Glossary

E&OC

Errors & Omissions Excepted (Such as this list)

E&P

Exploration and Production.

E-Commerce
See Electronic Commerce.

e-Logistics
E-logistics simply means the processes necessary to transfer the goods sold over the Internet to the customers (Auramo et al., 2001). Another more sophisticated aspect is that E-logistics are a wide-ranging topic related to supply chain integration that has the effect of eliminating intermediaries (such as wholesalers or retailers) and also fosters the emergence of new players like logisticians, whose role is to adapt traditional logistics chains to take into account the requirements of e-business.

E-Mail
See Electronic Mail

E.&O.E.

Errors and Omissions Excepted

EA

Environmental Assessment.

EAA

Export Administration Act

EADA

Eastern Dredging Association

EAI
See Enterprise Application Integration.

EAN
see European Article Number

EAN 13
EAN barcodes are used when the country origin needs to be known. There are 13 digits in EAN 13, where the first two characters are used to define the country of origin, the next 10 are data, followed by the checksum. Both 2 and 5 digit supplementals are also supported.

EAN 8
EAN barcodes are used when the country origin needs to be known. There are 8 digits in EAN 8, where the first two characters are used to define the country of origin, the next 5 are data, followed by the checksum. Both 2 and 5 digit supplementals are also supported.

EAN.UCC
European Article Numbering/Uniform Code Council. The EAN.UCC System provides identification standards to uniquely identify trade items, logistics units, locations, assets, and service relations worldwide. The identification standards define the construction of globally-unique and unambiguous numbers. For additional reference, please see http://www.uc-council.org/ean_ucc_systems/stnds_and_tech/bus_apps.html

Early Supplier Involvement
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.

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 ones that are easier to manufacture with high quality.

Earnings
Income after a company’s taxes and all other expenses have been paid. Also called profit or net income.

Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
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.

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.

EATA

Europe Asia Trades Agreement (Conference)

EBB

A receding current.

EBIT:
See Earnings Before Interest and Taxes.

EC
See Electronic Commerce

EC

East Coast

ECC

Environmental Coordinating Committee.

ECCN
Export control classification number.

ECDIS

Electronic Chart Display and Information SystemBased on vectorial representation of features, this system is the best available as it can be coupled to many other devices. Unfortunately since the availability of GPS positioning many hydrographic information have be found to be out of position by several miles at times (ie : Providence channel in the Bahamas),therefore many charts must be redrawn. It is only with these charts that electronic facilities, such as automatic alarms for shallow water, can be connected.

ECG

Enhanced Group Call

Echelon
A level of supply chain nodes. For example, a supply chain with two independent factory warehouses and nine wholesale warehouses delivering product to 350 retail stores is a supply chain with three echelons between the factory and the end customer. One echelon consists of the two independent factory warehouses.One echelon consists of the nine wholesale warehouses. One echelon consists of the 350 retail stores. Each echelon adds operating expense, holds inventory, adds to the cycle time, and expects to make a profit.

ECJ

European Court of Justice.

ECO
See Engineering Change Order

Economic Order Quantity
An inventory model that determines how much to order by determining the amount that will meet customer service levels while minimizing total ordering and holding costs.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
An inventory model that determines how much to order by determining the amount that will meet customer service levels while minimizing total ordering and holding costs.

Economic Value Added
A measure of the shareholder value as a company’s operating profits after tax, less a charge for the capital used in creating the profits. EVA is a registered trademark of Stern & Co. in the USA.

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.

Economy of Scale
A phenomenon whereby larger volumes of production reduce unit cost by distributing fixed costs over a larger quantity.

ECOSOC

ECOnomic & SOCial Counsil of the United NationsUN agency parenting the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation, and the IMO.

ECR
See Efficient Consumer Response

ECS

Electronic Chart System

ECU

European Currency Unit.

EDH

Efficient Deck Hand.

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange.

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 message
An approved, published and maintained formal description of how to structure the data required to perform a specific business function in such a way as to allow for the transfer and handling of this data by electronic means.

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 more easily. Also see: American National Standards Institute.

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.

EDIA
See Electronic Data Interchange Association.

EDIFACT
Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, commerce, and Transport. The United Nations' EDI standard.

EDT

Electronic Data Transfer

EEC

European Economic Community.

Efficient Consumer Response
A demand driven replenishment system designed to link all parties in the logistics channel to create a massive flow-through distribution network. Replenishment is based upon consumer demand and point of sale information.

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)
A demand-driven replenishment system designed to link all parties in the logistics channel to create a massive flow-through distribution network. Replenishment is based on consumer demand and point-of-sale information.

EFIP

European Federation of Inland Ports

EFT
See Electronic Funds Transfer.

EGNOS

European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service

EHMA

European Harbour Masters Association

EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment

EIN
see Exporter Identification Number

EIR
see Equipment Interchange Receipt

EIU

Even if used

ELEC

Electric.

Electronic Commerce
Also written as e-commerce. Conducting business electronically via traditional EDI technologies, or online via the Internet. In the traditional sense of selling goods, it is possible to do this electronically because of certain software programs that run the main functions of an e-commerce website, such as product display, online ordering, and inventory management. The definition of e-commerce includes business activity that is business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C).

Electronic Commerce (EC)
Also written as e-commerce. Conducting business electronically via traditional EDI technologies, or online via the Internet. In the traditional sense of selling goods, it's possible to do this electronically because of certain software programs that run the main functions of e-commerce support, such as product display, ordering, shipment, billing, and inventory management. The definition of e-commerce includes business activity that is business-to-business (B2B) and/or business-to-consumer (B2C)

Electronic Data Interchange
Intercompany, computer-to-computer transmission of business information in a standard format. For EDI purists, ‘computer-to-computer’ means direct transmission from the originating application program to the receiving, or processing, application program. An EDI transmission consists only of business data, not any accompanying verbiage or free-form messages. Purists might also contend that a standard format is one that is approved by a national or international standards organization, as opposed to formats developed by industry groups or companies.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Intercompany, computer-to-computer transmission of business information in a standard format. For EDI purists, computer to computer means direct transmission from the originating application program to the receiving or processing application program. An EDI transmission consists only of business data, not any accompanying verbiage or free-form messages. Purists might also contend that a standard format is one that is approved by a national or international standards organization, as opposed to formats developed by industry groups or companies.

Electronic Data Interchange Association
A national body that propagates and controls the use of EDI in a given country. All EDIAs are nonprofit organizations dedicated to encouraging EDI growth. The EDI in the United States was formerly TDCC and administered the development of standards in transportation and other industries.

Electronic Funds Transfer
Payment for goods or services via exchanges of electronic authorisations against bank accounts. Authorisation is sent to an automated clearing house (usually a bank), which verifies the source of the transaction as having control over the accounts, and performs the fund transfer.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
A computerized 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.

Electronic Mail (E-Mail)
The computer-to-computer exchange of messages. E-mail is usually unstructured (free-form) rather than in a structured format. X.400 has become the standard for e-mail exchange.

Electronic Product Code
An electronically coded tag that is intended as an improvement to the UPC bar code system. The EPC is a 96-bit tag which contains a number called the Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN). Unlike a UPC number, which only provides information specific to a group of products, the GTIN gives each product its own specific identifying number, giving greater accuracy in tracking.

Electronic Signature
A form of authentication that provides identification and validation of a transaction by means of an authorization code identifying the individual or organization

Elkins Act
An amendment to the IC Act that prohibits giving rebates.

ELVENT

Electric Ventilation

Embargo
A prohibition upon exports or imports, either with specific products or specific countries.

EMC

Electromagnetic Compatibility

EMEC

European Marine Equipment Council

EMER

Emergency.

Emergency Purchase
A purchase made when unpredictable needs must be met. This type of purchase is most often made when health, safety or conservation risks are imminent or when other imperative needs arise.

Emergency Stock
The quantity of a commodity that must be maintained on hand at all times to provide for initial response to an unplanned catastrophic event.

EMPA

European Maritime Pilots Association

Empirical
Pertaining to a statement or formula based on 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.

EMS

Environmental Management System. ISO Standard

EMT

Emergency Medical Technicians.

EMU

Economic and Monetary Union.

EN

European Standard

En-route
Shipment in a carrier’s possession and being transported.

ENC

Electronic Navigation Chart

Encryption
The transformation of readable text into coded text for security purposes.

End Item
A product sold as a completed item or repair part; any item subject to a customer order or sales forecast. Synonym: Finished Goods Inventory.

End User
The final buyer of the product who purchases the product for immediate use.

End-of-Life
Planning and execution at the end of the life of a product. The challenge is making just the right amount to avoid A) ending up with excess, which have to be sold at great discounts or scrapped or B) ending up with shortages before the next generation is available.

End-of-Life Inventory
Inventory on hand that will satisfy future demand for products that are no longer in production at your company.

End-Use
Commodities delivered to a using location and no longer accountable as inventory. End-use items may also be subject to issue control at the using location.

End-Use Stores
Merchandise purchased for the exclusive use of a specific cost center which pays for the commodity on delivery to the warehouse. The material is then kept in inventory for the convenience of the purchasing cost center and is not chargeable to the inventory general ledger or any trust account.

Engineer to Order
A process in which the manufacturing organization must first prepare (engineer) significant product or process documentation before manufacture may begin.

Engineer-to-Order
A process in which the manufacturing organization must first prepare (engineer) significant product or process documentation before manufacture may begin.

Engineered flow of information
The method that prevents supply chain flows from happening by chance through reorganizations, outsourcing, mergers, and acquisitions. Instead, supply chains should be engineered for competitiveness, meaning they should be designed and optimized to match the business strategy and deliver the intended product.

Engineering Change
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. Synonym: Engineering Change Order

Engineering Change Order
A documented and approved revision to a product or process specification.

Engineering Change Order (ECO)
A documented and approved revision to a product or process specification.

Enroute
A term used for goods in transit or on the way to a destination.

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’.

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
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 says 'firms implementing enterprise applications spend at least 30% on point-to-point interfaces.'

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 Resource Planning (ERP) System
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
A management information system that uses activity-based information to facilitate decision making across an organization.

ENTREC

EDIFACT Accounting entries message

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.

Enveloping
an EDI management software function that groups all documents of the same type, or functioal 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.

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.

EOQ
See Economic Order Quantity.

EPC
see Electronic Product Code

EPC or ePC
Electronic Product Code. An electronically coded tag that is intended as an improvement to the UPC bar code system. The EPC is a 96-bit tag which contains a number called the global Trade Identification Number (GTIN) . Unlike a UPC number, which only provides information specific to a group of products, the GTIN gives each product its own specific identifying number, giving greater accuracy in tracking.

EPS
A computer term. Encapsulated Postscript. An extension of the PostScript graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS lets PostScript graphics files be incorporated into other documents.

Equal Employment Opportunity
A priority to hire disadvantaged or minority persons in the workplace.

Equal or Equivalent
Terms to indicate that similar products or other brands may be acceptable for purchase if specifications are comparable and functional requirements are proven.

Equalisation
(1) Monetary allowance to a customer for picking up or delivering cargo to or from a point which is not the origin/destination shown on the B/L. (2) Compensation for additional charges incurred by the shipper for delivering cargo to port designated by the carrier other than the closest port to the supplier.

Equipment
The rolling stock carriers use to facilitate the transportation services that they provide, including containers, trucks, chassis, vessels, and airplanes, among others.

Equipment I.D.
An identifier assigned by the carrier to a piece of equipment. See also Container ID.

Equipment Interchange Receipt
A document used to receive or deliver a full or empty container/chassis at any terminal or inland container pool/depot.

Equipment Maintenance and Depreciation
Actual amount of depreciation based on acquisition cost and useful life and actual maintenance costs.

Equipment Positioning
The process of placing equipment at a selected location.

Equipment Relocation
The relocation of any form of business equipment from one location to another that usually involves special handling, packaging, mode of transportation, and de-install/install. The types of equipment could be office gear, IT assets, hospital assets, plant assets, inventory storage assets or any complex gear. Using an asset swap can reduce the downtime associated with these complex items and support a quick and efficient turnover during the actual relocation to minimize downtime. See Asset Swap.

Ergonomic
: The science of creating workspaces and products which are human friendly to use.

ERM

Enterprise Resources Management

ERP

Enterprise Resources Planning

Error List
Report showing discrepancies (errors) in data input.

ERS
See Evaluated Receipts Settlement.

ESI
See Early Supplier Involvement.

Estimated Time of Arrival
The expected date, including time of arrival of a shipment, passenger or vessel at a port, airport or terminal.

ETA

Estimated Time of Arrival

ETC

Estimated Time of Completion

ETD

Estimated Time of Departure

Ethernet
A computer term for the most commonly used type of local area network (LAN) communication protocol using coaxial or twisted pair wiring.

Ethical Standards
A set of guidelines for proper conduct by business professionals.

ETO
See Engineer-to-Order

ETS

Estimated Time of Sailing

European Article Number
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. Also see: Uniform Product Code.

EVA
See Economic Value Added.

Evaluated Receipts Settlement
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.

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 an invoice has already been transmitted in the shipping documentation. Therefore, the invoice is eliminated and the shipping documentation is used to pay the vendor.

Evaluation Committee
An appointment of advisors and information examiners to assist in the determination to award a contract.

Ex Works
The price that the seller quotes applies only at the point of origin. The buyer takes possession of the shipment at the point of origin and bears all costs and risks associated with transporting the goods to the destination.

Exception
Notations made when the cargo is received at the carrier’s terminal or loaded aboard a vessel. Irregularities in packaging or actual or suspected damage to the cargo are notated on the bill of lading.

Exception Inventory
Inventory quantities that are above a specific need.

Exception Message
See Action Message

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. This saves considerable effort by automatically finding problems and alerting the right persons. An example would be where a shorted item on a purchase order receipt would automatically notify a purchasing agent for follow-up.

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.

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.

Expediting
  1. Moving shipments through regular channels at an accelerated rate.
  2. To take extraordinary action because of an increase in relative priority. Synonym: Stock chase

Expert System
A computer program that mimics a human expert.

Explode-to-Deduct
See Backflush

Exponential Smoothing Forecast
In forecasting, a type of weighted moving average forecasting technique in which past observations are geometrically discounted according to their age. The heaviest weight is assigned to the most recent data. The smoothing is termed exponential because data points are weighted in accordance with an exponential function of their age. The technique makes use of a smoothing constant to apply to the difference between the most recent forecast and the critical sales data, thus avoiding the necessity of carrying historical sales data. The approach can be used for data that exhibit no trend or seasonal patterns. Higher order exponential smoothing models can be used for data with either (or both) trend and seasonality

Export
To send goods and services to another country.

Export Broker
An enterprise that brings together buyer and seller for a fee, then eventually withdraws from the transaction.

Export Compliance
Complying with rules for exporting products, including packaging, labeling, 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. The document serves two purposes: to gather trade statistics and to provide a control document if the goods require a valid export license.

Export License
A document secured from a government authorizing an exporter to export a specific quantity of a controlled commodity to a certain country. An export license is often required if a government has placed embargoes or other restrictions upon exports.

Export Management Company
A private firm that serves as the export department for several manufacturers, soliciting and transacting export business on behalf of its clients in return for a commission, salary, or a retainer plus commission.

Export Sales Contract
The initial document in any international transaction; it details the specifics of the sales agreement between the buyer and seller.

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.

Exporter Identification Number
A number required for the exporter on the Shipper’s Export Declaration. A corporation may use their Federal Employer Identification Number as provided by the IRS, individuals can use their Social Security Numbers.

Exporter Identification Number (EIN)
A number required for the exporter on the Shipper's Export Declaration. A corporation may use their Federal Employer Identification Number as issued by the IRS; individuals can use their Social Security Numbers.

Exports
A term used to describe products produced in one country and sold in another. Also see: Export

Express
  1. 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. See Demurrage, Detention.
  2. The use of priority package delivery to achieve overnight or second-day delivery.

Express Warranty
A promise made by the seller relating to quality, performance or other considerations which would encourage a decision to purchase.

Extended 3 of 9
Similar to Code 3 of 9 except that it allows the full 128 ASCII character set to be encoded by printing two barcode characters for each text character.

Extended Code 93
Similar to Code 93 except that it allows the full 128 character ASCII character set to be encoded.

Extended Enterprise
The notion that supply chain partners form a larger entity which works together as though it were a single unit.

Extended supply chain community
Supply chains that take advantage of e-market (electronic market) services.

Extensible Markup Language
A computer term for a language that facilitates direct communication among computers on the Internet. Unlike the older hypertext markup language (HTML), which provides data tags giving instructions to a web browser about how to display information, XML tags give instructions to a browser or to application software which help to define the specifics about the category of information.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)
A computer term for a language that facilitates direct communication of data among computers on the Internet. Unlike the older hypertext markup language (HTML) which provides data tags that give instructions to a web browser on how to display information, XML tags give instructions to a browser or to application software which help to define specifics about the category of information.

Extension
A contract condition that provides for an option to continue the contract to a later date should additional time be needed, after the expiration date, to solicit competitive bids and establish a new contract.

External Factory
A situation where suppliers are viewed as an extension of the firm's manufacturing capabilities and capacities. The same practices and concerns that are commonly applied to the management of the firm's manufacturing system should also be applied to the management of the external factory.

Extra Loader
Additional vessel brought into schedule to cope with exceptionally strong market conditions.

Extranet
A computer term describing a private network (or a secured link on the public Internet) that links separate organizations and uses the same software and protocols as the Internet. Used for improving supply chain management. For example, extranets are used to provide access to a supply chain partner's internal inventory data which is not available to unrelated parties. Antonym: Intranet.

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. Antonym: intrinsic forecast method.

EXW

Ex-Works

EXW

Ex Works

EYE

The circular part of a shroud or stay, where it goes over a mast. Eye-bolt. A long iron bar, having an eye at one end, driven through a vessel's deck or side into a timber or beam, with the eye remaining out, to hook a tackle to. If there is a ring through eye, it is called a ring-bolt. An Eye-splice is a certain kind of splice made with the end of a rope. Eyelet-hole. A hole made in a sail for a cringle or roband to go through. The Eyes of a vessel. A familiar phrase for the forward part.