Retail

Packaging

Materials used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods.

Packaging (or packing)

Material used to contain and protect certain goods, from raw materials to finished products in order to enable them to be handled and delivered from the producer to the consumer, including disposable items used for the same purpose.

Packing list

A list that indicates the contents of a container.

Parcel

First level of load units or in other words separate packages or packaging units of one or more items.

Peripheral Warehouse

Storage units located within the distribution network between the central warehouses and points of sale. They are characterized by the presence of safety supply of stock which can be used to meet the demand of end customers in their geographic area.

Perpetual inventory system

An inventory control system where a running record registers the available quantity of each item.

PGTL

General Plan of Transport and Logistics

Phygital Supply Chain

“Phygital” is a neologism which derives from merging the terms “Physical” and “Digital”. In logistics, it describes the perfect integration of the physical flow of materials and the digital flow of information along the entire purchasing and supply chain. The transformation of the Supply Chain in a “Phygital” key favours collaboration and communication between all the players in complex logistics chains.

Physical distribution management

The planning, execution and control of activities related to the flow of materials, from the end of production to delivery to customers.

Picking

Physical preparation of an order.

Picking

The process of taking items from stocks of finished products to be shipped to the customer, or taking components to manufacture products.

Picking List

List of packages of goods that are required to prepare an order.

Planner

It is responsible for managing the stock of one or multiple Distribution Centres and responds to the relative level and service in the points of sale, in compliance with parameters set by the budget

Platform

Area where goods pass through to be organized for delivery. Here it’s possible to change the carrier, the size of the exchange unit or add tangible or in tangible services. There is no stock on the platform, the role of this area is to allow for groupage and degroupage operations.

Point of sale (POS)

Physical, logical or virtual location where a consumer can purchase a product or a service; Structure for the distribution of food or non-food products to the public, usually located inside, on the edge or outside of built-up areas.

Pop Up Store

These are short-term stores which come into existence over a given period of time and usually emerge without much prior notification. They attract crowds and then either disappear or turn into a different type of store.

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment

Primary packaging

Packaging designed to be a sales unit for the end customer or consumer. Possible examples are boxes, cases, bags, blisters, cans, bottles, flasks, jars, tins and kegs.

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].

Pull Strategy

Management logic of the supply chain in which the product is pulled along the distribution channel by emerging demand. Production is governed by the final demand seen in the distribution process, so the entry of raw materials is not anticipated with respect to the orders.

Pull system

System in which the customer requests the supply of goods according to their stock level and the demand they are experiencing.

Purchasing lead time

The length of time between the decision to purchase an item and when it actually comes into stock.

Push Strategy

Management logic of the supply chain in which the product is pushed along the production-distribution channel according to requirements. The progress of the production is regulated according to the forecast of requirements in the distribution system and the synchronization of growing activities.