It is important for operations management students to become familiar with common terms, buzzwords and acronyms related to the field.

Authors and consultants invent many terms, buzzwords and acronyms to describe various principles and ideas such as "JIT," "ERP," "5 S," "Lean Manufacturing," etc. Those who attempt to put these concepts into practice also search for appropriate terms.

Buzzwords can describe, inspire and convey an understanding of complex concepts. They can also confuse, lend grandiosity or brand mundane ideas like laundry soap (New!, Improved!, More Whitening Ingredients!). There is a vast market for buzzwords fueled by both supply and demand. The users of an individual buzzword must judge its worth.

ACRONYM - A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women's Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.

BUZZWORD - 1. A word or phrase connected with a specialized field or group that usually sounds important or technical and is used primarily to impress laypersons: “‘Sensitivity’ is the buzzword in the beauty industry this fall”.

2. A stylish or trendy word or phrase.

CLICHÉ - A trite or overused expression or idea.

Selected Operations Management Terms

3PL - 3rd Party Logistics

ABC – a system of classifying inventory according to total dollar value of annual usage.

ABC – Activity-Based Costing

APICS – founded in 1957 as the American Production & Inventory Control Society

ASRS – Automatic Storage and Retrieval System

ASQ – American Society for Quality (fka American Society for Quality Control)

ATP – Available To Promise (Inventory)

B2B - business to business

Backflushing

BOM – Bill of Materials

BPR – Business Process Reengineering

CAD – Computer Aided Design

CAM – Computer Aided Manufacturing

CE – Concurrent Engineering

CPM – Critical Path Method

C.P.M. – Certified Purchasing Manager (NAPM / ISM)

CPIM – Certified in Production and Inventory Management (APICS) BACK TO TOP

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

CRP – Capacity Requirements Planning

EDI – Electronic Data Interchange

EOQ – Economic Order Quantity

ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning

FIFO - First In, First Out

FMS – Flexible Manufacturing System

Group Technology

ISM – Institute for Supply Management (fka NAPM)

JIT – Just-In-Time

Kaizen - Continuous Improvement

Lean Principles

LIFO - Last In, First Out

LP – Linear Programming

MPC – Manufacturing Planning and Control

MPS – Master Production Schedule

MRO – Maintenance, Repair and Operating (supplies)

MRP – Materials Requirements Planning

MRP II – Manufacturing Resources Planning

NAPM – National Assn of Purchasing Mgt (now called ISM)

NC – Numerical Controlled (machines)

Outsourcing

OR – Operations Research

Pareto Analysis

PERT - Program Evaluation and Review Technique

PMI – Project Management Institute

PMP - Project Management Professional (PMI)

POM – Production and Operations Management

Pull .vs. Push

QFD – Quality Function Deployment

Reverse Auction

RFID – Radio Frequency Identification

SCM – Supply Chain Management

Six Sigma

SPC – Statistical Process Control

SQC – Statistical Quality Control

SRM – Supplier Relationship Management

Strategic Partnership, Alliance

TOC – Theory of Constraints

TQM – Total Quality Management

Value Stream Mapping

VMI – Vendor Managed Inventory

WMS – Warehouse Management System