Glossary of Terms
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Glossary of logistics terms
Logistics
Logistics is defined as the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient and cost-effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption, for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements.
More simply, it is the science (and art) of ensuring that the right products reach the right place in the right quantity, at the right time to satisfy customer demand.
Other definitions include “the time-related positioning of resource” or “the management of inventory in motion and at rest”.
Third Party Logistics “3PL” or “TPL”
Third Party Logistics or outsourced logistics; a 3PL is a specialised entity that operates and provides logistical services and as a Lead Logistics Partner (“LLP”), may also co-ordinate or integrate the services of others with complementary or supporting capabilities.
Fourth Party Logistics “4PL”
Fourth Party Logistics; supply chain co-ordination and management by an organisation that does not supply asset based logistical services. Rather it is an “integrator that assembles the resources, capabilities, and technology of its own organisation and other organisations to design, supply chain solutions”. 4PL’s are non-asset based, as far as logistics, transportation, and supply chain management assets are concerned. 4PL’s use 2PL’s and 3PL’s to supply service to customers, owning only computer systems and intellectual capital.
| ABC | Activity Based Costing: common accounting method used, for example, where there are a number of different clients in a shared warehouse (see also ABM, ZBB). Also “ABC Analysis” or “ABC Classification”: the classification of different stock items in a warehouse in accordance with their importance (e.g. individual sales volumes) – where Class A contains items with the highest volume and Class C the lowest (aka “Distribution by Value”). |
| ABP | Asset-Based Provider |
| ADR | Accord Dangereuse Routiers (in full: “Accord European Relatif au Transport International des Marchandises Dangereuses par Route”): regulations for the international movement of hazardous goods by road (see also IMDG, CDG, RID). |
| ASN | Advanced Shipping Notification or “Advance Ship Notice”: electronic pre-notification of an upcoming shipment to the next stage in the supply chain. Also known as an 856. |
| BIS | Department for Business Innovation and Skills |
| B2B | Business-to-Business: e-commerce term for communications between companies and their suppliers. |
| B2C | Business-to-Consumer: e-commerce term for communications between companies and their customers (see also B2B). |
| BIFA | British International Freight Association: UK trade association. |
| B/L | Bill of Lading. |
| BOL | Bill of Lading. Usually B/L. |
| BOM | Bill of Material |
| BPI | Business Process Improvement: business improvement practice using performance measurement to reduce or eliminate non-value added activities or costs, while at least maintaining quality, productivity, etc. |
| BPO | Business Process Optimization – or Outsourcing. Sub-contracting of high level business application services (see also eBPO). |
| BPR | Business Process Re-engineering: redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in quality, speed, service and cost. |
| BRF | British Road Federation Ltd: UK trade association for those concerned with construction and use of roads. |
| BS | British Standard: e.g. BS5750 (a quality standard, now known as ISO9000). |
| BSI | British Standards Institution: UK standards organisation responsible for British Standards. |
| BWA | Bonded Warehousekeepers’ Association: UK trade association. |
| BWS | Beers, Wines and Spirits |
| CCLT | Cranfield Centre for Logistics & Transportation: at the Cranfield School of Management (UK). |
| CDC | Cross-Dock Centre: a stockless (or virtual) distribution centre where goods are generally not placed into storage for subsequent picking, but arrive and depart relatively quickly – by passing ‘across the dock’. This is achieved by suppliers delivering individual store orders. Also Consolidated Distribution Centre and Combined Distribution Centre. See also PBL. |
| CHEP | Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool: a pallet (strictly a pooling system for pallets and automotive crates). CHEP is a division of the ‘new’ Brambles Group – a combination of Australia’s Brambles Industries Limited and the support services division of its former joint-venture partner, GKN plc. |
| CIPS | Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply: UK-based international education and qualification body. |
| CIT | Chartered Institute of Transport: UK professional body – now merged with the Institute of Logistics to form the Institute of Logistics and Transport (see ILT, MCIT, FCIT). |
| CLM | Council of Logistics Management |
| CMR | Customer Managed Relationship: a self-service approach to customer management, enabling people to obtain the services or information they need themselves. The acronym also denotes an international convention for the carriage of goods by road. |
| CPC | Certificate of Professional Competence: a professional standard for UK road haulage operators, administered by the DfT |
| CPFR | Collaborative Planning, Forecasting & Replenishment (also CPFaR). |
| CPG | Consumer Packaged Goods: see also FMCG. |
| CR | Continuous Replenishment: a modification of QR which eliminates the need for replenishment orders – individual customer’s purchases trigger manufacturing and distribution. See also AR and VMI. |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management: software to manage and control relationships with customers (employs a management concept founded on the fact that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profitability by 25—125%). See also SRM. |
| CRP | Capacity Requirements Planning: the process of establishing, measuring and adjusting limits or levels of capacity – e.g. to determine the human and machine resources required for production. Also “Continuous Replenishment Programme” – customer-driven replenishment. |
| CSDF | Cold Storage and Distribution Federation: UK trade body. |
| CSR | Corporate Social Responsibility. |
| CV | Commercial Vehicle: a truck. |
| CVO | Commercial Vehicle Operations |
| DC | Distribution Centre. Also RDC, NDC, EDC, IDC. |
| DCM | Distribution Channel Management: strategic management of direct and indirect supply channels. Also Demand Chain Management. |
| DETR | Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: former UK government department covering transport, part of which was itself previously known as the Department of Transport. Subsequently known as the DTLR but now divided again (see DfT). |
| DfT | Department for Transport: UK government department for transport, previously known variously as the DoT, DTp, DETR and DTLR . |
| DGSA | Dangerous Goods Safety Advisors: DGSAs are required under European Commission Directive 96/35 for hauliers loading or transporting dangerous goods. |
| DM | Depot Manager or “Depot Maintenance”. |
| DoTI | Department of Trade & Industry: UK government department. |
| ECR | Efficient Consumer Response: logistics discipline involving the synchronisation of supplers’ and retailers’ supply chains to reduce stocks. If stocks are cut then supply chains must be able to respond more efficiently to changes in consumer demand – i.e. they must make an “efficient consumer response”. (See also AR, CR, ER, QR, etc.) |
| EDC | European Distribution Centre: see also RDC, NDC, IDC. Also “Electronic Data Capture”. |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange: electronic transfer of data – especially sales volumes, stocks, orders, etc. See also FEDI, TEDIS. |
| EDIFACT | Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce & Transport: a UN initiative (see UN/EDIFACT directory). |
| ELI | Employers’ Liability: insurance. |
| EPoS | Electronic Point of Sale: system for capturing sales data at the checkout. |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning: integration of technology to run all manufacturing and related processes across an entire enterprise. Also “Electronic Road Pricing”. |
| ETA | Estimated Time of Arrival |
| FCD | First Class Distribution: logistics standard introduced by major retailers in the UK. |
| FCIT | Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport: chartered fellow of the UK Institute of Logistics and Transport. See also ILT, MILT, MCIT, FILT. |
| FCL | Full Container Load |
| F/CPG | Food/Consumer Packaged Goods: see also FMCG. |
| FEU | Forty-Foot Equivalent Unit: a standard measure for containers (see also TEU). |
| FF | Freight Forwarder |
| FGP | Factory Gate Pricing: price excludes delivery. By taking over responsibility for primary transport, retailers aim to reduce empty running. |
| FILog | Fellow of the Institute of Logistics: old designation for fellows of this UK Institute (now known as the Institute of Logistics and Transport). See also ILT, FILT, FCIT. |
| FILT | Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport: fellow of UK professional body. See also ILT, MILT, FCIT, MCIT. |
| FMCG | Fast Moving Consumer Goods: i.e. food, drink, pharmaceuticals, household products, etc. |
| FTA | Freight Transport Association: UK trade association. Also “Free Trade Agreement”. |
| FTL | Full Truck Load or Full Trailer Load. Also former name of TBG’s IT department. |
| GF-X | Global Freight eXchange: proprietary electronic trading platform for airlines and forwarders. |
| GKN | A pallet (see CHEP). |
| GM | General Maintenance: routine or scheduled maintenance (see also IM, OM). “General Manager” and General Merchandise |
| GOH | Garments on Hanger |
| GPS | Global Positioning System: satellite based location system, used in vehicle positioning. |
| GRN | Goods Returned Note or Goods Received Note |
| GVW | Gross Vehicle Weight: maximum rated weight of a truck, including its cargo. See also TW. |
| H&S | Health & Safety. Also HSE: Health & Safety Executive. |
| HGV | Heavy Goods Vehicle: a truck. See also LGV. |
| HPT | Hand Pallet Truck |
| IATA | International Air Transport Association |
| IDC | International Distribution Centre |
| IIP | Investors In People |
| IL | Integrated Logistics |
| ILS | Integrated Logistics Support. Also “Inbound Logistics Services” (formerly Nominated Carrier Services), |
| ILT | Institute of Logistics and Transport: UK-based professional body, combining the Institute of Logistics and the Chartered Institute of Transport (tel.: +44 (0)1536 740100; fax: +44 (0)1536 740101; e-mail: enquiry@institute-of-logistics.org.uk.). See also MILT, FILT, MCIT, FCIT. |
| IoL | Institute of Logistics: former name of UK-based professional body, now known as the Institute of Logistics and Transport – see ILT. |
| IOM | Institute of Operations Management (UK). |
| IoTA | Institute of Transport Administration: UK trade association. |
| IS | Information System |
| ISC | International Supply Chain Ltd |
| ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network: standard medium for transmitting voice, video and data over networks. |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation. Geneva-based standards organisation, represented in the UK by the BSI and in the USA by ANSI . Also “ISO container” (a standard stackable container) and, for example, ISO9000 (a quality standard). |
| IT | Information Technology: computer hardware, software, the Internet, etc. Also Industrial Tribunal. |
| ITT | Invitation to Tender |
| JIT | Just in Time: logistics discipline requiring increased frequency and regularity of deliveries to reduce stocks in the supply chain. Frequently used in manufacturing to cut or even eliminate component stocks. See also MRP. |
| JITD | Just in Time Delivery: see JIT. |
| KPH | Kilometres per hour |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| LCL | Less than Container Load: container groupage. Also “Less than Carload”: a railfreight term. |
| LGV | Light Goods Vehicle. See also “HGV”. |
| LL | Lean Logistics: also L² – efficient logistics. |
| LLP | Lead Logistics Partner: a 3PL that controls other outsourced supply chain elements. |
| LMS | Logistics Management Systems |
| LOG | Logistics |
| LSP | Logistics Service Provider: logistics contractor |
| LT | Lead Time |
| LTL | Less Than Truckload: part load. |
| LX | Logistics Exchange |
| MBO | Management Buy Out. |
| MCIT | Member of the Chartered Institute of Transport: now a chartered member of the UK Institute of Logistics and Transport. Also ILT, MILT, FCIT, FILT. |
| MILog | Member of the Institute of Logistics: former designation of this UK Institute (now known as the Institute of Logistics and Transport). Now see MILT, ILT. |
| MILT | Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport: member of UK professional body. Also ILT, FILT, MCIT, FCIT. |
| MIS | Management Information System |
| MoC | Management of Change |
| MRP | Manufacturing Requirements Planning (aka “Manufacturing Resource Planning”): production-led planning technique seen as precursor to JIT. Now revived as MRP II. See also DRP. |
| MU | Merchandisable Unit: usually a dolly or wheeled carrier that is loaded with pre-merchandised product straight off the production line, but which travels right through the supply chain to the store sales area. |
| NCS | Nominated Carrier Scheme: retailer specifies which carrier(s) should be used by suppliers to transport merchandise into its distribution centres. Also “Nominated Carrier Services” (see ILS). |
| NDC | National Distribution Centre: same as RDC , but with distribution on a national rather than regional basis. See also EDC, IDC. |
| O | Operator: as in “O-Licence” – a licence to operate commercial vehicles. |
| OAO | Own Account Operator: e.g. the in-house road haulage sector |
| OB | Open Book: contractor accounting system that is transparent to clients. |
| OC | Order Cycle: time and/or operations between order placement and final delivery. |
| OE | Order Entry. See also OP. |
| PDM | Physical Distribution Management: aka logistics. Also “Product Development & Management”. |
| PI | Perpetual Inventory |
| PO | Purchase Order |
| POD | Proof of Delivery |
| POS | Point of Sale: see also EPoS and EFTPoS. |
| QC | Quality Control: also “QCP” – Quality Control Program(me). |
| QSHE | Quality, Safety, Health and Environment |
| RDC | Regional Distribution Centre: one of a network of large warehouses operated for a single retailer where merchandise is consolidated prior to delivery to its local stores. See also NDC, EDC, IDC. |
| RFI | Request For Information: precursor to an ITT. |
| RFP | Request For Proposal: document that invites bids or quotations from suppliers. |
| RFQ | Request For Quote: see RFP. |
| RFx | Request For…: simultaneous request for information (RFI) and request for proposal/quotation (RFP/RFQ). |
| RHA | Road Haulage Association: UK trade association. |
| RH&D | Receipt, Handling and Despatch |
| Ro/Ro | Roll-on/Roll-off: drive on ferry service for accompanied trailers. See also Lo/Lo. |
| SC | Supply Chain |
| SCC | Supply Chain Collaboration |
| SCE | Supply Chain Execution: see also SCP. |
| SCEM | Supply Chain Event Management. Often refers to software for monitoring, controlling and measuring supply chain activity. |
| SCI | Supply Chain Integration: supply chain elements working together for maximum efficiency. |
| SCM | Supply Chain Management. Often refers to software for automating the supply chain. |
| SCO | Supply Chain Optimisation |
| SCP | Supply Chain Planning: see also SCE. |
| SKU | Stock Keeping Unit: individual stock item. |
| SME | Small to Medium Enterprise: not a big company. |
| SMG | Slow Moving Goods: Can also refer to a distribution centre for such merchandise. |
| SRM | Supplier Relationship Management: see also CRM. |
| T&C’s | Terms and conditions |
| TEU | Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit: a standard measure for containers (see also FEU). |
| TIR | Transport International Routiers: system of road transport where trailers are sealed at departure and opened at the destination, with free access across borders. No longer in use within the EC. |
| TMO | Transport Manager & Optimiser: a module within the i2 transportation and distribution management software suite. |
| TMS | Transport Management System |
| TPL | Third Party Logistics: outsourced logistics. Also “3PL”. |
| TPP | Third-Party Provider: logistics contractor (see also LSP). |
| TQM | Total Quality Management: business management techniques designed to systematically reduce errors and raise service quality. |
| TUPE | Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Act, 1981: UK regulations which protect employees’ rights when ownership of a business or enterprise changes hands. |
| VADS | Value-Added Data Services. See also VAN. |
| VAN | Value Added Network: also “Value Added Network Services”. See also VADS. |
| VAS | Value Added Services |
| VCA | Value Chain Analysis. Also “Vehicle Certification Agency”: undertakes type approval tests on vehicles, components and systems. |
| VCM | Value Chain Management |
| VL | Virtual Logistics |
| VMI | Vendor managed inventory |
| WAMBAM | Web Application Meets Bricks & Mortar: see also DOTBAM. |
| WAN | Wide Area Network: network with a geographical spread of more than a mile – often comprising connected LANs . |
| WIP | Work In Progress |
| WMS | Warehouse Management System: software to manage inventories. |
| WTD | Working Time Directive: EC Directive covering, inter alia, drivers’ hours. |