| Blocking | The activities in the stage must stop because there is no place to deposit the item just completed.
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| Bottleneck | A resource that limits the capacity or maximum output of the process.
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| Buffering | A storage area between stages where the output of a stage is placed prior to being used in a downstream stage. Buffering allows the stages to operate independently.
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| Cycle time | The average time between completions of successive units in a process (this is the definition used in this book). The term is sometimes used to mean the elapsed time between starting and completing a job.
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| Efficiency | A ratio of the actual output of a process relative to some standard.
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| Hybrid | Combines the features of both make-to-order and make-to-stock. Typically, a generic product is made and stocked at some point in the process. These generic units are customized in a final process to meet actual orders.
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| Little's Law | States a mathematical relationship between throughput rate, throughput time, and the amount of work-in-process inventory. Throughput time is equal to work-in-process divided by the throughput rate.
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| Make-to-order | A process that is activated only in response to an actual order.
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| Make-to-stock | A process that produces standard products that are stored in finished goods inventory. The product is delivered quickly to the customer from the finished goods inventory.
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| Operation time | The sum of the setup time and run time for a batch of parts that are run on a machine.
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| Pacing | Movement of items through a process is coordinated through a timing mechanism. Most processes are not paced, but assembly lines usually are paced.
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| Process | Any set of activities performed by an organization that takes inputs and transforms them into outputs ideally of greater value to the organization than the original inputs.
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| Process velocity or throughput ratio | The ratio of the total throughput time to the value-added time.
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| Productivity | The ratio of output to input. Taking the dollar value of the output and dividing by the dollar value of the inputs usually measures total factor productivity. Alternatively, partial factor productivity is measured based on an individual input and often is not calculated using dollar values (an example would be units/person).
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| Run time | The time required to produce a batch of parts.
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| Setup time | The time required to prepare a machine to make a particular item.
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| Starving | The activities in a stage must stop because there is no work.
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| Throughput rate | The output rate that the process is expected to produce over a period of time.
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| Throughput time | The average time that it takes a unit to move through an entire process. Usually the term lead time is used to refer to the total time that it takes a customer to receive an order (includes time to process the order, throughput time, and delivery time).
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| Utilization | The ratio of the time that a resource is actually activated relative to the time that it is available for use.
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| Value-added time | The time in which useful work is actually being done on the unit.
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