CONTRACT Terminology
List of Important Acronyms
A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that solicits proposal, often made through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service, or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals. It is submitted early in the procurement cycle, either at the preliminary study, or procurement stage.
A request for a quote (RFQ) is a business process in which a business solicits quotes from select suppliers and CONTRACTs for a specific task or project. An RFQ can be sent alone or in tandem with a request for proposal (RFP). A business generally sends an RFQ when the quantity for a standard product is known and needs are ongoing
Proof of delivery is a method to establish the fact that a recipient received contents sent by a sender. When the sender sends multiple documents through the mail, there is a possibility of some not reaching the intended recipient. Generally, post offices provide additional service of guaranteed delivery, known as an avis de réception, wherein they require the recipient to sign a paper, and that paper is filed by the postal service for a specified number of days.
The estimated time of arrival (ETA) is the time when a ship, vehicle, aircraft, cargo, emergency service or person is expected to arrive at a certain place.
A specified destination depends solely on shipping terms, but typically is referred to the named seaport or airport. The method of shipping can be via air, ocean or by domestic shipping services such as rail or truck.
A purchase order (PO) is a commercial document and first official offer issued by a buyer to a seller indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services. It is used to control the purchasing of products and services from external suppliers. Purchase orders can be an essential part of enterprise resource planning system orders.
Third-party logistics in logistics and supply chain management is an organization’s use of third-party businesses to outsource elements of its distribution, warehousing, and fulfillment services.
is a document that provides detailed information about a pending delivery. The purpose of an ASN is to notify the customer when shipping will occur and provide physical characteristics about the shipment so the customer can be prepared to accept delivery.
is a business function that provides a response to customer order inquiries, based on resource availability. It generates available quantities of the requested product, and delivery due dates. Therefore, ATP supports order promising and fulfillment, aiming to manage demand and match it to production plans.
is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software —typically a suite of integrated applications —that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.
is a document issued by a carrier to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. Although the term historically related only to carriage by sea, a bill of lading may today be used for any type of carriage of goods. Bills of lading are one of three crucial documents used in international trade to ensure that exporters receive payment and importers receive the merchandise. The other two documents are a policy of insurance and an invoice.
only considers material availability and assumes infinite capacity resources, CTP considers availability of both materials and capacity, giving a more realistic picture of whether demand can be satisfied within a given time fence.
is one of many different approaches that allow a company to manage and analyses its own interactions with its past, current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers’ history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.
is a term used in software procurement and software acceptance testing. A CRP may be used during the selection and implementation of a software application in an organization or company.
is a concept that aims to enhance supply chain integration by supporting and assisting joint practices. CPFR seeks cooperative management of inventory through joint visibility and replenishment of products throughout the supply chain. Information shared between suppliers and retailers aids in planning and satisfying customer demands through a supportive system of shared information.
is the use of software and computer systems’ architectural principles to integrate a set of enterprise computer applications.
is the concept of businesses electronically communicating information that was traditionally communicated on paper, such as purchase orders and invoices. Technical standards for EDI exist to facilitate parties transacting such instruments without having to make special arrangements.
is designed as a universal identifier that provides a unique identity for every physical object anywhere in the world, for all time. The EPC structure is defined in the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard
is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
is a way of preventing mistakes and defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering products or services to customers; which ISO 9000 defines as “part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled”.
The purpose is to provide centralized distribution for stock merchandise which is cartooned and under eight feet in length
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.
is the component of supply chain management (SCM) that develops a strategy for balancing supply and demand, predicting future requirements and monitoring fulfillment. Supply chain planning and supply chain execution (SCE) are the two overarching categories of SCM. SCP covers a range of supply chain processes such as manufacturing, production scheduling, predictive modeling, and sustainability.
is a person who is an authority in a particular area or topic. The term is used when developing materials about a topic (a book, an examination, a manual, etc.), and expertise on the topic is needed by the personnel developing the material
combines purchasing, manufacturing, transportation, and distribution. This makes it possible to make comprehensive, global tactical planning decisions, based on a single consistent model.
is a style of software design where services are provided to the other components by application components, through a communication protocol over a network.
is the discipline of strategically planning for, and managing, all interactions with third party organizations that supply goods and/or services to an organization in order to maximize the value of those interactions. In practice, SRM entails creating closer, more collaborative relationships with key suppliers in order to uncover and realize new value and reduce risk of failure.
is a subset of supply chain management concerning transportation operations and may be part of an enterprise resource planning system. A TMS usually “sits” between an ERP or legacy order processing and warehouse/distribution module.
is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through UCC adoption by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Territories of the United States.
short for universal product code, is a type of code printed on retail product packaging to aid in identifying a particular item
has enabled companies in the retail and consumer-focused industries to eliminate billions of dollars of waste and delay. By creating voluntary guidelines, often referred to as “standards,” VICS has created new best practices that ultimately lead to lower costs and better availability of products for consumers.
is an inventory management practice in which a supplier of goods, usually the manufacturer, is responsible for optimising the inventory held by a distributor. In traditional inventory management, a retailer (sometimes called buyer) makes his or her own decisions regarding the order size, while in VMI the retailer shares their inventory data with a vendor (sometimes called supplier) such that the vendor is the decision-maker who determines the order size for both.
is a software application designed to support and optimize warehouse functionality and distribution center management. These systems facilitate management in their daily planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling the utilization of available resources, to move and store materials into, within, and out of a warehouse, while supporting staff in the performance of material movement and storage in and around a warehouse.
is the company department charged with finding, screening, recruiting, and training job applicants, and administering employee-benefit programs.
is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it engages.
a license plate number (LPN) is any object that holds items. Although LPNs are associated with containers, they do not need to represent a physical entity, such as a box.
The alternatives to LTL carriers are parcel carriers or full truckload carriers. Parcel carriers usually handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less than 150 pounds. Full truckload carriers move freight that is loaded into a semi-trailer. Semi-trailers are typically between 26 and 53 feet and require a substantial amount of freight to make such transportation economical.
are computerized systems used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. MES provides information that helps manufacturing decision makers understand how current conditions on the plant floor can be optimized to improve production output.
is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and manufacture, to service and disposal of manufactured products. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.
is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined finish; regardless of industry. Project managers are first point of contact for any issues or discrepancies arising from within the heads of various departments in an organization before the problem escalates to higher authorities, as project representative.
is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as “on-demand software”, and was formerly referred to as “software plus services” by Microsoft.
is focused on execution-oriented applications, including warehouse management systems (WMSs), transportation management systems (TMSs), global trade management (GTM) systems, and other execution applications, such as real-time decision support systems (for example, dynamic routing and dynamic sourcing systems) and supply chain visibility systems within the enterprise, as well as throughout the extended supply chain.
is an integrated business management process through which the executive/leadership team continually achieves focus, alignment and synchronization among all functions of the organization. The S&OP process includes an updated forecast that leads to a sales plan, production plan, inventory plan, customer lead time (backlog) plan, new product development plan, strategic initiative plan and resulting financial plan.
is a form of wireless communication that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal or person.
