Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.
23 minutes read
Dictionary E
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) | An inventory model that determines how much to order by determining the amount that will meet customer service levels while minimising total ordering and holding costs. |
| E.P.A. | US government Protection Agency, a federal agency which regulates hazardous substances in the environment. |
| E2E | Exchange-to-exchange or Enterprise-to-enterprise. |
| EAI | Enterprise Application Integration. Generally refers to the ability to share information between software systems at different companies, specifically, the transmitting of data. |
| EAI , Enterprise Application Integration | A computer term for the tools and techniques used in linking ERP and other enterprise systems together. Linking systems is key for e-business. Gartner say ‘firms implementing enterprise applications spend at least 30% on point-to-point interfaces’. |
| EAN European Article Numbering | A defined numbering mechanism used in Europe to uniquely identify every retail product and packaging option. The EAN is similar in concept and design to the UPC code and is usually what the barcode represents on goods. |
| EAR , Export Administration Regulations | EAR , Export Administration Regulations |
| Earliest due date (EDD) | A priority scheduling rule that means the earliest due date job is performed next. |
| Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) | The process of involving suppliers early in the product design activity and drawing on their expertise, insights and knowledge to generate better designs in less time and designs that are easier to manufacture with high quality. |
| Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) | A measure of a company’s earning power from ongoing operations, equal to earnings (revenues minus cost of sales, operating expenses, and taxes) before deduction of interest payments and income taxes. Also called operating profit. |
| EAS | Electronic Article Surveillance popular item security system used by retailers, based on magnetic tags. |
| E-business | Business to Business (B2B) Transactions between businesses using computer and telecommunications networks, including the Internet. |
| ECM | Enterprise Commerce Management. |
| ECMT | European Conference of Ministers of Transport |
| Ecomm , Electronic Commerce. | Conducting business electronically via traditional EDI technologies, or online via the Internet. |
| E-Commerce | Business to Consumer (B2C) Transactions between businesses and private consumers using computer and telecommunication networks, including the Internet. |
| Econometric Models | An econometric model is one of the tools economists use to forecast future developments in the economy. In the simplest terms, econometricians measure past relationships among such variables as consumer spending, household income, tax rates, interest rates, employment, and the like, and then try to forecast how changes in some variables will affect the future course of others. |
| Economic Commission for Europe | The Economic Commission for Europe administers, among other things, regulations for standards for vehicle equipment and systems. |
| Economic forecasts | Planning indicators, often provided by forecasting services, valuable in helping organisations prepare medium or to long-range forecasts. |
| Economic order quantity (EOQ) | An inventory model that determines how much to order by determining the amount that will minimise total ordering and holding costs. |
| Economic part period | That period of time when the ratio of setup cost to holding cost is equal. |
| Economic Speed | That speed of a means of transport which produces the best possible financial result for the owner. Such speed should not be in excess of the maximum or minimum output allowed for the engine(s). |
| Economic Value Added (EVA) | A measurement of shareholder value as a company’s operating profits after tax, less an appropriate charge for the capital used in creating the profits. |
| Economies Scale | Economies of Scale basically means the more you produce, the lower the average cost. |
| Economy of Scale | The lowering of costs with added output due to allocation of fixed costs over more units. |
| Economy Order Quantity | Determining how much to order at one time depends on cost that will be affected by the quantity ordered. |
| ECSI | Export Cargo Shipping Instruction/Pre-advice Instructions from shipper with details of all parties involved and description of goods. |
| Edge Protector | An angle piece fitted over the edge of boxes, crates, bundles and other packages to prevent the pressure from metal bands or other types from cutting into the package. |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange the transmission of trade documents electronically using standardised formatting. |
| EDI Interchange | Communication between partners in the form of a structured set of messages and service segments starting with an interchange control header and ending with an interchange control trailer. In the context of X.400 EDI messaging, the contents of the primary body of an EDI message. |
| EDI standards | Criteria that define the data content and format requirements for specific business transactions (e.g. purchase orders). Using standard formats allows companies to exchange transactions with multiple trading partners easily. |
| EDI transmission | A functional group of one or more EDI transactions that are sent to the same location, in the same transmission and are identified by a functional group header and trailer. |
| EDIFACT | Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce. The ISO application level syntax rules for the structuring of user data and of the associated service data in the interchange of messages in an open environment. |
| Effective capacity or utilisation | The maximum capacity a firm can expect to achieve given its product mix, methods of scheduling, maintenance, and standards of quality. |
| Effective Date | The date an annuity exchange order was executed. |
| Effective Meetings | Meetings that have a format, an agenda available ahead of the meeting time, prepared inputs, expected outcomes, a designated recorder, and an evaluation at the end. |
| Effective Non-profit Board | A board that not only acts in the public interest and fulfills its legal duties, but also ensures that the organisation’s mission is appropriate and relevant and the organisation secures, uses and protects its assets to carry out its mission and maximise the benefits to its constituencies. |
| Effectiveness | The extent to which a program has made desired changes or met its goals and objectives through the delivery of services. |
| Efficiency | The extent to which a program has used resources appropriately and completed activities in a timely manner. |
| Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) | System for replenishing merchandise based on actual consumer demand. Prior methods of inventory replenishment were order driven, relying on retailers and wholesalers to predict demand. ECR is demand driven, initiating the manufacture and shipment of goods based on consumer purchase activity. ECR reduces the cycle time from purchase to replenishment, reduces the cost of warehousing excess inventory, and assists retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers in determining the optimum product mix. ECR predicts the impact of a product promotion on retail demand and production requirements. ECR is dependent upon the efficient and timely sharing of data along the supply chain beginning with sales information collected at a point-of-sale terminal. Given thin margins on average transactions and significant expenditures on warehouse space, some food and drug retailers resist manufacturers’ ECR initiatives. |
| EFQM | European Foundation for Quality Management |
| EFT | EFT , Electronic Funds Transfer. A computerised system that processes financial transactions and information about these transactions or performs the exchange of value. Sending payment instructions across a computer network, or the company-to-company, company-to-bank, or bank-to-bank electronic exchange of value. |
| EIN | Employer’s Identification Number. Number assigned to a firm for tax reporting purposes. If operating as an individual, that person’s social security number takes the place of an EIN. |
| Electric Vehicle | Vehicle powered by electric motor(s) rather than by an internal combustion engine. Most common source of electricity is chemical storage batteries. |
| Electronic business Extensible Mark | Suite of specifications for data exchange over the internet enabling a modular electronic business framework. |
| Electronic Commerce | A way to execute transactions and share information with other businesses, consumers or government by using computer and telecommunication networks, including the Internet. |
| Electronic data interchange (EDI) | A standardised data transmittal format for computerised communications between organisations. |
| Electronic Data Interchange Association | A national body that propagates and controls the use of EDI in a given country. |
| Electronic Data Processing | The computerised handling of information (e.g. business data). |
| Electronic performance support system | A computer application that’s linked directly to another application to train or guide workers through completing a task in the target application |
| Electronic Product Code (EPC) | A universal identifier that gives a unique identity to a specific physical object. This identity is designed to be unique among all physical objects and all categories of physical objects in the world, for all time. |
| Electronic Signature | A form of authentication that provides identification and validation of a transaction by means of an authorisation code identifying the individual or organisation. |
| Elevating | Charges assessed for the handling of grain through grain elevators. |
| Elevator | Equipment used to discharge some bulk cargoes such as grain which is conveyor belt to store. |
| E-marketplace | A web based service which allows individuals or companies to offer products and services or make bids to buy products or services. For example, Covisint is the consortium and the name of the automotive eMarketplace. |
| Embargo | A carrier’s refusal to accept cargo because the carrier cannot deliver it for example, because of washed-out bridge. A government order prohibiting the entry or departure of commercial vessels or goods at its ports. |
| Eminent Domain | The sovereign power to take property for a necessary public use, with reasonable compensation. |
| Empirical | Statement or formula based upon experience or observation rather than on deduction or theory. |
| Empowerment | A condition whereby employees have the authority to make decisions and take action in their work areas without prior approval. For example, an operator can stop a production process if he or she detects a problem, or a customer service representative can send out a replacement product if a customer calls with a problem. |
| Empty depot | A container yard used for the storage of empty containers. |
| Empty Repo | Contraction for Empty Repositioning. The movement of empty containers. |
| End Item | A product sold as a completed item or repair part; any item subject to a customer order or sales forecast. |
| End User | The final buyer of the product who purchases the product for use or consumption. Also known as the consumer. |
| End-of-Life | Goods that have reached the end of their operational or shelf life. Can include obsolete items or products that cannot be repaired. |
| End-of-Life Inventory | Inventory on hand that will satisfy future demand for products that are no longer in production at your entity. |
| End-of-Line (EOL) | A terminal which receives inbound shipments from the breakbulk for delivery and sends outbound shipments to the breakbulk that has been picked up. |
| Endorsement | The transfer of the right to obtain delivery of the goods of the carrier by means of the consignee’s signature on the reverse side of a bill of lading. If the name of the new consignee (transferee) is not stated, the endorsement is an open one which means that every holder of the document is entitled to obtain delivery of the goods. |
| End-to-End Solution | A common e-business buzzword, end-to-end refers to a streamlined, seamless and real-time flow of information and linkages across a value chain. |
| End-User | This refers to the Purchasing functions performed by the individual persons or department as and when the purchasing needs raised. |
| Engineering change notice (ECN) | A revision to a drawing or design released by engineering to modify or correct a part. The request for the change can be from a customer or from production, quality control, another department, or a supplier. |
| Engineering Change Order (ECO) | A documented and approved revision to a product or process specification. |
| Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) | A proposal submitted by the seller in response to a buyer request for an ECP to change the existing contract effort. Only the buyer can initiate the request for an Engineering Change Proposal. This activity is usually preceded by a Request for change. The user, buyer or the seller can initiate a Request for Change to the contract. It is an exploratory activity. |
| Engineering drawing | A drawing that shows the dimensions, tolerances, materials, and finishes of a component. |
| Engineer-to-Order | A process in which the manufacturing organisation must prepare (engineer) significant product or process documentation before manufacture may begin. |
| Enquiry | Document issued by a party interested in the purchase of goods specified therein and indicating particular, desirable conditions regarding delivery terms, etc., addressed to a prospective supplier with a view to obtaining an offer. |
| Enroute | Along the route of movement. |
| Enterprise | An organisation created to provide products and/or services to customers. |
| Enterprise Resource Planning | A class of software for planning and managing “enterprise-wide” the resources needed to take customer orders, ship them, account for them and replenish all needed goods according to customer orders and forecasts. Often includes electronic commerce with suppliers. Examples of ERP systems are the application suites from SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft and others. |
| Enterprise-Wide ABM | An EDI management software function that groups all documents of the same type, or functional group, and bound for the same destination into an electronic envelope. Enveloping is useful where there are multiple documents such as orders or invoices issued to a single trading partner that need to be sent as a packet. |
| Enterprise-wide E-learning | E-learning that’s intended for all or most employees within a company. |
| Entry (Customs) | A statement of the kinds, quantities and values of goods imported together with duties due, if any, and declared before a customs office or other designated officer. |
| Entry Form | The document that must be filed with Customs to obtain the release of imported goods and to allow collection of duties and statistics. Also called a Customs Entry Form or Entry. |
| Environment temperature | The temperature for the particular environment such as cold room / warehouse and etc |
| Environmentally Sensitive Engineering | Designing features in a product and its packaging that improve recycling, etc. It can include elimination of compounds that are hazardous to the environment. |
| EPM | Excellence in People Management / Enterprise Project Management |
| EPO | Enterprise Profit Optimisation and combining supply chain systems with price optimisation to allow the supply and demand sides of an organisation to be reviewed and improved simultaneously. |
| E-Procurement | E-Procurement is the business to business or business-to-consumer purchase and sale of suppliers and services over the Internet. Management of purchasing and procurement activities via the internet. |
| Equalisation | A monetary allowance to the customer for picking up or delivering at a point other than the destination shown on the bill of lading. This provision is covered by tariff publication. |
| Equally likely | A criterion for decision making under certainty that assigns equal probability to each state of nature. |
| Equipment | Material resources necessary to facilitate the transport and handling of cargo. Transport equipment does under the given circumstances not have the ability to move by its own propulsion (e.g. sea container, trailer, unit load device, pallet). |
| Equipment Damage Report | Written statement concerning damage to equipment, based on a physical inspection. |
| Equipment I.D. | An identifier assigned by the carrier to a piece of equipment. See also Container ID. |
| Equipment Interchange Receipt | Physical inspection and transfer receipt. |
| Equipment Interchange Report | A document executed by a truck carrier and a terminal transferring possession of a container or chassis from one to the other, and showing equipment condition at time of transfer. |
| Equipment Leasing | Equipment leasing is basically a loan in which the lender buys and owns equipment and then “rents” it to a business at a flat monthly rate for a specified number of months. At the end of the lease, the business may purchase the equipment for its fair market value (or a fixed or predetermined amount), continue leasing, lease new equipment or return it |
| Equipment Positioning | The process of placing equipment at a selected location. |
| Ergonomics | The study of work; in the united states often called human factor engineering. The science of creating work spaces and products which are human friendly to use. |
| ERP , Enterprise Resource Planning. | A planning and scheduling system whereby various modules of a company’s system can share data. For example, orders can be entered directly into a company’s planning system and manufacturing is automatically coordinated. |
| E-Sourcing | Web-based execution of the sourcing process for goods and services |
| Estimated Cost | The estimated cost (calculated based on all known costs) of the project, including accrued interest. |
| Estimated Gain | An estimate of the gain of the stock, money or services before the actual count or execute. |
| Ethernet | A computer term for the most commonly used type of local area network (LAN) communication protocol using coaxial or twisted pair wiring. |
| Evaluated Receipts Settlement (ERS) | A process for authorizing payment for goods based on actual receipts with purchase order data, when price has already been negotiated. The basic premise behind ERS is that all of the information in the invoice is already transmitted in the shipping documentation. Therefore, the invoice is eliminated and the shipping documentation is used to pay the vendor. |
| Evaluation | Any systematic method for gathering information about the impact and effectiveness of a learning offering. |
| Even Keel | Said of a vessel that is balanced in such a way that the draft forward and aft is the same as the draft in the midship of the vessel on both sides. |
| Event | A point in time that marks the start or completion of a task or activity in a network. An occurrence. |
| Ex Dec | Contraction for “Shipper’s Export Declaration.” |
| Ex Works | Represents the minimum involvements of the seller and the maximum involvements of the buyer in the movements of the goods from point of works. An incoterms term of sale in which the buyer is responsible for taking delivery of the goods at the premises of the factory. |
| Exception | Notations made when the cargo is received at the carrier’s terminal or loaded aboard a vessel. They show any irregularities in packaging or actual or suspected damage to the cargo. Exceptions are then noted on the bill of lading. |
| Exception Rate | A deviation from the class rate; changes (exceptions) made to the classification. |
| Exception-Based Processing | A computer term for applications that automatically highlight particular events or results which fall outside pre-determined parameters. |
| Excess | Going over the prescribed amount or degree e.g. excess luggage is luggage of which the weight is over the weight for free carriage. |
| Excess Mileage | Difference between the mileage from point of origin through points of diversion and re-consignment to final destination and the mileage from point of origin to final destination. |
| Excess Stock | That portion of stock on hand which is over and above the desired stock level. |
| Exchange | Also known as an e-marketplace a Web site for buying and selling goods and services, usually via auctions. |
| Exchange bill of lading | A bill of lading issued in exchange for another bill of lading. |
| Exchange permit | A government permit sometimes required by the importer’s government to enable the import firm to convert its own country’s currency into foreign currency with which to pay a seller in another country. |
| Exchange Rate | The rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another, usually expressed as the value of the one in terms of the other. The ratio of prices at which the currencies of nations are exchanged at a particular time. |
| Exclusive Agreements | Purchasing, market-sharing or distribution agreements between countries which are prohibited by EC competition policy. |
| Exclusive Patronage Agreements | A shipper agrees to use only a conference’s member liner firms in return for a 10 to 15 percent rate reduction. |
| Exclusive Use | Vehicles that a carrier assigns to a specific shipper for its exclusive use. |
| Exclusive Use of Trailer | A request made by a shipper, on the bill of lading, for the complete use of a trailer. |
| Execution | The actual act of carrying out a task. |
| Exempt Carrier | A for-hire carrier that is free from economic regulation. Trucks hauling certain commodities are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission economic regulation. By far the largest portion of exempt carriers transports agricultural commodities or seafood. |
| Exempt Trailer | Trucks hauling certain commodities are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission economic regulation. The largest portion of exempt commodities are agricultural commodities or seafood. |
| Exemption Clause | A clause in a contract, which relieves the carrier’s responsibility for certain events. |
| Expected monetary value (EMV) | The expected payout or value of a variable that has different possible states of nature, each with an associated probability. |
| Expected value | A measure of central tendency and the weighted average of the values of the variable. |
| Expected value of perfect information (EVPI) | The difference between the payoff under certainty and under risk. |
| Expected value under certainty | The expected or average return. |
| Expedited Service | An agreement with the mover to perform transportation by a set date in exchange for charges based on a higher minimum weight. |
| Expediting | Moving shipments through regular channels at an accelerated rate. To take extraordinary action because of an increase in relative priority, perhaps due to a sudden increase in demand. |
| Expendable Pallet | Pallet intended to be discarded after a single cycle of use. Note: The addition ‘One Way’ has nothing to do with the number of pallet sides in which the forks of e.g. a fork lift can enter, as opposed to the two and four way pallets. |
| Expenses | Costs paid out in connection with booking of cargo and arranging transport (e.g. commission). |
| Expert System | A software system with two basic components: a knowledge base and an inference engine. The system mimics an expert’s reasoning process. An expert system is software that attempts to provide an answer to a problem, or clarify uncertainties where normally one or more human experts would need to be consulted. |
| Expiration notice | A notice in a publication that all, or some part of it, will expire at a stated time. |
| Expiry Date | Issued in connection with documents such as letters of credit, tariffs etc. to advise that stated provisions will expire at a certain time. |
| Exponential smoothing | A weighted moving average forecasting technique in which data points are weighted by an exponential function. In forecasting, a type of weighted moving average forecasting technique in which past observations are geometrically discounted according to their age. |
| Export | To send goods and services to another country. |
| Export bill of lading | A international Bill of Lading / Airway Bill includes the names of the exporter and the importer is a manifest for export cargo. |
| Export broker | An individual or firm that brings together buyers and sellers for a fee but does not take part in actual sales transactions. |
| Export business | Open new business in other country or to send goods and services to another country. |
| Export case | The cartonised stock to other country |
| Export commission house | An organisation which, for a commission, acts as a purchasing agent for a foreign buyer. |
| Export Compliance | Complying with the rules for exporting products, including packaging, labelling and documentation. |
| Export Declaration | A document required by the U.S. Treasury department and completed by the exporter to show the value, weight, consignee, destination, etc., pertinent to the export shipment. |
| Export discount | The discount on the export goods or the discount received from consignee. |
| Export letter of credit | Term used by an exporter to describe a commercial letter of credit in his favor or by a bank to describe a letter of credit issued by a bank other than itself. The same L/C will be called an “import letter of credit” by the importer and the issuing bank. |
| Export levy | export levy is managed and the longer term strategic development of the export industry |
| Export License | A document secured from a government authorizing an exporter to export a specific quantity of a controlled commodity to a certain country. |
| Export management company | A private firm that serves as the export department for several producers of goods or services, either by taking title or by soliciting and transacting export business on behalf of its clients in return for a commission, salary, or retainer plus commission. |
| Export management consultant | Individual or company that assists other companies in identifying potential foreign markets for their goods, often named as a sales agent or representative of the company being served and paid a commission for each sale. |
| Export order | The order’s especially for export to other country. |
| Export packaging | The packing especially design for export goods. |
| Export Packer | Company, packing goods for export. |
| Export price | The charges incurred for export goods. |
| Export Processing Zone (EPZ) | A term used in various countries similar to a Free Trade Zone. |
| Export prohibition | The prohibition or tolerance for export goods. |
| Export Rate | A rate published on traffic moving from an interior point to a port for transshipment to a foreign country. |
| Export Sales Contract | The initial document in any international transaction; it details the specifics of the sales agreement between the buyer and seller. |
| Export shipping | Doing shipping for exporting goods. |
| Export trading | Selling goods with the objective of taking advantage of market opportunities around the world. |
| Export Trading Company | A firm that buys domestic products for sale overseas. A trading company takes title to the goods; an export-management company usually does not. |
| Export | Shipment of goods to another country. |
| Exporter | The party responsible for the export of goods. |
| Exporter Identification Number (EIN) | A number required for the exporter on the Shipper’s Export Declaration. |
| Express | Carrier payment to its customers when ships, rail cars, or trailers are unloaded or loaded in less than the time allowed by contract and returned to the carrier for use. The use of priority package delivery to achieve overnight or second-day delivery. |
| Extended Enterprise | The notion that supply chain partners form a larger entity which works together as though it were a single unit. |
| Extensibility | The ability to expand and adapt an e-learning application or infrastructure by adding features, components, or services to a core set of capabilities. |
| Extensible Markup Language | A computer term for a language that facilitates direct communication among computers on the Internet. |
| External Factory | A situation where supplies are viewed as an extension of the firm’s manufacturing capabilities and capacities. |
| Extranet | An intranet is a private network that uses the internet protocol and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of business information. A computer term describing a private network that links separate organisations and that uses the same software and protocols as the Internet. Used for improving supply chain management. |
| Extrinsic Forecast | In forecasting, a forecast based on a correlated leading indicator, such as estimating furniture sales based on housing starts. Extrinsic forecasts tend to be more useful for large aggregations, such as total company sales, than for individual product sales. |
Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.