Certificate of Origin

An international business document that certifies the country of origin of the shipment.

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

The grant of operating authority that is given to common carriers. A carrier must prove that a public need exists and that the carrier is fit, willing, and able to provide the needed service. The certificate may specify the commodities to be hauled, the area to be served, and the routes to be used.

Certified Supplier

A supplier who has demonstrated the ability to consistently meet established quality, cost, delivery, financial, and count objectives and has therefore been awarded the 'certified' designation. Suppliers in this group may be able to bypass incoming quality inspection.

C&F

Cost and Freight

CFD

The streamlined pull of products in response to customer requirements, while minimizing the total costs of distribution.

CGMP

Regulations enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration apply to food and chemical manufacturers and packagers.

Chain of Customers

The downstream supply chain is present in situations where multiple echelons exist, such as from the manufacturer to the distributor, then to the retailer, and finally to the end user.

Chain Reaction

A chain of events described by W. Edwards Deming improves quality, decreases costs, improves productivity, increases market share with better quality and lower prices, stays in business, provides jobs, and provides more jobs.

Challenge and Response

A method of user authentication: the user enters an ID and password and, in return, is issued a challenge by the system. The system compares the user's response to the challenge with a computed response. If the responses match, the user is allowed access to the system. The system issues a different challenge each time, effectively requiring a new password for each logon.

Champion

A business leader or senior manager ensures that resources are available for training and projects and is involved in project tollgate reviews. They are also an executive who supports and addresses Six Sigma organizational issues.

Change Agent

An individual from within or outside an organization who facilitates change within the organization may or may not be the initiator of the change effort.

Change Management

The process of managing and monitoring all changes to products and processes is called change management. Change management is typically instituted to avoid risks associated with ad-hoc changes and to ensure a consistent process.

Change Order

A document or digital record that authorizes and provides notification of a modification to a product or order.

Changeover

The process of making necessary adjustments to change or switch over the type of products produced on a manufacturing line is called a changeover. Changeovers usually lead to downtime, and for the most part, companies try to minimize changeover time to help reduce costs.

Channel

1) A method whereby a business dispenses its product via channels such as a retail or distribution channel, call center, or web-based electronic storefront. 2) A push technology that allows users to subscribe to a website to browse offline, automatically display updated pages on their desktops, and download or receive notifications when website pages are modified.

Channel Conflict

This occurs when various sales channels within a company's supply chain compete with each other for the same business. An example is when a retail channel is in competition with a web-based channel set up by the company.

Channel Partners

Members of a supply chain (i.e., suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc.) work in conjunction with one another to manufacture, distribute, and sell a specific product.

Channels of Distribution

The downstream flow of products through various outlets or 'channels', which may consist of distributors, retail stores, online fulfillment, etc. Also, see Distribution Channel.

Chargeback Provisions

Terms within a contract that govern how a company can charge a supplier for failure to perform agreed-upon required activities.

Charging Area

A warehouse area where a company maintains battery chargers and extra batteries to support a fleet of electrically powered materials handling equipment. The company must maintain this area in accordance with government safety regulations.

Chock

1) A wedge, usually made of hard rubber or steel, that is firmly placed under the wheel of a trailer, truck, or boxcar to stop it from rolling. 2) Churning: The practice of customers switching to another supplier based on special discount offers. This term is particularly used in the cellular telephone or credit card industries. Sometimes, this term is applied to supplier management where the emphasis is on choosing the low-price vendor over maintaining strategic relationships.

CI

Continuous Improvement, Catalog Item.

CIF

Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) - A trade term requiring the seller to arrange for the carriage of goods by sea to a port of destination and provide the buyer with the documents necessary to obtain the goods from the carrier.

City Driver

A motor carrier driver who drives a local route, as opposed to a long-distance intercity route.

Civil Aeronautics Board

A federal regulatory agency implemented economic regulatory controls over air carriers.

CL

Carload rail service requires the shipper to meet a minimum weight.

Claim

A charge made against a carrier for loss, damage, delay, or overcharge.

Class I carrier

A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues is as follows: motor carriers of property with annual operating revenues greater than or equal to $5 million; railroads with annual operating revenues greater than or equal to $50 million; motor carriers of passengers with annual operating revenues greater than or equal to $3 million.

Classification

An alphabetical listing of commodities, the class or rating into which the commodity is placed, and the minimum weight necessary for the rate discount are used in the class rate structure.

Classification Yard

A railroad terminal area where rail cars are grouped together to form train units.

Class II carrier

A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues is as follows: motor carriers of property: $1-$5 million; railroads: $10-$50 million; motor carriers of passengers ≤ $3 million.

Class III carrier

A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues is as follows: motor carriers of property with annual operating revenues of $1 million or less, and railroads with annual operating revenues of $10 million or less.

ClassRate

A rate constructed from a classification and a uniform distance system. A class rate is available for any product between any two points.

CLCA

A sophisticated engineering system is designed to document, verify, and diagnose failures, recommend and initiate corrective action, provide follow-up, and maintain comprehensive statistical records.

Clearinghouse

A conventional or limited-purpose entity is generally restricted to providing specialized services, such as clearing funds or settling accounts.

Click-and-Mortar

With reference to a traditional brick-and-mortar company that has expanded its presence online, many brick-and-mortar stores are now trying to establish an online presence but often have a difficult time doing so for various reasons. Click-and-mortar is 'the successful combination of online and real-world experience.

CLIN (Contract Line Items Number)

Specific items or services that are separately priced under a contract.

Clip Art

A collection of icons, buttons, and other useful image files, along with sound and video files, that can be inserted into documents or web pages.

CLM

Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

Closed-Loop Corrective Action (CLCA)

A sophisticated engineering system is designed to document, verify, and diagnose failures, recommend and initiate corrective action, provide follow-up, and maintain comprehensive statistical records.

Closed-Loop MRP

A production and operations environment that manages materials and production processes through a full closed-loop cycle, beginning with planning, proceeding through the execution process, and providing any resulting feedback and corrective actions back to the planning function to validate and improve future processes.

Cloud Computing

An emerging computing paradigm where data and services reside in massively scalable data centers and can be ubiquitously accessed from any connected devices over the internet. Similar to the 'on-demand' concept of SaaS or ASP computing services, with the exception of the broad nature of the network of computers.

CLS (Contractor Logistics Support)

A term in performance-based logistics, which refers to support in which maintenance operations for a particular military system are performed exclusively by contract support personnel.

CLS(CostPlus)

Used for transitional support while cost and resource baselines are being tracked and defined.

CLS (Fixed Price)

Used when cost and resource baselines are well-documented, cost and pricing risks are minimal, and both the DoD and contractor can define price, incentives, and performance outcomes with a high degree of confidence.

Cluster Picking

Cluster picking is a methodology of picking multiple order containers at one time. The containers could be totes containing order batches, discrete order shippers, or discrete order totes.

CM

A document issued to provide authorization for a customer account credit, typically due to product returns, billing errors, or other adjustments.

CMI

A form of continuous replenishment in which the manufacturer is responsible for the replenishment of standard merchandise, while the retailer manages the replenishment of promotional merchandise.