Glossary
Factory terms, in plain language
The technical words used on this site, explained simply. Useful whether you run the line, manage quality or sign off the budget.
Inspection
- Anomaly detection
- AI that learns what a good part looks like and flags anything unusual, without needing examples of every defect.
- Classical tools
- Rule-based image checks such as measuring, counting or checking colour. Fast, predictable and easy to explain.
- Fail-closed
- When anything goes wrong, the system takes the safe option: the part is rejected, never passed.
- GenICam
- An industry standard that lets software control cameras from many manufacturers in the same way.
- GigE Vision
- A standard for industrial cameras that send images over ordinary Ethernet cables.
- Golden sample
- A known-good part used to confirm a station and its program work correctly before going live.
- Journal
- A permanent record of every inspection result, written before the PLC is told the result.
- NG
- “No good”: the part failed a check, or could not be checked properly, and is rejected.
- OCR
- Optical character recognition: reading printed or engraved text from an image.
- OK
- The part passed every check.
- Signed program
- An inspection recipe with a digital signature. The station refuses to run a program that was changed or did not come from your platform.
- Station
- The inspection point on the line: cameras, lighting and an industrial PC running Gorad Vision.
Machines and data
- Air-gapped
- A network with no connection to the internet. Common in plants for security.
- Broker
- A message hub (MQTT) that passes events from machines to the apps that need them.
- Edge
- Computing done on the factory floor, next to the machine, instead of in a remote data centre.
- Event
- A clean, standard message such as “machine stopped” or “part counted”, made from raw PLC tags.
- Handshake
- The agreed exchange of signals between the station and the PLC: trigger, result, acknowledge.
- Heartbeat
- A signal the station keeps toggling while healthy. If it stops, the PLC knows something is wrong.
- Line unsafe
- A signal the station raises when it cannot inspect safely, so the line stops or diverts parts.
- MES
- Manufacturing execution system: the plant software that tracks orders, production and materials.
- Modbus TCP
- A simple, widely used way for PLCs and devices to exchange data over a network.
- OPC UA
- A modern, vendor-neutral standard for reading data from industrial machines and controllers.
- PLC
- Programmable logic controller: the industrial computer that runs a machine or a line. It tells the camera when a part is ready and acts on the result.
- Siemens S7
- The communication protocol used by Siemens S7 PLCs.
- Store and forward
- Data is kept safely on the gateway while the network is down, and sent when it comes back.
- Tag
- A named value inside a PLC, such as a part counter or a machine state.
Quality
- %GRR
- The share of variation caused by the measurement system. Under 10 % is acceptable, 10–30 % marginal, over 30 % unacceptable.
- 8D
- An eight-step problem-solving method used across manufacturing, from forming the team to preventing recurrence.
- Calibration
- Checking a gauge against a known reference and recording how far off it is.
- CAPA
- Corrective and preventive action: fixing the cause of a problem and stopping it happening again.
- Concession
- Formal permission, usually from the customer, to use parts that do not fully meet the specification.
- Containment
- Quick action to stop bad parts reaching the customer while the cause is investigated, for example quarantining stock.
- Control limits
- The boundaries of normal variation for a process, calculated from its own data. Points outside them, or odd patterns inside them, mean something has changed.
- Cp / Cpk
- Capability indexes: how comfortably the process fits inside its tolerance. Above 1.33 is a common target.
- Disposition
- The decision on what happens to the non-conforming parts: scrap, rework, return or use as is.
- EWMA / CUSUM
- Control charts that are especially good at spotting small, slow drifts.
- Gauge R&R
- A study of how much measurement variation comes from the gauge (repeatability) and from the people using it (reproducibility).
- MSA
- Measurement system analysis: checking whether your way of measuring is precise enough to trust.
- NCR
- Non-conformance report: the record of a product or process that did not meet requirements.
- ndc
- Number of distinct categories: how many groups of parts the measurement system can reliably tell apart. At least 5 is expected.
- Nelson rules
- Standard patterns that signal a process change, such as nine points in a row on one side of the centre line. Western Electric rules are a similar, older set.
- Quarantine
- Taking something out of use until it is checked and released.
- SPC
- Statistical process control: charts that watch a measurement over time and warn you when the process starts drifting, before parts go out of tolerance.
- Subgroup
- A small group of measurements taken close together and plotted as one point on a control chart.
Production
- Andon
- A signal, such as a button or a light, that calls for help when there is a problem on the line.
- Availability
- The share of planned time the machine was actually running.
- Breakdown
- An unplanned stop because a machine failed.
- Cavities
- The number of parts a mould or die makes in one stroke or shot.
- Cost per part
- What a tool costs divided by the good parts it made.
- Downtime
- Time a machine was stopped when it should have been running.
- Ideal cycle time
- The fastest time a machine can make one part. OEE performance is measured against it.
- Mount
- Putting a tool, die or mould onto a machine. Gorad records when and where.
- MTBF / MTTR
- Mean time between failures and mean time to repair: how often a machine breaks down, and how long it takes to fix.
- OEE
- Overall equipment effectiveness: how much good output a machine makes compared with what it could make. Availability × performance × quality.
- Performance
- How fast the machine ran compared with its ideal speed while it was running.
- Preventive maintenance
- Planned servicing done before something fails, based on time, usage or condition.
- Safety-critical asset
- A machine where a mistake in maintenance could hurt someone, so the work needs a second sign-off.
- Stroke / shot
- One cycle of a press (stroke) or a moulding machine (shot).
- Warning and stop limits
- Two thresholds on a tool’s count: one to plan service, one to say it is due now.
- Work order
- A job for the maintenance team, with what to do, who does it and what was done.
Traceability and dispatch
- Genealogy
- The family tree of a part: what it was made from and what it went into.
- GS1
- The global standards body behind barcodes used in supply chains.
- Lot
- A batch of material or parts that share the same origin.
- Pack check
- A camera check at packing that confirms the label and contents match what was expected.
- Recall
- Getting affected products back from customers or stopping them before they ship.
- Serial number
- A unique number for one item, so it can be traced on its own.
- Upstream / downstream
- Upstream: what went into a part. Downstream: what the part went into, up to the shipment.
- ZPL
- Zebra Programming Language: the command language most industrial label printers understand.
People
- Override
- A supervisor’s time-limited permission for someone to work without the usual qualification, with a reason recorded.
- Qualification level
- How far someone has progressed in a skill: in training, supervised, qualified or trainer.
- Skill matrix
- A table of people and the skills they hold, with levels and expiry dates.
- Station rule
- The skills and minimum levels a person needs to work at a given station.
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