Constraint

A bottleneck is an obstacle or planned control that limits throughput or the utilization of capacity.

Consul

A government official residing in a foreign country is charged with representing the interests of his or her country and its nationals.

Consular Declaration

A formal statement made to the consul of a country, describing merchandise to be shipped to that consul's country. Approval must be obtained prior to shipment.

Consular Documents

Special forms signed by the consul of the country to which the cargo is destined are required.

Consular Invoice

A document required by some foreign countries, describing a shipment of goods and showing information such as the consignor, consignee, and value of the shipment, is called a bill of lading. This document is certified by a consular official of the foreign country and is used by the country's customs.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Consumable goods, such as food and beverages, footwear and apparel, tobacco, and cleaning products, are items that generally get used up and need to be replaced frequently. This is in contrast to items that people usually keep for a long time, such as cars and furniture.

Consuming the Forecast

The practice of allowing forecast requirements to be reduced by actual orders received allows a planning system to avoid duplication of demand when actual customer orders for a period are received.

Consumption Entry

An official customs form is used for the declaration of reported goods, also showing the total duty due on such transactions.

Contactless

Refers to the practice of using RFID, smart cards, or other forms of near field communications technology to gather data electronically without the need to actually make physical contact with the item.

Container

1) A 'box', typically 10 to 40 feet long, which is primarily used for ocean freight shipments. For travel to and from ports, containers are loaded onto truck chassis or on railroad flatcars. 2) The packaging, such as a carton, case, box, bucket, drum, bin, bottle, bundle, or bag, in which an item is packed and shipped.

Containerization

A system of intermodal freight transport uses standard intermodal containers that are standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These containers can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes, and trucks.

Container Security Initiative (CSI)

The U.S. Customs program is designed to prevent global containerized cargo from being exploited by terrorists. It is specifically created to enhance the security of sea cargo containers.

Contingency Planning

Preparing to deal with risks such as environmental emergencies (e.g., floods) and non-emergency but still disruptive situations (e.g., strikes) before they occur.

Continuous Flow Distribution (CFD)

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

Continuous-Flow, Fixed-Path Equipment

Materials handling devices include conveyors and draglines.

Continuous Flow Manufacturing

A production system is organized and sequenced according to the steps involved in the manufacturing process, where the product moves seamlessly and continuously through the entire manufacturing process.

Continuous Improvement (CI)

A structured, measurement-driven process that continually reviews and improves processes and performance.

Continuous Move

A practice used by some large shippers to ensure lower shipping rates and guaranteed capacity, the shipper works with a few core carriers to group a series of one-way hauls between suppliers, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and sometimes customers into a round trip. The carriers benefit from fewer empty miles, less idle time, better asset utilization, and more regular routes.

Continuous Order Release

A process for releasing orders as soon as an order is available, versus releasing all orders in batches at specific times.

Continuous Process Improvement (CPI)

Continuous Process Improvement is a strategic approach for developing a culture of continuous improvement in the areas of reliability, process cycle times, costs (in terms of less total resource consumption), quality, and productivity. Also, see Kaizen.

Continuous Replenishment

Continuous Replenishment is the practice of partnering between distribution channel members that changes the traditional replenishment process from distributor-generated purchase orders based on economic order quantities to the replenishment of products based on actual and forecasted product demand.

Continuous Replenishment Planning (CRP)

A program that triggers the manufacturing and movement of products through the supply chain when the identical product is purchased by an end user.

Contract

A legally binding agreement between two or more parties to provide specific products or services.

Contract Administration

The activities associated with managing contract compliance.

Contract Carrier

A carrier engaged in interstate transportation of persons or property by motor vehicle on a for-hire basis, but under a continuing contract with one or a limited number of customers to meet specific needs.

Contract freight

This is a type of freight shipping where the shipper has a specified contract rate for certain shipments with a carrier.

Contractor

One who agrees to furnish materials or services at a specified price.

Contribution

The difference between sales revenue and variable costs is contribution. However, contribution is not the same as profit since it only considers the variable costs. It is the amount applied to fixed costs and results in profits.

Contribution Margin

The fraction of sales that contributes to the offset of fixed costs is known as the unit contribution margin. Alternatively, the unit contribution margin is the amount that each unit sale adds to profit. It represents the slope of the Profit line.

Controllable Returns

These are errors or problems caused by the company or a member of the company's supply chain and can often be resolved by the company. Examples of errors or problems include picking and packing errors, improper forecasting, product handling, poor quality control, and lack of communication with customers.

Controlled Access

Referring to an area within a warehouse or yard that is fenced and gated, these areas are typically used to store high-value items and may be monitored by security cameras.

Conveyor

A materials handling device that moves freight from one area to another in a warehouse is called a roller conveyor. Roller conveyors make use of gravity, whereas belt conveyors use motors.

COO

The country of manufacture, production, or growth is where a product comes from.

Cookie

A piece of information from your computer that references what the user has clicked on or references information that is stored in a text file on the user's hard drive (such as a username). Another way to describe cookies is to say they are tiny files containing information about individual computers that can be used by advertisers to track online interests and tastes. Cookies are also used in the process of purchasing items on the Web. It is because of the cookie that the 'shopping cart' technology works. By saving the name and other important information about an item a user 'clicks' on as they move through a shopping website, a user can later go to an order form and see all the items they selected, ready for quick and easy processing.

Cooperative Associations

Groups of firms or individuals have common interests. Agricultural cooperative associations may haul up to 25% of their total interstate tonnage in non-farm, non-member goods in movements incidental and necessary to their primary business.

Co-opetition

A combination of cooperation and competition offers rivals the counterintuitive possibility to benefit from each other's seemingly competitive activities. An example can be found in the group-buying setting where its use refers to the activity of multiple, normally competitive buying group members leveraging each other's buying power to gain reduced pricing.

Coordinated Transportation

Two or more carriers of different modes transport a shipment.

Co-Packer

A contract co-packer produces goods and/or services for other companies, usually under the other company's label or name. Co-packers are more frequently seen in CPG and foods.

COPC

Call center consulting, certification, training, and benchmarking company.

Co-product

The term co-product is used to describe multiple items that are produced simultaneously during a production run. Co-products are often used to increase yields in cutting operations, such as die cutting or sawing, when it is found that scrap can be reduced by combining multiple-sized products in a single production run. Co-products are also used to reduce the frequency of machine setups required in these same types of operations. Co-products, also known as byproducts, are also common in process manufacturing, such as in chemical plants. Although the concept of co-products is fairly simple, the programming logic required to provide for planning and processing of co-products is very complicated.

Core Competency

A specific factor that a business sees as being central to the way it or its employees work, it fulfills three key criteria: 1. It provides consumer benefits, 2. It is not easy for competitors to imitate, and 3. It can be leveraged widely across many products and markets. A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter know-how, a reliable process, and/or close relationships with customers and suppliers. It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedication.

Cost Accounting

A management accounting practice that establishes the budget and actual cost of operations, processes, departments, or products, and the analysis of variances, profitability, or use of funds. Managers use cost accounting to support decision-making, cut a company's costs, and improve profitability.

Cost Allocation

An accounting practice that assigns indirect costs, such as overhead, to products or services using a known factor, such as pieces produced or direct labor costs/hours.

Cost Center

In accounting, a subunit in an organization is responsible for costs.

Cost Driver

In accounting, any situation or event that causes a change in the consumption of a resource or influences quality or cycle time is referred to as an activity. An activity may have multiple cost drivers. Cost drivers do not necessarily need to be quantified; however, they strongly influence the selection and magnitude of resource drivers and activity drivers.

Cost Driver Analysis

In cost accounting, the examination, quantification, and explanation of the effects of cost drivers are conducted. The results are often used for continuous improvement programs to reduce throughput times, improve quality, and reduce costs.

Cost Element

In cost accounting, the lowest level component of a resource, activity, or cost object is referred to as a 'cost driver'.

Cost, insurance, and freight (CIF)

Paid by the seller, this add-on covers various expenses incurred by the buyer while orders are in transit. As soon as the freight is loaded, the buyer becomes responsible for expenses not categorized under CIF.