Glossary: Terms from logistics and the supply chain

A

ABC-/XYZ-Analysis

ABC/XYZ analysis helps in the optimal evaluation and distribution of goods in the warehouse according to their relevance and predictive accuracy. It is a combination of ABC analysis and XYZ analysis. Thus, a company can classify the relevance of their products according to their who, their sales, as well as their expected consumption. A prioritization takes place thus on the basis of the economic importance.

Read more

Automated Disposition

Automatic scheduling software takes over scheduling for routine ordering processes and helps to optimally invest in materials and goods in order to generate the maximum return for the company. This allows the dispatcher to concentrate on decision-relevant and strategic tasks.

Read more
B

Business Intelligence Software

Business intelligence software helps companies analyze their data to improve decision-making based on performance metrics that emerge from data relevant to the business.

Read more
D

Dock & Yard Management

With Dock & Yard Management, planning, implementation and control of delivery traffic on the plant premises can be managed and optimally coordinated.

Read more
E

EDI - Electronic Data Interchange

The term EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) describes the process of electronic data exchange between two companies.

Read more
H

Handling Unit

Handling Unit (HU for short) refers to a physical package or loading unit that can be identified by a unique identification number.

Read more

High bay warehouse

A high bay warehouse (HRL) is a storage system with racks from a height of 12m and a maximum height of 50m. The system can contain from a few thousand to several hundred thousand pallet spaces.

Read more
J

Just-in-Time

The term Just-In-Time (abbreviated "JIT") refers to a strategy within a company's production in which materials are delivered to the place where they are currently needed at a specific time.

Read more
L

Lieferantenmanagement

As soon as purchasing is handled strategically in a company, this can be described as supplier management. Supplier management includes, among other things, the selection of suppliers, the development and maintenance of a supplier base, the evaluation and sorting of suppliers up to cooperation agreements as well as the inclusion of suppliers within the value chain.

Read more

Logistics Service Provider

Companies that provide logistics services for other companies are known as logistics service providers. Their services usually go far beyond the classic transportation of goods.

Read more
M

Multi-Order-Picking

Multi-order picking is a picking method and describes the combination of several analog picking orders into one multi-order picking run. Several orders for picking goods are combined for the warehouse operator according to various criteria and a single warehouse route is created for this purpose.

Read more
O

Order picking

Order picking in logistics describes the collecting of articles and goods and merchandise from the total assortment in a specified quantity. The process is carried out in one step or in several steps.

Read more

Out-of-Stock

Out-of-stock, or "OOS" for short, describes the situation where a particular product or commodity is not in stock.

Read more
P

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics includes a wide range of statistical methods that analyze current and historical data to predict future, unknown events.

Read more

Production Planning

Production planning ensures efficient execution, coordination and standardization of production processes.

Read more
R

Replenishment

The primary task of replenishment is to manage material flows and inventories so that all orders are reliably delivered on the agreed date at minimum cost. To this end, all tasks to be completed are distributed to the available resources.

Read more

Retail

Retail in the functional sense refers to the sale of goods directly to the end consumer (business-to-customer, B2C); in the institutional sense, the term retail includes all companies operating in B2C.

Read more

Return on Investment (ROI)

Return on investment (ROI) is a business indicator that provides information on the profitability of an investment, among other things.

Read more

Rolling Planning

The term "rolling planning" describes a form of planning in which the planning already done is reviewed and, if necessary, updated after certain time intervals throughout the year. In other words, corporate management is adjusted to current conditions during the year. 

Read more
S

Sales & Operations Planning

Sales & Operations Planning describes the holistic approach within a company in which the operational business is managed from the order intake. The process links the various business units and their individual targets with each other in order to fully exploit the existing market potential.

Read more

Sample Stocktaking

With sample stocktaking, only a small part of the inventory is counted on the basis of samples, rather than the entire inventory. Depending on the size and nature of the warehouse, the counting effort can be reduced by an average of 95%.

Read more

SKU

A stock keeping unit, or SKU for short, is a storage unit that can be uniquely identified by a code and is stored in a company's system.

Read more

Stock reduction

Stock reduction aims to eliminate excess stock from the warehouse, effectively freeing up space in the warehouse and making the best use of existing capacity.

Read more

Supply Chain Management

In logistics, supply chain management (SCM) refers to the optimized control of the flow of goods and services and encompasses all processes during which raw materials are transformed into end products. SCM is thus responsible for the cross-company development and management of the flow of goods.

Read more
T

Third Party Logistics (3PL)

The abbreviation 3PL stands for Third Party Logistics and refers to logistics service providers who take care of the transport and storage of their customers' goods and also provide other services such as order processing, invoicing or customs clearance.

Read more

Transportation Management

The term "transportation management" refers to the management, control, and optimization of all transportation processes along the supply chain.

Read more
V

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)

With vendor managed inventory, the supplier takes over inventory management and replenishment planning at the customer's site. The supplier therefore decides when the customer must receive which goods.

Read more
W

Warehouse Management

Warehouse management is an important part of merchandise management and describes all processes for managing goods within the warehouse. This includes, among other things, control, organization and monitoring of the individual processes from goods receipt to storage and goods issue.

Read more

Wholesale

Wholesale includes companies that supply retail and commercial customers with large quantities of consumer goods. The large purchase volumes ensure that the wholesaler can obtain the consumer goods at low prices.

Read more