Glossary

The purchasing strategy for a variety of items, including a plan to manage the supplier base and solve problems.

The rate to purchase a specific commodity; the rate may include the transportation from origin to destination.

A business, regulated by the government, that provides transportation services to the general public and publishes rates for its services.

Serves the public without discriminating, transports goods and people, and charges reasonable rates.

All items on an order must be delivered on time for the order to be considered complete and on time. A metric used by businesses to measure performance.

Average time from when a finished product is ready to be shipped until the unit is shipped to a customer.

Degree to which products, services, processes, and/or documents comply with requirements.

Material that contributes to a finished product but is not the finished product itself. Examples: wheel for a bicycle, memory chip for computer, or button for a shirt.

Training designed to be viewed on a computer. Includes all training and testing materials.

A member of a group of steamship companies offering equitable rates, standardised shipping practices and regularly scheduled services between designated ports.

The specified arrangement of components to produce an assembly.

The trigger to begin to manufacture, assemble, or package a product is a customer order or release rather than a market forecast.

With EDI, an electronic notice (response) indicating that a message sent to a trading partner has reached its intended mailbox or been retrieved by the addressee.

Purchase order issued to a supplier listing the goods or services and terms of an order previously placed orally or in some other way prior to the purchase document.

A positive indication or determination that a product or service has met the requirements of a relevant specification, contract, or regulation.

The recipient of the goods being transported. The receiver of a freight shipment. In the vernacular, the buyer.

The delivery of goods to a carrier to be shipped. Also, a supplier placing goods at a customer location without receiving payment until the goods are used or sold.

A type of inventory where the goods or products are paid for when they are sold by the reseller or vendor, not at the time they are shipped to the reseller or vendor.

The originator of a shipment of goods. The sender of a freight shipment, usually the seller. In the vernacular, the shipper.

For freight, combining two or more shipments in order to realize lower transportation rates.

Location where consolidation takes place.

A company that groups shipments, orders, and/or goods to facilitate movement. They combine multiple orders into one shipment to provide cost savings.

A bill of lading from a consolidator for the receipt of merchandise that will be grouped with cargo obtained from other shippers.

An obstacle or planned control that limits throughput or the utilization of capacity.

A government official appointed to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests there and assist its citizens.