ABC Analysis
ABC analysis is a stock management technique that enables items to be classified and organized based on their rotation. This makes it easier to plan the appropriate strategy for allocating resources in the warehouse and reduce effective picking times. It is based on the Pareto principle which states that 20% of the items generate 80% of the handling operations, while the remaining 80% of the goods are responsible for only 20% of goods handling operations.
Access opening
Entry and exit point for trays contained within an automatic storage system with shifting trays.
Accessibility
The various opportunities to access an item stored in the warehouse.
Amplification of the effects (Bullwhip Effect)
An extreme change in the supply position upstream in a supply chain generated by a small change in demand downstream in the supply chain. Inventory can quickly move from being backordered to being in excess
Archive
The complete set of documents produced or acquired by a legal entity while carrying out its business; the place dedicated to the appropriate conservation of these documents.
Archiving
Activity aimed at ensuring the conservation of documentation in suitable conditions and the subsequent availability of said documents.
Assortment
Set of items managed in a specific warehouse, whose composition is determined by precise market choices.
Auto ID (Automatic Identification)
Method used by devices to identify a code (and automatically upload this data into a computer). The most widely used technology at present is the barcode.
Automatic Identification
See also “AUTO ID”
Automatic vertical system with rotating carriers
Method used by automatic storage systems with carriers, which rotate to bring goods directly to the operator.
Badge
An identification badge or just badge is a card made of PVC or other plastic material (PET/ABS/Polycarbonate) used for personal identification.
Barcode
Set of vertical bars that contain information. Each bar corresponds to a value or code which can be read by optical readers and transformed into messages or information.
Batch
Data processing methods used by the management system, including updating archives, printing documents, consulting archives etc. at fixed time and at variable time intervals (hourly, daily, weekly etc.)
Batch picking
Picking method which can be the fulfilment of a batch of complete orders or a batch of partial orders.
Batch Quantity
The number, volume or weight of products or parts of a batch.
Bay
Space between two uprights of racking within which one or more pallets can be allocated.
Blockchain
The blockchain is a complex, structured database which is organized according to the rules and dictates of peer-to-peer technology and is responsible for storing and tracking all the operations performed. The blockchain is widespread on the web and can be consulted by anyone who is a link in the chain.
Booking
Activity carried out by the management system aimed at booking: a space in the warehouse for the subsequent storage of a pallet; a pallet for subsequent handling or picking; a variable number of parcels for subsequent manual picking.
Classification
Process by which a document or item is classified by attaching a code to it.
Cloud
IT platform that can provide resources such as processing, archiving and data transmission through a series of pre-existing and configurable structures that are capable of guaranteeing on-demand access to the structure.
Coding
Process of numbering which involves fixing a label to a product to make it easier to find a document.
Consignment Stock
Agreement that commits a supplier to make a certain quantity of goods available to their customer at or in the vicinity of the purchasing company’s premises. The goods remain the property of the supplier until the customer consumes them or sells them to their customers. When the contract expires, the unsold goods are returned to the supplier.
Consolidation
The unification of loads in a single large intermodal transport unit for easier handling.
Customer Experience
The Customer Experience (abbreviated to CX) is the overall experience that customers experience throughout their relationship with a company along all phases of their Customer Journey. It is the result of how the customer perceives his overall interaction with the company.
Customer Journey
Quite literally the journey that the customer takes and all the points of contact between the consumer and a brand. This begins with the perception of need and may or may not end in the act of purchasing a product or service.
Customer Service
The variety of activities that a company must carry out to satisfy the customer, such as order management, billing, management of returns, complaints, communication with the customer and so on. The responsibility for all this is typically assigned to a specific corporate department.
Customization
This is the personalization process by which a certain product or service is adapted to the needs of an individual, a group or people or an organization.
Data Entry
The insertion of identification or search keys for an item into the management software system.
Database Management System (DBMS)
Software designed for data storage and management.
Dedicated Zones (Class Based Storage)
Physical allocation logic for the ULD according to which the storage area is divided into zones and a pre-determined class of items is dedicated to each area.
Deposit warrant
A document which represents good deposited in general warehouses. It is an instrument of credit that gives the holder the right to be returned the items deposited, as well as the right to dispose of them by transferring the title to third parties.
Digital Transformation
The term Digital Transformation indicates the impact of digital technology on society in general and on the business world in particular.
Duplex
In architectural terms, accommodation that occupies two floors, one above the other.
E-procurement
Method of procuring goods and services via the Internet.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
A class of software for planning and managing enterprise-wide the resources needed to take customer orders, ship them, account for them, and replenish all needed goods according to customer orders and forecasts. Often includes electronic commerce with suppliers.
First-In First-Out (FIFO)
Inventory valuation method based on the concept that older materials are the first to be used.
Foot
This is a unit of length, with anthropometric origins, which is not part of the International System of Units or SI. It is used in Anglo-Saxon countries, greatly in the United States and more sporadically in Great Britain. The dimensions of the Anglo-Saxon foot (to distinguish it from other historical units) is 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm. In the Anglo-Saxon system a foot is divided into 12 inches and represents 1/3 of a yard. It is also generally used to indicate heights in the world of aeronautics.
Handwheel
Device in the shape of a wheel or disk with an integral blocking element like a valve or a shutter etc which can be turned to open or close something.
Identification Code
Plate showing the identification of the load unit and all the necessary information about it.
Incoterms
Set of international regulations issued by the International Chamber of Commerce and used to interpret the shipping conditions used in commercial contracts with foreign countries. Incoterms define the right and obligations of the supplier and customer.
Inventory holding costs
The total cost associated with holding stock. These costs consist of the cost of the purchase unit, the reordering cost, management costs and stock-out costs.
ISO (International Standardization Organization)
Geneva-based global standardization body with more than 90 participating countries.
Issue rules
The set of instructions for ordering goods which includes parameters, for example the re-ordering levels by category and quantity per order.
Item or article
Physical item managed by a warehouse, a production unit or a sales network which refers to a well-identified physical object (product, group, component or material) because it is registered in the company data with its own code number and its specific description, so much so that it is also commonly called an item code or simply a code.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
Performance indicators are numbers or ratios that indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of part or all of a process, compared with a predetermined objective. They measure the status of a process over time and help to verify the current condition of a business, to change the trend and to find the starting point for subsequent improvements.
Last-In First-Out (LIFO)
Warehouse evaluation system. The concept rests on the idea that the latest goods in are the first to go out.
LCL (Less than Container Load)
A container filled at the expense and risk of the carrier. In operational terms, an LCL is considered to be a container in which multiple deliveries or part deliveries are loaded.
Load
Broken down into three types: full, drop (partial) and groupage (mixed pallets). This can be 1) Full Load; 2) Load Factor; 3) Loading Space; 4) /Payload
Logistics
The global management of both physical and information flows. Physical flows can be of raw materials (supply logistics), semi-finished products (industrial logistics) and finished products (distribution logistics).
LSA (Logistics Support Analysis)
Interactive analytical process, part of the product engineering process, which leads to the identification and evaluation of its logistical support making it possible to define the optimal support needs and make changes to the engineering.
Make-to-Stock
Production for the warehouse and fulfilment of customer orders from the availability of products in stock.
Map
Distribution map of storage locations within a warehouse, appropriately coded according to the location and function of each area and saved in the management system archives.
Materials management
The logistics of products arriving from suppliers governed by the production process. The handling and management of materials and products from acquisition to production.
Midpoint return
Route through the picking area which sees it divided into two sections by cutting the work aisles in half. In each part the operator carries out picking operations with return-type paths. The mission is completed by two cross aisles which can be found in the first aisle to be visited on the left and in the last one to be visited on the right when viewed from the front I/O.
Miniload
Automated warehouse served by stacker cranes for small load units.
Net tare weight
The weight of an empty container excluding the weight of the goods contained in it.
Net tonnage
This corresponds to the sum of the volumes of all the spaces inside a ship that can be used for commercial purposes.
Net weight
The weight of a product without the container.
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
A manufacturer who buys and incorporates other suppliers’ products into their own products.
Omnichannel approach
Strategy that involves the creation and management of different touch points and sales channels, both physical and digital, through which the customer can interact with the brand totally autonomously, enjoying a coherent and seamless shopping experience, whatever medium or channel is used.
Open top container
A container equipped with a solid removable roof or with a rubber tarpaulin so that it can be loaded and unloaded from above.
Order picking
Picking method in which the mission of each individual warehouse operator is to fulfil a complete order or a fraction of the order.
Order planning
The planning necessary to carry out orders over subsequent periods, given the delivery times agreed for the orders and the time necessary for the various operations that must be carried out for each order and dependent on the resources available and requested.
Order point
The management model for the material inventory using an order point involves re-ordering a purchase lot every time the stock drops to the level set as the order point.
Order processing
The series of activities required to process an order.
Order-notify
This is a shipment requiring the consignee to surrender the original endorsed bill of lading at delivery. A shipper may use this method to guarantee payment for goods shipped. It’s most commonly used with truckload shipments.
Outlet planning
The selection of distribution channels, and the planning for the flow of goods for that selection in the distribution plan.
Paternoster
Vertical storage system or carousel with rotating shelves for storage and intensive filing with shelving that slides vertical along an internal guide.
Perpetual inventory system
An inventory control system where a running record registers the available quantity of each item.
Pro forma invoice
An invoice, issued by the supplier of a shipment, which informs the buyer about the kinds and quantities of goods to be sent and specifies their value and characteristics (weight, size etc.)
Procurement
The process of obtaining goods, services or functions from a supplier in the correct quantity and quality.
Productivity
A number of operations of a certain kind, for example the picking of individual packages, carried out by employees over a specific unit of time, usually an hour. The unit of measurement in this case would be [packages / hour * employee].
Real-time
Management system access that involves information being processed and saved at the same time it is acquired from peripheral units, making it immediately available to interested users.
Record
Single element of an electronic archive which contains information relating to an item, a supplier, a storage cell or other.
Return (Path)
Route tracing method in the picking area according to which the operator enters the aisles in which he needs to perform picking and travels through each aisle to the farthest picking position then returns back and leaves the warehouse by the same access aisle from which he entered.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device)
Technology for the identification and automatic storage of information relating to items (automatic identifying and data capture AIDC) based on the storage capacity of data in specific electronic labels known as tags (sometimes called transponders or electronic and proximity keys) and the ability of these tags to respond to remote scanning by special fixed or portable devices called readers (or sometimes interrogators).
Saturation
The level of occupancy of a structure or of equipment, which must be maximized in order to optimize its use. This value is usually expressed as a percentage.
Scheduling
One of the phases of the planning process when planning times and priorities in terms of materials and human resources are scheduled in order for the production process to function correctly. It helps to set the times and location of components so that personnel and equipment are organized in the best possible way.
Secondary packaging
Packaging conceived to group a certain number of sales units at the point of sale, regardless of whether it is sold as such to the end user or whether it serves only to facilitate the replenishment of shelves in the point of sale, it can be removed from the product without altering its characteristics. Possible examples are cardboard boxes, packs, trays, baskets and crates.
Selectivity
The ratio between the number of directly accessible Load Units and the storage capacity stored.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
Minimum indivisible unit of product placed in stock.
Staging areas
The space around the entrance and exit doors in which packages or pallets of goods arriving and awaiting storage or waiting for collection or shipment can be stored.
Stock analysis
The process of analysis of stock and the model of management used in order to highlight any differences compared to the normal measures.
Stock coverage ratio
This is the number of days of stock consumption that the stock held is able to guarantee.
Stock discrepancy
The difference between the stock held currently and the stock calculated or recorded
Stock management
Inventory planning and control in relation to their quantity, quality and positioning; The planning and control of the quantities, quality and location of stock.
Stock out
Out of stock situations when the stock of a particular item runs out in the warehouse or at the store.
Stock Turnover
A widely used measure to check stock performance expressed as the ratio of the costs of the units sold compared to the average value of the stock.
Stock-out costs (Shortage costs)
The economic consequences of an external or internal inability to satisfy a request from the warehouse. External impacts can include “backorder” costs, loss of profit due to lost sales and loss of future profits due to loss of customers.
Storage
The deposit of goods and products in a warehouse for a short period of time.
Supply chain
Overview of the processes of production, transformation, distribution and marketing which provides an approach that enables the integration of all the players, both upstream and downstream, in the various procurement stages that lead to the final market.
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
The philosophy of integrated supply chain management, from the procurement processes to physical distribution to the market. Each step is considered a link in a large chain and the SCM is a set of processes that incorporates a community of business partners who are committed to the common goal of satisfying the final customer.
Swap body
Transport units which are similar to containers, but come in a variety of dimensions (2.50 metres wide, 2.62 metres high and 7.15, 12.50 or 13.60 metres long) and are used for intermodal transport.
Third Party Logistics Provider (3PL)
An operator to whom a company can entrust all or part of its logistics activities (see also Logistics Operator).
Time to customer
The time between the moment a customer requests goods or a service to the moment he receives this product or service.
Total Cost of Ownership
This is the sum of all the costs incurred for the design, construction and management of a point of sale.
Touchpoint
Touchpoints are channels through which the company and the customer can get in touch for example in a physical store or on a website.
Traceability
The identification of the goods and materials used in the manufacturing or production process in order to highlight the link between the materials and the production batch and to trace them in the event of any subsequent defects.
Tracking and Tracing
Logistics traceability and goods tracking. The first term tends to identify them in transit, while the second one deals with the moment they arrive at their destination. Tracing is intended as a continuous or on request verification of the position of a vehicle, a transport unit or goods in general. Tracking, meanwhile, indicates the route of a vehicle, a transport unit for goods in general.
Upright
Vertical metal frame that supports the shelves of racking/shelving.
Warehouse inventory
Warehouse inventory is an operation aimed at evaluating the stock of materials, products and semi-finished products at the end of the company year. This activity involves making a list of all the assets, grouped by homogeneous categories in order to determine their value, which must then be recorded in the balance sheet and represents a cost item for the company that affects their annual results.
Warehouse Management System (WMS)
This is a software system designed to support the operational management of the physical flows that pass through the warehouse, from checking incoming goods at goods in to the preparation of shipments for customers (but in inter-operational warehouses, this could also be other departments).
Warehousing
The activities related to the receipt, storage and handling of materials in a warehouse.
Workload
The amount of work that is assigned to a production unit to be done in the future, for example a workstation, etc.
