Ubiquity

Existence or apparent existence everywhere at the same time: a raw material that is found in all locations.

UCC

The new name of EAN International is GS1 US. GS1 US is the new name of the Uniform Code Council, Inc® (UCC®), which is the GS1 Member Organization for the U.S. It is the association that administers UCS, WINS, and VICS, and provides UCS identification codes and UPCs. GS1 subgroups also manage the standards for electronic product codes (EPCGlobal) and Rosettanet.

UCS

A set of standard transaction sets for the grocery industry that allows computer-to-computer, paperless exchange of documents between trading partners. Using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), UCS is a rapid, accurate, and economical method of business communication. It can be used by companies of all sizes and with varying levels of technical sophistication.

UI

User Interface.

Umbrella rate

An ICC rate-making practice that held rates to a particular level to protect the traffic of another mode.

Unbundled Payment/Remittance

The process where payment is delivered separately from its associated details.

Under Utilization

To use too little or inefficiently.

Uniform Communication Standard (UCS)

A set of standard transaction sets for the grocery industry that allows computer-to-computer, paperless exchange of documents between trading partners. Using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), UCS is a rapid, accurate, and economical method of business communication. It can be used by companies of all sizes and with varying levels of technical sophistication.

Uniform Product Code (UPC)

A standard product numbering and barcoding system is used by the retail industry. UPC codes are administered by the Uniform Code Council. They identify the manufacturer as well as the item and are included on virtually all retail packaging.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

A string that supplies the internet address of a website or resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol by which the site or resource is accessed.

Uniform Warehouse Receipts Act

The act that sets forth the regulations governing public warehousing defines the legal responsibilities of a warehouse manager and the types of receipts issued.

Unit Cost

The cost associated with a single unit of a product is the total cost of producing a product or service divided by the total number of units. The cost associated with a single unit of measure underlying a resource, activity, product, or service is calculated by dividing the total cost by the measured volume. Unit cost measurement must be used with caution as it may not always be practical or relevant in all aspects of cost management.

United Nations Standard Product and Service Code (UN/SPSC)

Developed jointly between the UN and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), this system has a five-level coding structure (segment, family, class, commodity, business function) for nearly 9,000 products.

United States Railway Association

The planning and funding agency for Conrail was created by the 3-R Act of 1973.

Unitization

In warehousing, the consolidation of several units (cartons or cases) into larger units is done to improve efficiency in handling and reduce shipping costs.

Unitize

To consolidate a number of packages into one unit, the several packages are strapped, banded, or otherwise attached together.

Unit Load Device (ULD)

Refers to airfreight containers and pallets.

Unit of Driver Measure

The common denominator among groupings of similar activities is the example of 20 hours of process time being performed in an activity center. This time corresponds to a number of common activities that vary in process time duration. The unit of measure is a standard measure of time, such as a minute or an hour.

Unit-of-Measure Conversion

A conversion ratio is used whenever multiple units of measure are used with the same item. For example, if you purchased an item in cases (meaning that your purchase order stated a number of cases rather than a number of pieces) and then stocked the item in eaches, you would require a conversion to allow your system to calculate how many eaches are represented by a quantity of cases. This way, when you received the cases, your system would automatically convert the case quantity into an each quantity.

Unit of Measure (UOM)

The unit in which the quantity of an item is managed, e.g., pounds, each, box of 12, package of 20, or case of 144. Various UOMs may exist for a single item. For example, a product may be purchased in cases, stocked in boxes, and issued in single units.

Units Moved per Man Hour

Measures the number of units moved in per man hour. Calculation: (number of units moved) / (total number of hours worked to move units).

Unit Train

An entire, uninterrupted locomotive, car, and caboose movement is routed between a single origin and destination.

Unplanned Order

Orders that are received and do not fit into the volumes prescribed by the plans developed from forecasts.

UN/SPSC

United Nations Standard Product and Service Code.

UOM

Unit of Measure

UPC

Uniform Product Code

Upcharges

Charges added to a bill, particularly a freight bill, to cover additional costs that were not envisioned when a contract was written. These might include costs related to rapidly increasing fuel charges or costs related to government mandates. See also: Accessorial Charges.

Upsell

The practice of attempting to sell a higher-value product to the customer.

Upside Flex Agreement

This is a flexibility agreement with a supplier where the upside and downside are negotiated in advance for lead time, cost, etc.

Upside Production Flexibility

The number of days required to complete the manufacture and delivery of an unplanned sustainable 20% increase in the end product supply of the predominant product line is uncertain. The one constraint estimated to be the principal obstacle to a 20% increase in end product supply, represented in days, is Upside Flexibility: Principal Constraint. Upside Flexibility could affect three possible areas: direct labor availability, internal manufacturing capacity, and key components or material availability.

Upstream

Refers to the supply side of the supply chain, upstream partners are the suppliers who provide goods and services to the organization needed to satisfy demands which originate at the point of demand or use, as well as other flows such as return product movements, payments for purchases, etc. This is the opposite of downstream.

Urban Mass Transportation Administration

An agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation is responsible for developing comprehensive mass transport systems for urban areas and providing financial aid to transit systems.

URL

A string that supplies the internet address of a website or resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol by which the site or resource is accessed.

Usage Rate

Measure of demand for a product per unit of time (e.g., units per month, etc.).