| Avoidance | Finding ways to minimize the number of items that are returned.
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| Bullwhip effect | Inventory oscillations become progressively larger looking backward through the supply chain.
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| Centralized purchasing | Purchasing is handled by one special department.
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| Closed-loop supply chain | A manufacturer controls both the forward and reverse shipment of product.
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| Cross-docking | 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.
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| Decentralized purchasing | Individual departments or separate locations handle their own purchasing requirements.
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| Delayed differentiation | Production of standard components and subassemblies, which are held until late in the process to add differentiating features.
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| Disintermediation | Reducing one or more steps in a supply chain by cutting out one or more intermediaries.
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| E-business | The use of electronic technology to facilitate business transactions.
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| Event management | The ability to detect and respond to unplanned events.
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| Fill rate | The percentage of demand filled from stock on hand.
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| Gatekeeping | Screening returned goods to prevent incorrect acceptance of goods.
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| Information velocity | The speed at which information is communicated in a supply chain.
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| Inventory velocity | The speed at which goods move through a supply chain.
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| Logistics | The movement of materials, services, cash, and information in a supply chain.
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| Order fulfillment | The processes involved in responding to customer orders.
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| Purchasing cycle | Series of steps that begin with a request for purchase and end with notification of shipment received in satisfactory condition.
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| Reverse logistics | The process of transporting returned items.
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| Radio frequency identification (RFID) | A technology that uses radio waves to identify objects, such as goods in supply chains.
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| Strategic partnering | Two or more business organizations that have complementary products or services join so that each may realize a strategic benefit.
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| Strategic sourcing | Analyzing the procurement process to lower costs by reducing waste and nonvalue-added activities, increase profits, reduce risks, and improve supplier performance.
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| Supply chain | A sequence of organizations—their facilities, functions, and activities—that are involved in producing and delivering a product or service.
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| Supply chain management | The strategic coordination of the supply chain for the purpose of integrating supply and demand management.
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| Supply chain visibility | A major trading partner can connect to its supply chain to access data in real time.
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| Third-party logistics (3-PL) | The outsourcing of logistics management.
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| Traffic management | Overseeing the shipment of incoming and outgoing goods.
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| Vendor analysis | Evaluating the sources of supply in terms of price, quality, reputation, and service.
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| Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) | Vendors monitor goods and replenish retail inventories when supplies are low.
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