Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.
12 minutes read
Dictionary N
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| N | The number of units in a sample |
| NCITD | National Committee on International Trade Documentation |
| NMFC | National Motor Freight Classification. |
| NPCFB | North Pacific Coast Freight Bureau. |
| NAFTA | See North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NAFTA certifcate of origin | A document that certifies that goods have originated in a specific country |
| Nagara system | Smooth production flow, ideally one piece at a time, characterized by synchronization (balancing) of production processes and maximum use of available time; includes overlapping of operations where practical. A nagara production system is one in which seemingly unrelated tasks can be produced simultaneously by the same operator. |
| Narrow aisle | Describes lift trucks that operate in narrow aisles. Narrow-aisle trucks are generally stand-up vehicles such as reach trucks. Also see Vary Narrow Aisle (VNA) and read article The Aisle Width Decision |
| Narrow aisle truck | A truck which permits right angle stacking in aisles narrower than those normally required by counterbalanced trucks |
| NASFM | National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers |
| National cargo bureau | A private organization having representatives throughout the main harbors in the U.S. It is empowered to inspect cargoes of a hazardous nature and issue certificates which are automatically approved by the Coast Guard |
| National carrier | A for-hire certificated air carrier that has annual operating revenues of $75 million to $1 billion; the carrier usually operates between major population centers and areas of lesser population. |
| National customs brokers & forwarders association | An association that gathers and disseminates information to its member customs brokers and freight forwarders. (USA) |
| National industrial traffic league | An association representing the interests of shippers and receivers in matters of transportation policy and regulation. |
| National industrial transportation league | An association representing shippers’ and receivers’ interests in matters of transportation policy and regulation. |
| National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that develops and promotes measurements, standards and technology, and manages the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. |
| National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) | A publication for motor carriers containing rules, descriptions and ratings on all commodities moving in comme |
| National railroad corporation | Also known as Amtrak, the corporation established by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 to operate most of the United States’ rail passenger service |
| National stock number (NSN) | The individual identification number assigned to an item to permit inventory management in the federal (U.S.) supply system. |
| National Wooden Pallet and Container Association | A national association with the goal of promoting the design, manufacturer, distribution, recycling and sale of pallets, containers and reels. |
| Nationalisation | Public ownership, financing, and operation of a business entity. |
| Natural team | A team of individuals drawn from a single work group; similar to a process improvement team except that it is not cross functional in composition and it is usually permanent. |
| Nautical mile | Distance of one minute of longitude at the equator, approximately 6,076.115 feet. The metric equivalent is 1852 meters |
| NAVSAC | Navigation Safety Advisory Council, an industry advisory body to the U.S. Coast Guard. |
| NEC | Abbreviation for “Not Elsewhere Classified.” |
| Negative inventory | An inventory system (computer) condition whereby the on-hand inventory balance is listed as a quantity less than zero. |
| Negotiable BOL | Provides for the delivery of goods to a named enterprise or to their order (anyone they may designate), but only upon surrender of proper endorsement and the bill of lading to the carrier or the carrier’s agents. Also known as an order bill of lading |
| Negotiable Instruments | A document of title (such as a draft, promissory note, check, or bill of lading) transferable from one person to another in good faith for a consideration. Non-negotiable bills of lading are known as “straight consignment.” Negotiable bills are known as “order b/l’s.” |
| Neobulk | Shipments consisting entirely of units of a single commodity, such as cars, lumber, or scrap metal. |
| NES | Abbreviation for “Not Elsewhere Specified.” |
| Nestable container | A container that can stack within another container when empty |
| Nestable pallet | A plastic pallet designed in such a way as to allow the pallet to fit or “nest” in another so as to facilitate better use of storage space. Pallets in which foot design is such that the pallets can stack within each other when empty |
| Nested | Articles packed so that one rests partially or entirely within another, thereby reducing the cubic-foot displacement. |
| Nested net weight | Weight of article without packing and container. 2) Weight of entire contents of vehicle. 3) Weight of cargo before containerization. |
| Nesting container | Containers that can be placed one on another, either wholly or partially, and there in saving on the total cubic displacement |
| Net assets | Total net assets are calculated as Total Assets , Total Liabilities; where the total assets are made up of fixed assets (plant, machinery, and equipment) and current assets which is the total of stock, debtors, and cash (also includes A/R, inventory, prepaid assets, deferred assets, intangibles, and goodwill). The total liabilities are made up in much the same way as long-term liabilities and current liabilities (includes A/P, accrued expenses, and deferred liabilities). |
| Net assets turns | The number of times you replenish your net assets in your annual sales cycle. A measure of how quickly assets are used to generate sales. Calculation: Total Product Revenue / Total Net Assets |
| Net capacity | The number of tons of cargo which a vessel can carry when loaded in salt water to her summer freeboard marks. Also called cargo carrying capacity, cargo deadweight, useful deadweight |
| Net change MRP | An approach in which the material requirements plan is continually retained in the computer. Whenever a change is needed in requirements, open order inventory status, or bill of material, a partial explosion and netting is made for only those parts affected by the change. Antonym: Regeneration MRP. |
| Net requirements | In MRP, the net requirements for a part or an assembly are derived as a result of applying gross requirements and allocations against inventory on hand, scheduled receipts, and safety stock. Net requirements, lot-sized and offset for lead time, become planned orders. |
| Net Tare Weight | The weight of an empty cargo-carrying piece of equipment plus any fixtures permanently attached. |
| Net Ton | 2,000 pounds |
| Net Tonnage (NT) | Equals gross tonnage minus deductions for space occupied by crew accommodations, machinery, navigation equipment and bunkers. It represents space available for cargo (and passengers). Canal tolls are based on net (registered) tonnage. |
| Net variance | A summarized variance number or amount where positive and negative variances are allowed to offset each other |
| Net Weight | Weight of the goods alone without any immediate wrappings, e.g., the weight of the contents of a tin can without the weight of the can. |
| Nets | A basic form of below-the-hook lifting attachment which is suspended from a hoist or other lifting mechanism and simply wraps around the object to be moved and lifts it totally.Mesh netting is also used for securing loads to pallets. |
| Neutral Body | An organization established by the members of an ocean conference acts as a self-policing force with broad authority to investigate tariff violations, including authority to scrutinize all documents kept by the carriers and their personnel. Violations are reported to the membership and significant penalties are assessed. |
| New product introduction (NPI) | The process used to develop products that are new to the sales portfolio of a company. |
| Next count date | Date used in cycle counting programs that is calculated by adding the cycle count period (in days) to the last count date. |
| Next operation as customer | The concept of internal customers in which every operation is both a receiver and a provider. |
| NITL | National Industrial Transportation League. |
| NMFC | See National Motor Freight Classification |
| NMU | National Maritime Union. |
| No location | A received item for which the warehouse has no previously established storage slot. |
| No. Nos. | Number, Numbers |
| Node | A fixed point in a firm’s logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply sources, and markets |
| NOI | Abbreviation for “Not Otherwise Indexed.” |
| Nomenclature of the Customs Cooperation Council | The Customs tariff used by most countries worldwide. It was formerly known as the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature and is the basis of the commodity coding system known as the Harmonized System. |
| Nominal group technique | A technique, similar to brainstorming, to generate ideas on a particular subject. Team members are asked to silently write down as many ideas as possible. Each member is then asked to share one idea, which is recorded. After all the ideas are recorded, they are discussed and prioritized by the group. |
| Non durable goods | Goods whose serviceability is generally limited to a period of less than three years (such as perishable goods and semi durable goods). |
| Non vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) | A cargo consolidator in ocean trades who will buy space from a carrier and sub_sell it to smaller shippers. The NVOCC issues bills of lading, publishes tariffs and otherwise conducts itself as an ocean common carrier, except that it will not provide the actual ocean or intermodal service. |
| Non-certificated carrier | A for-hire air carrier that is exempt from economic regulation. |
| Non-conference line | A shipping line which operates on a route served by a liner conference but which is not a member of that conference. |
| Nonconformity | The nonfulfillment of a specified requirement. Also see “blemish,” “defect” and “imperfection.” |
| Non-contact accumulation conveyor | Non -contact accumulation on a conveyor occurs when the product is accumulated with a definite space between each accumulated load. This is accomplished by controlling the speed of the carrying surface. Most zero pressure conveyors are of the non contact type. |
| Noncontiguous | Domestic shipping routes serving Alaska and non-continental U.S. States and territories. |
| Non-corrugated steel container | A metal container fabricated from corrugated steel sheet and with the same characteristics as corrugated steel containers |
| Nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT, NDE) | Testing and evaluation methods that do not damage or destroy the product being tested. |
| Non-Dumping Certificate | Required by some countries for protection against the dumping of certain types of merchandise or products. |
| Non-folding container | A container with corners permanently helixed and is subject to the same specifications as “folding containers”. |
| Non-linear parameter estimation | A method whereby the arduous and labor intensive task of multiparameter model calibration can be carried out automatically under the control of a computer. |
| Non-negotiable BOL | Provides for the delivery of goods to a named enterprise and to no one else. Also known as a straight bill of lading. |
| Non-parametric tests | All tests involving ranked data (data that can be put in order). Non-parametric tests are often used in place of their parametric counterparts when certain assumptions about the underlying population are questionable. Non-parametric tests can be, and often are, more powerful in detecting population differences when certain assumptions are not satisfied. |
| Non-reversible pallet | A pallet designed and constructed to utilize only the top deckbaord and does not incorporate a bottom deckboard |
| Nonstep beam | A beam that offers only one horizontal surface on which the rack decking can be placed. Examples of nonstep beams are: “Box” sections, tubing channels, and I-beams |
| Nonstep beam application | An application in which the area of wire decking support in confined to the surface area on the top of the front and rear beams fo the rack |
| Non-stock inventory | Inventory that is not tracked within your perpetual inventory system. Non-stock inventory will not have an item-master record or internal SKU number. |
| Non-value added | A term that describes a process step or function that is not required for the direct achievement of process output. This step or function is identified and examined for potential elimination. Also see “value added.” |
| NOR | Notice of Readiness. (When the ship is ready to load.) |
| Normal distribution | Term used in statistical analysis to describe a distribution of numbers in which the probability of an occurrence, if graphed, would follow the form of a bell shaped curve. This is the most popular distribution model for determining probability and has been found to work well in predicting demand variability based upon historical data. |
| NOS/NES | See Not Otherwise Specified / Not Elsewhere Specified |
| Nose | Front of a container or trailer , opposite the tail |
| No-show | Cargo which has been booked but does not arrive in time to be loaded before the vessel sails. See also “Windy Booking.” |
| Not elsewhere specified/Not otherwise specified | A shipping term that indicates that the rate stated in a tariff applies to all commodities within a given commodity group, except those appearing under their own rate |
| Notch | Cutout in lower portion of the stringer to allow entry for the fork tine. |
| Notched stringer | A stringer with two notches spaced for fork-tine entry, (partial four-way entry). |
| Notice | Information given signifying the accomplishment of an act, such as the placement of a trailer for loading or unloading. |
| Notice of arrival | A notice sent promptly to a consignee that advises that certain freight has arrived at destination port or airport. |
| Notify party | The name of an organization, or individual that should be notified when a shipment reaches its destination. |
| NPI | See New Product Introduction |
| NRT | Net registered tons. This tonnage is frequently shown on ship registration papers; it represents the volumetric area available for cargo at 100 cubic feet = 1 ton. It is often used by port and canal authorities as a basis for charges. |
| Nuclear non proliferation | A term used to describe the reduction or elimination of efforts towards nuclear armament. |
| Nuclear regulatory commission | Regulates the transfer of nuclear facilities, materials and parts with unique nuclear applications. |
| Nuclear supplies group | A group of nations that have agreed to guidelines for restricting the export or re-export of items with nuclear applications |
| Number of affected units chart | A control chart for evaluating the stability of a process in terms of the total number of units in a sample in which an event of a given classification occurs. |
| NVOCC | See Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier |
Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.