SI Fulfillment Glossary of Terms

 

3PL (Third-party logistics): Use of third-party business to outsource elements of its distribution, warehousing, and fulfillment services.

Fulfillment: The act or process of delivering a product to a customer.

API integration (Application Programming Interface): The connection between two or more applications that allows those systems exchange data.

BI (Business Intelligence): The technologies, processes, and infrastructure used by companies to identify and analyze business information. BI allows businesses to pinpoint and extract valuable insights from the large volumes of data and leverage it to meet critical KPIs.

Co-packing Services: The next layer of packaging (outside of the primary product packaging) used to group various pre-packaged products together.

Dimensional Weight: The amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. Shipping carriers implemented this to charge more for packages that occupy greater space on trucks.

Distribution: The delivery of a product to different markets and locations.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange): The electronic communication of business documents in a standard format. Simply, it is a standard electronic format that replaces paper-based documents like purchase orders or invoices.

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon): A service that allows sellers store their merchandise in an Amazon fulfillment center, and gives Amazon the responsibilities of packaging, shipping, and maintaining these orders.

FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant): When the seller is in control of their entire handling and shipping process. Instead of paying a service fee and shipping inventory to Amazon to handle, the seller uses his or her own resources and sends the items directly to the buyer.

FOB (Free on Board): Indicates that the price for goods includes delivery at the seller’s expense to a specified point and no further.

FTL (Full Truckload Freight): FTL shipping is commonly used for large shipments that require utilizing the entire truck, or at least close to it

High-density Storage: A storage solution designed to have a minimal footprint while still being able to store a large volume of goods or products.

Logistics: the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of customers or corporations.

LTL (Less Than Load): Used for the transportation of small freight or when freight doesn’t require the use of an entire trailer. This shipping method can be used when freight weighs between 150 and 15,000 pounds.

MCF (Multi-channel Fulfillment): The method by which sellers can sell items through various sales channels and have one source handle the packaging and shipping aspects for them.

Multi-channel inventory management (also known as multi-source inventory): process by which businesses account for and track orders from various sales sources on inventory that is stored at multiple locations, such as marketplaces, eCommerce, retail, and wholesale.

Real-time Inventory: The process of using technology (barcode scanners and inventory software), to instantly capture an inventory transaction, such as an order, and updates the digital inventory system.

Primary Packaging: The first layer of packaging that directly contains the product.

Picking: The process of collecting items from an inventory to satisfy customers’ orders. It’s an essential aspect of order fulfillment and is considered one of the most expensive and labor-intensive activities for warehouses

PPS (Pick Pack and Ship): The process of picking, packing and shipping product

Receiving: The process of checking items delivered to a business. This includes checking items against a packing list, inspecting the quality, condition, and quantity of any incoming goods, and allocating them to a space in the warehouse.

SCM (Supply Chain Management): The management of the flow of goods and services, involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods as well as end to end order fulfillment from point of origin to point of consumption.

Skid: Having no bottom deck, mobility is the greater advantage of using a skid. Because there is no bottom deck there is less friction when it is being used, ultimately making the skid easier to drag.

Supply Chain: A system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in supplying a product or service to a consumer.

SLA (Service Level Agreement): A guarantee of how the fulfillment service will handle orders, ship goods, and otherwise carry out its role in your business arrangement.

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit): The unique number assigned to products to keep track of stock levels.

Warehousing: The act of storing goods that will be sold or distributed later.