Kurt Stump’s Warehouse Management System Software (WMS) Glossary

Method used to stratify or categorize inventory into groups based upon certain activity, request, or use characteristics. Examples of ABC stratifications would include ABC by order velocity (# of times item has been sold), ABC by sales volume, ABC by quantity sold / consumed, ABC by average inventory investment, ABC by margin, etc.

ABC stratifications are used to develop inventory planning policies, set count frequencies for cycle counting, slot inventory for optimized order picking, and other inventory management activities in an ICS. ABC codes are typically set by item.

Refers to the status of inventory as it relates to its ability to be sold or consumed. Availability calculations are used to determine this status. An example of an availability calculation would be:

[Quantity Available] = [Quantity On Hand] -[ Quantity On Hold] – [Quantity Allocated To Sales Orders] – [Quantity Allocated to Production Orders]

1. (v) to make a copy of a file or program for the purpose of restoring the data if the masters were to be lost, damaged, or otherwise unavailable for use.

2. (n) a copy of a master file or program. To be most effective from a security standpoint, backup files are frequently stored at off-site locations.

The amount of data that can be moved through a particular network interface in a given period of time, typically measured in megabits per second (Mbps).  For example, a regular Ethernet line has a bandwidth of 10 Mbps (10 million bits per second).  Note that bandwidth is sometimes measured as the bandwidth in one direction (half-duplex), and sometimes as the total in both directions (full-duplex). 

A test for a computer-related product prior to commercial release.  Beta testing is the last stage of testing and normally can involve sending the product to beta test sites (clients) outside the company for real-world exposure and feature enhancements.  Beta test sites typically benefit from their early exposure to new versions and their influence surrounding additional feature requests specifically targeting their operating environment – they receive the benefits of designing their own software without having to build it themselves.  Beta testing is often preceded by a round of testing called alpha testing.

1. The components that make up a computer system (which model and what peripherals)

2. The physical arrangement of those components (what is placed where)

3. The software settings of an application

The process of extracting data from an operational data source, transforming the data which can include cleansing, aggregation, summarization, integration, as well as transformation (e.g. 1 becomes “Male” 2 becomes “Female”), and loading the data into another database (e.g. ODS, enterprise data warehouse, data mart).  ETL can also refer to vendor software that performs these processes.

ETL processes extract data from source databases and copy it to target databases.  ETL can migrate data between databases, process data to form data marts and data warehouses, and convert data or databases from one format or type to another.

Designed for nickel-based battery, fast charging fills a battery pack in about one hour. Fast charging is preferred because of reduced crystalline formation (memory). Accurate full-charge detection is important. When full, the charger switches to topping and then trickle charge. Fast chargers are used for industrial devices such as two-way radios, power tools, forklifts, and computers.

Method for quickly recharging lift truck batteries on the vehicle during short periods where the vehicle is not being used (lunches, breaks, shift changes, etc). This process for "opportunity charging" eliminates the need to change batteries in multi-shift operations. 

Whether orders are received and released consistently or released from a blanket purchase order, this metric measures the percentage of ship-from-stock orders shipped within 24 hours of order "release." Make-to-stock schedules attempt to time the availability of finished goods to match forecasted customer orders or releases. Orders that were not shipped within 24 hours due to consolidation but were available for shipment within 24 hours are reported separately. In calculating elapsed time for order fill rates, the interval begins at ship release and ends when material is consigned for shipment.

Calculation: [Number of orders filled from stock shipped within 24 hours or order release] / [Total number of stock orders] The same concept of fill rates can be applied to order lines and individual products to provide statistics on percentage of lines shipped completely and percentage of products shipped completely.

An integrated package of software and hardware used in warehouse operations, and elsewhere, to monitor the quantity, location, and status of inventory. Additionally, shipping, receiving, picking, and putaway processes are also managed by inventory control systems. Modern inventory control systems rely upon barcodes, and potentially RFID tags, to provide automatic identification of inventory objects. To record an inventory transaction, the system uses a barcode scanner or RFID reader to automatically identify the inventory object, and then collects additional information from operators via fixed terminals or mobile computers.

An inventory control system may be used to automate a sales order fulfillment process. Such a system contains a list of order to be filled, and then prompts workers to pick the necessary items, and provides them with packaging and shipping information. Real-time inventory control systems use wireless, mobile terminals to record inventory transactions at the moment they occur utilizing a wireless LAN to transmit transaction information to a central administration point. Also typically includes physical inventory counting and cycle-counting features.

Internet Protocol – IP is the basic language of the Internet; it is a data packet-based (datagram) protocol for delivering data across networks. The IP datagram consists of an IP header followed by a message.  Most networks combine IP with a higher- level protocol called Transport Control Protocol (TCP), which establishes a virtual connection between a destination and a source. 

The current and most popular network layer protocol in use today is IPv4; this version of the protocol is assigned version 4. IPv4 was adopted by the United States Department of Defense as MIL-STD-1778.  IPv6 is the proposed successor to IPv4 whose most prominent change is the addressing.  IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses (~4 billion addresses) while IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses (~3.4×1038 addresses).  Versions 0 through 3 were either reserved or unused; version 5 was used for an experimental stream protocol.  Other version numbers have been assigned, usually for experimental protocols, but have not been widely used.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are financial and non-financial metrics (measurements) used to quantify objectives to reflect the strategic performance of a process or entity. A KPI is used to assess the present state of business and to prescribe the course of action. They help an organization measure progress towards their organizational goals.

A KPI is a key part of a measurable objective, which is made up of a direction, target and timeframe. For example, in 'Increase Average Revenue per Customer from $100 to $500 by December 2007', 'Average Revenue Per Customer' is the KPI.

Local Area Network, a typically IP-based network of machines capable of digital communication within an enclosed area such as an office, a home, or a small workgroup of computers. LAN also refers to the private portion of a network inside of a firewall, which may connect a LAN to the Internet, a WAN, or another LAN. 

LANs are further broken down into wired and wireless LANs.  Wired LANs use Ethernet cabling to connect network devices via network equipment, such as hubs, switches, and routers.  Wireless LANs (802.11X) use radio frequencies to connect wireless network devices to wired LANs or other wireless devices via a Wireless Access Point (WAP).

Metropolitan Area Networks (Metro Area Network) are large computer networks usually spanning a campus or a city. They typically use wireless infrastructure or optical fiber connections to link their sites. For instance a university or college may have a MAN that joins together many of their local area networks (LANs) situated around site of a fraction of a square kilometer. Then from their MAN they could have several wide area network (WAN) links to other universities or the Internet.

Some technologies used for this purpose are ATM, FDDI, and SMDS. These technologies are in the process of being displaced by Ethernet-based MANs (e.g. Metro Ethernet) in most areas. MAN links between LANs have traditionally been built without cables using microwave, radio, or infrared free-space optical communication links.

Also known as purchase cost or set up cost, order cost is the sum of the fixed costs that are incurred each time an item is ordered. These costs are not associated with the quantity ordered but primarily with physical activities required to process the order. For purchased items, these would include the cost to enter the purchase order and/or requisition, any approval steps, the cost to process the receipt, incoming inspection, invoice processing and vendor payment, and in some cases a portion of the inbound freight may also be included in order cost.

In manufacturing, the order cost would include the time to initiate the work order, time associated with picking and issuing components excluding time associated with counting and handling specific quantities, all production scheduling time, machine set up time, and inspection time. Order cost is used as part of most cost-based order quantity/lot sizing calculations.

Inventory order picking method where a warehouse is picked for the completion of a single order at a time.  Each warehouse operator is assigned an inventory order and that operator fulfills that order, picking each order line item in the most-intelligent way possible without back-tracking.

Request for Proposal – A formal document, containing a list of questions sent out to potential vendors / providers, to source the provision of goods and/or services.

An RFP typically involves more than the price.  Other requested information may include basic corporate information and history, financial information (can the company deliver without risk of bankruptcy), technical capability (used on major procurements of services, where the item has not previously been made or where the requirement could be met by varying technical means), product information such as stock availability and estimated completion period, and customer references that can be checked to determine a company's suitability.

RFP's often include specifications of the item, project, or service for which a proposal is requested.  The more detailed the specifications, the better the chances that the proposal provided will be accurate.

Request for Tender – A business process where an organization advertises for the supply of specified goods or services.  RFT is sometimes also used to refer to the tender process itself, or the tender documentation.  In many countries, public bodies are legally required to go through an RFT process in order to demonstrate that competition has taken place and value for money has been obtained.

In the European Union a public body must issue an RFT in all cases where the likely value of the business is expected to exceed €200,000.

An approach to restricting system access to authorized users based on a user’s functional group or role within the organization.  Roles are created for various job functions; the permission to perform certain operations (permissions) is assigned to specific roles.  System users are assigned particular roles, and through those role assignments acquire the permissions to perform particular system functions.

Since users are not assigned permissions directly, but only acquire them through their role (or roles), management of individual user rights becomes a matter of simply assigning the appropriate roles to the user, which simplifies common operations such as adding a user or changing a user's department.  Roles can exist in a hierarchy, with each parent role assuming the rights of its children.

Users can be added to LDAP or Microsoft Active Directory groups and these groups can be added directory to system access control lists (ACLs) or individual applications.  Also known as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a standard for exchanging lightweight XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP.  SOAP, as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), forms the foundation layer of the web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on to interop between heterogeneous systems. 

SOAP consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses.

Secure Sockets Layer – a protocol for transmitting private documents via LANs, MANs, and WANs – such as the Internet.  SSL works by using a private key to encrypt data that's transferred over the SSL connection.  Most browsers support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers.  By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:. 

Another protocol for transmitting data securely over the World Wide Web is Secure HTTP (S-HTTP).  Whereas SSL creates a secure connection between a client and a server, over which any amount of data can be sent securely, S-HTTP is designed to transmit individual messages securely.  SSL and S-HTTP, therefore, can be seen as complementary rather than competing technologies.  Both protocols have been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard.

Costs associated with starting-up a business or operation.  Typically includes real estate, equipment, technology, supplies, materials, and workforce.

Test Driven Development (TDD) is a computer programming technique that involves repeatedly first writing a unit test and then implementing only the code necessary to pass the test. The goal of test-driven development is to achieve rapid feedback and development. Practitioners emphasize that test-driven development is a method of designing software, not just a method of testing. Along with other techniques, the concept can also be applied to the improvement and removal of software defects from legacy code that was not developed in this way.

Test driven development requires that a unit test, that defines the requirements of the application and the code, is written before each aspect of the code itself.  These tests contain assertions that are either true or false. This allows for rapid feedback of correctness and design as the code evolves and is refactored.

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs related to the purchase of any capital investment, such as (but not limited to) computer software or hardware.

A TCO assessment ideally offers a final statement reflecting not only the cost of purchase but all aspects in the further use and maintenance of the equipment, device, or system.  This includes the costs of training support personnel and the users of the system, costs associated with failure or outage (planned and unplanned), diminished performance incidents (i.e. if users are kept waiting), costs of security breaches (in loss of reputation and recovery costs), costs of disaster preparedness and recovery, floor space, electricity, development expenses, testing infrastructure and expenses, quality assurance, incremental growth, decommissioning, and more. Therefore TCO is sometimes referred to as total cost of operation.  When incorporated in any financial benefit analysis, TCO provides a cost basis for determining the economic value of that investment.

For example, the decision to buy a computer may result in the following TCO analysis: the greater initial price of a high-end computer is to be balanced by adding likely repair costs and earlier replacement to the purchase cost of a cheaper bargain brand, among other factors.  The initial price is just the beginning of the life cycle of expected costs.

A connectionless protocol that, similar to TCP but without guaranteed packet delivery, runs over IP networks.  Unlike TCP/IP, UDP/IP provides very few error recovery services, offering instead a direct way to send and receive datagrams over an IP network.  It's used primarily for broadcasting messages over a network where the loss of an individual packet can be overlooked.

Computer software designed specifically for managing the movement and storage of materials throughout the warehouse. WMS functionality is generally broken down into the following three operations: Picking, Putaway, and Replenishment. The key to these systems is the logic to direct these operations to specific locations based on user defined criteria.

WMSs are a key part of the supply chain and provide directed stock rotation, intelligent picking directives, automatic consolidation, and cross-docking to maximize the use of valuable warehouse space. The systems also direct and optimizes stock put-away based on real-time information about the status of bin utilization. Warehouse management systems utilize Auto ID Data Capture technology, such as barcode scanners, mobile computers, wireless LANs and potentially RFID to efficiently monitor the flow of products. Once data has been collected, there is either a batch synchronization with, or a real-time wireless transmission to a central database. The database can then provide useful reports about the status of goods in the warehouse.

A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.  Web services provide an interface that is described in a machine-processable format, such as WSDL.  Other systems interact with the web service in a manner prescribed by its interface using messages, which may be enclosed in a SOAP envelope, or follow a RESTful approach.  These messages are typically conveyed using HTTP, and normally comprise XML in conjunction with other web-related standards.

Software applications written in various programming languages and running on various platforms can use web services to exchange data over computer networks like the Internet in a manner similar to inter-process communication on a single computer. This interoperability (for example, between Java, Mainframe, Microsoft Windows, and Linux applications) is due to the use of open standards for all communications.