration and service status.

A service BOM (sBOM) is a managed view of an asset’s service material requirements, bridging ongoing design to specific configuration requirements.

Modern service lifecycle management software enables more effective service planning, design for serviceability, and optimized asset in-service use.

Service parts management is a strategy used by those responsible for servicing a fielded asset to ensure that parts are available when they are needed.

Sheet lamination is an additive manufacturing methodology that involves bonding sheets of material together and machining them to 3D print objects.

Shop floor control comprises the methods and systems used to prioritize, track, and report against production orders and schedules.

Six sigma in manufacturing is a process improvement method that helps to minimize waste and produce goods more efficiently.

SPC applies statistical process control to quality and defect data that is collected during the manufacturing process, allowing manufacturers to identify, analyze, and solve potential problems while production continues – before equipment is shut down, material is scrapped, and production.

Stereolithography (SLA) is a 3D printing technique that uses UV light to selectively solidify liquid photopolymer resin.

Synchronous technology connects everyone in the product lifecycle – and it connects them all without limiting any of them.

System simulation is the process of experimenting with, and studying how, changes to a complex system (or sub-system) affect the system overall.

Vat photopolymerization refers to AM processes that print 3D objects by selectively curing liquid photopolymer resins with light.

Virtual validation uses 3D modeling to test, simulate and verify a product’s ability to operate properly before a physical prototype is created.

Wire harness engineering is the development process of an electrical foundation for the safe and reliable distribution of power throughout a system.