EPZ

Export Processing Zone – See Free Trade Zone.

Equipment

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

Equipment I.D

An identifier assigned by the carrier to a piece of equipment. Also, see Container ID.

Equipment Positioning

The process of placing equipment at a selected location.

Ergonomic

The science of creating workspaces and products that are human-friendly to use.

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning System

ERS

Evaluated Receipts Settlement

ESI

Early Supplier Involvement

Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

While commonly used in casual settings, this abbreviation holds a formal purpose in supply chain and logistics management. The time at which a shipment is expected to appear is carefully estimated based on the route, mode of transportation, and other factors.

Estimated time of departure (ETD)

This is a projection that determines when a shipment is expected to leave its point of origin.

ETA

The Estimated Time of Arrival.

ETD

The Estimated Time of Departure.

Ethernet

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

Ethical Standards

Principles, when followed, promote values such as trust, good behavior, fairness, and kindness.

EVA

Economic Value Added

Evaluated Receipts Settlement (ERS)

A process for authorizing payment for goods based on actual receipts with purchase order data, when the 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.

Exception-Based Processing

A computer term for applications that automatically highlight particular events or results that fall outside predetermined parameters. This saves considerable effort by automatically finding problems and alerting the right persons. An example would be when a shortage of an item on a purchase order receipt creates an automatic notification for the purchasing agent to follow up.

Exception Rate

A deviation from the class rate refers to changes (exceptions) made to the classification.

Excess and Obsolescence (E&O)

The accounting value assigned to the cost associated with inventory that is disposed of as excess or obsolete.

Exclusive Patronage Agreements

A shipper agrees to use only member liner firms of a conference in return for a 10% to 15% rate reduction.

Exclusive Use

Carrier vehicles that are assigned to a specific shipper for their exclusive use.

Executive Dashboard

A series of cross-functional metrics that span the performance of the entire company and indicate the overall health of the company. Usually, an Executive Dashboard includes the top KPIs for the company – and when possible, it is limited to the 'vital few' that fit on a one-page summary.

Exemplar

Refers to a model or practice that should be imitated.

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 carrier transports agricultural commodities or seafood.

Expediting

1) Moving shipments through regular channels at an accelerated rate. 2) Taking extraordinary action due to an increase in relative priority, perhaps caused by a sudden surge in demand. Synonym: Stockchase.

Expert System

A computer program that mimics a human expert.

Explode-to-Deduct

A method used to relieve inventory and charge costs based on completed units, backflushing is an alternative to processing actual issue or labor transactions related to production. Typically, a bill of materials is used to determine the quantity required to build a product, and relief is based on the quantity required per time unit complete. It works well in environments where the time spent in WIP is short; otherwise, the delay in recording book on hand can cause problems with inventory control. Also, see Pre-deduct Inventory Transaction Processing.

Exponential Smoothing Forecast

A statistical analysis technique that can be applied to time series data, either to produce smoothed data for presentation or to make forecasts. The time series data themselves are a sequence of observations. The observed phenomenon may be an essentially random process, or it may be an orderly but noisy process.

Export

1) In logistics, the movement of products from one country to another is crucial. For example, significant volumes of cut flowers are exported from the Netherlands to other countries around the world. 2) In computer terminology, data transfer refers to the movement of information from a source (system or database) to a target.

Export Broker

An enterprise that brings together buyers and sellers for a fee, and then eventually withdraws from the transaction.

Export Compliance

Complying with rules for exporting products, including packaging, labeling, and documentation, is essential. An export declaration is a document required by the Department of Commerce that provides information about the nature, value, etc., of export activity.

Exporter Identification Number (EIN)

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

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 on exports.

Export Processing Zone (EPZ)

A term used in various countries, similar to a Free Trade Zone. See Free Trade Zone.

Exports

A term used to describe those products produced in one geography (typically a country) and shipped/sold in another. Also, see Export. Extended Enterprise refers to the concept where an organization's internal capabilities are extended by virtue of their supply chain partners to form a larger logical entity.

Export Sales Contract

The initial document in any international transaction is the sales agreement, which details the specifics between the buyer and seller.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

A computer term referring to a general-purpose specification for creating custom markup languages, which specifies lexical grammar and parsing requirements. The term 'extensible' is used to indicate that a markup language designer has significant freedom in the choice of markup elements.

External Factory

Refers to the concept where an organization's internal production capabilities are extended through the addition of those of its suppliers.

External Registration Company

A company that performs audits against an established set of standards, i.e., ISO 9001:2008.

Extranet

A private network that links separate organizations and uses the same software and protocols as the Internet is known as an intranet. It is used for improving supply chain management and can provide access to a supply chain partner's internal inventory data, which is not available to unrelated parties.

Extrinsic Forecast

A forecast that uses a linked indicator outside the company, instead of relying on internal past product demand history, typically uses a leading indicator such as housing starts or weather pattern changes. These indicators have been demonstrated in the past to have a predictive effect on the company's demand.

Ex Works (EXW)

An international trade term (Incoterms, International Chamber of Commerce) requires the seller to deliver goods at their own place of business, with all other transportation costs and risks assumed by the buyer.