Essential Logistics and Supply Chain Terminology

Core Business and Administrative Terms

• Invoices: Documents for goods or work done.
• Back-office: The internal operations of an organization that are not accessible or visible to the general public.
• Undertake: To start a piece of work.
• Synergy: Extra effects when people or businesses combine and work together.
• Drawbacks: Disadvantages.

Logistics and Warehousing Operations

• Upstream: At an early stage in a process.
• Downstream: At a later stage in the process.
• Batches: Groups of things that are made together.
• Warehouses: Large buildings for storing goods.
• Distribution centres: Buildings used for the storage of goods which will later be shipped to retail outlets.
• Third-party logistics providers: External firms that provide specialist services such as transportation and warehousing.
• Inbound: Coming towards or arriving at.
• Merchandise: Goods for sale.
• Unloading: Taking goods off a vehicle.
• Hub and spoke: The design of the inner part of a wheel, with a central part and lines coming out of it.
• Pallets: Flat wooden structures used for moving or storing heavy goods.
• Fork-lift trucks: Vehicles with special equipment at the front for lifting and moving heavy objects.
• Trailers: Back sections of trucks that can be separated and are used for carrying heavy objects.
• Storage boxes: Containers where things are kept until they are needed.

Process Management and Efficiency

• Flag up: Draw attention to something.
• Bottlenecks: Delays in one stage of a process that make the whole process take longer.
• Track: Follow the progress of.
• Stacked up: Arranged into a neat pile.
• Pick-and-pack: The process of starting with a large quantity of goods, sorting them according to different destinations, and then re-packing them with new shipping labels.
• Idle time: Time when a machine isn't working or being used.
• Flow: The continuous movement of something.
• Defects: Faults in the way something is made.
• Rework: Making something again.
• Error-proofing: Trying to avoid future mistakes.
• Delivered: Taken to a place and given to someone.
• Lead time: Time that must be allowed for the completion of an operation or process.
• Manpower: All the workers that are needed to do a particular kind of job.
• Incremental: Increasing gradually.
• Shine: To have a bright, attractive appearance or produce light.
• Tools: Things that you hold in your hand and use to do a particular work.