The words people use at goods in.

34 terms, each with what it means and then the part a definition usually leaves out, which is why it matters to whoever is standing in front of the pallet.

The paperwork Counting and checking When it goes wrong Money and matching Moving and storing

The paperwork

Purchase orderalso called PO: The document your company sends a supplier saying what it wants, how many, at what price and by when. It is written before anything ships.; Why it mattersIt is the only record of what was supposed to arrive. Without one on file, a delivery cannot be wrong, because there is nothing for it to disagree with.
Packing slipalso called Delivery note, despatch note: The list the supplier puts in or on the shipment saying what they believe they sent. It usually shows quantities and rarely shows prices.; Why it mattersIt tells you what the supplier thinks is on the pallet. It does not tell you what is actually on the pallet, and the difference between those two is most of receiving.
Goods received notealso called GRN, receiving report: Your own record of what turned up: the order it was against, what arrived, what condition it was in, who checked it and when.; Why it mattersThis is the document finance uses to decide whether an invoice gets paid. If it is a scribble on a clipboard, that decision is being made on a scribble.
Invoice: The supplier's request for payment, listing what they say they delivered and what it costs.; Why it mattersIt arrives weeks after the pallet, by which time nobody remembers the delivery. Whatever you wrote down on the day is what the argument is settled on.
Proof of deliveryalso called POD: The carrier's record that the goods were handed over, signed by whoever took them.; Why it mattersA clean signature says you accepted the load as it was presented. Anything wrong with it needs to be written on the POD before you sign, not after.
Advance shipping noticealso called ASN: A message the supplier sends before the truck arrives, saying what is coming, in how many cartons, and on which pallets.; Why it mattersIt lets you know a delivery is due and roughly what it holds. It is still a claim by the supplier, so it gets checked like everything else.
Bill of ladingalso called BOL: The contract between the shipper and the carrier for moving the freight, listing the pieces, weight and destination.; Why it mattersOn a freight delivery it is the document you note exceptions on. It counts pieces and pallets rather than the items inside them.

Counting and checking

Receivingalso called Goods in, goods inwards: Taking delivery of goods, checking them against what was ordered, and recording the result.; Why it mattersIt is the only point where a supplier's mistake is cheap to fix. Everything after this is a phone call and a credit note.
Blind receiving: Counting a delivery without being shown the expected quantity, so the number you write down is one you actually counted.; Why it mattersGiven a printed number, people tick it. Given an empty box, people count. The whole technique is that one difference.
Line itemalso called Line: One product on an order, with its own part number and quantity.; Why it mattersA delivery is never right or wrong as a whole. It is right or wrong line by line, and one bad line out of twenty still stops an invoice.
SKUalso called Part number, item code: The code that identifies exactly one product, down to the size, colour and pack.; Why it mattersTwo items with almost the same description can be different parts. The code is what you match on, because the description will not save you.
Unit of measurealso called UoM: What one counts as: an each, a box, a case, a metre, a kilo.; Why it mattersOrder ten cases, receive ten cases, count two hundred eaches. All three numbers are correct and the paperwork still says you are a hundred and ninety short.
Tolerance: The amount a delivery is allowed to differ from the order before anybody has to do something about it.; Why it mattersSome goods cannot be delivered exactly, cut lengths and weighed goods especially. A tolerance is what stops every one of those becoming a discrepancy.
Outstanding: The part of an order still waiting to arrive. Fifty ordered, forty received, ten outstanding.; Why it mattersIt is the number that tells you whether an order is finished. An order with nothing outstanding can be closed; one with a balance cannot.
Part receivedalso called Partial delivery: Some of an order has arrived and some has not, so the order stays open.; Why it mattersOne order can take several deliveries. Each has to land against the same order or the receiving log stops adding up to the order.
Fill rate: The share of what should have arrived that actually did, across an order, a supplier or a period.; Why it mattersIt turns individual annoyances into a number you can put in front of a supplier. A supplier at 97 per cent is short on three units in every hundred.
Lot numberalso called Batch number: A code identifying the production run a set of goods came from.; Why it mattersIf something is recalled, the lot number is how you find out whether you have any of it and where it went.

When it goes wrong

Short shipmentalso called Shortage, underdelivery: Less arrived than the order said.; Why it mattersYou owe the supplier for what came, not for what was ordered. Recorded on the day, that is a short pay. Found at invoice time, it is an argument.
Over shipmentalso called Overage, overdelivery: More arrived than the order said.; Why it mattersSomebody has to decide whether you keep and pay for the extra or send it back. Nobody can decide that if it was never written down.
Concealed damage: Damage you only find after opening the packaging, once the driver has gone and the delivery is signed clean.; Why it mattersIt is the hardest kind to claim for, because the paperwork already says the goods arrived in good order. Carriers give you a short window and it is usually counted in days.
Exceptionalso called Notation: A note written on the delivery paperwork at the moment of delivery recording that something was wrong.; Why it mattersThree words on the POD before you sign are worth more than three pages of email afterwards.
Discrepancy: Any difference between what was ordered, what the supplier says was sent, and what actually arrived.; Why it mattersIt is the thing receiving exists to catch. A delivery with no discrepancy needs no thought; the rest is why you keep a log.
Back order: The part of an order the supplier could not send yet and still intends to send.; Why it mattersA short delivery that is on back order is not the same as one that is never coming. The order stays open for one and closes for the other.
Return to vendoralso called RTV: Sending goods back to the supplier.; Why it mattersUsually needs the supplier's authorisation first. Goods sent back without it tend to arrive, get unloaded and get credited to nobody.
Credit note: A document from the supplier reducing what you owe, issued when you were billed for goods you did not get or could not use.; Why it mattersIt is the resolution to almost every receiving problem. Chasing one is much easier when you can show what arrived and when.

Money and matching

Three-way matching: Checking the purchase order, the record of what was received and the supplier's invoice against each other before paying.; Why it mattersIt is the control that stops you paying for goods nobody ever saw. It only works if the middle document exists.
Two-way matching: Checking the invoice against the purchase order only.; Why it mattersQuicker, and blind to the whole question of whether anything turned up. It suits services more than pallets.
Accrualalso called Goods received not invoiced, GRNI: Money your books owe for goods that have arrived but not yet been invoiced.; Why it mattersAccounts can only book it if receiving recorded the arrival. Deliveries that never got logged turn into surprises at month end.
Price variance: The difference between the price on the order and the price on the invoice.; Why it mattersSeparate from a quantity problem and worth keeping separate. One is a supplier sending the wrong amount, the other is a supplier charging the wrong rate.

Moving and storing

Putaway: Moving received goods from the bay to wherever they are kept.; Why it mattersIt comes after receiving and is a different job. Stock that is put away before it is counted is stock that can no longer be counted.
Cross-docking: Moving goods straight from the inbound vehicle to an outbound one without storing them.; Why it mattersThere is no shelf to go back to, so anything not caught at the bay leaves the building wrong.
Pallet: The wooden or plastic base goods are stacked and moved on.; Why it mattersCarriers count pallets, your order counts items. A load can be complete on pallets and short on items at the same time.
Receiving locationalso called Bay, dock, goods-in door: One door where deliveries are taken in.; Why it mattersTwo doors on one site are two places a pallet can be signed for, and two logs unless something joins them up.
Cycle count: Counting part of your stock on a rolling basis instead of shutting down to count all of it.; Why it mattersIt checks what is on the shelf. Receiving checks what came through the door. Getting the second one right makes the first one much less alarming.

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