Glossary
Manufacturing glossary
Short, concrete definitions of the terms we use in MODELMATIC and across manufacturing.
- Discrete Event Simulation (DES)
- Discrete event simulation (DES) is a technique where the model changes state only at specific events — such as an operation starting or transport ending. This lets you replay thousands of production hours in seconds and analyze bottlenecks and throughput.
- MES
- An MES (Manufacturing Execution System) connects planning with the shop floor: it manages work orders, tracks operation progress, computes OEE and generates shift reports in real time.
- OEE
- OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) combines availability, performance and quality. It shows how much of your theoretical capacity you actually use.
- Takt time
- Takt is the time in which you must produce one unit to meet demand. Comparing takt with the actual cycle time shows whether the line keeps up with orders.
- Bottleneck
- A bottleneck is the resource with the lowest throughput that caps the whole line. Work in process (WIP) piles up before it, while stations after it may be starved.
- Routing
- A routing is an ordered list of operations a product goes through — with times, stations and required resources.
- BOM (Bill of Materials)
- A BOM (Bill of Materials) is the product structure: the materials, subassemblies and quantities needed to build it. In ModelMES the BOM is tied to stock alerts.