DAF
see Delivered at Frontier

Dangerous Goods
Articles or substances capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety, or property when transported by air and that require special attention when being transported. Also called Hazardous Goods.

Dashboard
A performance measurement tool used to capture a summary of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)/metrics of a company. Metrics dashboards/scorecards should be easy to read and usually have ‘red, yellow, green’ indicators to flag when the company is not meeting its metrics targets. Ideally, a dashboard/scorecard should be cross-functional in nature and include both financial and non-financial measures. In addition, scorecards should be reviewed regularly at least on a monthly basis and weekly in key functions such as manufacturing and distribution where activities are critical to the success of a company. The dashboard/scorecards philosophy can also be applied to external supply chain partners such as suppliers to ensure that supplier’s objectives and practices align. Synonym: Scorecard.

Data Communications
The electronic transmission of data, usually in computer readable form, using a variety of transmission vehicles and paths.

Data Dictionary
Lists the data elements for which standards exist. The Joint Electronic Document Interchange (JEDI) committee developed a data dictionary that is employed by many EDI users.

Data Interchange Standards Association
The secretariat, which provides clerical and administrative support to the ASC X12 Committee.

Data Migration/Relocation
A migration or relocation event involves either the physical or electronic relocation of data or electronic media from one location to another.

Data Mining
The process of studying data to search for previously unknown relationships. This knowledge is then applied to achieving specific business goals.

Data Warehouse
A repository of data that has been specially prepared to support decision-making applications. Synonym: Decision-Support Data.

Database
Data stored in computer-readable format, usually indexed or sorted in a logical order by which users can find a particular item of data they need.

Date Code
A label on products with the date of production. In food industries, it is often an integral part of the lot number.

Days of Supply
Measure of quantity of inventory-on-hand, in relation to number of days for which usage which will be covered. For example, if a component is consumed in manufacturing at the rate of 100 per day, and there are 1,585 units available onhand, this represents 15.85 days supply.

Days Sales Outstanding
Measurement of the average collection period (time from invoicing to cash receipt). Calculation: [5 Point Annual Gross Accounts Receivables] / [Total Annual Sales / 365]

DBR
see Drum-Buffer-Rope

DC
see Distribution Center

DDP
see Delivered Duty Paid

DDU
see Delivered Duty Unpaid

Dead on Arrival
A term used to describe products which are not functional when delivered. Synonym: Defective.

Deadhead
Equipment running completely empty (with no shipment aboard) to transport a container to its point of origin. See: backhauling.

Deadweight
The maximum carrying capacity of a ship, expressed in tons of cargo, including provisions and fuel. The vessel’s capacity for cargo is less than its total deadweight tonnage.

Decentralized authority
A situation in which management decision-making authority is given to managers at many levels in the organizational hierarchy.

Decision Support System
Software that speeds access and simplifies data analysis, queries, etc. within a database management system.

Decking
Second level that can be used inside of a trailer, allowing for additional tonnage onto the trailer.

Declared Value
Tariff provisions providing for the assumed value of a shipment (unless the shipper declares a higher value). An additional fee will apply if declared at a higher value.

Decomposition
A method of forecasting where time series data are separated into up to three components: trend, seasonal, and cyclical, where trend includes the general horizontal upward or downward movement over time, seasonal includes a recurring demand pattern such as day of the week, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, and cyclical includes any repeating, non-seasonal pattern. A fourth component is random, that is, data with no pattern. The new forecast is made by projecting the patterns individually determined and then combining them.

Dedicated carrier
A carrier that is hired on a contractual basis.

Dedicated Contract Carriage
A third-party service that dedicates equipment (vehicles) and drivers to a single customer for its exclusive use on a contractual basis.

Default
Non-Compliance of a firm to provide goods or services according to contractual terms.

Defect
A regularity or non conformity which is not allowable by specifications.

Defective goods inventory
Those items that have been returned, have been delivered damaged and have a freight claim outstanding, or have been damaged in some way during warehouse handling.

Degradable (As bio-degradable)
A product which will undergo a process of deterioration. The degrading process of bio-degradable items must be a deterioration unaided by the addition of chemicals or application of other destruction measures.

Deinking
A process of removing ink or toner from printing and writing papers in order to reprocess and recycle.

De-Installation
Providing a service by professional management teams to pickup, pack, inspect, repair, redeployment, sales and disposal.

Delimiters
(1) ASCII, characters which are used to separate data elements within a data stream.(2) EDI, two levels of separators and a terminator that are integrals part of a transferred data stream. Delimiters are specified in the interchange header. From highest to lowest level, the separators and terminator are segment terminator, data element separator, and component element separator (used only in EDIFACT).

Delivered at Frontier
Incoterm. Title, risk and responsibility for import clearance pass to buyer when delivered to named border point by seller. Used for any mode of transportation.

Delivered Duty Paid
Incoterm. Title and risk pass to buyer when seller delivers goods to named destination point cleared for import. Used for any mode of transportation.

Delivered Duty Unpaid
Incoterm. Title, risk and responsibility of import clearance pass to buyer when seller delivers goods to named destination point. Used for any mode of transportation. Buyer is obligated for import clearance.

Delivered Ex Quay
Incoterm. Title and risk pass to buyer when delivered on board the ship at the destination point by the seller who delivers goods on dock at destination point cleared for import. Used for sea or inland waterway transportation.

Delivered Ex Ship
Incoterm. Title, risk, responsibility for vessel discharge and import clearance pass to buyer when seller delivers goods on board the ship to destination port. Used for sea or inland waterway transportation.

Delivery
(1) The physical and legal transfer of a shipment from consignor to carrier and from carrier/ transport agent to consignee. (2) The act of putting property into the legal possession of another, whether involving the actual transfer of the physical control of the object from one to the other or being constructively effected in various other ways.

Delivery Appointment
The time agreed upon by two companies for goods or merchandise to arrive at a predetermined location.

Delivery Date Spread
Range of agreed-upon delivery dates. Shipment can arrive on any of these dates and meet the contractual agreement between a shipper and a carrier.

Delivery Instructions
A document provided to a carrier to pick up goods at a location and deliver them to another location. Specific instructions are included indicating exactly where the goods are to be delivered, the deadline, and the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact if delivery problems are encountered.

Delivery Order
An order from the consignee, shipper or owner of freight to a terminal operator, carrier or warehouse to deliver freight to another party. On imports, it may also be known as a pier release. A document which is neither a bill of lading or a waybill but contains an undertaking which (1) is given under or for the purposes of a contract for the carriage by sea of goods to which the document relates, or of goods which include those goods, and (2) is an undertaking by the carrier to a person identified in the document to deliver those goods to that person which the document relates. Delivery orders are capable of transferring contractual rights by way of endorsements, but they are not necessarily documents of title in the sense of being able to pass constructive possession.

Delivery Performance to Commit Date
The percentage of orders that are fulfilled on or before the internal Commit date, used as a measure of internal scheduling systems effectiveness. Delivery measurements are based on the date a complete order is shipped or the ship-to date of a complete order. A complete order has all items on the order delivered in the quantities requested. An order must be complete to be considered fulfilled. Multiple line items on a single order with different planned delivery dates constitute multiple orders, and multiple planned delivery dates on a single line item also constitute multiple orders. Calculation: [Total number of orders delivered in full and on time to the scheduled commit date] / [Total number of orders delivered]

Delivery Performance to Request Date
The percentage of orders that are fulfilled on or before the customer’s requested date used as a measure of responsiveness to market demand. Delivery measurements are based on the date a complete order is shipped or the ship-to date of a complete order. A complete order has all items on the order delivered in the quantities requested. An order must be complete to be considered fulfilled. Multiple line items on a single order with different planned delivery dates constitute multiple orders, and multiple planned delivery dates on a single line item also constitute multiple orders. Calculation: [Total number of orders delivered in full and on time to the customer’s request date] / [Total number of orders delivered]

Delivery Terms
A contractual designation of location of delivery, the time of delivery and shipping costs.

Delivery Ticket
Documentation signed at the job site confirming receipt of product or service.

Delivery Time
The time during the day and for the days of the week, during which the receiving unit will spot and unload trucks and rail cars.

Delphi Method
A qualitative forecasting technique where the opinions of experts are combined in a series of iterations. The results of each iteration are used to develop the next, so that convergence of the experts’ opinions is obtained.

Delta Nu Alpha
A professional association of transportation and traffic practitioners.

Demand Chain
Another name for the supply chain, with emphasis on customer or end-user demand pulling materials and product through the chain.

Demand Chain Management
Same as supply chain management, but with emphasis on consumer pull versus supplier push.

Demand Creation
The process of creating demand for a company’s products or services by utilizing various marketing and selling channels and approaches, including the Internet.

Demand Management
The function of recognizing all demands for goods and services to support the marketplace. It involves doing what is required to help make the demand happen and prioritizing demand when supply is lacking. Proper demand management facilitates the planning and use of resources for profitable business results. It encompasses the activities of forecasting, order entry, order promising, and determining branch warehouse requirements, interplant orders, and service parts requirements.

Demand Planning
The process of identifying, aggregating, and prioritizing, all sources of demand for the integrated supply chain of a product or service at the appropriate level, horizon and interval. The sales forecast is comprised of the following concepts: (1) The sales forecasting level is the focal point in the corporate hierarchy where the forecast is needed at the most generic level, i.e. Corporate forecast, Divisional forecast, Product Line forecast, SKU, SKU by Location. (2) The sales forecasting time horizon generally coincides with the time frame of the plan for which it was developed, i.e. Annual, 1-5 years, 1- 6 months, Daily, Weekly, Monthly. (3) The sales forecasting time interval generally coincides with how often the plan is updated, i.e. Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly.

Demand Planning Systems
The systems that assist in the process of identifying, aggregating, and prioritizing, all sources of demand for the integrated supply chain of a product or service at the appropriate level, horizon and interval.

Demand Pull
The triggering of material movement to a work center only when that work center is ready to begin the next job. It in effect eliminates the queue from in front of a work center, but it can cause a queue at the end of a previous work center.

Demand Supply Balancing
The process of identifying and measuring the gaps and imbalances between demand and resources in order to determine how to best resolve the variances through marketing, pricing, packaging, warehousing, outsource plans or some other action that will optimize service, flexibility, costs, assets (or other supply chain inconsistencies) in an iterative and collaborative environment.

Demand Time Fence
(1) That point in time inside of which the forecast is no longer included in total demand and projected available inventory calculations, inside this point, only customer orders are considered. Beyond this point, total demand is a combination of actual orders and forecasts, depending on the forecast consumption technique chosen.(2) In some contexts, the demand time fence may correspond to that point in the future inside which changes to the master schedule must be approved by an authority higher than the master scheduler. Note, however, that customer orders may still be promised inside the demand time fence without higher authority approval if there are quantities available-to-promise (ATP). Beyond the demand time fence, the master scheduler may change the MPS within the limits of established rescheduling rules, without the approval of higher authority. See: planning time fence, time fence.

Demand-Side Analysis
Techniques such as market research, surveys, focus groups, and performance/cost modeling used to identify emerging technologies.

Deming Circle
The concept of a continuously rotating wheel of plan-do-check-action (PDCA) used to show the need for interaction among market research, design, production, and sales to improve quality. Also see: Plan-Do-Check-Action

Demographic Segmentation
In marketing, dividing potential markets by characteristics of potential customers, such as age, sex, income, and education.

Demurrage
(1) Compensation (as liquidated damages) for delay in removing cargo from terminal facilities. (2) A charge assessed for detaining a container, freight car, truck or other vehicle beyond the freetime stipulated for loading or unloading.

Denied Party List
A list of organizations that are unauthorized to submit a bid for an activity or to receive a specific product. For example, some countries have bans for certain products such as weapons or sensitive technology.

Density
(1) A physical characteristic of a commodity measuring its mass per unit volume or pounds per cubic foot, an important factor in rate making, since density affects the utilization of a carrier’s vehicle. (2) The weight per cubic foot that is determined by multiplying the Length, Width and Height of a container and dividing the total by 1728.

Density Rate
A rate based upon the density and shipment weight.

DEQ
see Delivered Ex Quay

Deregulation
The revisions or complete elimination of economic regulations controlling the various transportation services. The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and the Staggers Act of 1980 revised the economic controls over motor carriers and railroads, and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated economic controls over air carriers.

Derived Demand
Demand for component products that arises from the demand for final design products. For example, the demand for steel is derived from the demand for automobiles.

DES
see Delivered Ex Ship

Descriptive and/or Technical Literature
Informative product information. Designs, pictures, charts, illustrations, descriptions and technical parameters as would be necessary to evaluate the bid specification requirements.

Design For Manufacture / Assembly
A product design methodology that provides a quantitative evaluation of product designs.

Design of Experiments
A branch of applied statistics dealing with planning, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting controlled tests to evaluate the factors that control the value of a parameter or group of parameters

Design Specification
A generic specification which would describe a particular configuration. A method of testing or inspection may be included.

Destination
The location designated as the receipt point for goods/shipment.

Destination-Enhanced Consolidation
Ganging of smaller shipments to cut cost, often as directed by a system or via pooling with a third party.

Detention
Costs incurred when a shipper/consignee or his/her agent removes a container from the carrier’s origin/destination CY to the shipper/consignee’s place of business, and does not return the loaded/empty container to the CY or to another location designated by the carrier within the permitted freetime as stipulated in the applicable tariff.

Deterministic Models
Models where no uncertainty is included, e.g., inventory models without safety stock considerations.

DFMA
see Design For Manufacture / Assembly

DFZ
see Duty Free Zone

DGI
see Defective goods inventory

Dial Up
Access a network by dialing a phone number or initiating a computer to dial the number. The dial-up line connects to the network access point via a node or a PAD.

Differential
(1) A discount offered by a carrier that faces a service time disadvantage over a route. (2) Amount added or deducted from base rate to create a rate to or from some other point or via another route.

Digital Signature
Electronically generated, digitized (as opposed to graphically created) authorization that is uniquely linkable and traceable to an empowered officer.

Dimensional Weight
A calculated weight based on a minimum density requirement. Length x width x height divided by 194 for domestic shipment, or divided by 166 for international shipments.

Direct Channel
Your own sales force sells to the customer. Your entity may ship to the customer, or a third party may handle shipment, but in either case your entity owns the sales contract and retains rights to the receivable from the customer. Your end customer may be a retail outlet. The movement to the customer may be direct from the factory, or the product may move through a distribution network owned by your company. Order information in this channel may be transmitted by electronic means.

Direct Cost
A cost that can be directly traced to a cost object since a direct or repeatable cause-and-effect relationship exists. A direct cost uses a direct assignment or cost causal relationship to transfer costs. Also see: Indirect Cost, Tracing

Direct Product Profitability
Calculation of the net profit contribution attributable to a specific product or product line.

Direct Production Material
Material that is used in the manufacturing/content of a product (example: Purchased parts, solder, SMT glues, adhesives, mechanical parts etc. Bill-of-Materials parts, etc.)

Direct Retail Locations
A retail location that purchases products directly from your organization or responding entity.

Direct Store Delivery
Process of shipping direct from a manufacturer’s plant or distribution center to the customer’s retail store, thus bypassing the customer’s distribution center. Also called Direct-to-Store Delivery

Direct Transmission
A transmission whereby data is exchanged directly between sender and receiver computers, without an intervening third-party service. Also called a point-to-point transmission.

Directed tasks
Tasks that can be completed based upon detailed information provided by the computer system. An order picking task where the computer details the specific item, location, and quantity to pick is an example of a directed task. If the computer could not specify the location and quantity forcing the worker to choose locations or change quantities, it would not be a directed task. Directed tasks set up the opportunity for confirmation transactions.

Direct-to-Store (DTS) Delivery
Same as Direct Store Delivery.

DISA
see Data Interchange Standards Association

Disaster Recovery Planning
Contingency planning specifically related to recovering hardware and software (e.g. data centers, application software, operations, personnel, telecommunications) in information system outages.

Discontinuous Demand
A demand pattern that is characterized by large demands interrupted by periods with no demand, as opposed to a continuous or steady (e.g., daily) demand. Synonym: Lumpy Demand.

Discount Schedule
A price listing based upon quantity selections of items. Savings realized by increased volumes.

Discrete Available-to-Promise
A calculation based on the available-to-promise figure in the master schedule. For the first period, the ATP is the sum of the beginning inventory plus the MPS quantity minus backlog for all periods until the item is master scheduled again. For all other periods, if a quantity has been scheduled for that time period then the ATP is this quantity minus all customer commitments for this and other periods, until another quantity is scheduled in the MPS. For those periods where the quantity scheduled is zero, the ATP is zero (even if deliveries have been promised). The promised customer commitments are accumulated and shown in the period where the item was most recently scheduled. Also see: Available-to- Promise

Discrete Manufacturing
Discrete manufacturing processes create products by assembling unconnected distinct parts as in the production of distinct items such as automobiles, appliances, or computers.

Discrete Order Picking
A method of picking orders in which the items on one order are picked before the next order is picked. Also see: Batch Picking, Order Picking, Zone Picking

Discrete Order Quantity
An order quantity that represents an integer number of periods of demand. Most MRP systems employ discrete order quantities. Also see: Fixed-period Requirements, Least Total Cost, Least Unit Cost, Lot-for-Lot, Part Period Balancing, Period Order Quantity, Wagner-Whitin Algorithm

Disintermediation
The process of eliminating an intermediate stage or echelon in a supply chain. Total supply chain operating expense is reduced, total supply chain inventory is reduced, total cycle time is reduced, and profits increase among the remaining echelons. See also echelon.

Dispatching
The carrier activities involved with controlling equipment, involves arranging for fuel, drivers, crews, equipment, and terminal space.

Disposition (Surplus Property)
The disposal of goods and inventory that are in excess or longer required. Methods of transferring, trading in or selling such items are commonly used.

Distributed Inventory
Inventory that is geographically dispersed. For example, where a company maintains inventory in multiple distribution centers to provide a higher level of customer service.

Distribution
(1) The full range of activities and planning required to move a product from the production line to the end-user. (2) Outbound logistics, from the end of the production line to the end user. (3) The activities associated with the movement of material, usually finished goods or service parts, from the manufacturer to the customer. These activities encompass the functions of transportation, warehousing, inventory control, material handling, order administration, site and location analysis, industrial packaging, data processing, and the communications network necessary for effective management. It includes all activities related to physical distribution, as well as the return of goods to the manufacturer. In many cases, this movement is made through one or more levels of field warehouses. Synonym: Physical Distribution. (4). The systematic division of a whole into discrete parts having distinctive characteristics.

Distribution Center
The warehouse facility which holds inventory from manufacturing pending distribution to the appropriate stores.

Distribution Channel
One or more companies or individuals who participate in the flow of goods and services from the manufacturer to the final user or consumer.

Distribution On Demand
The order fulfillment state a distribution operation achieves when it can respond, closest to real time, to changes in demand while shipping 100 percent customer compliant orders at the least cost.

Distribution Planning
The planning activities associated with transportation, warehousing, inventory levels, materials handling, order administration, site and location planning, industrial packaging, data processing, and communications networks to support distribution.

Distribution Requirements Planning
A system of determining demands for inventory at distribution centers and consolidating demand information in reverse as input to the production and materials system.

Distribution Resource Planning
The extension of distribution requirements planning into the planning of the key resources contained in a distribution system: warehouse space, workforce, money, trucks, freight cars, etc.

Distribution Warehouse
A finished goods warehouse that allows space, tools, and personal the ability to assemble customer orders.

Distributor
A business that does not manufacture its own products, but purchases and resells these products. Such a business usually maintains a finished goods inventory. Synonym: Wholesaler.

DIT
Destination Interchange Terminal. Facility operated by the ocean carrier or his agent at which containers are interchanged with the delivering motor carrier.

Diversion
(1) Authorized change in the route or destination of a shipment in transit. (2) The practice of selling goods to a competitor that the vendor assumes would be used to service that Customer’s store. Example, Grocery Store Chain A buys orange juice from Minute Maid. Grocery Store Chain A, because of their sales volume or because of promotion, can buy product for $12.50 per case. Grocery Store Chain B, because of a lower sales volume, buys the same orange juice for $14.50 per case. Grocery Store Chain A and Grocery Store Chain B get together and make a deal. Grocery Store Chain A resells that product to Grocery Store Chain B for $13.50 per case. Grocery Store Chain A makes $1.00 per case and Grocery Store Chain B gets product for $1.00 less per case than it can buy from Minute Maid.

Diversion Charge
Fee for diverting cargo from original intended destination port to a new location.

DOA
see Dead on Arrival

Dock
The loading or unloading platform at an industrial location or carrier terminal.

Dock Leveller
A hinged bridge between the dock surface and different load bed heights of vehicles. Levellers automatically adjust to different vehicle heights and the rise of vehicle springs as it is unloaded.

Dock Receipt
Receipt given for a shipment received or delivered at a pier or dock. When delivery of a foreign shipment is completed, the dock receipt is exchanged for a bill of lading with the transportation line.

Dock-to-Stock
A program by which specific quality and packaging requirements are met before the product is released. Prequalified product is shipped directly into the customer’s inventory. Dock-to-stock eliminates the costly handling of components, specifically in receiving and inspection and enables product to move directly into production.

Document
(1) Papers customarily attached to foreign forms, consisting of bills of lading, insurance certificates and commercial invoice where required, including certificates of origin and consular invoices. (2) In EDI, a form can act as an invoice or purchase order, that trading partners have agreed to exchange and that the EDI software handles within its compliance-checking logic.

Documentation
Paperwork that is attached or pertaining to goods requiring transportation and/or transfer of ownership.

DOD
see Distribution On Demand

DOE
see Design of Experiments

Dolly
A piece of equipment with two or four wheels that can be used to move heavy containers, pallets or freight.

Domain
A computer term for the following:(1) Highest subdivision of the Internet, for the most part by country (except in the U.S., where it’s by type of organization, such as educational, commercial, and government). Usually the last part of a host name, for example, the domain part of ibm.com is .com, which represents the domain of commercial sites in the U.S.(2) In corporate data networks, a group of client computers controlled by a server system.

Domestic trunk line carrier
An air carrier classification for carriers that operate between major population centers. These carriers are now classified as major carriers.

Door-to-Port
Shipment placed in a container at origin residence and delivered in the same container to the port of entry in the destinations country.

Door-to-Door
Shipment placed in a container at origin residence and delivered in the same container to a destinations residence.

Dormant route
A route over which a carrier failed to provide service 5 days a week for 13 weeks out of a 26-week period.

Double bottoms
A motor carrier operation involving two trailers being pulled by one tractor.

Double Order Point System
A distribution inventory management system that has two order points. The smallest equals the original order point, which covers demand during replenishment lead time. The second order point is the sum of the first order point plus normal usage during manufacturing lead time. It enables warehouses to forewarn manufacturing of future replenishment orders.

Double stack
Two containers, one on top of the other, loaded on a railroad flatcar, an intermodal service.

Double Stack Car
Rail car capable of carrying two containers stacked on top of each other.

Double-pallet jack
A mechanized device for transporting two standard pallets simultaneously.

Download
To merge temporary files containing a specific date containing information with the main database in order to update it.

Downstream
Referring to the demand side of the supply chain. One or more companies or individuals who participate in the flow of goods and services moving from the manufacturer to the final user or consumer. Opposite of Upstream.

Downtime
Is a period of time when a customer does not have access to equipment, data or assets during a relocation event.

DPC
see Dynamic Process Control

DPL
see Denied Party List

DPP
see Direct Product Profitability

DPS
see Dynamic Planning and Scheduling

Draft
Marine: The depth to which a vessel’s deepest point is under water. Rail: A cut of coupled cars. Financial: A signed, written order by one party that instructs another party to pay a third party a specific amount. It can also be called a bill of exchange.

Drawback
99% refund of imported or duty paid materials which are to be re-exported.

Drayage
The service offered by a motor carrier for loading and delivery of ocean containers or rail containers. Drayage providers usually handle full-load containers for ocean and rail carriers.

Drive-In Rack
A structural framework open at the front and blocked at the back by cross bracing. The shelves consist of rails connected to the uprights. Warehousing units may be placed two or more rows deep by entering the rack from the front and driving the fork lift truck between the rails. Careful consideration should be given unit clearance requirements, both vertical and horizontal.

Drive-Through Rack
Similar to drive-in rack except that the cross bracing is distributed across the top of the rack structure, thus permitting the fork lift truck to drive through the rack structure from one side to the other.

Driving time regulations
Rules that limit the maximum time a driver may drive in interstate commerce, both daily and weekly maximums are prescribed.

Drop
A trailer or boxcar is left at a facility at which it is to be loaded or unloaded. The van operator that dropped the trailer or boxcar may change after the freight has been loaded. See Trailer Drops.

Drop Ship
To take the title of the product but not actually handle, stock, or deliver it, e.g., to have one supplier ship directly to another or to have a supplier ship directly to the buyer’s customer.

DRP
(1) See Distribution Requirements Planning (2) See Disaster Recovery Planning

DRPII
See Distribution Resources Planning

DRP-II
see Distribution Resource Planning

Drum-Buffer-Rope
In the theory of constraints, the generalized process used to manage resources to maximize throughput. The drum is the rate or pace of production set by the system’s constraint. The buffers establish the protection against uncertainty so that the system can maximize throughput. The rope is a communication process from the constraint to the gating operation that checks or limits material released into the system to support the constraint. Also see: Finite Scheduling,

Dry Dock
Used to lay up vessels for repair.

DSD
see Direct Store Delivery

DSO
see Days Sales Outstanding

DSS
see Decision Support System

DTD
see Door-to-Door

DTF
see Demand Time Fence

DTP
see Door to Port

Dual operation
A motor carrier that has both common and contract carrier operating authority.

Dual rate system
An international water carrier pricing system where a shipper signing an exclusive use agreement with the conference pays a lower rate (10% to %15) than non-signing shippers for an identical shipment.

Dumping
Selling goods below costs in selected markets.

Dunnage
Any material, such as boards, planks, blocks, or metal bracing, used in transportation and in storage to support and secure supplies, to protect them from damage or for convenience in handling.

DUNS
Data Universal Numbering System.

DUNS Number
A unique nine-digit number assigned by Dun and Bradstreet to identify a company. DUNS stands for Data Universal Numbering System.

Durable Goods
Generally, any goods whose continuous serviceability is likely to exceed three years (e.g., trucks, furniture).

Duty
A tax levied by a government on merchandise imported, exported from another country. Duties are based on the value of goods, while other factors include weight on quantity or combination of value and other factors (compound duties).

Duty Drawback
(1) Payment returned for cargo re-exported or trade show material. (2) A customs refund on re-exported cargo.

Duty Free Zone
Areas where goods or cargo can be stored without have to pay import customs duties while awaiting manufacturing or future transport.

Duty rate
The incremental cost required to import a part into a country.

Dynamic Lot Sizing
Any lot-sizing technique that creates an order quantity subject to continuous recomputation. See: Least total cost, Least unit cost, Part period balancing, Period order quantity, Wagner-Whitin algorithm.

Dynamic Planning and Scheduling
Systems designed to provide rapid planning and scheduling information for manufacturers and distributors of short shelf life and fast turnover products. Manufacturers are typically faced with problems of decreasing lead times, smaller batch sizes, increasing product variety and little opportunity to manufacture to stock. DPS systems handle real world production and supply chain resources.

Dynamic Process Control
Continuous monitoring of process performance and adjustment of control parameters to optimize process output

Design-to-Order
Syn: Engineer-to-Order

Design-to-Order
syn: Engineer-to-Order (ETO)

DSO
See Desig-to-Oorder

DSO
See Design-to-Order

Direct Delivery
As more customers are buying through the web or finding other ways - such as mail order or catalogues - of buying directly from manufacturers or earlier tiers of the supply chain. This ‘disintermediation’ has the benefits of reducing lead-times, reducing costs to customers, having manufacturers talking directly to their final customers, allowing customers access to a wider range of products, and so on.

Deliveries, small
Some methods, - such as just-in-time and agile and direct deliveries - inevitably lead to smaller, more frequent deliveries. This suggests some movement away from large trucks and into smaller delivery vehicles, which are inherently less efficient. However, it has spurred the growth of parcel delivery such as FedEx, UPS and DHL - and it has encouraged operators to look for efficiencies, such as round-the clock deliveries to unattended destinations, better planning of deliveries, and higher vehicle utilization.