Maharashtra HSC Logistics Supply Management (Vocational) key terms

The planning and control of the movement and storage of goods, people and information from origin to the point of consumption, so that the right item reaches the right place at the right time and cost.

The coordination of all firms, activities and information flows involved in converting raw materials into finished products delivered to the final customer, aiming at total system efficiency rather than isolated savings.

The managed flow of goods backwards from the customer, covering returns, repairs, recalls, recycling and disposal, including the collection, sorting and recovery or safe scrapping of used products.

An outside company hired to perform logistics functions such as transport, warehousing and order fulfilment on behalf of a shipper, usually under a service contract and measured by agreed service levels.

The broad business process of acquiring goods and services, from identifying needs and sourcing suppliers through contracting and payment, of which purchasing is one operational part.

An internal document raised by a user department asking the purchasing team to buy specified items in stated quantities by a needed date, and normally requiring management approval before any order is placed.

A legally binding commercial document sent by a buyer to a supplier stating the items, quantities, prices, delivery terms and payment conditions that the supplier accepts by fulfilling the order.

A structured assessment of potential or existing vendors against criteria such as quality, price, delivery reliability, capacity, financial stability and compliance, used to select and retain the best sources.

The total elapsed time between placing an order and receiving usable goods, including supplier processing, production, transit, customs clearance and inbound inspection, and a key input to reorder decisions.

A calculation giving the order size that minimises the combined annual cost of placing orders and holding stock, assuming steady demand and known, constant ordering and carrying costs.

Extra inventory held beyond expected demand to absorb unpredictable spikes in demand or delays in supply, protecting service levels at the cost of additional carrying expense.

The stock level at which a fresh order must be placed, typically calculated as average demand during the lead time plus safety stock, so that stock does not run out before replenishment arrives.

The cost of keeping inventory, covering storage space, insurance, obsolescence, shrinkage and the opportunity cost of capital tied up in stock, usually expressed per unit per year.

A ratio showing how many times stock is sold and replaced over a period, computed as cost of goods sold divided by average inventory, with higher figures generally indicating leaner working capital use.

A unique identifier for each distinct item, size, colour or packaging variant held in stock, allowing accurate counting, tracking and valuation at the finest level of inventory control.

A warehouse technique in which incoming shipments are transferred directly to outbound vehicles with little or no storage, reducing handling and dwell time but demanding tight scheduling and reliable information.

A facility designed to receive bulk supplies and break them into customer orders for rapid onward dispatch, holding goods briefly rather than storing them long term like a traditional warehouse.

The set of activities that moves finished products from production or storage to customers, including order fulfilment, transport, storage and delivery scheduling through chosen channels.

The final leg of a shipment from a local hub to the end customer, typically the most expensive and least efficient part of the journey because drops are small, scattered and hard to consolidate.

An intermediary that arranges transport, documentation and customs formalities for shippers by booking space with carriers, without necessarily owning the trucks, ships or aircraft used.

A document issued by a carrier acknowledging receipt of goods for shipment, serving as a contract of carriage and, when negotiable, as a document of title that can transfer ownership.

A seller's document listing the goods, quantities, unit prices, total value and payment terms of an export sale, used by the buyer for payment and by customs to assess duty.

A shipping document detailing how goods are packed, giving package counts, weights, dimensions and contents of each carton, helping carriers, warehouses and customs verify the physical consignment.

Standard international trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce that define who arranges and pays for carriage, insurance and customs at each stage of delivery.

The process of declaring imported or exported goods to customs, paying assessed duties and taxes, and obtaining official release so the consignment may lawfully enter or leave the country.

A policy protecting goods in transit against loss or damage from perils such as sinking, fire, collision and theft, with cover levels and exclusions set by the chosen policy clauses.

A charge levied by a port or terminal when containers remain on the dock beyond the free period, penalising slow collection or clearance and encouraging faster cargo handling.

A charge billed when a carrier's container is kept outside the port beyond the allowed free days, for example while the importer unloads it, distinct from charges for time spent inside the terminal.

The tendency for small shifts in end-customer demand to grow into large swings in orders further up the supply chain, caused by order batching, forecast errors and information delays.

Estimating future customer requirements from historical sales, market intelligence and trends so that procurement, production and stock plans can be sized to expected need rather than guesswork.

A recurring cross-functional process where sales, marketing, operations and finance agree a single demand and supply plan for the coming periods, aligning capacity, inventory and financial targets.

A target or measured percentage of demand met from available stock, or of orders delivered on time and complete, expressing how reliably the supply chain serves customers.

A measurable metric chosen to track progress on a critical objective, such as on-time delivery, order accuracy or cost per shipment, and used to steer corrective management action.

The full lifetime cost of acquiring and using an item or service, including purchase price, transport, duties, storage, maintenance, downtime and disposal, rather than the invoice price alone.

A costing method that assigns overhead to products or services according to the activities they actually consume, giving more accurate logistics costs than broad percentage allocations.

Software that directs warehouse operations such as receiving, put-away, picking, packing and dispatch, tracking stock by location in real time and guiding staff through handheld devices.

A machine-readable pattern of parallel bars and spaces encoding an item or carton identifier, scanned at receiving, picking and dispatch to capture data quickly and reduce manual entry errors.

A technology using tags that transmit identity data by radio waves to a reader, allowing items or pallets to be tracked without line-of-sight scanning and often in bulk.

The computer-to-computer exchange of standard business documents such as purchase orders and invoices between trading partners in an agreed structured format, reducing paperwork and rekeying.

Integrated business software that shares one database across purchasing, inventory, production, sales and finance, so that a transaction in one area updates records everywhere at once.