M. Burak Toprakoğlu - 030070082 - 1.week of project

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word for “continuous improvement and incremental change.” The philosophy of kaizen is about involving everyone in the organization to focus on overall organizational improvements. The cornerstone of lean manufacturing is removing waste to better respond to the needs of the customer in regard to on-time delivery, competitive cost, and better quality. More important, kaizen emphasizes developing a process-oriented culture that is driven to improve the way a company operates. Think of the number of processes that exist in a company. Changing company culture is an ongoing battle, and you want to address issues that may arise early on. So in essence, kaizen is about coaching and mentoring people to become better at what they do in all aspects of their work.

(Kaizen and Kaizen Event Implementation, Chris A. Ortiz, p.4)

----------------------------------------------------

A programmable logic controller (PLC)

It is a special form of microprocessor-based controller that uses a programmable memory to store instructions and to implement functions such as logic, sequencing, timing, counting and arithmetic in order to control machines and processes and are designed to be operated by engineers with perhaps a limited knowledge of computers and computing languages. They are notb designed so that only computer programmers can set up or change the programs. Thus, the designers of the PLC have pre-programmed it so that the control program can be entered using a simple, rather intuitive, form of languagelimited knowledge of computers and computing languages. They are not designed so that only computer programmers can set up or change the programs. Thus, the designers of the PLC have pre-programmed it so that the control program can be entered using a simple, rather intuitive, form of language.

(Programmable Logic Controllers, 4th Edition, W. Bolton, p.3)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Knowledge Engineering (KE)

Knowledge management is strongly rooted in a discipline called knowledge engineering, a field that involves the development of knowledge-based or expert systems. Knowledge engineering emerged in the 1960s and 1970s,and gained commercial interest starting in the early 1980s. Knowledge engineering grew out of the field of artificial intelligence and focused on building computer programs that simulated the behavior of experts in well-defined domains of knowledge. The knowledge engineering process involves the capture, representation, encoding, and testing/evaluation of expert knowledge. As such, a knowledge base is built containing the set of facts and heuristics (rules of thumb) relating to the expert’s well-defined task of knowledge.

(Knowledge Management: Learning from Knowledge Engineering, Jay Liebowitz, p.3)

------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)

Manifacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) is a method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufacturing company. It is made up of a variety of interlinked functions, such as:

1- Strategic and Business Planning

2-Demand Management

3-Sales and Operational Planning (S&OP)

4-Master Production SchedulingScheduling (MPS) with Rough-Cut Capacity Planning

5-Material Reuirements Planning (MRP I)

6-Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) and Vendor Requirements Planning (VRP)

MRP II is an approach to managerial planning execution, and control of productive activity. It integrates in a closed loop or feedback manner, the forecasting of demand, production planning, production scheduling, production activity control and purchase planning or control. MRP II software can relate many information needs of all the functions and departments,including purchasing, accounting, payroll, distribution, marketing, engineering, measurement, planning, evalution and control. MRP II is an explicit and formal manufacturing information system that integrates marketing, finance and operations.

(Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II): With an introduction to ERP, SCM and CRM, Khalid Sheikh, p.63)