| Because the world of Shipping terms is vast, there's sometimes a need for explanations.
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Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data. Different types of barcode encoding and dimension exist. A barcode usually contains the following technical elements:
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- The machine-readable part (the bars), which gives the content of the barcode after scan
- The human-readable part (the figures), which supposed to be the result when we scan the barcode
- The Start & Stop codes that delimit the barcode and indicate the scanner where to start reading and where to stop
- The Checkdigit which verifies the integrity of the barcode
Database
Where the information on your shipments is stored in your own system. Generally, this term is used to describe the storage of electronic information.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
This term applies to a structured way of exchanging information between two computers. Concerning the transportation industry, we here mostly refer to announcement file and feedback file, containing information about your shippings. A file can be of different format (XML, plain text, ...)
Label
Combinaison of the adress information, visual signs and barcodes. In the transportation industry, every transporter has it's own standard for the placement and the type of the different informations.
Options
The options or Value Added Services of the shippers refer to add-on services that you can ask thanks to a combination of barcode adaptation and/of visual signs. Typical options are the Signature on delivery of the parcel or a specific delivery hour or mean, but each shipper presents his own range of possible options and the specifications to generate them.
Picking
All operations done in warehouse to prepare the physical order of your customer.
Shipper
A company specialized in the shipping of goods (parcels or pallets) & letters.
Specifications
Technical document describing the standards of one provider of services. In the transportation industry, every company has his own specifications for the generation of the labels (for the different options) and EDI files.
Supply Chain
The Supply Chain is the combination of the processes and systems that are involved in moving a product or a service from supplier to customer. The distribution is usually the last step of this process
Template
A pre-filled in document which contains information and logic to create automatically labels & EDI files, using the information from your database.
Track & Trace
This term refers to the possibility to follow online or offline the statuses of your shipments, which means the places, time and events related to them. Basically, the Track & Trace design all possibilities to follow where were you parcel at a certain moment.
Transporter
A company specialized in the shipping of goods (parcels) & letters.
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