Is the process of recording the receipt of merchandise as it arrives at a distribution center.

Activity

A task performed within a warehouse like case picking, unit picking, put-away, receiving, cycle counting, etc.

Actual Cube

Dimensions = length x width x height - usually pertains to a trailer capacity, shelf location capacity, or item or pallet dimensions.

Address

The place where a person or organization can be sent mail, bills, purchase orders, and shipments.

Advanced Shipment Notice (ASN)

An Advance Ship Notice or Advance Shipping Notice (ASN) is a notification of pending deliveries, similar to a packing list. It is usually sent in an electronic format and is a common EDI document. In the EDI X12 system, it is known as the EDI 856 document. The ASN can be used to list the contents of a shipment of goods as well as additional information relating to the shipment, such as order information, product description, physical characteristics, type of packaging, markings, carrier information, and configuration of goods within the transportation equipment. The ASN enables the sender to describe the contents and configuration of a shipment in various levels of detail and provides an ordered flexibility to convey information.

Allocation

A buying, planning, and distribution process in which the need of a store is determined based on the difference between the current on hand inventory and the forecasted need of inventory for that item for the next x number of weeks. The additional need calculated is sent to the distribution center as a stock allocation for picking and shipment to the store.

Appointment

The time, date, and door given to the carrier/supplier for delivery of an inbound shipment to the warehouse.

Attribute

An attribute is a characteristic that can be added to a Distribution Center process, location, item or user that influences the process to perform in a different manner.

Audit

A formal examination of an organization's or individual's account or financial situation. For distribution, it is a formal audit of the physical inventory within a distribution center (also called a Physical Inventory).

Authorization Number

An authorization number is a number that allows a transaction to proceed with pre-approval. For distribution, authorization numbers are usually required by the host system to process returns in the distribution center.

Bill of Lading

A Bill of Lading (sometimes referred to as a BOL, or B/L) is a document issued by a carrier to a shipper, acknowledging that specified merchandise has been received on board the trailer (plane, boat, train, etc.) for shipment to a named place for delivery.

Bulk Pick

A pick of an entire pallet at one time destined for a single location.

Carrier

The freight company that delivers the shipment.

Carton

A carton is a type of packaging used to transport merchandise. In logistics, a case, a carton, and a casepack will often be used interchangeably.

Casepack

A casepack is the number of units (each) contained in a case/carton. For example, if you buy a 12 pack of coke the casepack is 12 and the number of units in the case is 12.

Catch Weight

Catch weight - used primarily in the food industry for products such as sea food, meats, and cheeses; catch weights refer to the actual weight of variable-weight items that use weight as the sales unit of measure. Catch weights are generally recorded during the order picking or shipping process.

Class

In retail distribution, class is a level within the Merchandise Hierarchy used to group items for reporting and financial planning. Best practice retailers track their items using the following hierarchy: company, division, department, class, and possibly sub-class level.

Container

An item in which objects or materials can be stored or transported. In RWMS a container refers to the type of object used to receive or ship an item. For example some items arrive and ship in a carton (case) and some items arrive and ship on a pallet. In both cases these are considered containers in RWMS.

Cubiscan

Cubiscan is a device (varies in size) that scans an item or case to record product dimensional data and weights.

Cycle counts

Cycle counting is an inventory process where items are counted on a cyclic schedule rather than the traditional inventory process which occurs once a year. If the cycle count process is accepted in your organization it may replace a physical inventory taken once a year.

Default

A default is a value that a program or operating system assumes, or a course of action that a program or operating system will take, when the user or programmer specifies no overriding value or action..

Deliver Not Before Date

This is the date on the purchase order that tells the vendor/carrier the first day the distribution center will accept the shipment. Any deliveries before this date is refused.

Deliver Not After Date

This is the date on the purchase order that tells the vendor/carrier the last day the distribution center will accept the shipment. Any deliveries after this date is refused.

Delivery

The act of delivering a shipment to a location.

Department

In retail distribution, department is a level within the Merchandise Hierarchy used to group items for reporting and financial planning. Best practice retailers track their items using the following hierarchy: company, division, department, class, and possibly sub-class level.

Destination (Dest)

In distribution, destination is the final delivery location for a shipment. In retail, the destination for shipments from vendors is usually the distribution center and the destination from distribution centers is usually the store. For consumer direct shipments the final destination is the customer's home.

Diff

A characteristic of an item that distinguishes it from another item.

Diff Group

A tool used to logically group diff IDs by type.

Distribution Center (DC)

Distribution Center is a warehouse or storage facility where the emphasis is on processing and moving goods to wholesalers, retailers, or consumers rather than to storage. These facilities concentrate on crossdocking and flowthrough opportunities.

Distro

In RMWS the term Distro number is synonymous with Stock Allocation number. They refer to the item orders that are downloaded from the host that are picked in the distribution center for shipment to stores.

Doors

The physical location at a warehouse where inventory is received or shipped.

Electronic Data Interchange

Electronic Data Interchange: the computer-to-computer exchange of structured information, by agreed message standards, from one computer application to another by electronic means and with a minimum of human intervention.

Filter

A filter limits or constrains the data in the report so that it contains only the information that is pertinent to the problem that is being investigated.

Forward Case Pick Location (FCPL)

This is a picking area in the warehouse which is dedicated to picking of cases only.

Grabs

The number of picks you can make from a case. If the casepack is 12 and the inner pack quantity is 3 then you have 4 grabs. If the casepack is 12 and the inner pack quantity is 1 then you have 12 grabs.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy is the process of linking products together in groups that have similar characteristics.

Inner pack

A sub-package within a carton/casepack. An inner pack is individually wrapped or boxed inside of an existing carton/casepack. For example if you have a casepack of 12 shirts and inside the carton you have 4 bags each containing 3 shirts then you have 4 inner packs. The inner pack is the lowest shippable quantity in RMWS.

Inventory

A company's merchandise, raw materials, and finished and unfinished products which have not yet been sold.

Lead Time

The amount of time between placing an order with a vendor and the receipt of the inventory at the distribution center.

Less Than Case Picking Location

An area dedicated to picking of units only.

Load Sequence

The sequence in which each store's merchandise is to be loaded when multiple stores are being loaded onto the same truck.

Location

A physical and logical space in a distribution center that has been defined in the RWMS system used to locate merchandise.

Pick

The process of selecting an item from a location and placing it on a container for shipment to its next destination.

Pick to Belt

Picking merchandise from a forward case picking location onto a conveyor belt. This pick type allows the user to pick with labels only and does not require the use of an RF device.

Pick to Pallet

Picking merchandise from a forward case picking location onto a pallet. This picking method requires the use of an RF device and does not use pre-printed labels.

Pre-distribution

Allocation of merchandise in advance of receipt to facilitate flow through or cross-dock upon arrival, bypassing storage, and going directly to break case picking area or shipping.

Purchase Order

The list of items and quantities authorized to receive from a specific vendor.

Putaway

The task of directing received items to specific storage locations based on a pre-determined set of rules.

Record

A single line of data in a file.

Radio Frequency (RF)

A frequency in the range within which radio waves may be transmitted, from about 3 kiloherts to about 300,00 megahertz. Radio Frequency devices are used in the warehouse to receive new tasks and to confirm the completion of tasks.

Replenishment

The process of moving items from storage locations to picking locations based on a reorder point trigger or actual need.

Reserve Storage

Locations in the distribution center that contains inventory on items that have not been distributed yet (do not have a final destination).

Return to Vendor

The process of sending back the merchandise to the supplier/vendor from the warehouse for various reasons (damaged, defects etc).

Route Day/Date

The day of week that merchandise going on a route will be processed.

Slot

A period of time in which an appointment may occur.

Supplier

The person or company that provides items to a retailer.

Tare

The tare weight is the weight of the container on which items are stored.

Trailer

A truck or shipping container into which merchandise will be loaded/shipped, or which it will be received.

Transfer

An internal movement of stock from one location to another.

Trouble Code

A code applied to a container when a container cannot be picked from due to some sort of problem (for example water damage).

Unit Cost

The cost per unit of the item.

Unit of Measure

The unit in which the quantity of an item is managed, for example, pounds, box of 12, package of 20, or case of 144. Various UOM may exist for a single item. For example, a product may be purchased in cases, stocked in boxes and issued in single units.

Unit Pick System (UPS)

Any picking system where you pick quantities less than full case from location..

User Defined Attribute

An identifying characteristic that has been set up by the user..

Vendor

A company or person who sells finished or unfinished goods to another company or person for money.

Wave

A group of orders that can be released together for picking and shipment.

Work in Progress (WIP) Code

It is a code assigned to merchandise that needs processing of any form. It could be a value addition activity like packaging, gift wrapping etc. It could also be correction of a 'trouble' or a defect that was raised on a given merchandise, like repairing the damage, repacking etc.