Part I Execution Flashcards
advance ship notice (ASN)
An electronic data interchange (EDI) notification of shipment of product.
backhauling
The process of a transportation vehicle returning from the original destination point to the point of origin. The 1980 Motor Carrier Act deregulated interstate commercial trucking and thereby allowed carriers to contract for the return trip. [This] can be with a full, partial, or empty load. [If empty, this] is called deadheading.
bar code
A series of alternating bars and spaces printed or stamped on parts, containers, labels, or other media, representing encoded information that can be read by electronic readers. [This] is used to facilitate timely and accurate input of data to a computer system.
batch picking
A method of picking orders in which order requirements are aggregated by product across orders to reduce movement to and from product locations. The aggregated quantities of each product are then transported to a common area where the individual orders are constructed.
bill of lading (uniform) (B/L)
A carrier’s contract and receipt for goods the carrier agrees to transport from one place to another and to deliver to a designated person. In case of loss, damage, or delay, [this] is the basis for filing freight claims.
bonded warehouse
Buildings or parts of buildings designated by the US Secretary of the Treasury for storing imported merchandise, operated under US Customs supervision.
bottleneck
A facility, function, department, or resource whose capacity is less than the demand placed upon it. For example, [this type of] machine or work center exists where jobs are processed at a slower rate than they are demanded.
break-bulk
1) Dividing truckloads, railcars, or containers of homogeneous items into smaller, more appropriate quantities for use. 2) A distribution center that specializes in [these types of] activities. 3) Unitized cargo in bales, boxes, or crates that is placed directly in a ship’s holds rather than in containers.
buffer
1) A quantity of materials awaiting further processing. It can refer to raw materials, semifinished stores or hold points, or a work backlog that is purposely maintained behind a work center. 2) In the theory of constraints, [these] can be time or material and support throughput and/or due date performance. [These] can be maintained at the constraint, convergent points (with a constraint part), divergent points, and shipping points.
buffer management
In the theory of constraints, a process in which all expediting in a shop is driven by what is scheduled to be in the buffers (constraint, shipping, and assembly buffers). By expediting this material into the buffers, the system helps avoid idleness at the constraint and missed customer due dates. In addition, the reasons items are missing from the buffer are identified, and the frequency of occurrence is used to prioritize improvement activities.
centralized inventory control
Inventory decision making for all storekeeping units exercised from one office or department for an entire company.
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. [It] must obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Trade Commission for interstate traffic.
consolidation
The grouping of shipments to obtain reduced costs or improved utilization of the transportation function. Consolidation can occur by market area grouping, grouping according to scheduled deliveries, or using third-party pooling services such as public warehouses and freight forwarders.
constraint
1) Any element or factor that prevents a system from achieving a higher level of performance with respect to its goal. [These] can be physical, such as a machine center or lack of material, but they can also be managerial, such as a policy or procedure. 2) One of a set of equations that cannot be violated in an optimization procedure.
contract carrier
A carrier that does not serve the general public, but provides transportation for hire for one or a limited number of shippers under a specific contract.
critical chain method
In the theory of constraints, a network planning technique for the analysis of a project’s completion time, used for planning and controlling project activities. The critical chain, which determines project duration, is based on technological and resource constraints. Strategic buffering of paths and resources is used to increase project completion success.
critical path method (CPM)
A network planning technique for the analysis of a project’s completion time used for planning and controlling the activities in a project. By showing each of these activities and their associated times, the critical path, which identifies those elements that actually constrain the total time for the project, can be determined.
cross-docking
The concept of packing products on incoming shipments so they can be easily sorted at intermediate warehouses or for outgoing shipments based on final destination. The items are carried from the incoming vehicle docking point to the outgoing vehicle docking point without being stored in inventory at the warehouse. [It] reduces inventory investment and storage space requirements.
customs broker
A person who manages the paperwork required for international shipping and tracks and moves the shipments through the proper channels.
cycle time
1) In industrial engineering, the time between the completion of two discrete units of production. For example, [if] motors [are] assembled at a rate of 120 per hour, [this] is 30 seconds. 2) In materials management, the length of time from when material enters a production facility until it exits.
decentralized inventory control
Inventory decision making exercised at each stocking location for SKUs at that location.
demurrage
The carrier charges and fees applied when rail freight cars and ships are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.
detention
Carrier charges and fees applied when truck trailers are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.
discrete order picking
A method of picking orders in which the items on one order are picked before the next order is picked.
dispatching
The selecting and sequencing of available jobs to be run at individual workstations and the assignment of those jobs to workers.
distribution
1) The activities associated with the movement of material, usually finished goods or service parts, from the manufacturer to the customer. These activities encompass the functions of transportation, warehousing, inventory control, material handling, order administration, site and location analysis, industrial packaging, data processing, and the communications network necessary for effective management. […] In many cases, this movement is made through one or more levels of field warehouses. 2) The systematic division of a whole into discrete parts having distinctive characteristics.
distribution center
A location used to store inventory. Decisions driving warehouse management include site selection, number of facilities in the system, layout, and methods of receiving, storing, and retrieving goods.
distribution channel
The distribution route, from raw materials through consumption, along which products travel.
distribution requirements planning (DRP)
1) The function of determining the need to replenish inventory at branch warehouses. A time-phased order point approach is used where the planned orders at the branch warehouse level are “exploded” via MRP logic to become gross requirements of the supplying source. In the case of multilevel distribution networks, this explosion process can continue down through the various levels of regional warehouses (master warehouse, factory warehouse, etc.) and become input to the master production schedule. Demand on the supplying sources is recognized as dependent, and standard MRP logic applies. 2) More generally, replenishment inventory calculations, which may be based on other planning approaches such as period order quantities or “replace exactly what was used,” rather than being limited to the time-phased order point approach.
distribution warehouse
A facility where goods are received in large-volume uniform lots, stored briefly, and then broken down into smaller orders of different items required by the customer. Emphasis is on expeditious movement and handling.
drop ship
To take the title of the product but not actually handle, stock, or delivery it (i.e., to have one supplier ship directly to another or to have a supplier ship directly to the buyer’s customer).
drum schedule
The detailed production schedule for a resource that sets the pace for the entire system. [It] must reconcile the customer requirements with the system’s constraint(s).
drum-buffer-rope (DBR)
The theory of constraints method for scheduling and managing operations that have an internal constraint or capacity-constrained resource.
duty
A tax levied by a government on the importation, exportation, or use and consumption of goods.
final assembly schedule (FAS)
A schedule of end items to finish the product for specific customers’ orders in a make-to-order or assemble-to-order environment. It is also referred to as the finishing schedule because it may involve operations other than the final assembly; also, it may not involve assembly (e.g., final mixing, cutting, packaging). [This] is prepared after receipt of a customer order as constrained by the availability of material and capacity, and it schedules the operations required to complete the product from the level where it is stocked (or master scheduled) to the end-item level.
finite forward scheduling
An equipment scheduling technique that builds a schedule by proceeding sequentially from the initial period to the final period while observing capacity limits. A Gantt chart may be used with this technique.
finite loading
Assigning no more work to a work center than the work center can be expected to execute in a given time period. The specific term usually refers to a computer technique that involves calculating shop priority revisions in order to level load operation by operation.
five focusing steps
In the theory of constraints, a process to continuously improve organizational profit by evaluating the production system and market mix to determine how to make the most profit using the system constraint. The steps consist of (1) identifying the constraint to the system, (2) deciding how to exploit the constraint to the system, (3) subordinating all nonconstraints to the constraint, (4) elevating the constraint to the system, and (5) returning to step 1 if the constraint is broken in any previous step, while not allowing inertia to set in.
