Validation

To check whether a document is the correct type for a particular EDI system, as agreed upon by the trading partners, in order to determine whether the document is going to or coming from an authorized EDI user.

Value-Added

Increased or improved value, worth, functionality, or usefulness.

Value-Added Network (VAN)

A company that acts as a clearinghouse for electronic transactions between trading partners is a third-party supplier. This supplier receives EDI transmissions from sending trading partners and holds them in a 'mailbox' until they are retrieved by the receiving partners.

Value-Added Productivity Per Employee

Contribution made by employees to total product revenue, minus the material purchases, divided by total employment. Total employment refers to the overall number of employees in the surveyed entity. This includes the average full-time equivalent employee in all functions, such as sales and marketing, distribution, manufacturing, engineering, customer service, finance, general and administrative, and others. Total employment should also encompass contract and temporary employees on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis. Calculation: Total Product Revenue - External Direct Material / [FTEs].

Value-Adding/Nonvalue-Adding

Assessing the relative value of activities according to how they contribute to customer value or to meeting an organization's needs, the degree of contribution reflects the influence of an activity's cost driver(s).

Value Analysis

A method to determine how features of a product or service relate to cost, functionality, appeal, and utility to a customer (i.e., engineering value analysis). Also, see Target Costing.

Value Based Return (VBR)

A measure of the creation of value, it is the difference between economic profit and capital charge.

Value Chain

A series of activities, which combined, define a business process: the series of activities from manufacturers to the retail stores that define the industry's supply chain.

Value Chain Analysis

A method to identify all the elements in the linkage of activities that a firm relies on to secure the necessary materials and services, starting from their point of origin, to manufacture, and to distribute their products and services to an end user.

Value-Engineering

A systematic method to improve the value of products or services by examining the function of the product or service.

Value Engineering Change Proposal (VECP)

A change proposal resulting from an organized effort directed at analyzing the function of the Department of Defense systems, equipment, facilities, procedures, and supplies is made for the purpose of achieving the required function at the lowest total cost of effective ownership. This is consistent with the requirements for performance, reliability, quality, and maintainability.

Value-of-Service Pricing

Pricing according to the value of the product being transported: third-degree price discrimination, demand-oriented pricing, charging what the traffic will bear.

Value of Transfers

The total dollar value (for the calendar year) associated with the movement of inventory from one 'bucket' to another, such as raw material to work-in-process, work-in-process to finished goods, plant finished goods to field finished goods or customers, and field finished goods to customers, is referred to as the Value of Transfers. This value is based on the inventory withdrawn from a specific category and is often approached from a costing perspective, using cost accounts.

Value Proposition

What the supply chain member offers to other members is the value proposition. To be truly effective, the value proposition has to be two-sided: a benefit to both buyers and sellers.

Value Stream

All activities, both value-added and non-value-added, are required to bring a product from the raw material state into the hands of the customer, bring a customer requirement from order to delivery, and bring a design from concept to launch.

Value Stream Mapping

A pencil and paper tool is used in two stages: 1. Follow a product's production path from beginning to end and draw a visual representation of every process in the material and information flows. 2. Then, draw a future state map of how value should flow. The most important map is the future state map.

VAN

Value-Added Network

Variable Cost

A cost that fluctuates with the volume or activity level of business.

VBR

Value-Based Return

VECP

Value Engineering Change Proposal

Vehicle Telemetric Systems

A system composed of vehicle interface units (VIUs), wireless gateways, and a central host that monitors and tracks a driver and their vehicle performance in an effort to provide a higher level of security.

Velocity

Rate of product movement through a warehouse.

Vendor

The manufacturer or distributor of an item or product line.

Vendor Code

A unique identifier assigned by a customer to the vendor from which it makes purchases, typically a number or the company's Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.

Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI)

The practice of retailers allowing their suppliers to take responsibility for determining supply order size and timing is called vendor-managed inventory.

Vendor Owned Inventory (VOI)

Consignment Inventory

Vertical Hub/Vertical Portal

Websites that cater to consumers or businesses within a particular industry.

Vertical Integration

A style of management control where a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers.

Vessel

A floating structure designed for transportation.

Vested Outsourcing (VO)

An outsourcing relationship where companies and their suppliers become vested in each other's success.

VICS

Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards.

Viral Marketing

The concept of embedding advertising into web portals, pop-ups, and email attachments is used to spread the word about products or services.

Virtual Corporation

A business that has few employees and outsources nearly all of its work, or a consortium of businesses that pursue a common goal.

Visibility

The ability to access or view pertinent data or information as it relates to logistics and the supply chain.

Visible Skills Matrices

Skills Matrix

Vision

A mission statement reflects the aspirations of a business's management and specifies its intended direction or future destination.

VMI

Vendor Managed Inventory

VO

Vested Outsourcing

VOI

Vendor-Owned Inventory

Voice Activated or Voice Directed

Systems that guide users, such as warehouse personnel, via voice commands.

Voice of The Customer

The process of capturing a customer's requirements using market research is used to determine a customer's wants and needs. This information is then organized into a hierarchical structure and prioritized based on importance and satisfaction with current alternatives.