AAccounts payable - Retailer management of cash flow and timing of payment to vendors/manufacturers for product received, including investigation and reconciliation of discrepancies between vendor/manufacturer invoice and purchase order.
Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASCX12) - The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) chartered this committee in 1979 to write generic EDI standards; the committee consists of government and industry members who draft standards for submission to ANSI for subsequent approval and dissemination.
Activity Based Costing (ABC) - An accounting method that enables a business to better understand how and where it makes a profit. In ABC, all major activities within a cost center are identified and the costs of performing each are calculated — including costs that cross functional boundaries. The resulting costs are then charged to the product, product line, customer or supplier that caused the activity to be performed. ABC provides a more complete picture than traditional accounting methods of the profits and the costs of doing business, fine-tuned to a particular category, vendor or item. It also includes those costs that add or delete value for the customer.
Actual net benefit - One of five dimensions of strategic effectiveness. The value of strategic benefits minus the cost of investing in physical and/or human resources to operate the alliance.
Advance Ship Notice (ASN) - An EDI transaction in which the shipper advises the customer of a pending shipment. The ASN enables the customer to identify short shipments before receipt and plan warehouse receiving more efficiently.
Adversarial relationship - The traditional means for achieving supply chain coordination and control based on organizational self-interest and short-term focus /commitment.
Advocacy - A key alliance manager in one firm becomes an agent of change with senior management in the partner's firm.
Alliance - A process wherein participants willingly modify their basic business practices to reduce duplication and waste while facilitating improved performance. Also commonly referred to as partner-ship, value-adding partnership, relational exchange and just-in-time exchange.
Alliance conceptualization - The first horizontal level of the general alliance model. Begins when a firm determines a collaborative arrangement has appeal and provides a potential alternative to traditional adversarial relationships.
Alliance confirmation - The third horizontal level of the general alliance model. Begins when a firm selects an alliance partner. Strategic and operational expectations for the arrangement are jointly determined and the relationship is solidified.
Alliance implementation/continuity - The fourth and final horizontal level of the general alliance model. Created a feedback mechanism to continually administered assess performance to determine whether the alliance will be sustained, modified or terminated.
Alliance management - One of the five dimensions of strategic effectiveness. Composed of three elements that negatively impact alliance effectiveness: power imbalance, managerial imbalance and conflict.
Alliance pursuance - The second horizontal level if the general alliance model. Begins when a firm finalizes the decision to form an alliance and establishes the strategic and operational considerations that will be used to select an alliance partner.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - A non-governmental organization that manages the formation of voluntary national standards, such as those for DE.
Analyze deduction trends - The vendor/manufacturer process reviewing trends in customer deductions in order to reduce the amount and frequency of invoice deductions.
Analyze market trends - The vendor/manufacturer process of examining scanned data to determine changes in consumer behavior.
Application identifier - A numeric prefix to a UCC/EAN-128 code that defines the encoded data to follow. These are generally used as secondary codes to provide information not included in standard U.P.C. numbering, such as product dates, weights and lot/batch numbers. It may also identify a UCC serial shipping container code.
Assess category - The retailer process of reviewing product mix, product selection, category profitability, space requirements to determine category strategy and to plan profitability (Includes both private label and vendor/manufacturer products.).
Assessment stage - The final stage in the process component of an alliance. The partners formally assess the relationship and review original goals to evaluate strategic effectiveness and adherence to operating standards to determine whether the alliance will be sustained, modified or terminated.
Assist customer - Provide support to customers to ensure satisfaction.
BBackhaul - The return of a vehicle from its original destination to point of origin.
Back-to-back long-term deals - Placing a product on near-continuous price discount in exchange for distributor-agreed performance; sometimes called contract pricing.
Bar - A darker portion or lines in a bar code.
Bar code - A combination of parallel lines of bars and spaces that communicate data about the product or shipping container to which it is affixed. The data elements can be read by an electronic scanner. The Universal Product Code-A standard -- widely used by retailers in the U.S. and Canada -- and the newer Code 128 (See UCC/EAN-128) are key enablers of Efficient Consumer Response, allowing the grocery industry to track, manage and control physical product flow.
Bar code character - A combination of bars and spaces that represent a letter, number or other information that communicate data about the product or shipping container to which it is affixed. A bar code character is one part of a full bar code that can be read by an electronic scanner.
Bar code density - The number of characters that can be represented in a linear inch of a bar code.
Bar height - The dimensions of a bar (line) of a bar code, measured from its top to its bottom.
Bar width- The thickness of a bar (line) of a bar code, measured from one of its edges to the other.
Benchmarking - A comparative process by which a firm identifies and examines key practices and/or processes used by other organizations to modify and improve its own performance. Comparisons are made across multiple organizations, industries and channel levels.
BMR - Broker managed replenishment.
Build displays - Build product display in retail store.
Business process - A set of events and activities focused on a desired result.
Buyer on-time performance - Measurement of on-time delivery by the carrier based on appointment time requested by the buyer.
CCash collection - The collection of payment in full for merchandise delivered.
Category - A general classification of products or SKU’s (e.g., coffee, cereal, soft drinks, etc.).
Category Management (CM) - The management of product categories as strategic business units. The practice can empower a category manager with full responsibility for the assortment decisions, inventory levels, shelf-space allocation, promotions and buying. With this authority and responsibility, the category manager may be able to judge more accurately the consumer buying patterns, product sales and market trends of that category. By emphasizing profits and sales for entire product groups rather than individual items or brands, category management can encourage a longer-term, joint retailer-supplier focus in marketing and merchandising.
Change agent - Groups of individuals who use their skills and relationships to actually lead, enable and implement change, in an advance organization.
Character-based trust - The qualitative assessment of qualities or characteristics inherent in each partner's philosophy or organizational culture. Derived from five sources:(1) integrity, (2) identification of motives, (3) consistency of behavior, (4) openness and (5) discreteness [Gabarro, John J. (1978),"The Development of Trust, Influence and Expectations, " in Interpersonal Behavior: Communication and Understanding in Relationships, Anthony G. Athos and John J. Gabarro, eds.,(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.)].
Choose product - Determine SKU’s to sell based on vendor presentation and internal analysis of customer needs, supply chain costs, etc.
Code 128 - A variable length, bi-directional, continuous, self-checking alphanumeric bar code whose data set contains 105 characters in each of three unique subsets; each character consists of three bars and three spaces consuming 11 modules of width. Its space efficiency, security and alphanumeric capabilities make Code 128a desirable symbology for many applications.
COGS - Cost of goods sold.
Collect/use demographic data - Gather demographic data in retail stores.
Co-marketing alliance - An alliance between parties at the same channel level that occurs horizontally across two channels. The relationship is often composed of competing firms (e.g., two manufacturers developing a new technology).
Commit to promotion/reserve - Retailer agrees to purchase fixed volume of product at promotion price; wholesaler reserves sufficient amount of product on hand.
Communication architecture - Is comprised of the network hardware and software that connect all of the separate business components of the supply chain.
Competence-based trust - The quantitative assessment of actual behavior and operating performance. Derived from four sources: (1) specific competence, (2) interpersonal competence, (3) competence in business sense and (4) general business judgment [Gabarro, John J. (1978), "The Development of Trust, Influence and Expectations ," in Interpersonal Behavior: Communication and Understanding in Relationships, Anthony G. Athos and John J. Gabarro, eds.,(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-hall, Inc.)].
Computer Assisted Ordering (CAO) - The CAO Best Practices Subcommittee developed the following definition: Preparing an order through the use of computers that integrate information about product movement (as recorded by POS systems), outside factors that affect demand (such as seasonal changes), actual inventory levels, product receipts and acceptable safety stock levels.
The technology is a retail-based system that automatically generates replenishment orders when the shelf inventory drops below a predetermined level. Essential to its success are complete store-level inventories and accurate POS scan data. CAO generally reduces the labor required to generate orders and provides timely information on item movement and inventory turnover at the store level.
Conduct basic research - Conceive new or extended formulations and packaging based on industry trend and consumer requirements.
Conduct product recall - Remove product from store shelf as directed
Conflict - An element of alliance management that occurs when one channel member is "engaged in behavior designed to injure, thwart, or gain scarce resources at the expense of the other," [Goldman, Ralph (1966), A Theory of Conflict Processes and Organization Offices," Journal of Conflict Resolution,10:3 (September), pp. 335-340].
Connectivity - One of the three dimensions of operating standards. Composed of two elements which positively impact adherence to standards: responsiveness and technology adoption.
Construct, deliver, maintain display racks - Build, bring to store and maintain display racks.
Continuous performance measurement - An element of formalization. Focuses on the need to develop operational performance measurements and then continually assess and improve those operational activities.
Continuous Replenishment Program (CRP) - The CRP Best Practices Working Group developed the following definition: The practice of partnering between distribution channel members that changes the traditional replenishment process from distributor-generated purchase orders, based on economic order quantities, to the replenishment of products based on actual and forecasted product demand.
CRP programs reduce inventory levels and operating costs by having products delivered on a frequent, as-needed basis. With CRP, consumer demands - based on scan data, warehouse movement, and sales forecasts - drive warehouse replenishment orders and shipping. In the most common form - vendor managed continuous replenishment - the distributor's warehouse transmits data daily to the vendor on inventory levels and store orders; the vendor is responsible for creating the orders necessary to ensure that the warehouse can meet the retailer’s product needs.
Core competency - A firm’s specialized skill or talent that differentiates it from competitors (e.g., design skill, research and development, information systems development, etc.).
Create merchandise plan - Forecast demand, plan promotions and forecast sales and profitability.
Cross docking - A distribution system in which merchandise received at the warehouse or distribution center is not put away, but instead is readied for shipment to retail stores. Cross docking requires close synchronization of all inbound and outbound shipments. By eliminating the put-away, storage and selection operations, it can significantly reduce distribution costs. In pallet-level cross docking, entire pallets are received from the vendor and moved directly to the outbound trucks without further handling. In case level cross docking, cases are transferred into a conveyer system, if one is available, which routes them to the appropriate outbound staging area for delivery to the store.
Customer pickup (CPU) - Used in the report when the recipient of freight arranges for the pickup of that freight, either by its own private fleet or by contracting with a carrier.
Cycle count - A physical inventory verification procedure performed at regular intervals throughout specific aisles or sections in a store. The duration of the "cycle" may vary, but the activity in all individual sections is generally completed before the next begins.
DDC - Distribution center.
Deadhead mile - Miles traveled by a driver and tractor with an empty trailer. Carriers try to minimize deadhead miles in order to increase asset utilization.
Deals - Terms offered by suppliers to distributors for the sale and promotion of a product.
Deduction resolution - Research and resolve retailer invoice deductions.
Defined procedures - An element of formalization. Establishes ground rules practice to identify each partner's roles and responsibilities.
Deliver HQ sales plan - Plan manufacturer's sales for each retailer.
Deliver orders - Deliver product to the retail warehouse by the carrier.
Deliver products - Receive shipment of products at DC, prepare outgoing orders, and transport products to customers.
Delivery/unloading - Consists of positioning the truck at the receiving location, physically removing the shipment from the truck, providing unloading documentation and preparing the truck for travel.
Develop new products - The vendor/manufacturer process of researching and developing new products to market. Including developing and test marketing new or extended formulations and packaging, and bringing successful products into normal replenishment system.
Develop retail call plan - Plan for retail call coverage.
Develop sales program - Creation of a plan by vendor/manufacturer for retail sales which includes trade and consumer promotions, promotion dates and price points.
Direct Exchange of Business Information (DEX/UCS) - A store-level data interchange system that extends UCS to support direct store delivery allowing direct data transfer between the supplier's delivery personnel and the store’s receiving agent. The standardized hardware/software system reduces time, costs and inaccuracies at the retail backdoor. The vendor's salesman or driver is equipped with a hand-held terminal into which details of the order are maintained. Once the item count is verified by the receiving agent, the terminal is directly connected to the store's computer and the information is downloaded without the need of other networks. The data is transmitted to the retailer’s accounting department for reconciliation and payment. (See NEX/UCS.)
Direct Product Cost (DPC) - This and direct product profit (see below) are yardsticks for measuring the profitability of any given product. Originated in the late 1960s in the grocery industry, DPC is a tool developed to assign all costs - for shipping, storing, stocking, etc. - directly to individual products in an effort to determine their direct product profitability (DDP).
Direct Product Profit (DPP) - An accounting method to examine each product's contribution to a retailer's overall profit by refining gross margins into net contributions to costs and profit by individual stock keeping units. To determine the DPP of an item, a special formula is developed to deduct all direct and indirect costs of handling that item. DPP/DPC does not address overhead allocation problems — only the cost related directly to a product (e.g., ordering and stocking). ABC does address these overhead and indirect costs. Also, unlike DPP/DPC, ABC is tied to the business’ general ledger, allowing easier and more accurate determinations of profitability by department, category or SKU.
Direct Store Delivery (DSD) - A method of delivering merchandise from the manufacturer directly to the retail store, bypassing warehouse facilities. Shelf inventory (model stock and replenishment) can be managed by the supplier with varying degrees of retailer oversight, although product check-in is done by both the supplier and store receiver. Major DSD categories include soft drinks, beer, bread and fresh baked goods, dairy products and fragile items that require special handling such as potato chips and some gourmet items.
Distributor - The wholesaler or retailer in the grocery supply system.
DMR - Distributor-Managed Replenishment.
Drayage - Movement of product by truck to or from a rail yard.
Driver team - Multiple drivers in the same tractor to maximize driving hours in a day and reduce overall transit time.
Drop and hook - Arrangement among shipper, carrier and consignee whereby the carrier leaves a trailer filled with freight at a destination and hooks up and hauls away an empty trailer.
Drop trailers - Trailers that are unhooked from a tractor when the truck reaches its destinations, so the driver can depart without waiting for the trailer to be unloaded
DRP - Distribution Resource Planning.
Dysfunctional conflict - Conflict that cannot be resolved and reduces supply chain efficiency and performance.
EEDLP - Every day low price.
Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) - A strategy in which the grocery retailer, distributor and supplier trading partners study methods to work closely together to eliminate excess costs from the grocery supply chain and better serve the consumer.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - The computer-to-computer transmission of business information between trading partners. The information should be organized in standard file formats or transaction sets following guidelines administered by the Uniform Code Council (UCC) for the grocery industry or the Voluntary Inter-Industry Communications Standards Group (VICS) for the general merchandise industry. Standards have been developed for all regular business-to-business communication including purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices and funds transfer. By eliminating the clerical, mailing and other costs associated with paper-based information, EDI reduces costs, time delays and errors.
European Article Numbering System (EAN) - A standardized format for a 13-digit bar code and number identification of products and shipping containers used primarily outside the U.S. and Canada. EAN bar codes are compatible with the U.P.C.s of the U.S. and Canada, although there are differences in format.
Evaluate manufacturer performance - Retailer measures and manages manufacturer compliance with information and physical product flow supply requirements.
Evaluate sales and promotion - The process of reviewing actual sales and promotional efficiency after sales plan has been executed.
Evaluate vendor performance trends - Retailer measures and manages vendor compliance with information and physical product flow requirements.
Exception count - A physical inventory verification procedure to identify stock conditions outside of predetermined limits. These limits generally relate to shelf capacity and back stock, i.e., too much, too little or out-of-stock.
Execute product pricing - Accept and implement product price changes at stores
FForecast product movement - Estimate product movement for manufacturer.
Forecasted demand - The demand for the product that is expected based on consumer point-of-sale information, distributor warehouse withdrawal information or traditional forecasting techniques.
For-hire carrier - Transportation carrier that is hired or contracted .
Formalization - One of the three dimensions of operating standards. Composed of two elements that positively impact adherence to standards: defined procedures and continuous performance measurement.
FTE’s/Full Time Equivalents - The number of 40 hour/week employees.
Functional conflict - Conflict that is positively resolved and, therefore, enhances supply chain efficiency and performance.
GGeneral alliance model - Complete model developed in this research the details alliance practice from initial conceptualization through implementation and assessment. Includes evaluations of strategic effectiveness and adherence to operating standards in order to determine whether an alliance is sustained, modified or terminated.
Generate invoice - The vendor/manufacturer process of producing an invoice for payment of product delivered.
Get product chosen - Vendor obtaining retailer commitment to carry product line and new product lines or extensions.
Gross margin - Usually expressed as a percentage and defined as: (sales - cost of goods sold)/sales x 100
HHands-on-time - The amount of process time an activity consumes (excludes inspection, wait and rework time).
High-low - A term referring to a distributor whose pricing strategy is based heavily on promotions.
Holistic pilots - Test projects in which trading partners implement one or more aspect of ECR across multiple disciplines and functional boundaries within the companies. They document the experience and measure its success.
IImplement product event - Execute planned events at stores, from display through removal of event merchandise.
Implementation/administration stage - The fourth stage in the process component of an alliance. The partners establish full commitment to the alliance and determine strategic expectations and joint operating standards. Necessary operational modifications are identified and changes are implemented. If the alliance is sustained during the assessment stage, the alliance is administered until the next formal assessment stage, the necessary changes are implemented and then reassessed.
Influence in-store presence - Vendor/manufacturer obtaining commitments for shelf space and facing for products from retailer.
Information access - One of three dimensions of operating standards. Composed of two elements which positively impact adherence to standards: competence-based trust and cooperation.
Initial expectation - The initiating firm's broad strategic goals to be accomplished with an alliance. Strategic goals will differ based on the channel focus of the alliance.
Initiating party/firm - The firm that initiates alliance involvement. The initiating party/firm is the primary focus of the first two levels in the general alliance model.
Inputs - The product, service information, etc. received that enables performance of an activity.
Integrated EDI - A term applied to the direct entry of information received electronically into the recipient's computer system (e.g., the entry of a transmitted invoice directly into the accounts payable ledger). Integrated EDI eliminates the manual checking that is still frequently done by many recipients of EDI information, saving time and costs. It requires the sender to adhere strictly to standard, pre-agreed formats. Some programs that depend on integrated EDI are computer assisted ordering, continuous replenishment and direct store delivery.
Interview manufacturers - Hold meetings to generate potential new principles.
Inventory turn - The rate of speed that inventory is moving through a company's business, definable by units or dollars (e.g., total units sold in a year/average inventory level).
Invoice wholesaler/retailer - Manufacturer generates billing to wholesaler for products shipped.
IS - Information System.
ISO 9000 - An international quality certification standard administered by the International Organization for Standards that describes and defines the basic elements necessary to ensure products and services met or exceed customer expectations.
IT - Information Technology
Item re-order point - A designated inventory level at which additional product should be ordered. Re-order points are generally related to shelf capacity and item case pack.
J K LLarge-scale organizational change - Pervasive, systemic change throughout the organization.
Lead time - The time between notification to a carrier to pick up a load and the actual scheduled pickup time.
Length of alliance relationship - One of the five dimensions of strategic effectiveness. The length of time the alliance has been operational. Implies that as alliances withstand the test of time they are more likely to be perceived as successful.
Length of previous business relationship - An element of partner match. Focused on the necessity for alliance partners to have sufficient knowledge about each other in order to determine their compatibility before finalizing the initial alliance agreement. Implies that organizations do not usually form alliances with their organizational level.
Live loading/unloading - Loading or unloading that takes place while the carrier waits at the dock, in contrast to drop and hook.
Load product - Wrap pallets and manage their placement onto trucks to fill space properly, enable store unloading, etc.
Load tendering - When shipper notifies carriers that a load is available to be picked up. Then the carrier determines whether it can accept the shipment.
LTL - Less than a truckload
Lumpers - Individuals other than the employees of motor carriers, shippers or receivers who perform the loading or unloading of motor carrier freight.
MMaintain item data - Vendor /manufacturer gathering information and maintaining item characteristics such as UPC code, cube weight, etc. in retailer’s systems.
Maintain manufacturer data - Retailer gathering and maintaining manufacturer information used for purchasing and EDI systems.
Maintain site - Maintain site in a neat and orderly condition.
Manage accounts receivable - Vendor/manufacturer reconciliation of invoice to cash received from retailer, including resolving invoice deductions.
Manage consumer advertising - Plan and conduct advertising campaigns.
Manage consumer promotions - Plan and conduct consumer promotion programs, including development of required promotion materials.
Manage customer credit - Vendor/manufacturer tracking of customers' payment history and credit worthiness when processing orders for products.
Manage customer deals - Conceive, offer and execute trade deal events while monitoring their effectiveness.
Manage customer orders - Ensure retail /customer orders are received, processed and delivered.
Manage deals/reserve program - Wholesaler process of selecting vendor deals, approving deals and ensuring compliance with deal terms.
Manage events and promotions - Retailer merchandiser updates retail pricing, coordinates inventory allocation with store and DC’s, and advertising activities.
Manage execution of sales plan - Vendor/manufacturer monitoring of events, promotion and sales as laid out in sales plan.
Manage in-store promotions - Plans and conduct in-store promotional events.
Manage invoices - Balance accounts receivable and payable, including resolving discrepancies.
Manage manufacturer allowance - Retailer process of tracking vendor/manufacturer promotions, compliance with promotion terms and taking appropriate off-invoice deduction.
Manage private label - Establish a private label product.
Manage product category - Select products which meet consumer requirements, plan and execute merchandising strategies, maintain profitability of products.
Manage product pricing - Determine retail prices by SKU.
Manage store advertising - Plan and conduct store advertising campaigns.
Manage store operations - Maintain in-store inventory policies through effective management of shelf space and backroom product handling.
Manage store orders - Maintain in-store inventory levels by ensuring timely orders, deliveries and shelf stocking.
Managerial imbalance - An element of alliance management that occurs when alliance partners devote different levels of managerial experience to the alliance. Imbalance can be perceived in terms of the number of participants involved in the alliance and/or their organizational level.
Marketing/Sales interaction - The face-to-face interaction between suppliers and store management about any needs, concerns or problems as well as informing them of any upcoming promotions and/or ending dates of sales.
MDF administration - Monitor and track manufacturer Market Development Funds.
Merchandising - The collection of outdated and damaged merchandise, the rotation of old merchandise, the re-stocking, facing, and signing of new merchandise, and the building of new displays.
Merchandising strategy - A company's position on pricing, promotion and deal structures.
MIS - Management information systems also called IS (information system).
Monitor Out-of-Stock/Pricing/Competitive Information - Review and record product pricing and out-of-stocks.
Monitor/Review HQ Sales Plan - Review sales for each retailer in market.
MRP - Manufacturing resource planning.
NNational Cooperative Research Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-462) - Developed to encourage joint research up to the point of prototype design by providing a relaxed antitrust environment. See also National Cooperative Production Amendments of 1993 (Public Law 103-42).
Needs awareness stage - The first stage in the process component of an alliance. The initiating firm becomes aware that a change in strategy is required and considers an alliance as a possible solutions or opportunity.
Net landed cost - The total cost of supplying a product to the retail shelf including purchase price, transportation, storage and retail handling.
Network exchange (NEX/UCS) - UCS provides two communications links between store and supplier: DEX and NEX. NEX supports communications between office-based computer systems over public communications networks while DEX provides direct linkage between trading partners at the store backdoor without the need for other (or public) networks. NEX/UCS is used by both the grocery and the mass merchandise industries. It provides additional benefits when used with DEX: automates post-delivery accounts payable and receivable; maintains data files on products, costs, promotions and delivery authorization. Additionally, it minimizes payment discrepancies and the time needed to correct them.
New item introduction - Plan, develop and deliver new item introduction to retailer.
OOperating savings - Operating-expense reductions, including cost of goods sold, marketing expenses, selling/buying overhead, warehouse and transportation costs, store operations and administrative costs.
Operating standards - The measure of how well alliance partners define the rules, procedures and philosophy for managing the alliance on a daily basis. This measure occurs as an expectation during the selection/decision stage and as a perception of actual adherence during the stages of implementation/administration and assessment.
Operational component - A vertical component of the general alliance model. Describes the development of search and selection criteria and operating standards for managing an alliance on a daily basis.
Operational cooperation - An element of information access. Established when alliance partners integrate communication to reduce uncertainty and allow joint decisions to be made in a real-time environment.
Order cycle time - Time involved from the placement of an order until the goods are delivered.
Order processing - The process of converting customer orders into sales invoices including route number and delivery order.
Order product - Determine costs and quantities of selected product, and manage submission of an order to the vendor (Procure Product).
Organizational compatibility - An element of partner match. Illustrates how well partnering firms integrate their operations into a cohesive unit with respect to mutual goals, compatible culture and information systems.
Outputs - The results(product or service) produced upon the completion of an activity.
Outside storage - The use of a supplemental inventory storage location to handle excess inventory; sometimes refers to third-party public warehousing.
Outsourcing - The external purchase of products and/or services from other firms in the supply chain. Strategic alternative to vertical integration.
PPallet - A device used for moving and storing freight. It is used as a base for assembling, sorting, stacking, handling and transporting goods as a unit load. Commonly about four feet square, it is constructed to facilitate the placement of a lift truck's forks between the levels of a platform so it may be moved onto a freight car or into a warehouse.
Pallet bar code - Grocery industry standard that can be used to identify pallets with a "license plate" (see UCC/EAN - 128).
Pallet exchange - Grocery industry practice of having a carrier - when it drops off palletized freight at a consignee - take back empty pallets, which are to be brought back to another shipper. If the exchanged pallets are not good, they may be refused by the second shipper.
Parallel - Conducted at the same time (e.g., testing the CRP process concurrently with the traditional fulfillment process).
Partner coordination - The one of the five dimensions of strategic effectiveness. Composed of two elements that positively impact alliance effectiveness: character-based trust and cooperation.
Partner match - One of the five dimensions of strategic effectiveness. Composed of two elements that positively impact alliance effectiveness: organizational compatibility and the length of previous business relationship.
Partnership checklist - A document created by potential CRP partners detailing all tasks required to implement the CRP process.
Pay for spoiled or damaged products - Pay retailer for spoiled or damaged product.
Perform electronic shelf management - Conduct electronic shelf management in support of sales activities (resets, plan space).
Perpetual inventory system - A system that maintains an expected level of inventory by item within a store. This system must reflect all physical product movement — sales, deliveries, credits, etc.
Physical distribution - The function of delivering physical product through the supply chain.
Pick & load product - The process of preparing product for outbound shipment, which includes obtaining shipping carrier and delivery appointment (select, staging).
Pickup/loading - Consists of positioning the truck (trailer) at the loading location, physically moving the shipments from the dock to the truck, securing the load, preparing the proper documentation and readying the truck for travel.
Pick-up orders - Retrieve purchase orders from retailer.
Pilot - Testing a process on a limited basis
Plan and conduct food shows - Plan, set-up and attend retailer food show.
Plan and conduct local consumer marketing - Plan and conduct local marketing programs.
Plan and conduct manufacturer reviews - Plan and meet with manufacturer to review sale status.
Plan and conduct store-level product demos - Provide for sample of product and demonstration in retail store.
Plan customer loads - Vendor/manufacturer creation of outbound shipments for customer, which includes obtaining shipping carrier and delivery appointment.
Plan promotions - Retailer process of determining type and frequency of promotions, promotion objectives and category profitability impact. Reconcile vendor/manufacturer desired promotions and timing versus retailer promotions and timing.
Point Of Sale (POS) - The place where the purchase is made at the checkstand or scanning terminals in a retail store. However, the acronym POS frequently is used to describe the sales data generated at the checkout scanners.
Power imbalance - An element of alliance management that occurs when partners are unable to overcome their power differences. Results in an alliance that operates without mutual benefit.
Prepare and present retail presentation - Develop and retail presentation.
Prepare for sale - Move product to store shelves, which in the case of service departments, may require in-store processing and packaging.
Prepare product surveys - Prepare surveys for use by retail sales in wholesaler market.
Prepare/conduct retailer business review - Develop and present annual business review to retailers.
Prepare/execute retailer presentation - Plan, develop and deliver retailer sale presentation.
Price lookup function (PLU) - A feature of an in-store computer system that verifies the selling price of an item through use of a centrally maintained price file. PLU codes are assigned to products that are normally not bar coded, such as fast-moving items and weighed produce.
Process component - A vertical component of the general alliance model. Describes or details the stages of alliance formation and maintenance.
Process customer orders - The process of receiving customer orders into the warehouse system, checking inventory availability and generating the order pick tickets.
Process implementers - People who actually carry on the work of implementing change within a company. Implementers who could be managerial or hourly employees are usually part of a team.
Process owner - An individual who has the final responsibility for the success or failure of the specific change initiative, i.e., the continuous replenishment process owner is responsible for overall CRP implementation. For example, the individual may be the director of customer service.
Process promotion payments - The vendor/manufacturer process of paying retailer a specified for compliance with promotional events.
Procure materials - Maintain proper level of raw materials and packaging by ordering, receiving and storing materials as needed.
Procure returns - Accept customer returns.
Produce products - All production activities from product formulation to DC delivery (includes scheduling, packaging, inspecting and overseeing plant operations).
Product availability follow-up - Confirm product is available in manufacturer's warehouse.
Production - The point at which a test CRP process becomes the primary fulfillment process.
Project leader - The individual leading the CRP effort within an organization.
Promotional order - An order specifically to promote a promotion.
Provide cash services - Provide customer with cash by processing food stamps, cashing checks, etc.
Q RReceive product - The processing of inbound product at the store by manually counting or scanning the product at both vendor/manufacturer and retailer distribution centers.
Receiver on-time performance - Measurement of on-time delivery by the carrier based on appointment time as scheduled by the warehouse receiver.
Reconcile invoices/commissions - Tie manufacturer invoices to commission statements.
Reconcile manufacturer reimbursements - Retailer process of comparing actual manufacturer reimbursements.
Re-load - The re-loading of new merchandise after the initial load has been delivered for the completion of the day’s route.
Re-order buyer - The person in a distributor organization responsible for routine repeat purchases of product.
Resolve consumer complaints - Satisfy a consumer with a concern or problem.
Responsiveness - An element of connectivity. Indicates each partner’s willingness to fulfill special requests form the other partner in a timely manner.
Return product - The process of checking out damaged/outdated merchandise via manual count, scan or DEX. A credit invoice is created.
Review new product offerings - The manufacturer process of presenting new products to retailers in an effort to obtain approval to sell the product in the retail outlet.
Review sales plan - The vendor/manufacturer activity of presenting a sales plan to the retailer for review.
Review, use market/category data - Conduct market/category ad analysis.
ROE - The return on equity (expressed as a percentage).
ROI - Return on investment (expressed as a percentage).
Rotate shelf stock - Move product on shelf.
Route settlement - The balancing of cash and checks collected from the driver versus the remaining truck inventory and the ordering of merchandise for the route truck.
SScale - The product volume level required in CRP to achieve significant benefits.
Scan ratio - An inventory correction calculation to adjust for physical inventory differences based on the percentage of items scanned to the total items sold.
Schedule delivery - Schedule vendor deliveries to warehouse loading dock.
SCM - Supply chain management.
Search criteria - Factors that assist the initiating party/film to select a desired strategy consistent with initial expectations. Used to review and evaluate innovative practices until a specific strategy is selected and then customized to the firm’s individual strategic goals.
Search stage - The second stage in the process component of an alliance. The initiating party /firm seeks detailed information on alliance practice to determine if it is a desirable strategy.
Secondary expectations - Refinement of the goals established under initial expectations. Secondary expectations are more detailed and identify the potential degree of magnitude for each goal.
Selected criteria - Factors that assist the initiating party/firm to identify the strategic and operational characteristics required for a company to qualify as a potential alliance partner. The criteria serve to reduce the number of potential candidates to facilitate final partner selection.
Selected partner/firm - The firm selected by the initiating party/firm for alliance involvement. The initiating party/firm and the selected partner/firm are both involved in the last three levels of the general alliance model.
Selection decision stage - The third in the process component of an alliance. The initiating party/firm evaluates the small pool of candidates based on the selection criteria and chooses a final partner. At this point, both firms become committed to forming an alliance.
Serial shipping container code - Is an 18-character identification coding structure used primarily for containers of nonstandard product mix. This code consists of a one-digit packaging type, a one-digit country code, a six-digit manufacture identification number (first position is the number system character), a nine-digit shipping container serial number and a check digit and is prefixed with a two-character application identifier.
Serve store customers - Provide a wide range of customer services, assist customers and manage customer payments and returns.
Set product shelving - Implement product shelf decisions by adding and deleting shelf facings.
SG&A - Selling, General and Administrative Expense.
Ship notice/manifest - An EDI transaction in which the shipper advises the customer of a pending shipment. Generically this is known as advanced ship notice (or ASN). The ASN enables the customer to identify short shipments before receipt and plan warehouse receiving more efficiently.
Ship orders - The vendor/manufacturer process of transporting ordered product from the vendor/manufacturer DC to the retailer’s DC.
Shipment status - Information on the location and expected time of arrival for a shipment.
Slip sheet - A paper pallet.
Social contract - The unwritten, informal commitment between alliance partners that serves as an indicator of how effectively key contacts function and manage the alliance.
Sponsor - Groups or individuals who use their influence to champion the recommended changes of ECR implementation within companies. They ensure that appropriate funding is available and that the process owner understands his/her role. Generally, the sponsor is a high-level individual in the organization.
Stage and store products - Receive and store product at DC’s, manage inventories and control shipping.
Standard Interchange Language (SIL) - Is a standard created to simplify the exchange of data between systems and retail applications providing a single, comprehensive language for data definition, manipulation and query. It was developed mainly by independent retailer and wholesaler communities.
Standard notice/manifest - An EDI transaction in which the shipper advises the customer of a pending shipment. Generically this is known as advanced
Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) - An individual color, size, flavor or pack of product that requires a separate code number to distinguish it from other items.
Stock product - Retailer process of transporting product to sales floor, breaking open cases and hand stocking the display case.
Store order - The physical count of merchandise needed to bring the display, shelf, cooler or stock room back to the appropriate inventory level. The order amount either is keyed into a hand-held computer or is manually written in a sales book.
Store product - Place product in correct slots, including movement from reserve to pick.
Store selection - The selection and unloading of merchandise off the truck and from the back stock room needed to stock the sales floor.
Strategic components - A vertical component of the general alliance model that describes how strategic expectations and evaluations of strategic effectiveness evolve as alliance progresses.
Strategic cooperation - An element of partner coordination. Implies joint planning in order that both parties share long-term business goals (e.g., new product development) and develop interdependence.
Strategic effectiveness - The measure of how well the alliance achieves strategic expectations. This measure occurs as an expectation during the selection/decision stage and as a perception of actual performance in the stages of implementation/administration assessment
Supplier - A manufacturer or broker.
Supply chain - The entire fulfillment process from procurement of raw materials to consumer purchase.
Symbology - Is a defined method of representing numeric or alphabetic characters using bars and spaces that are easily scanned by computer systems.
System maintenance - The maintenance of the DDS system files, including the adding/deleting of an item. Wholesale/retail changes, unauthorized item corrections and item promotions.
TTargets - The initial groups and/or individuals who will be required to alter their skill, knowledge and behavior to support change within an organization.
Technology adoption - The connectivity. Facilitates ease of communication by emphasizing how technology (be it facsimile or EDI) is applied to transfer accurate information in a timely manner.
Third party - An independent organization that offers a service that links a supplier and a distributor in some way; the term can apply to providers of DE, warehousing or logistics services.
Third party loading/unloading firm - An independent business firm that is contracted to provide loading and/or unloading services.
Throughput - The total number of units handled in and out of a warehouse divided by two. Used to calculate average movement of product.
Tie and high - Width and height of freight on pallets and warehouse storage racks.
Time under the load - Time that the carrier commits a truck to move the freight from pickup until delivery.
Trading partner - A company with whom a CRP relationship is formed; specifically, the sending or receiving party involved in the exchange of business documents via DE.
Transaction processing architecture - Is comprised of the hardware and software necessary to process business transactions. A transaction is defined as an event-triggered computer process that completes a specific business function.
Transaction set - The date that is exchanged in specifically defined segments in order to represent a business document (e.g., purchase order).
Transit - Movement of the truck from origin to destination.
Transit time - Time involved from carrier pick up until the time the freight is delivered.
Transport product - Retailer transporting product from DC to store back door.
Transport product (driving) - The delivering of merchandise/driving to each store including to and from the warehouse (deliver orders).
Transport product (floor) - Retailer movement of product from back room to sales floor next to display case.
Transportation/warehousing - Business functions to store, receive, ship and deliver product.
Truckload (TL) - Shipments of more than 10,000 pounds loaded on a truck.
Trust - Consists of qualitative assessment of characteristics inherent on each partner’s philosophy or organizational culture (character-based trust) as well as quantitative assessment of actual behavior and operating performance (competence -based trust).
UUniform Code Council (UCC) - The nonprofit administrative and educational organization that works with U.S. and Canadian industry to develop and administer product identification and electronic data interchange standards, including U.P.C. and UCC/EAN Code 128.
Uniform Communication Standard (UCS) - Transaction sets for the grocery industry that allow computer-to-computer, paperless exchange of documents between trading partners. Using electronic data interchange, UCS is a rapid, accurate and economical method of business communication; it can be used by companies of all sizes and with varying levels of technical sophistication. The standards are maintained by the Uniform Code Council, which also administers two UCS substandards: DEX and NEX.
UCS 830 - The standard or transaction set that allows a distributor to provide forecast information to suppliers.
UCS 852 - The standard or set for electronic purchase order transactions.
UCS 855 - The standard or set for electronic purchase order acknowledgment transactions.
UCS 856 - The standard or set for electronic shipment notification.
UCS 857 - The standard or set for communicating promotional and one-time orders.
UCS 888 - The standard or set for electronic item maintenance transactions.
UCS 889 - The standard or set for electronic promotion announcements.
Unique channel focus - Refers to the particular type of alliance under examination (e.g., manufacturer-material supplier, manufacturer-distributor or manufacturer-service supplier). Each dissertation conducted the research from a unique channel focus.
United front - The business and personal relationship that develops between firms' key contacts in an alliance and represents a key component of the social contract for the alliance. The contacts frequently become more loyal to each other and/or the alliance than to their respective firms.
Unitize - Turning a number of pieces into one unit for handling purposes.
Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) - A numbering and bar coding system for product identification of consumer items, typically scanned at the retail point-of-sale.
Unloading time - Time to remove freight from the trailer.
U.P.C. shipping container code - A 14-digit identification coding structure (format 1,2,5,5,1) used to identify a manufacturer's shipping unit. This code consists of a one-digit package identifier, a one-digit country code, a six-digit manufacturer identification number (first position is the number system character), a five-digit item number and a check digit. This is referred to as the U.P.C./EAN shipping container code in the UCS EDI Guidelines published by the Uniform Code Council.
VValue-added services - Activities or processes not typically considered part of the firm’s basic service package that are offered to key customers.
Value chain - A series of activities, when combined, define a business process; the series of activities from the manufacturers to the retail stores that define the industry supply chain.
Value chain analysis - The use of structured design methods to define information related to the activities performed by all partners across the entire grocery industry supply chain.
Vendor - A supplier of products or services.
Vendor Managed Quick/Continuous Replenishment (VMQR) - See continuous replenishment.
Vendor period-end loaning - The practice of pushing product from the supplier to distributor, motivated by period-end performance measures.
Vertical integration - The internal coordination and control of products and/or services (e.g./production, distribution, marketing) within a single organization. Strategic alternative to outsourcing.
VICS EDI - The UCC membership division consisting of the users of the ANSI X12 standards adapted by retailers and their suppliers. The term is also used to describe the body of standards used by the group. Although it communicates and cooperates with the VICS group, it is a separate organization.
VMI - Vendor-managed inventory.
VMR - Vendor-managed replenishment .
Voluntary Inter-Industry Communications Standards (VICS) - EDI message standards for marking products and shipping containers in the mass merchandising, apparel and department store industries. VICS are maintained by the VICS Group, subset of the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee X12 composed of general merchandise and apparel retailers/manufacturers.
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