The shop-floor vocabulary, explained simply.

Artificial Intelligence

The suite of machine-learning and optimisation methods used to predict durations, detect drift, and recommend trade-offs.

Aircraft On Ground

Aircraft grounded due to a missing part or repair. An absolute emergency: every AOG request takes priority over everything else on the shop floor.

Application Programming Interface

An interface that enables two software systems to exchange data automatically, without manual re-entry.

Advanced Planning & Scheduling

Advanced planning and scheduling software that calculates an optimised sequence under constraints (capacity, skills, materials). The software category to which ROBIN belongs.

A priority decision between two jobs or two work orders competing for the same resource. The core of the scheduler's craft.

Explosive Atmospheres

European regulation governing equipment used in explosion-risk zones (solvents, powders, gases). A sensor installed in a paint booth must be ATEX-certified.

Formal authorisation for an operator to carry out a given operation. An assignment constraint in scheduling.

Business Intelligence

Reporting and dashboard tools that leverage company data (Power BI, Tableau, Qlik).

A structured list of the components and materials required to manufacture a product (BOM).

Bluetooth Low Energy

Low-power radio technology used for object location beacons. Accuracy at zone level (a few metres).

A resource whose capacity limits the throughput of the entire shop floor. Often a furnace, a bench, a single machine, or a rare skill.

WIP deliberately placed upstream of a critical resource to prevent it from halting due to lack of feed.

Relating to available capacity (machines, operators, workstations). A capacity analysis compares load against capacity.

Radio Compliance Markings

Regulatory approvals for radio equipment covering Europe (CE), the United States (FCC), and Canada (ISED).

Grouping of workstations dedicated to a part family or a process step.

Computerised Maintenance Management System

Maintenance management software: preventive plans, corrective interventions, machine history, spare parts.

French Data Protection Authority (National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties)

French personal data protection authority. It governs, in particular, the monitoring of operators' activity.

ROBIN's operations management module: real-time shop floor view, indicators, alerts, and decision simulation.

Constraint Programming - SATisfiability

Google OR-Tools constraint programming solver, used to compute a feasible and then optimised schedule.

Comma-Separated Values

Plain-text spreadsheet file format used for data imports/exports between systems.

The latest date by which an operation must be completed in order to meet the customer commitment.

An accurate digital representation of the shop floor (resources, routings, WIP, positions) on which simulations can be run before decisions are made.

The two major phases of an MRO job, separated by expertise, parts processing, and waiting for spare parts.

An unplanned event that invalidates the schedule: machine breakdown, absence, missing part, non-conformity, additional work discovered during inspection.

Growing gap between the planned schedule and shop floor reality. Measured in accumulated days of delay.

Electronic Data Interchange

Standard for the automated exchange of commercial documents (orders, dispatch notices, invoices) between businesses.

Electronics Manufacturing Services

Contract manufacturer that produces circuit boards and electronic sub-assemblies on behalf of OEMs.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Integrated management software (SAP, Sage X3, Oracle…). It handles orders, stock, bills of materials, and work orders, but schedules by the week, not by the hour.

Electronic Shelf Label / electronic ink

Wireless electronic label with an e-ink display, mounted on a workstation or container to show the active work order without a screen or cables.

Frequently Asked Questions

Section of frequently asked questions at the bottom of the page.

Full-Time Equivalent

A workforce measurement unit: one FTE corresponds to one person working full time.

General Data Protection Regulation

European regulation governing the processing of personal data, including operator activity-tracking data.

Good Manufacturing Practices

Good manufacturing practices: a regulatory framework mandating traceability, control, and documentation of every production batch.

The level of detail in the temporal or organisational breakdown of the schedule: by week, day, hour, or operation.

Human–Machine Interface

Control screen for a machine or line, through which the operator interacts with the equipment.

International Automotive Task Force

Mandatory quality standard for automotive industry suppliers. Requires full traceability of parts and processes.

Post-disassembly inspection phase that reveals the actual condition of the equipment and determines the real work content of the job.

Information System

The full suite of company software and data (ERP, MES, CMMS, PLM…).

Information Technology

Enterprise IT in the broad sense: teams, systems and infrastructure.

Information Systems Directorate

The department responsible for corporate IT: infrastructure, applications, security, and integrations.

In MRO, the full set of operations carried out on a given piece of equipment, from its entry to its exit. Equivalent to a single project.

Key Performance Indicator

Key performance indicator tracked by management (TAT, OTD, OEE, service level…).

Distribution of workload over time to avoid peaks and troughs on a resource.

Large Language Model

Large language model used by the copilot to understand a question in natural language and translate it into a query against shop-floor data.

Volume of work to be carried out on a resource over a given period. Always compared against capacity.

Long Range Wide Area Network

Long-range, low-power radio network, suited to large sites and outdoor yards.

Long Term Evolution for Machines

Low-power cellular network for connected devices, used when there is no Wi-Fi infrastructure on site.

All core structural data: resources, routings, items, skills, and calendars.

Model Context Protocol

Standard protocol enabling an AI assistant to access an application's data and functions in a controlled manner.

Manufacturing Execution System

Manufacturing execution system: work order tracking at the workstation, reporting, real-time traceability. Sits between the ERP and the machine.

Department that defines routings, standard times and production resources.

All measurement and dimensional inspection operations for parts.

ETI

Company with 250 to 4,999 employees. ROBIN's primary market segment.

MiniZinc

Constraint optimisation modelling language used to describe scheduling rules.

Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul

Maintenance, repair and overhaul of aeronautical equipment. Unlike serial production, the scope of work is only known after inspection.

Material Requirements Planning

Net requirements calculation: determines what to procure and what to release, based on orders and bills of materials. Operates on the assumption of infinite capacity.

Non-Conformance

Observed deviation between a part or process and its specification. Triggers quality processing (rework, deviation, scrap) that disrupts the schedule.

Non-Destructive Testing

A set of techniques for inspecting a part without damaging it (dye penetrant, magnetic particle inspection, ultrasonics, radiography). A mandatory step and frequent bottleneck in MRO routings.

Original Equipment

Original part or equipment, as opposed to an aftermarket spare part.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

Measures equipment effectiveness: availability × performance × quality. The French equivalent of OEE.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

English equivalent of TRS: overall equipment effectiveness of a piece of equipment (availability × performance × quality).

OpenID Connect

Single authentication protocol, used to connect ROBIN to the company directory.

Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture

Industrial communication standard for PLCs and machines. Enables machine status retrieval without bespoke development.

OpenStreetMap

Open-source map layer used for site views.

On-Time Delivery

On-time delivery rate: the proportion of orders delivered by the date promised to the customer. The benchmark indicator for industrial performance.

Product Lifecycle Management

Product lifecycle management system: plans, bills of materials, definition indices, technical changes.

Part Number

Manufacturer's reference for a part. Combined with the SN (Serial Number) to track a specific unit.

Data updated continuously from the shop floor, with no re-entry or consolidation delay.

Full recalculation of the schedule after a disruption. With ROBIN, the operation takes a few seconds rather than several hours.

REpresentational State Transfer

Standard web API style, used to connect ROBIN to other software within the information system.

Rework of a non-conforming part to bring it into conformance. Consumes unplanned capacity.

Return On Investment

Return on investment: gain generated relative to the cost of the project.

manufacturing

An ordered sequence of operations required to produce or repair a part, with the associated times, resources, and skills.

Security Assertion Markup Language

Enterprise single sign-on standard, alternative to OIDC.

ERP Vendors

Two widely used ERPs in French industry. Referenced as integration examples.

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

Industrial equipment and process supervisory system, providing real-time machine data.

Person responsible for building and maintaining the shop floor schedule on a daily basis.

Determination of the order and timing of each operation on each resource, subject to capacity, skills, and deadline constraints.

A part declared unusable and removed from the flow. Often requires restarting production.

The order in which operations are processed on a given resource. Good sequencing reduces changeover times.

Secure File Transfer Protocol

Secure file transfer protocol, used for batch exchanges with legacy systems.

Mathematical engine that finds a solution satisfying all constraints, then optimises it against an objective (lead time, load, cost).

Single Sign-On

Single sign-on: the user logs in with their company account, without a dedicated password.

Operations entrusted to an external supplier (surface treatment, machining, NDT). Introduces transport and waiting delays outside the shop floor's control.

Required production rate to meet customer demand, expressed as time per part.

Turnaround Time

Total cycle time for a job, from equipment intake to return to the client. The central MRO indicator: it determines both invoicing and client satisfaction.

A workstation equipped to test equipment after reassembly. A scarce resource and frequent bottleneck at the end of the routing.

Operator reporting of the start and end of an operation, feeding the progress tracking.

Ability to reconstruct the complete history of a part: who, when, where, with what, and under which control.

Use-By Date

Date beyond which a product or material can no longer be used. A hard constraint on batch scheduling.

Ultra Wide Band

Precise radio location technology (30 cm to 1 m), used to track WIP down to the nearest workstation.

Parts, batches or equipment committed to production and not yet completed. The French term for WIP.

Work In Progress

Work in progress: everything engaged on the shop floor but not yet complete. High WIP ties up working capital and extends lead times.

Work Order

The English equivalent of the WO (work order).

Work Order

Document that triggers and tracks the manufacture or repair of a batch or part. Contains the routing, quantities, and dates. French equivalent: OF (Ordre de Fabrication).