Fulfillment Industry Dictionary

3PL
Third-party logistics provider is a company who supplies outsourced logistic services. Providers usually are specialized in warehousing, inventory, fulfillment, and transportation. The services provided are able to be customized depending on the customer's needs and demands of delivery for their product.

4PL
Whereas traditional 3PL providers mainly focus on transportation and logistics, 4PLs, such as DCL, provide a wide range of value-added services that can range from business process analysis to hand work such as assembly, packaging and configuration. The lines of distinction between 3PLs and 4PLs are, at best, blurry. There has been a move in recent years by traditional 3PLs to provide more value-added types of 4PL services in an effort to enter into higher margin types of business.

Assembly Instruction
The step by step instructions, including component list, that depicts the order to the finished product.

BOM
Bill of Materials is a list of the parts that are used in the creation of a final product. It includes all the sub-assemblies items that comprise the finished good. This list is important for consumers to order replacement parts and to help locate the whereabouts of possible problems.

BTO
Build to Order is a production type where after the order is confirmed then the good is built. In this approach the company is able to supply a product to the customer based on their exact specifications.

BTS
Build to Stock is a production approach where large amounts of good are produced in advance and stored in the expectation of great demand.

CAR
Corrective Action Report is a report that is issued when a mistake has been made or a person files a complaint.

CD-R
Compact Disk-Recordable is a medium of storing data. A computer records the information by heating up certain areas of the disk with a laser, hence the common term of "burning a CD." There are two types of compact disc, Recordable (CD-R) and ReWritable (CD-RW). A Rewritable disc is able to be overlap previously burned data and reuse the storage space, while a recordable disc the storage of data is permanent.

Consigned Materials
Components that are supplied by the customer. This occurs if the product is a proprietary item, one of great expense, or the customer has a large inventory. The process for manufacturers usually becomes a full turnkey project where they procure all the parts, or a hybrid project (part turnkey, part consigned).

Distributor
A company that operates as an intermediary, delivering products and services to consumers and retailers.

Duplication
Transferring/duplicating data onto electronic forms of storage (CD-R, DVD-R, Floppy Disks) on a mass scale.

DVD
Digital Versatile/Video Disc is a medium of storing data, however it holds a considerable more amount of information in comparison to a Compact Disc. The 2 main types of DVD are Recordable (DVD+R/DVD-R) and ReWritable (DVD+RW/DVD-RW). With a rewritable disc you are able to reuse the space while with a recordable you can only use it once. There are many file sizes for a DVD depending on if the disc is single or dual layered. The most common being single layer DVD-5 with a capacity of 4.7 Gigabytes. The larger size being dual layered DVD-10 storing 8.75 Gigabytes.

e-Commerce
An online system that provides fast ordering, reporting, and fulfillment through an internet service such as a website. Users are able to create and manage catalogs, process orders, analyze online business metrics, view status, inventory, or shipping information in real time.

e-Factory
Web-based application that provides secure, comprehensive and real-time information on order fulfillment, material planning, procurement, warehouse, manufacturing and RMA transactions

ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning is a tool of helping maintain appropriate inventory levels and prevent loss of investment dollars over excessive storage.

ESD
Electronic Software Distribution is the service of having downloadable software available for users instead of having the product in a physical form. There are two methods, either plain electronic purchase of software or TBYB (try-before-you-buy). In the latter method the user downloads a demo of the product and has a short time to experience it before they decide to electronically purchase the product.

First Article
The first finished product that goes under review of all standards and guidelines (Assembly Instructions, BOM, etc…)

ISO
The International Organization for Standardization formulates global standards commercially and industrially.

Logistics
Logistics encompasses the management and running of all processes of a product from production to the consumer's hands. It involves the warehousing, transportation, inventory, purchasing, packaging, operations, and the planning/coordination of all activities. The goal is capital efficiency in every project and supply chain.

MRP
Materials Requirement Planning is an electronic system that allows users to manage production planning and inventory. The goals are to keep low level of inventory, map out shipping, manufacturing, and purchasing schedules, and ensuring the availability of products for the delivery and production.

Replication
The process of creating data onto a medium such as CD but involves the actual creation of the medium, unlike duplication where data is burned onto an existing medium.

RMA
Return Materials Authorization is a service that handles with the process of returns, ranging from authorization, validation, and disposition. The different paths or options of work are acceptance and redistribution, rework or disposal of the product. The returns process may involve substituting new components in the package, providing hardware testing and validation, or salvaging usable components.

Turnkey (Turnkey Project Management/Turnkey Purchasing)
A process ranging from packaging design to launch that produces a fully assembled, tested, and ready to use product. Turnkey Project Management extends the process to the every day operation of your business, each project being assigned a team of specialists from the areas of Account Management, Quality Assurance, Purchasing and Fulfillment who assess the project's needs and produce all the specifications necessary to ensure optimization of the supply chain.

VMI
Vendor Managed Inventory is a service to help manage company's inventories. It prevents inventory buildups and helps conserve the use of materials. In the process VMI determines a customer's inventory volume and optimal level of inventory buys.

Sources
Wikipedia.com, Videohelp.com, Encarta.msn.com, Moneyglossary.com