Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.
4 minutes read
Dictionary Q
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Qualitative Forecasting Techniques | In forecasting, an approach that is based on intuitive or judgmental evaluation. It is used generally when data are scarce, not available, or no longer relevant. Common types of qualitative techniques include: personal insight, sales force estimates, panel consensus, market research, visionary forecasting, and the Delphi method. Examples include developing long-range projections and new product introduction |
| Qualifier | A data element, which identifies or defines a related element, set of elements or a segment. The qualifier contains a code from a list of approved codes. |
| Quality | Conformance to requirements or fitness for use. Quality can be defined through five principal approaches: (1) Transcendent quality is an ideal, a condition of excellence. (2) Product-based quality is based on a product attribute. (3) Userbased quality is fitness for use. (4) Manufacturing-based quality is conformance to requirements. (5) Value-based quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price. Also, quality has two major components: (a) quality of conformance,quality is defined by the absence of defects, and (b) quality of design,quality is measured by the degree of customer satisfaction with a product’s characteristics and features. |
| Quality assurance | The set of activities that specifies acceptable material and process parameters and measures actual performance in meeting defined quality standards. When used in reference to a department- quality assurance (QA) or quality control (QC)- it often indicates that responsibility for meeting quality standards has been delegated to that department, and is not an assumed function of other company operations |
| Quality control | The management function that attempts to ensure that the foods or services manufactured or purchased meet the product or service specifications |
| Quality costs | The quality life cycle costs identified with conformance and customer satisfaction, usually categorized as prevention (training and predictive process controls), appraisal (inspection and testing), internal failure (rework, scrap, downtime) and external failure (customer returns processing, warranty charges, replacements). |
| Quality of Service (QoS) level | A network or system agreement that specifies uptime, response time, acceptable error rates and other conditions for a given service and designated user base |
| Quantity allocated | Also known as committed quantity, commitments, or allocations. Quantity allocated is the quantity that is on current open sales orders or production orders (as components), and may be relative to a specific time period. Also see Allocations |
| Quantity available | is the result of a calculation that takes quantity on hand and reduces it by allocations (for sales orders, manufacturing orders, etc). Quantity available may or may not be date specific and therefore take into account future receipts. Quantity available calculations are sometimes very complicated and vary from one software product to another |
| Quantity in transit | in multi-branch environments, quantity in transit reflects the quantity that has been shipped from one branch/facility to another branch/facility, but has not yet been received by that branch/facility. In operations that use advanced tracking of receipts, it may reflect quantities that have been shipped by outside vendors, but not yet received |
| Quantity on hand | Quantity on hand describes the actual physical inventory in the possession of the business. When inventory is received or produced, it is added to quantity on hand, when inventory is sold or consumed, it is removed from quantity on hand |
| Quantity on order | includes quantity on open purchase orders or manufacturing orders. May or may not include quantities on transfer orders from other branches |
| Quantity rounding | System functions that modify the original result of a transaction by rounding up or down to a specified number of decimal places. Typically used when a unit of measure conversion is performed (cases to eaches) and the generated value does not make sense from a physical or operating standpoint. |
| Quarantine | In quality management, the setting aside of items from availability for use or sale until all required quality tests have been performed and conformance certified |
| Quay | Man-made docking area for loading/unloading vessels. Docking is parallel, allowing loading/unloading from one side of ship. |
| Queue | Jobs, orders or activities waiting to be processed and prioritized by a FIFO, LIFO, critical ratio or other measure. |
| Queue time | Time spent by a specific job or order waiting to be processed by a resource that is currently not immediately available for that job. |
| Quick response | Systems that attempt to provide quick turnaround and reduced lead time based on the location and level of inventory, and linked communications systems that quickly translate and evaluate changes in customer requirements based on usage and POS data |
| Quotation | A limitation on the quantity of goods that may be imported during a specific period of time. Quotas can include limitations on all countries, or can target specific countries. |
| Quote | An offer to sell goods at a stated price and under specified conditions |
| Queue time | Amount of time before set-up or processing of a job |
Sales forecasting
and inventory optimization
Become a retail mastermind you always wanted to be.