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.
CAD: See Cash Against Documents.
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.
Calendar
Days: The conversion of working days to
calendar days is based on the number of regularly scheduled workdays per week
in your manufacturing calendar. Calculation: To convert from working
days to calendar days: if work week = 4 days, multiply by 1.75; = 5 days,
multiply by 1.4; = 6 days, multiply by 1.17
Call
Center: A facility housing personnel who
respond to customer phone queries. These personnel may provide customer service
or technical support. Call center services may be in house or outsourced. Synonym:
Customer Interaction Center.
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
Planning: Assuring that needed resources
(e.g., manufacturing capacity, distribution center capacity, transportation
vehicles, etc.) will be available at the right time and place to meet logistics
and supply chain needs.
Capacity: The physical facilities, personnel, and processes available
to meet the product or service needs of customers. Capacity generally refers to
the maximum output or producing ability of a machine, a person, a process, a
factory, a product, or a service. Also see: Capacity Management
CAPEX: A term used to describe the monetary requirements (CAPital
EXpenditure) of an initial investment in new machines or equipment.
Carmack
Amendment: An Interstate Commerce Act
amendment that delineates the liability of common carriers and the bill of
lading provisions.
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.
Carousel: A rotating system of layers of bins and/or drawers that can
store many small items using relatively little floor space.
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.
Cartel: A group of companies that agree to cooperate rather than
compete, in producing a product or service. Thus limiting or regulating
competition.
Cartage: There are two definitions for this term: 1) charge for
pick-up and delivery of goods 2) movement of goods locally (short distances).
Cash Against Documents (CAD): A method of payment for goods in which documents
transferring title are given to the buyer upon payment of cash to an
intermediary acting for the seller.
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. Also see: Cash-to-Cash Cycle Time.
Cash In Advance (CIA):
A method of payment for goods whereby the buyer pays the seller in advance of
shipment of goods.
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. Synonym: Cash Conversion Cycle. Calculation: Total
Inventory Days of Supply + Days of Sales Outstanding - Average Payment Period
for Material in Days.
Cash with Order (CWO):
A method of payment for goods where cash is paid at the time of order, and the
transaction becomes binding on both buyer and seller.
Catalog
Channel: A call center or order processing
facility that receives orders directly from the customer based on defined
catalog offerings, and ships directly to the customer.
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.
Cause-and-Effect Diagram:
In quality management, a structured process used to organize ideas into logical
groupings. Used in brainstorming and problem-solving exercises. Also known as
Ishikawa or fish bone diagram.
CELL: A manufacturing or service unit consisting of a number of
workstations, and the materials transport mechanisms and storage buffers that
interconnect them.
Center-of-Gravity Approach: A supply chain planning methodology for locating
distribution centers at approximately the location representing the minimum
transportation costs between the plants, the distribution centers, and the
markets.
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.
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.
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity: The grant of operating authority that common carriers
receive. A carrier must prove that a public need exists and that the carrier is
fit, willing, and able to provide the needed service. The certificate may
specify the commodities the carrier may haul, and the routes it may use.
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.
Chain of Customers: The sequence of customers who, in turn, consume the output
of each other, forming a chain. For example, individuals are customers of a
department store which in turn is the customer of a producer who is the
customer of a material supplier.
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. Also see: Distribution Channel.
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.
City
Driver: A motor carrier driver who drives a
local route as opposed to a long-distance, intercity route.
Civil Aeronautics Board:
A federal regulatory agency that implemented economic regulatory controls over
air carriers.
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: Carbon monoxide
Co-Destiny: The evolution of a supply chain from intra-organizational
management to inter-organizational management.
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.
Code: A numeric, or alphanumeric representation of text for exchanging
commonly-used information. For example: commodity codes, carrier codes.
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.
Collective
Paper: All documents (commercial invoices,
bills of lading, etc.) submitted to a buyer for the purpose of receiving
payment for a shipment.
Combi
Aircraft: An aircraft specially designed to
carry unitized cargo loads on the upper deck of the craft, forward of the
passenger area.
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.
Committee of American Steamship Lines: An industry association representing subsidized U.S. flag
steamship firms.
Commodities: Any article exchanged in trade, most commonly used to refer
to raw materials and agricultural products.
Commodities
Clause: A clause that prohibits railroads
from hauling commodities that they produced, mined, owned, or had an interest
in.
Commodity
Buying: Grouping like parts or materials
under one buyer's control for the procurement of all requirements to support
production.
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.
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. Antonym: Private
Carrier.
Common Carrier Duties:
Common carriers must serve, deliver, charge reasonable rates, and not
discriminate.
Common
Cost: A cost that a company cannot
directly assign to particular segments of the business; a cost that the company
incurs for the business as a whole.
Commuter: An exempt for-hire air carrier that publishes a time
schedule on specific routes; a special type of air taxi.
Company
Culture: A system of values, beliefs, and
behaviors inherent in a company. To optimize business performance, top
management must define and create the necessary culture.
Comparative Advantage:
A principle based on the assumption that an area will specialize in producing
goods for which it has the greatest advantage or the least comparative
disadvantage.
Competitive Advantage:
Value created by a company for its customers that clearly distinguishes it from
the competition, provides its customers a reason to remain loyal.
Competitive Benchmarking:
Benchmarking a product or service against competitors. Also see: Benchmarking.
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.
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.
Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE): The use of computers to model design options to stimulate
their performance.
Computer-Based Training:
Training that is delivered via computer workstation and includes all training and
testing materials.
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.
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 a 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.
Confirming
Order: A purchase order issued to a
supplier listing the goods or services and terms of an order placed orally or
otherwise before the usual purchase document.
Conformance: An affirmative indication or judgment that a product or
service has met the requirements of a relevant specification, contract, or
regulation. Synonym: Compliance.
Conrail: The Consolidated Rail Corporation established by the
Regional Reorganization Act of 1973 to operate the bankrupt Penn Central
Railroad and other bankrupt railroads in the Northeast; the 4-R Act of 1976
provided funding.
Consignment: (1) A shipment that is handled by a common carrier. (2) The
process of a supplier placing goods at a customer location without receiving
payment until after the goods are used or sold. Also see: Consignment Inventory.
Consignment Inventory:
(1) Goods or products that are paid for when they are sold by the reseller, not
at the time they are shipped to the reseller. (2) Goods or products which are
owned by the vendor until they are sold to the consumer.
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.
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. See
also House Air Waybill.
Consortium: A group of companies that works together to jointly produce
a product, service, or project.
Constraint: A bottleneck, obstacle, or planned control that limits
throughput or the utilization of capacity.
Consul: A government official residing in a foreign country,
charged with representing the interests of his or her country and its
nationals.
Consular Declaration: A
formal statement made to the consul of a country describing merchandise to be
shipped to that consul's country. Approval must be obtained prior to shipment.
Consular
Invoice: A document, required by some
foreign countries, describing a shipment of goods and showing information such
as the consignor, consignee, and value of the shipment. Certified by a consular
official of the foreign country, it is used by the country's custom.
Consumer-Centric Database:
Database with information about a retailer's individual consumers used
primarily for marketing and promotion.
Consumption
Entry: An official Customs form used for
declaration of reported goods, also showing the total duty due on such
transaction.
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.
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
Terminal: An area designated to be used for
the stowage of cargo in containers that may be accessed by truck, rail, or
ocean transportation.
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.
Container Yard to Container Yard (CY/CY): A type of steamship-line service in which freight is
transported from origin container yard to destination container yard.
Contingency Planning:
Preparing to deal with calamities (e.g., floods) and noncalamitous situations
(e.g., strikes) before they occur.
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 Process Improvement (CPI): A never-ending effort to expose and eliminate root causes
of problems; small-step improvement as opposed to big-step improvement. Synonym:
Continuous Improvement. Also see:
Kaizen.
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.
Continuous Replenishment Planning (CRP): A program that triggers the manufacturing and movement of
product through the supply chain when the identical product is purchased by an
end user.
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 Administration:
Managing all aspects of a contract to guarantee that the contractor fulfills
his obligations.
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.
Contribution: The difference between sales price and various costs.
Contribution is used to cover fixed costs and profits.
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.
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.
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. To illustrate: advanced casting processes for making steel
require the integration of machine design with sophisticated sensors to track
temperature and speed, and the sensors require mathematical modeling of heat
transfer. For rapid and effective development of such a process, materials
scientists must work closely with machine designers, software engineers,
process specialists, and operating personnel. Core competencies are not
directly related to the product or market.
Cost
Accounting: The branch of accounting that is concerned
with recording and reporting business operating costs. It includes the
reporting of costs by departments, activities, and products.
Cost and Freight (C & F): The seller quotes a price that includes the cost of
transportation to a specific point. The buyer assumes responsibility for loss
and damage and pays for the insurance of the shipment.
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
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
Element: In cost accounting, the lowest
level component of a resource activity, or cost object.
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-Goods Sold (COGS):
The amount of direct materials, direct labor, and allocated overhead associated
with products sold during a given period of time, determined in accordance with
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Cost
Trade-Off: The interrelationship among system
variables in which a change in one variable affects other variables' costs. A
cost reduction in one variable may increase costs for other variables, and vice
versa.
Cost
Variance: In cost accounting the difference
between what has been budgeted for an activity and what it actually costs.
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.
Countervailing Duties:
An additional import duty imposed to offset Government subsidies in the
exporting country, when the subsidized imports cause material injury to
domestic industry in the importing country.
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
Level: The amount of purchasing credit a
customer has available. Usually defined by the internal credit department and
reduced by any existing unpaid bills or open orders.
Credit
Terms: The agreement between two or more
enterprises concerning the amount and timing of payment for goods or services.
Critical Success Factor (CSF): Those activities and/or processes that must be completed
and/or controlled to enable a company to reach its goals.
Critical Value Analysis:
A modified ABC analysis in which a company assigns a subjective critical value
to each item in an inventory.
Crossdock: Crossdock operations in a warehouse involve moving goods
between different trucks to consolidate loads without intermediate storage.
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.
Cross
Sell: The practice of attempting to sell
additional products to a customer during a sales call. For example, when the
CSR presents a camera case and accessories to a customer that is ordering a
camera.
Cross
Shipment: Material flow activity where
materials are shipped to customers from a secondary shipping point rather than
from a preferred shipping point.
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.
Cumulative Source/Make Cycle Time: The cumulative internal and external lead time to
manufacture shippable product, assuming that there is no inventory on hand, no
materials or parts on order, and no prior forecasts existing with suppliers.
(An element of Total Supply Chain Response Time) Calculation: The
critical path along the following elements: Total Sourcing Lead Time,
Manufacturing Order Release to Start Manufacturing, total Manufacture Cycle
Time (Make to Order, Engineer to Order, Configure/Package to Order) or
Manufacture Cycle Time (Make to Stock), Complete Manufacture to Ship Time. Note:
Determined separately for Make-to-Order, Configure/Package-to-Order,
Engineer-to-Order, and Make-to-Stock products.
Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF): A surcharge imposed by a carrier on ocean freight charges
to offset foreign currency fluctuations.
Customer: 1) In VMI, the trading partner or reseller, i.e., Wal-Mart,
Safeway, or CVS. 2) In direct consumer, the end customer or user.
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 Profitability:
The practice of placing a value on the profit generated by business done with a
particular customer.
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
Service: The series of activities involved
in providing the full range of services to customers.
Customer Service Representative (CSR): An individual who provides customer support via telephone
in a call-center environment.
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. Synonym: Build to Order.
Customs Automated Data Exchange System (CADEX): A Canada Customs system that allows for the electronic
transmission of import data for goods that have already been released.
Additional information such as accounting data and release notifications are
also accessible.
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.
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.
Cycle Time to Process Obsolete and End-of-Life Product
Returns for Disposal: The total time to process goods
returned as obsolete and end of life to actual disposal. This cycle time
includes the time a Return Product Authorization (RPA) is created to the time
the RPA is approved, from Product Available for Pickup to Product Received and
from Product Receipt to Product Disposal/Recycle.
Cycle Time to Repair or Refurbish Returns for Use: The total time to process goods returned for repair or
refurbishing. This cycle time includes the time a Return Product Authorization
(RPA) is created to the time the RPA is approved, from Product Available for
Pickup to Product Received, from Product Receipt to Product Repair/Refurbish
Begin, and from Product Repair/Refurbish Begin to Product Available for Use.
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