Warehouse Dictionary

Cab Extenders thru Cycle Time

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C

Cab Extenders: Also called gap seals, which help to close the gap between the tractor and the trailer
Cabotage: A federal law that requires coastal and inter-coastal traffic to be carried in U.S.-built and registered ships.
Cage: (1) A secure enclosed area for storing highly valuable items (2) A pallet-sized platform with sides that can be secured to the tines of a forklift and in which a person may ride to inventory items stored well above the warehouse floor.
Caged: Referring to the practice of placing high-value or sensitive products in a fenced off area within a warehouse.
Can-Order Point: An ordering system used when multiple items are ordered from one vendor. The can-order point is a point higher than the original order point. When any one of the items triggers an order by reaching the must-order point, all items below their can-order point are also ordered. The can-order point is set by considering is set by considering the additional holding cost that would be incurred if the item were ordered early.
Capacity Management: The concept that capacity should be understood, defined, and measured for each level in the organization to include market segments, products, processes, activities, and resources. In each of these applications, capacity is defined in a hierarchy of idle, non-productive, and productive views.
Capacity Requirements Planning: CRP is a capacity planning tool used to verify the ability of resources to meet scheduled production. CRP uses the routings to calculate loads on work centers, and then compares these loads to the capacity of these work centers. CRP is more detailed than either rough-cut capacity planning or resources requirements planning.
CAPEX: A term used to describe the monetary requirements (CAPital EXpenditure) of an initial investment in new machines or equipment.
Capital: The resources, or money, available for investing in assets that produce output.
Cargo: Merchandise carried by a means of transportation.
Carnet: A Customs document permitting the holder to carry or send special categories of goods temporarily into certain foreign countries without paying duties or posting bonds.

Carrier: This refers to the business that is used for delivery. Examples of carriers include: Royal Mail, Parcelforce, UPS, Yodel, City Link, etc.
Carrier Assets: Items that a carrier owns (technically or outright) to facilitate the services they provide.
Carrier Certificate and Release Order: Used to advise customs of the shipment’s details. By means of this document, the carrier certifies that the firm or individual named in the certificate is the owner or consignee of the cargo.
Carrier Liability: A common carrier is liable for all shipment loss, damage, and delay with the exception of that caused by act of God, act of a public enemy, act of a public authority, act of the shipper, and the goods’ inherent nature.
Carrier Service: This term refers to the type of service that a carrier offers. This may relate to speed, package or shipment size, special handling requirements or signature.
Carrying costs: the costs associated with having specific quantities of inventory. Carrying costs primarily include the cost of the inventory investment and the costs associated with storing the inventory. Carrying costs are used in cost-based lot sizing calculations such as EOQ.
Cartage: 1) Charge for pick-up and delivery of goods; 2) Movement of goods locally (short distances).
Carton Flow Rack: A storage rack consisting of multiple lines of gravity flow conveyors.
Case picking: Retrieval of full carton loads of each item or inner packs of items from cartons (the latter a.k.a. split-case picking).
Cash Conversion Cycle: 1) In retailing, the length of time between the sale of products and the cash payments for a company’s resources.; 2) In manufacturing, the length of time from the purchase of raw materials to the collection of accounts receivable from customers for the sale of products or services.
Cash-to-Cash Cycle Time: The time it takes for cash to flow back into a company after it has been spent for raw materials. Total Inventory Days of Supply + Days of Sales Outstanding – Average Payment Period for Material in Days.
Category Management: The management of product categories as strategic business units. This practice empowers 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 is able to more accurately judge the consumer buying patterns, product sales, and market trends of that category.
Causal forecast: A method that uses a known (possibly cause and effect) relationship to forecast the value of one variable from known values of another
CCD Scanner: A nice compromise in price and performance between a pen and a laser, this Charged Coupled Device (CCD) scans up to 200 times per second and reads from as far as 4 inches from the barcode. Very durable.
CELL: A manufacturing or service unit consisting of a number of workstations, and the materials transport mechanisms and storage buffers that interconnect them.
Central Dispatching: The organization of the dispatching function into one central location. This structure often involves the use of data collection devices for communication between the centralized dispatching function which usually reports to the production control department and the shop manufacturing departments.
Centralized Inventory Control: Inventory decision-making (for all SKUs) exercised from one office or department for an entire company.
Certificate of Compliance: A supplier’s certification that the supplies or services in question meet specified requirements.

Drug Quality and Security Act DQSA Implementation Timeline

Certificate of Insurance: A negotiable document indicating that insurance has been secured under an open policy to cover loss or damage to a shipment while in transit.
Certificate of Origin: A document containing an affidavit to prove the origin of imported goods. Used for customs and foreign exchange purposes.
Certificated Carrier: A for-hire air carrier that is subject to economic regulation and requires an operating certification to provide service.
Certified Supplier: A status awarded to a supplier who consistently meets predetermined quality, cost, delivery, financial, and count objectives. Incoming inspection may not be required.
Change Management: The business process that coordinates and monitors all changes to the business processes and applications operated by the business, as well as to their internal equipment, resources, operating systems, and procedures. The change management discipline is carried out in a way that minimizes the risk of problems that will affect the operating environment and service delivery to the users.
Change Order: A formal notification that a purchase order or shop order must be modified in some way. This change can result from a revised quantity, date, or specification by the customer; an engineering change; a change in inventory requirement data; etc.
Changeover: Process of making necessary adjustments to change or switchover the type of products produced on a manufacturing line. Changeovers usually lead to downtime and for the most part, companies try to minimize changeover time to help reduce costs.
Channel: 1) A method whereby a business dispenses its product, such as a retail or distribution channel, call center, or a web-based electronic storefront.; 2) A push technology that allows users to subscribe to a web site to browse offline, automatically display updated pages on their screen savers, and download or receive notifications when pages in the web site are modified. Channels are available only in browsers that support channel definitions such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0.
Channel Conflict: This occurs when various sales channels within a company’s supply chain compete with each other for the same business. An example is where a retail channel is in competition with a web-based channel set up by the company.
Channel Partners: Members of a supply chain (i.e., suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc.) who work in conjunction with one another to manufacture, distribute, and sell a specific product.
Channels of Distribution: Any series of firms or individuals that participates in the flow of goods and services from the raw material supplier and producer to the final user or consumer.
Chargeable Weight: The shipment weight used in determining freight charges. The chargeable weight may be the dimensional weight or, for container shipments, the gross weight of the shipment less the tare weight of the container.
Charging Area: A warehouse area where a company maintains battery chargers and extra batteries to support a fleet of electrically powered materials handling equipment. The company must maintain this area in accordance with government safety regulations.
Chock: A wedge usually made of hard rubber or steel that is firmly placed under the wheel of a trailer, truck, or boxcar to stop it from rolling.
CL: Carload rail service requiring shipper to meet minimum weight.
Claim: A charge made against a carrier for loss, damage, delay, or overcharge.

Class I Carrier: A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues — motor carriers of property; $5 million; railroads; $50 million; motor carriers of passengers; $3 million.
Class II Carrier: A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues — motor carriers of property: $1-$5 million; railroads: $10-$50 million; motor carriers of passengers: $3 million.
Class III Carrier: A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues — motor carriers of property: $1 million; railroads $10 million.
Class 1 Railroad: A line haul freight railroad of US ownership with operating revenue in excess of $272.0 million. There are seven (7) Class 1 Railroads in the United States. Two Mexican and two Canadian railroads would also qualify, if they were US companies.
Class Rates: A grouping of goods or commodities under one general heading. All the items in the group make up a class. The freight rates that apply to all items in the class are called “class rates.”
Classification: An alphabetical listing of commodities, the class or rating into which the commodity is placed, and the minimum weight necessary for the rate discount; used in the class rate structure.
Classification yard: A railroad terminal area where railcars are grouped together to form train units.
Clearance: A document stating that a shipment is free to be imported into the country after all legal requirements have been met.
Clearinghouse: A conventional or limited-purpose entity generally restricted to providing specialized services, such as clearing funds or settling accounts.
CLM: Council of Logistics Management, now known as The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.
Closed Loop MRP: A system build around material requirements planning that includes the additional planning processes of production planning (sales and operations planning), master production scheduling, and capacity requirements planning. Once this planning phase is complete and the plans have been accepted as realistic and attainable, the execution processes come into play. These processes include the manufacturing control process of input-output (capacity) measurement, detailed scheduling and dispatching, as well as anticipated delay reports from both the plant and suppliers, supplier scheduling, and so on. The term “closed loop implies not only that each of these processes is included in the overall system, but also that feedback is provided by the execution processes so that the planning can be kept valid at all times..
Co-Packer: A contract co-packer produces goods and/or services for other companies, usually under the other company’s label or name. Co-packers are more frequently seen in consumer packaged goods and foods.
Co-Managed Inventory (CMI): A form of continuous replenishment in which the manufacturer is responsible for replenishment of standard merchandise, while the retailer manages the replenishment of promotional merchandise.
Coastal Carriers: Water carriers that provide service along coasts serving ports on the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans or on the Gulf of Mexico.

Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR): (1) A collaboration process whereby supply chain trading partners can jointly plan key supply chain activities from production and delivery of raw materials, to production and delivery of final products to end customers. Collaboration encompasses business planning, sales forecasting, and all operations required to replenish raw materials and finished goods. (2) A process philosophy for facilitating collaborative communications. CPFR is considered a standard, endorsed by the Voluntary Inter-Industry Commerce Standards.
Collect Freight: Freight payable to the carrier at the port of discharge or ultimate destination. The consignee does not pay the freight charge if the cargo does not arrive at the destination.
Commercial Invoice: A document created by the seller. It is an official document which is used to indicate, among other things, the name and address of the buyer and seller, the product(s) being shipped, and their value for customs, insurance, or other purposes.
Commercial zone: The area surrounding a city or town to which rate carriers quote for the city or town also apply; the ICC defines the area.
Committed Capability: The portion of the production capability that is currently in use, or is scheduled for use.
Commodity Code: A code describing a commodity or a group of commodities pertaining to goods classification. This code can be carrier tariff or regulating in nature.
Commodity Procurement Strategy: The purchasing plan for a family of items. This would include the plan to manage the supplier base and solve problems.
Commodity Rate: A rate for a specific commodity and its origin-destination.
Common Carrier: Transportation available to the public that does not provide special treatment to any one party and is regulated as to the rates charged, the liability assumed, and the service provided. A common carrier must obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Trade Commission for interstate traffic.
Competitive Benchmarking: Benchmarking a product or service against competitors.
Competitive Bid: A price/service offering by a supplier that must compete with offerings from other suppliers.
Complete and On-Time Delivery (COTD): A measure of customer service. All items on any given order must be delivered on time for the order to be considered as complete and on time.

Complete Manufacture to Ship Time: Average time from when a unit is declared shippable by manufacturing until the unit actually ships to a customer.
Compliance: Meaning that products, services, processes, and/or documents comply with requirements.
Component: Material that will contribute to a finished product but is not the finished product itself. Examples include tires for an automobile, power supply for a personal computer, or a zipper for a ski parka.
Composite forecast: a forecast that is created by combining (through averaging or weighted averaging) the results of multiple forecasting methods.
Conference Carrier: An ocean carrier who is a member of an association known as a “conference.” The purpose of the conference is to standardize shipping practices, eliminate freight rate competition, and provide regularly scheduled service between specific ports.
Configuration: The arrangement of components as specified to produce an assembly.
Configure/Package to Order: A process where the trigger to begin to manufacture, final assembly, or packaging of a product is an actual customer order or release rather than a market forecast. In order to be considered a configure-to-order environment, less than 20% of the value added takes place after the receipt of the order or release, and virtually all necessary design and process documentation is available at time of order receipt.
Confirmation: With regards to EDI, a formal notice (by message or code) from an electronic mailbox system or EDI server indicating that a message sent to a trading partner has reached its intended mailbox or has been retrieved by the addressee.
Consignee: The party to whom goods are shipped and delivered. The receiver of a freight shipment.
Consignment inventory: inventory that is in the possession of the customer, but is still owned by the supplier. The supplier places some of his inventory in his customer’s possession (in their store, warehouse, or plant) and allows them to sell or consume directly from his stock. The customer purchases the inventory only after he has resold or consumed it.
Consignor: The party who originates a shipment of goods (shipper). The sender of a freight shipment, usually the seller.
Consolidation: Combining two or more shipments in order to realize lower transportation rates. Inbound consolidation from vendors is called make-bulk consolidation; outbound consolidation to customers is called break-bulk consolidation.
Consolidation Point: The location where consolidation takes place.
Consolidator: An enterprise that provides services to group shipments, orders, and/or goods to facilitate movement.
Consolidator’s Bill of Lading: A bill of lading issued by a consolidator as a receipt for merchandise that will be grouped with cargo obtained from other shippers.
Consortium: A group of companies that works together to jointly produce a product, service, or project.
Consumables – stocks of materials needed to support operations, but which do not form part of the final product, such as oil, paper, cleaners, etc.
Container: (1) A box, typically 10 to 40 feet long, which is primarily used for ocean freight shipments. For travel to and from ports, containers are loaded onto truck chassis or on railroad flatcars. (2) The packaging, such as a carton, case, box, bucket, drum, bin, bottle, bundle, or bag, that an item is packed and shipped in.
Container Chassis: A vehicle built for the purpose of transporting a container so that, when a container and chassis are assembled, the produced unit serves as a road trailer.

Container Freight Station (CFS): The location designated by carriers for receipt of cargo to be packed into containers/equipment by the carrier. At destination, CFS is the location designated by the carrier for unpacking of cargo from equipment/containers.
Container Freight Station Charge: The charge assessed for services performed at the loading or discharge location.
Container Freight Station to Container Freight Station (CFS/CFS): A type of steamship-line service in which cargo is transported between container freight stations, where containers may be stuffed, stripped, or consolidated. Usually used for less-than-container load shipments.
Container I.D.: An identifier assigned to a container by a carrier.
Containerization: A shipment method in which commodities are placed in containers, and after initial loading, the commodities, per se, are not rehandled in shipment until they are unloaded at the destination.
Container on Flat Car (COFC): A container that is transported on a rail flatcar. It can be shipped via tractor/trailer using a chassis as the wheel section.
Container Yard: The location designated by the carrier for receiving, assembling, holding, storing, and delivering containers, and where containers may be picked up by shippers or redelivered by consignees.
Continuous Flow Distribution (CFD): The streamlined pull of products in response to customer requirements while minimizing the total costs of distribution.
Continuous-Flow, Fixed-Path Equipment: Materials handling devices that include conveyors and drag lines.
Continuous Improvement (CI): A structured, measurement-driven process that continually reviews and improves performance.
Continuous Replenishment: Continuous replenishment is 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.
Contract: An agreement between two or more competent persons or companies to perform or not to perform specific acts or services or to deliver merchandise. A contract may be oral or written. A purchase order, when accepted by a supplier, becomes a contract. Acceptance may be in writing or by performance, unless the purchase order requires acceptance in writing.
Contract Carrier: A for-hire carrier that does not serve the general public but serves shippers with whom the carrier has a continuing contract. The contract carrier must secure a permit to operate.
Contract of Affreightment: A contract between a cargo shipper and carrier for the transport of multiple cargoes over a period of time. Contracts are individually negotiated and usually include cargo description, quantities per shipment and in total, load and discharge ports, freight rates and duration of the contract.

Contract warehouse: Business that handles shipping, receiving, and storage of products on a contract basis.
Contribution: The difference between sales price and various costs. Contribution is used to cover fixed costs and profits.
Contribution Margin: An amount equal to the difference between sales revenue and variable costs.
Control system – part of a scheduling system that checks progress and makes sure that plans are actually being achieved
Controlled Access: Referring to an area within a warehouse or yard that is fenced and gated. These areas are typically used to store high-value items and may be monitored by security cameras.
Conveyance: The application used to describe the function of a vehicle of transfer.
Conveyor: A materials handling device that moves freight from one warehouse area to another. Roller conveyors utilize gravity, whereas belt conveyors use motors.
Cooperative Associations: Groups of firms or individuals having common interests; agricultural cooperative associations may haul up to 25 percent of their total interstate non-farm, nonmember goods tonnage in movements incidental and necessary to their primary business.
Coordinated Transportation: Two or more carriers of different modes transporting a shipment.
Core Competency: Bundles of skills or knowledge sets that enable a firm to provide the greatest level of value to its customers in a way that’s difficult for competitors to emulate and that provides for future growth. Core competencies are embodied in the skills of the workers and in the organization. They are developed through collective learning, communication, and commitment to work across levels and functions in the organization and with the customers and suppliers. A core competency could be the capability of a firm to coordinate and harmonize diverse production skills and multiple technologies.
Core Process: That unique capability that is central to a company’s competitive strategy.
Corporate strategy: The set of strategic decisions that affect the whole corporation
Cost Allocation: In accounting, the assignment of costs that cannot be directly related to production activities via more measurable means, e.g., assigning corporate expenses to different products via direct labor costs or hours.
Cost Center: In accounting, a sub-unit in an organization that is responsible for costs.

Cost Driver: In accounting, any situation or event that causes a change in the consumption of a resource, or influences quality or cycle time. An activity may have multiple cost drivers. Cost drivers do not necessarily need to be quantified; however, they strongly influence the selection and magnitude of resource drivers and activity drivers.
Cost Driver Analysis: In cost accounting, the examination, quantification, and explanation of the effects of cost drivers. The results are often used for continuous improvement programs to reduce throughput times, improve quality, and reduce cost.
Cost, Insurance, Freight: A freight term indicating that the seller is responsible for cost, the marine insurance, and the freight charges on an ocean shipment of goods.
Cost Management: The management and control of activities and drivers to calculate accurate product and service costs, improve business processes, eliminate waste, influence cost drivers, and plan operations. The resulting information can be very useful in setting and evaluating an organization’s strategies.
Cost of capital: costs associated with having money tied up in inventory. Generally this would be the interest rate paid on business debt, but could optionally be the return on investment a company could expect if it had access to money to invest.
Cost of goods sold: accounting term used to describe the total value (cost) of products sold during a specific period of time. Since inventory is an asset, it is not expensed when it is purchased or produced; it instead goes into an asset account (the inventory account). When product is sold, the value of the product (the cost, not the sell price) is moved from the asset account to an expense account called “cost of goods sold” or COGS. COGS appear on the profit and loss statement and are also used in some inventory measurements (such as inventory turns).
Cost of Lost Sales: The forgone profit companies associate with a stockout.
Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP): The CSCMP is a not-for-profit professional business organization consisting of individuals throughout the world who have interests and/or responsibilities in logistics and supply chain management, and the related functions that make up these professions. Its purpose is to enhance the development of the logistics and supply chain management professions by providing these individuals with educational opportunities and relevant information through a variety of programs, services, and activities.
Countertrade: A reciprocal trading agreement that includes a variety of transactions involving two or more parties.
Courier Service: A fast, door-to-door service for high-valued goods and documents; firms usually limit service to shipments weighing fifty pounds or less.
Crane: A materials handling device that lifts heavy items. There are two types: bridge and stacker.
Credit Terms: The agreement between two or more enterprises concerning the amount and timing of payment for goods or services.
Critical Differentiators: This is what makes an idea, product, service, or business model unique.
Critical Stock: Commodity that must be maintained in inventory, though little used, to respond to expressed need.
Critical Success Factor (CSF): Those activities and/or processes that must be completed and/or controlled to enable a company to reach its goals.
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 shipment movements. By eliminating the put-away, storage, and selection operations, it can significantly reduce distribution costs.

Cubage: Cubic volume of space being used or available for shipping or storage.
Cube Out: The situation when a piece of equipment has reached its volumetric capacity before reaching the permitted weight limit.
Cube Utilization: In warehousing, a measurement of the utilization of the total storage capacity of a vehicle or warehouse.
Cubic Capacity: The carrying capacity of a piece of equipment according to measurement in cubic feet.
Cubic Space: In warehousing, a measurement of space available, or required, in transportation and warehousing.
Cubing: The cubic size of the item may be created for the item’s units of measurement (i.e., each, box, and case) and stored in the item’s record (at the Item Data form). When prompted to perform a move, receipt, or put away, the system is able to determine space availability in a particular location. If a location has insufficient space to accommodate the material, the system directs the user to select another location. The user can also override and store the item in the location.
Cumulative Lead Time: The total time required to source components, build, and ship a product.
Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF): A surcharge imposed by a carrier on ocean freight charges to offset foreign currency fluctuations.
Current-demand inventory: inventory carried to meet immediate expected demand. For example, the inventory that will be shipping in today’s orders. The definition of “current demand” is somewhat subject to interpretation since you must apply a period of time to determine what is considered “current demand” as opposed to “future demand”.
Customer Acquisition or Retention: The rate at which new customers are acquired, or existing customers are retained. A key selling point to potential marquis partners.
Customer Order: An order from a customer for a particular product or a number of products. It is often referred to as an actual demand to distinguish it from a forecasted demand.
Customer/Order Fulfillment Process: A series of customers’ interactions with an organization through the order-filling process, including product/service design, production and delivery, and order stats reporting.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): This refers to information systems that help sales and marketing functions as opposed to the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), which is for back-end integration.
Customer Segmentation: Dividing customers into groups based on specific criteria, such as products purchased, customer geographic location, etc.
Customer-Supplier Partnership: A long-term relationship between a buyer and a supplier characterized by teamwork and mutual confidence. The supplier is considered an extension of the buyer’s organization. The partnership is based on several commitments. The buyer provides long-term contracts and uses fewer suppliers. The supplier implements quality assurance processes so that incoming inspection can be minimized. The supplier also helps the buyer reduce costs and improve product and process designs.
Customization: Creating a product from existing components into an individual order.
Customs: The authorities designated to collect duties levied by a country on imports and exports.
Customs Broker: A firm that represents importers/exporters in dealings with customs. Normally responsible for obtaining and submitting all documents for clearing merchandise through customs, arranging inland transport, and paying all charges related to these functions.
Customs Clearance: The act of obtaining permission to import merchandise from another country into the importing nation.
Customs House Broker: A business firm that oversees the movement of international shipments through Customs, and ensures that the documentation accompanying a shipment is complete and accurate.
Customs Invoice: A document that contains a declaration by the seller, the shipper, or the agent as to the value of the shipment.
Customs Value: The value of the imported goods on which duties will be assessed.
CWT: The abbreviation for hundredweight, which is the equivalent of 100 pounds.
Cycle Inventory: An inventory system where counts are performed continuously, often eliminating the need for an annual overall inventory. It is usually set up so that A items are counted regularly (i.e., every month), B items are counted semi-regularly (every quarter or six months), and C Items are counted perhaps only once a year.