Month: December 2017

QFD (Quality Function Deployment): A table oriented procedure for converting customer requirements for a product into the features or functions that should be included in the product design. Quantity discount: Pricing policy by which the cost per unit purchased decreases…

Pallet: Platform, usually of wood, about 6 inches high by 40 in. by 48 in. on which goods are placed, so they can be picked up by a forklift to be placed in storage or on a truck. These…

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): A manufacturer is an OEM if its product is used a component in the product of some other manufacturer. OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing): A general term for database queries were some analytical calculations are performed in…

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement): An agreement among Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, taking effect 1 January 1994, to gradually eliminate all tariffs among the three countries over a 15 year period. It is expected that truck carriers…

MAD (Minimum Absolute Deviation): A measure of statistical error defined as the average absolute deviation between the forecast and the actual, or perhaps alternatively between the mean and the actual. Contrast this with standard deviation, which measures the average…

Lanchester equations: a pair of differential equations that describe the losses incurred by two competitors or combat forces as a function of their sizes. In discrete time, if the size of the two forces in period t are At…

Kaizen: a Japanese business philosophy meaning to seek continuous improvement. kanban: WIP inventory control system developed at Toyota. A kanban (literally “action plate” in Japanese) is analogous to a recirculating internal PO. That is, when a unit is taken from…

Jake brake: A feature of some truck engines, so that the engine, rather than the conventional brakes, can be used to slow down the truck. This saves wear on the brakes. The engine tends to be very noisy when…

IATA (International Air Transport Association): An association/cartel of most of the world’s passenger airlines for coordinating such things as fares on international flights. See http://www.iata.org. Icelandair was an early nonmember. ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission): A U.S. federal transportation regulatory agency…