Comprehensive Guide to Logistics and Supply Chain Vocabulary
Essential Logistics and Supply Chain Terminology
Logistics / Logística: The overall process of managing how resources are acquired, stored, and transported to their final destination.
Purchasing / Compras: The formal process of buying goods and services for a company.
Procurement / Adquisición: The strategic process of sourcing and acquiring goods, services, or works from an external source.
Warehousing / Almacenamiento: The practice of storing goods and materials in a large building (warehouse) before they are sold or distributed.
Storage / Almacenamiento: The action of keeping goods or materials in a specific space for future use.
Stock Control / Control de Stock: The process of documenting and managing the amount of inventory currently held in storage to ensure supply meets demand.
Distribution / Distribución: The movement of products from a manufacturer or supplier to the end-user or point of sale.
Maintenance / Mantenimiento: The process of maintaining or preserving equipment, vehicles, or facilities in good working order.
Packing / Embalaje: The process of preparing goods for transport by placing them into containers or protective wrapping.
Collection / Recolección: The act of picking up goods or materials from a specific location.
Documentation / Documentación: The official paperwork required for the movement and legal clearing of goods.
Goods / Bienes: Tangible items produced to satisfy human wants or needs, transported within the supply chain.
Professional Roles and Key Stakeholders
Carrier / Transportista: A person or company that undertakes the professional conveyance of goods.
Air Carrier / Línea Aérea: A company that provides air transport services for passengers or freight.
Freight Forwarder / Agente de Carga: A person or company that organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer, or final point of distribution.
Supplier / Proveedor: An entity that supplies goods and services to another organization.
Provider / Proveedor: A general term for an entity that provides a specific service or product.
Haulier / Contratista de Transporte: A person or company whose business is transporting goods by road using heavy vehicles.
Courier / Mensajería: A company or person who delivers messages, packages, and mail.
Consignee / Destinatario: The person or company to whom the goods are officially sent and delivered.
Customer / Cliente: The party that purchases the goods or services.
Shipping Lines / Líneas Navieras: Companies that operate merchant ships for the transport of cargo across oceans.
Transport Companies / Empresa de Transporte: General organizations dedicated to moving items from one location to another.
Strategic and Management Actions (Verbs)
To Advise / Asesorar o Aconsejar: To offer suggestions about the best course of action.
To Oversee / Supervisar: To watch and manage a job or a process to ensure it is done correctly.
To Supervise / Supervisar: To be in charge of an activity or a group of people to ensure tasks are performed correctly.
To Train / Capacitar: To teach a person a particular skill or type of behavior.
To Instruct / Capacitar: To provide specific orders or detailed information on how to perform a task.
To Ensure / Asegurar: To make certain that a condition or event will occur.
To Make Sure / Asegurar: To take action to guarantee a specific outcome.
To Manage / Dirigir: To be in charge of or control people or things.
To Liaise With / Hacer Enlaces Con: To establish a working relationship and facilitate communication between different groups or individuals.
To Carry Out / Llevar a Cabo: To perform a task or put a plan into action.
To Specialize / Especializarse: To concentrate on and become an expert in a particular subject or skill.
To Provide / Proveer: To supply or make something available for use.
To Store / Almacenar: To keep items in a designated area for later use.
To Deliver / Entregar: To transport and hand over goods to the intended recipient.
To Distribute / Distribuir: To give out or share items among a group of people or locations.
To Support / Apoyar: To provide assistance or technical help to a process or organization.
To Maintain / Mantener: To keep something in its existing state or original condition.
To Transport / Transportar: To move goods or people from one place to another.
To Purchase / Comprar: To acquire something by paying for it.
To Prepare / Preparar: To make something ready for use or consideration.
Cargo, Freight, and Transport Modes
Freight / Flete: Goods transported in bulk by truck, train, ship, or aircraft.
Container / Contenedor: A large metal box of standard design used for the transport of goods by various modes of transport.
Transhipment / Trasbordo: The shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination.
Break-bulk / Carga Fraccionada: A system of transporting cargo as separate pieces rather than in containers (e.g., pallets, barrels, or crates).
Cross Docking / Tránsito Directo: A logistics procedure where products from a supplier or manufacturing plant are distributed directly to a customer or retail chain with marginal or no storage time.
Order Picking / Preparación de Pedidos: The process of pulling items from inventory to fill a customer order.
Reverse Logistics / Logística Inversa: All operations related to the reuse of products and materials, including returns from customers.
Fleet of Vehicles / Flota de Vehículos: A group of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business or organization.
Air Freight Services / Servicio de Carga Aérea: Professional services dedicated to moving cargo by airplane.
By Road / Por Tierra: Transportation occurring on land via trucks or vehicles.
By Sea / Por Mar: Transportation occurring via ships and maritime routes.
By Air / Por Aire: Transportation occurring via airplanes.
Tracking and Tracing / Seguimiento y Localización: The process of identifying the past and current locations of an inventory item or delivery.
Parcels / Paquete: A thing or collection of things wrapped in paper in order to be carried or sent by mail.
Packages / Paquete Chico: Smaller parcels or bundled items.
Word Families: Verbs and Nouns
To provide (Verb) -> Provider (Noun): The act of supplying vs. the entity that supplies.
To store (Verb) -> Storage (Noun): The act of keeping goods vs. the state or place of being kept.
To support (Verb) -> Supporting (Noun/Gerund): The act of giving assistance vs. the assistance itself.
To deliver (Verb) -> Delivery (Noun): The act of handing over goods vs. the instance of handing them over.
To distribute (Verb) -> Distribution (Noun): The act of sharing/sending out vs. the system of doing so.
To maintain (Verb) -> Maintenance (Noun): The act of preserving vs. the upkeep itself.
To transport (Verb) -> Transportation (Noun): The act of moving items vs. the system of movement.
To purchase (Verb) -> Purchasing (Noun/Gerund): The act of buying vs. the department or function of buying.
Logistics Acronyms and Abbreviations
3PL (Third-party logistics) / Logística de terceros: A provider of outsourced logistics services.
FCL (Full container load) / Carga de contenedor completa: A shipment that occupies the entire space of a container.
LCL (Less than container load) / Menos de la carga completa: A shipment that does not fill a full container and is bundled with other shipments.
DC (Distribution Centre) / Centro de distribución: A specialized building which is stocked with products to be redistributed to retailers, wholesalers, or directly to consumers.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) / Intercambio de datos electrónicos: The electronic transfer of data between organizations by agreed message standards.
GPS (Global Positioning System) / Sistema de posicionamiento global: A satellite-based radionavigation system.
HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) / Vehículo de carga pesada: A truck or lorry with a gross combination mass of over .
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) / Identificación de radio frecuencia: A technology that uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.
JIT (Just-in-time) / Justo a tiempo: An inventory management method in which goods are received from suppliers only as they are needed.
VAS (Value-added services) / Servicio de valor agregado: Extra services performed by a logistics provider beyond standard storage and transport.
VAL (Value-added logistics) / Logística de valor agregado: The practice of adding value to products within the logistics chain (e.g., assembly, packaging).
WMS (Warehouse Management System) / Sistema de gestión de almacenes: Software applications that support and optimize warehouse functionality and distribution center management.
ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) / Tiempo estimado de llegada: The time when a ship, vehicle, or aircraft is expected to arrive at its destination.
ETS (Estimated Time of Sailing) / Tiempo estimado de salida: The time when a vessel is expected to depart from a port.
B/L (Bills of Lading) / Conocimiento de embarque: A detailed list of a shipment of goods in the form of a receipt given by the carrier to the person consigning the goods.
AWB (Air Waybill) / Guía aérea: A document that accompanies goods shipped by an international air courier to provide detailed information about the shipment.
POD (Proof of Delivery) / Prueba de entrega: A method to establish the fact that a recipient received the contents sent by a sender.