SLLC Intermediate key terms

Delaying final assembly or customization of a product until a customer order or regional demand is known, so generic inventory serves many variants and forecast risk falls.

The tendency for order variability to grow as it moves upstream from end customers to suppliers, driven by batching, price promotions, rationing and distorted information sharing.

Using short-horizon, high-frequency signals such as point-of-sale data, orders and promotions to detect shifts in demand faster than periodic statistical forecasting allows.

A forecast accuracy measure averaging the absolute error divided by actual demand, expressed as a percentage; undefined when actual demand is zero and biased toward under-forecasts.

The systematic tendency of forecasts to run consistently above or below actual demand over time, measured as average signed error rather than average absolute error.

A single demand plan agreed across sales, marketing, finance and operations, replacing competing departmental numbers so that one set of figures drives planning.

A recurring cross-functional process that balances demand plans against supply capabilities over a rolling horizon, ending in an agreed plan and reconciled financial view.

A production approach where standard components are stocked and final configuration occurs only after a customer order arrives, shortening lead time while limiting finished-goods variety.

A production strategy in which manufacturing starts only after a confirmed customer order, so lead time includes production and finished-goods inventory is minimal.

Comparing available labor, machine and supplier capacity against forecast or planned workload to identify shortfalls and decide on overtime, outsourcing or demand shaping.

A medium-term check that converts the master production schedule into load on key bottleneck resources, flagging infeasible plans before detailed scheduling begins.

A calculation that explodes a master production schedule through the bill of materials, netting on-hand and scheduled receipts to generate time-phased component and raw-material requirements.

A structured list of all components, quantities and parent-child relationships needed to build one unit of a finished product, used for costing, picking and MRP explosions.

Buffer inventory held to absorb demand variability and supply lead-time uncertainty, sized so that a chosen service level is met at acceptable holding cost.

The inventory position at which a replenishment order is triggered, typically average demand during lead time plus safety stock for a continuous-review policy.

The order size that minimizes the sum of ordering and holding costs under stable demand and known costs, ignoring quantity discounts and variability.

Counting a rotating subset of inventory items on a scheduled basis instead of a full annual physical count, allowing root-cause correction of recurring discrepancies.

Receiving goods and shipping them onward with little or no storage, using staged dock flow and pre-planned outbound loads to cut handling and inventory dwell time.

Assigning stock-keeping units to warehouse storage locations based on velocity, cube, weight and affinity so that picking travel and handling effort are minimized.

The lowest level at which inventory is uniquely identified and tracked, distinguished by attributes such as product, size, color or packaging configuration.

Cost of goods sold divided by average inventory value over a period, indicating how many times stock is replaced and how efficiently capital is used.

A procurement view that adds purchase price to freight, duties, quality failures, inventory carrying cost and lifecycle expenses to compare suppliers on full economic cost.

The delivered cost of goods including purchase price, freight, insurance, duties, tariffs and handling, used to value inventory and evaluate sourcing options.

Standard international trade rules defining which party arranges and pays for carriage, insurance, export clearance and import duties at named points in the shipment.

An Incoterm under which the seller delivers goods on board the vessel at the named port, after which risk and main carriage cost pass to the buyer.

A periodic rating of suppliers against agreed metrics such as quality, delivery reliability, cost and responsiveness, used to drive improvement and sourcing decisions.

Awarding all volume for an item to one supplier, gaining leverage and simplicity but concentrating supply risk if that source fails.

Deliberately splitting volume between two qualified suppliers to maintain competitive tension and continuity of supply if one source is disrupted.

The structured practice of segmenting suppliers, setting joint goals and reviewing performance so that strategic partners deliver innovation, quality and reliability over time.

An arrangement where the supplier monitors the buyer's stock and usage data and decides replenishment quantities and timing within agreed service and inventory limits.

Inventory held at the buyer's site but owned by the supplier until consumed or sold, shifting carrying cost and obsolescence risk to the supplier.

The target probability of filling demand from stock during a replenishment cycle, used to size safety stock and balance availability against holding cost.

The percentage of orders delivered complete, on time, undamaged and with correct documentation, a composite measure of end-to-end order execution quality.

The elapsed time from customer order receipt to delivery, spanning order processing, picking, packing and transport, and a key driver of customer-perceived responsiveness.

The final leg of a shipment from a local hub to the end recipient, typically the costliest per unit and most visible to the customer.

A fixed route in which one vehicle collects goods from several suppliers or delivers to several customers in a planned sequence, improving vehicle utilization.

A centralized team and analytics capability that aggregates supply chain data to give end-to-end visibility, exception alerts and coordinated response across partners.

The ability to track inventory, shipments and orders across partners in near real time, enabling earlier exception detection and more reliable customer promises.

A shared, tamper-evident ledger recording custody and handling events so that origin, certifications and chain of custody can be verified across multiple parties.

The likelihood and impact of disruptions from supplier failure, natural events, geopolitics or demand shocks that interrupt flow and erode service or margin.

The capacity of a supply chain to absorb disruption, maintain critical flows and recover quickly, built through redundancy, flexibility and tested contingency plans.

Indirect greenhouse gas emissions arising across a company's value chain, including purchased goods, upstream transport and product use, typically the largest share of footprint.