Have you ever spoken to someone and heard industry-specific terms you didn’t understand? Here’s a list of some common, and some archaic, terms used in warehousing. If you want to hear soomeone using these terms as they relate to your warehousing and shipping needs, give Alert Terminal Warehouse a call! (901) 525-6856.
Term | Definition |
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Inventory | The total amount of goods and materials held in stock by a warehouse. |
Supply Chain | The entire process of making and selling commercial goods, including all stages from raw materials to the final product reaching the end consumer. |
Picking | The process of selecting items from a warehouse to fulfill customer orders. |
Storage Bin | A specific location within a warehouse where goods are stored. |
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) | A unique identifier assigned to each distinct product and used to track inventory. |
Drayage | The transportation of goods over a short distance, typically from a port to a warehouse or vice versa. |
Dunnage | Materials used to secure and protect goods during transportation or storage, often placed between items to prevent damage. |
Demurrage | A charge imposed for exceeding the allowed time for loading or unloading a vessel at a dock. |
Bill of Lading | A document that provides details about a shipment, including the type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried. |
Overweight Charge | An additional fee applied to shipments that exceed the specified weight limits. |
Dimensional Pricing | A pricing method based on the dimensions of a package, not just its weight. |
LTL (Less Than Truckload) | A shipping method used for relatively small freight that doesn’t require a full truck. |
Cycle Count | The process of counting a subset of inventory items on a regular and recurring schedule. |
Inventory Turn | A measure of how many times a company’s inventory is sold and replaced over a period of time. |
Pooling | A logistics strategy where multiple shipments from different sources are combined into one shipment for delivery to a customer. |
Cross-Docking | A logistics practice where products are unloaded from an incoming truck and immediately loaded onto outbound trucks with little or no storage in between. |
Transloading | The transfer of goods from one mode of transportation to another, typically from one truck to another or from a truck to a train. |
Tare | The weight of packaging or container that is deducted from the total weight of a shipment to determine the net weight of the goods. |