A computer based tool for collecting, storing, retrieving, and displaying demographic data on maps

Geographic information system(GIS)

Small factory with a narrow product focus, located near major markets

Microfactory

Technique for evaluating location choices in economic terms

Locational cost-profit-volume analysis

General Approach to evaluating locations that includes quantitative and qualitative inputs

Factor rating

Method for locating a distribution center that minimizes distribution cost.

Center of Gravity method

A sequence of organizations - their facilities, functions, and activities - that are involved in producing and delivering a product or service

Supply chain

The strategic coordination of the supply chain for the purpose of integrating supply and demand management.

Supply chain management

The part of a supply chain involved with the forward and reverse flow of goods, services, cash, and information

Logistics

Series of steps that begin with a request for purchase and end with notification of shipment received in satisfactory condition

Purchasing cycle

Purchasing is handled by one special department

Centralized purchasing

Individual departments or separate locations handle their own purchasing requirements

Decentralized purchasing

The use of electronic technology to facilitate business transactions

E-business

Evaluating the sources of supply in terms of price, quality, reputation, and service

Vendor analysis

A supply chain initiative that focuses on information sharing among supply chain trading partners in planning, forcasting, and inventory replenishment.

Collaborative Planning, Forcasting, and Replenishment (CPFR)

Two or more business organizations that have complementary products or services join so that each may realize a strategic benefit

Strategic Partnering

The speed at which goods move through a supply chain

Inventory Velocity

Inventory oscillations become progressively larger looking backward through the supply chain.

Bullwhip effect

Vendors monitor goods and replenish retail inventories when supplies are low

Vendor-managed inventory (VMI)

The processes involved in responding to customer orders

Order fulfillment

The movement of materials, services, cash, and information in a supply chain

Logistics

Overseeing the shipment of incoming and outgoing goods.

Traffic Management

A technology that uses radio waves to identify objects such as goods in supply chains

Radio frequency identification (RFID)

The outsourcing of logistics management

Third-party logistics (3-PL)

The process of transporting returned items

Reverse logistics

Screening returned goods to prevent incorrect acceptance of goods

Gatekeeping

Finding ways to minimize the number of items that are returned.

Avoidance

A manufacturer controls both the forward and reverse shipment of product.

Closed-loop supply chain

The speed at which information is communicated in a supply chain

Information velocity

A major trading partner can connect to its supply chain to access data in real time.

Supply chain visibility

The ability to detect and respond to unplanned events

Event management

The percentage of demand filled from stock on hand

Fill rate

Analyzing the procurement process to lower costs by reducing waste and non-value-added activities, increase profits, reduce risks, and improve supplier performance

Strategic Sourcing

A technique whereby goods arriving at a warehouse from a supplier are unloaded from the supplier's truck and loaded onto outbound trucks, thereby avoiding warehouse storage

Cross-docking

Production of standard components and subassemblies, which are held until late in the process to add differentiating features.

Delayed differentiation

Reducing one or more steps in a supply chain by cutting out one or more intermediaries

Disintermediation