Warehouse Dictionary
Packing thru Put Away
P
- Packing
- The process of preparing a container for shipment.
- Packing List
- A document containing information about the location of each Product ID in each package. It allows the recipient to quickly find the item he or she is looking for without a broad search of all packages. It also confirms the actual shipment of goods on a line item basis.
- Pallet
- The platform which cartons are stacked on and then used for shipment or movement as a group. Pallets may be made of wood or composite materials.
- Pallet picking
- Retrieval of full pallets of cartons, or layers of cartons from a pallet (a.k.a. unit-load picking).
- Pallet Wrapping Machine
- A machine that wraps a pallet’s contents in stretch-wrap to ensure safe shipment.
- Parcel Manifest System
- Automated shipping system.
- Parcel Shipment
- Parcels include small packages like those typically handled by providers such as UPS and FedEx.
- Part Standardization
- A program for planned elimination of superficial, accidental, and deliberate differences between similar parts in the interest of reducing part and supplier proliferation. A typical goal of part standardization is to reduce costs by reducing the number of parts that the company needs to manage.
- Parts list
- a listing of material required for a production order. The manufacturing planning system will use the bill of materials to calculate the material requirements for a manufacturing order, resulting in the parts list (also called a materials list). Parts lists can also be created or edited manually.
- Pay on Use
- Pay on use is a process where payment is initiated by product consumption, i.e., consignment stock based on withdrawal of product from inventory. This process is popular with many European companies.
- Payment terms
- an agreement between a supplier and customer that describes how and when payment will be made for products or services.
- Peak Demand
- The time period during which customers demand the greatest quantity.
- Peer to Peer (P2P)
- A computer-networking environment which allows individual computers to share resources and data without passing through an intermediate network server.
- Pegging
- A technique in which a DRP system traces demand for a product by date, quantity, and warehouse location.
- Perfect Order
- The definition of a perfect order is one which meets all of the following criteria:
* Delivered complete, with all items on the order in the quantity requested
* Delivered on time to customer’s request date, using the customer’s definition of on-time delivery
* Delivered with complete and accurate documentation supporting the order including packing slips, bills of lading and invoices
* Delivered in perfect condition with the correct configuration, customer ready, without damage, and faultlessly installed (as applicable) - Performance and Event Management Systems
- The systems that report on the key measurements in the supply chain – inventory days of supply, delivery performance, order cycle times, capacity use, etc. Using this information to identify causal relationships to suggest actions in line with the business goals.
- Performance Measures
- Indicators of the work performed and the results achieved in an activity, process, or organizational unit. Performance measures should be both non-financial and financial. Performance measures enable periodic comparison and benchmarking.
- Performance Measurement Program
- A performance measurement program goes beyond just having performance metrics in place. Typical characteristics of a good performance measurement program include the following:
* Metrics that are aligned to strategy, and linked to the shop floor or line-level workers.
* A process and culture that drives performance and accountability to deliver performance against key performance indicators.
* An incentive plan that is tied to performance goals, objectives, and metrics.
* Tools/technology in place to support easy data collection and use. - Periodic review methods
- approaches to inventory control that place orders of variable size at fixed intervals of time
- Perpetual Inventory
- An inventory record keeping system where each transaction in and out is recorded and a new balance is computed.
- Physical Inventory
- the process of counting all inventories in a warehouse or plant in a single event. Also called a wall-to-wall inventory.
- Physical Supply
- The movement and storage of raw materials from supply sources to the manufacturing facility.
- Pick/Pack
- Picking and packing immediately into shipment containers.
- Pick conveyor
- A non-powered conveyor (e.g. wheel or roller) used in piece picking to support a tote or other container while it is being filled.
- Pick Ticket/ Pick Instruction
- An instruction used in the warehouse that lists the products and the quantities to pick for order processing.
- Picking
- The operations involved in pulling products from storage areas to complete a customer order.
- Picking by Aisle
- A method by which pickers pick all needed items in an aisle regardless of the items’ ultimate destination; the items must be sorted later.
- Picking by Source
- A method in which pickers successively pick all items going to a particular destination regardless of the aisle in which each item is located.
- Pick List
- A list of items to be picked from stock in order to fill an order; the pick list generation and the picking method can be quite sophisticated.
- Pick Sequence
- The location travel sequence when picking items.
- Pick to Light
- A laser identifies the bin for the next item in the rack; when the picker completes the pick, the barcode is scanned and the system then points the laser at the next bin.
- Pick-Up Order
- A document indicating the authority to pick up cargo or equipment from a specific location.
- Piece picking
- Retrieval of individual units (or ‘eaches’) of an item, where each piece picked is the unit of issue to the final customer (a.k.a. broken-case picking).
- Pipeline stock
- stock that is currently being moved from one location to another
- Place Utility
- A value that logistics creates in a product by changing the product’s location. Transportation creates place utility.
- Planned Date
- The date an operation such as a receipt, shipment, or delivery of an order is planned to occur.
- Planned Order
- In DRP and MRP systems, a future order the system plans in response to forecasted demand.
- Planned order receipt
- term used within MRP and DRP systems to describe the date a planned order must be received in order to fulfil net requirements.
- Planned order release
- term used within MRP and DRP systems to describe the date a planned order must be released in order to meet the lead time. It is essentially the planned order receipt date offset by the lead time.
- Plant Finished Goods
- Finished goods inventory held at the end manufacturing location.
- Point of Use Delivery
- Delivery right to the production floor of an item.
- Poka Yoke (mistake proof)
- The application of simple techniques that prevent process quality failure. A mechanism that either prevents a mistake from being made or makes the mistake obvious at a glance.
- Pooling
- A shipping term for the practice of combining shipment from multiple shippers into a truckload in order to reduce shipping charges.
- Port
- A harbor where ships will anchor.
- Port Authority
- A state or local government that owns, operates, or otherwise provides wharf, dock, and other terminal investments at ports.
- Port of Discharge
- Port where vessel is off loaded.
- Port of Entry
- A port at which foreign goods are admitted into the receiving country.
- Port of Loading
- Port where cargo is loaded aboard the vessel.
- Portable Data Collection Terminal (PDT)
- A portable device used to collect inventory data and perform inventory functions. Interfaces with the WMS through a separate Batch Portable or RF Server application.
- Portal
- A web site that serves as a starting point to other destinations or activities on the Internet. Initially thought of as a home base-type of web page, portals attempt to provide all Internet needs in one location. Portals commonly provide services such as e-mail, online chat forums, shopping, searching, content, and news feeds.
- POS
- Point of Shipment, or Point of Sale
- Postponement
- The delay of final activities (i.e., assembly, production, packaging, etc.) until the latest possible time. A strategy used to eliminate excess inventory in the form of finished goods which may be packaged in a variety of configurations.
- Pre-Expediting
- The function of following up on open orders before the scheduled delivery date to ensure the timely delivery of materials in the specified quantity.
- Prepaid
- A freight term which indicates that charges are to be paid by the shipper. Prepaid shipping charges may be added to the customer invoice, or the cost may be bundled into the pricing for the product.
- Prepaid Freight
- Freight paid by the shipper to the carrier when merchandise is tendered for shipment that is not refundable if the merchandise does not arrive at the intended destination.
- Price
- the amount charged by a supplier
- Price discounts
- all unit step reductions in price given for larger orders
- Primary-Business Test
- A test the ICC uses to determine if a trucking operation is bona fide private transportation; the private trucking operation must be incidental to and in the furtherance of the firm’s primary business.
- Primary Manufacturing Strategy
- Your company’s dominant manufacturing strategy. The primary manufacturing strategy generally accounts for 80-plus % of a company’s product volume. According to a study by Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), approximately 73% of all companies use a make-to-stock strategy.
- Private Carrier
- A carrier that provides transportation service to the firm that owns or leases the vehicles and does not charge a fee. Private motor carriers may haul at a fee for wholly owned subsidiaries.
- Private Label
- Products that are designed, produced, controlled by, and which carry the name of the store or a name owned by the store; also known as a store brand or dealer brand. An example would be Wal-Mart’s “Sam’s Choice” products.
- Private Trucking Fleets
- Private fleets serve the needs of their owners, and do not ordinarily offer commercial trucking services to other customers. Private fleets typically perform distribution or service functions.
- Private Warehousing
- The storage of goods in a warehouse owned by the company that has title to the goods.
- Process
- A series of time-based activities linked to complete a specific output.
- Process Benchmarking
- Benchmarking a process (such as the pick, pack, and ship process) against organizations known to be the best in class in this process. Process benchmarking is usually conducted on firms outside of the organization’s industry.
- Process Improvement
- A design or activity which improves quality or reduces costs, often through the elimination of waste on non-value-added tasks.
- Process Manufacturing
- Production that adds value by mixing, separating, forming, and/or performing chemical reactions. It may be done in a batch, continuous, or mixed batch/continuous mode.
- Procure-to-order
- an inventory strategy where you do not procure your product until after you receive actual orders from your customers.
- Procure-to-stock
- an inventory strategy where you must carry adequate finished goods inventory to meet upcoming forecasted demand. The reason this stocking strategy is so common is not that it is the most cost-effective inventory strategy overall, but rather it is a necessary strategy when market conditions require shipment of goods quicker than you can procure them.
- Procurement
- The business functions of procurement planning, purchasing, inventory control, traffic, receiving, incoming inspection, and salvage operations. Synonym: PurchasingM/dd>
- Procurement cycle
- sequence of activities needed to acquire materials
- Product
- Something that has been or is being produced.
- Product Characteristics
- All of the elements that define a product’s character, such as size, shape, weight, etc.
- Product Description
- The user’s description of the product.
- Product Family
- A group of products with similar characteristics often used in production planning (or sales and operations planning).
- Product ID
- A method of identifying a product without using a full description. These can be different for each document type and must, therefore, be captured and related to the document in which they were used. They must then be related to each other in context (also known as SKU, Item Code or Number, or other such name).
- Product life cycle
- the period of time in which a specific item is considered an active saleable item. Product life cycle starts when a product is first introduced, and ends when a product is removed from active status. Some definitions of product life cycle may also include the development time for a product.
- Production Capacity
- Measure of how much production volume may be experienced over a set period of time.
- Production Line
- A series of pieces of equipment dedicated to the manufacture of a specific number of products or families.
- Production order
- the document used to process a production run of an item. Also known as a job, work order, or manufacturing order, a production order is usually made up of a production order header, a parts list, and a routing.
- Production Planning and Scheduling
- The systems that enable creation of detailed, optimized plans and schedules, taking into account the resource, material, and dependency constraints to meet the deadlines.
- Production-Related Material
- Production-related material is an item classified as a material purchase and included in cost-of-goods sold as a raw material purchase.
- Productivity
- A measure of resource utilization efficiency defined as the sum of the outputs divided by the sum of the inputs.
- Profit Ratio
- The percentage of profit to sales–that is, profit divided by sales.
- Profitability Analysis
- The analysis of profit derived from cost objects with the view to improve or optimize profitability. Multiple views may be analyzed, such as market segment, customer, distribution channel, product families, products, technologies, platforms, regions, manufacturing capacity, etc.
- Pro-forma
- A type of quotation or offer that may be used when first negotiating the sales of goods or services. If the pro-forma is accepted, then the terms and conditions of the pro-forma may become the request.
- Pro Forma Invoice
- An invoice, forwarded by the seller of goods prior to shipment that advises the buyer of the particulars and value of the goods. Usually required by the buyer in order to obtain an import permit or letter of credit.
- Progressive assembly picking
- Variation of zone picking where an order is passed from one zone to the next, eliminating the need to consolidate the order but increasing its total picking time (a.k.a. pick-and-pass).
- Projective forecast
- a forecast that projects historical patterns into the future
- Promised date
- the date a supplier expects to be able to fulfil a customer order.
- Promotion
- The act of selling a product at a reduced price, or a buy one/get one free offer, for the purpose of increasing sales.
- Pro Number
- Any progressive or serialized number applied for identification of freight bills, bills of lading, etc.
- Proof of Delivery (POD)
- Information supplied by the carrier containing the name of the person who signed for the shipment, the time and date of delivery and other shipment delivery-related information. POD is also sometimes used to refer to the process of printing materials just prior to shipment (Print on Demand).
- Proportional Rate
- A rate lower than the regular rate for shipments that have prior or subsequent moves; used to overcome combination rates’ competitive disadvantages.
- Public Warehouse
- The warehouse space that is rented or leased by an independent business providing a variety of services for a fee or on a contract basis.
- Public Warehousing
- The storage of goods by a firm that offers storage service for a fee to the public.
- Public Warehouse receipt
- The basic document a public warehouse manager issues as a receipt for the goods a company gives to the warehouse manager. The receipt can be either negotiable or nonnegotiable.
- Pull Signal
- A signal from a using operation that triggers the issue of raw material.
- Pull Ordering System
- A system in which each warehouse controls its own shipping requirements by placing individual orders for inventory with the central distribution center. A replenishment system where inventory is “pulled” into the supply chain (or “demand chain” by POS systems, or ECR programs). Associated with “build to order” systems.
- Purchase Order (PO)
- The purchaser’s authorization used to formalize a purchase transaction with a supplier. The physical form or electronic transaction a buyer uses when placing an order for merchandise.
- Purchase Price Discount
- A pricing structure in which the seller offers a lower price if the buyer purchases a larger quantity.
- Purchasing
- The functions associated with buying the goods and services the firm requires.
- Push Distribution
- The process of building product and pushing it into the distribution channel without receiving any information regarding requirements.
- Push system
- an ordering or production scheduling system where production or procurement of a product is triggered by expected (forecasted) demand rather than actual customer orders. Make-to-stock and procure-to-stock are examples of push systems.
- Put Away
- Removing the material from the dock (or other location of receipt), transporting the material to a storage area, placing that material in a staging area, and then moving it to a specific location and recording the movement and identification of the location where the material has been place.