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Supply Chain and Logistics Terms and Glossary
NACS: See North American Container System
NAFTA: See North American Free Trade Agreement
National carrier: A for-hire certificated air carrier that has annual operating revenues of $75 million to $1 billion; the carrier usually operates between major population centers and areas of lesser population.
National Industrial Traffic League: An association representing the interests of shippers and receivers in matters of transportation policy and regulation.
Nationalization: Public ownership, financing, and operation of a business entity.
National Industrial Transportation League (NITL): A national trade association of transportation providers.
National Motor Bus Operators Organization: An industry association representing common and charter bus firms; now known as the American Bus Association.
National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC): A tariff, which contains descriptions and classifications of commodities and rules for domestic movement by motor carriers in the U.S.
National Railroad Corporation: Also known as Amtrak, the corporation established by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 to operate most of the United States’ rail passenger service.
National Stock Number (NSN): The individual identification number assigned to an item to permit inventory management in the federal (U.S.) supply system.
Net Asset Turns: The number of times you replenish your net assets in your annual sales cycle. A measure of how quickly assets are used to generate sales.
Calculation: Total Product Revenue / Total Net Assets
Net Assets: Total Net assets are calculated as Total Assets - Total Liabilities; where: The total assets are made up of fixed assets (plant, machinery and equipment) and current assets which is the total of stock, debtors and cash (also includes A/R, inventory, prepaid assets, deferred assets, intangibles and goodwill). The total liabilities are made up in much the same way of long-term liabilities and current liabilities (includes A/P, accrued expenses, deferred liabilities).
Net Change MRP: An approach in which the material requirements plan is continually retained in the computer. Whenever a change is needed in requirements, open order inventory status, or bill of material, a partial explosion and netting is made for only those parts affected by the change. Antonym: Regeneration MRP.
Net Landed Costs: The cost of the product in addition to the relevant logistics cost such as transportation & handling
Net Requirements: In MRP, the net requirements for a part or an assembly are derived as a result of applying gross requirements and allocations against inventory on hand, scheduled receipts, and safety stock. Net requirements, lot-sized and offset for lead time, become planned orders.
Net Weight: The weight of the merchandise, unpacked, exclusive of any containers.
New Product Introduction (NPI): The process used to develop products that are new to the sales portfolio of a company.
NII: See Non Intrusive Inspection Technology
Nixie: A direct mail letter which has been returned to the sender because the address was wrong. Also, any undelivered piece of mail. Nixies are used to correct a list.
NES: See Not otherwise specified/Not elsewhere specified
NITL: See National Industrial Transportation League
NMFC: See National Motor Freight Classification
Node: A fixed point in a firm’s logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply sources, and markets.
No location (No Loc): A received item for which the warehouse has no previously established storage slot.
Non-certified carrier: A for-hire air carrier that is exempt from economic regulation.
Nonconformity: Failure to fulfill a specified requirement used as a measure of quality. See: blemish, defect, imperfection.
Non-Conveyable: Materials which cannot be moved on a conveyor belt.
Non-Durable goods: Goods whose serviceability is generally limited to a period of less than three years (such as perishable goods and semi-durable goods).
Non-Intrusive Inspection technology (NII): Originally developed to address the threat of smugglers using increasingly sophisticated techniques to conceal narcotics deep in commercial cargo and conveyances, NII systems, in many cases, give Customs inspectors the capability to perform thorough examinations of cargo without having to resort to the costly, time consuming process of unloading cargo for manual searches, or intrusive examinations of conveyances by methods such as drilling and dismantling.
Non-vessel-owning common carrier (NVOCC): A firm that offers the same services as an ocean carrier, but which does not own or operate a vessel. NVOCCs usually act as consolidators, accepting small shipments (LCL) and consolidating them into full container loads. They also consolidate and disperse international containers that originate at or are bound for inland ports. They then act as a shipper, tendering the containers to ocean common carriers. They are required to file tariffs with the Federal Maritime Commission and are subject to the same laws and statutes that apply to primary common carriers.
North American Container System (NACS): An Intermodal equipment program designed to facilitate the free interchange of domestic 48’ and 53’ containers between member railroads.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): A free trade agreement, implemented January 1, 1994, between Canada, the United States and Mexico. It includes measures for the elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, as well as many more specific provisions concerning the conduct of trade and investment that reduce the scope for government intervention in managing trade.
NOS: See Not otherwise specified/Not elsewhere specified
Not otherwise specified / Not elsewhere specified (NOS/NES): This term often appears in ocean or airfreight tariffs respectively. If no rate for the specific commodity shipped appears in the tariff, then a general class rate (for example: printed matter NES) will apply. Such rates usually are higher than rates for specific commodities.
NPI: See New Product Introduction
NSN: See National Stock Number
NVOCC: See Non-vessel owning common carrier
Download the entire glossary in pdf format (1.2MB).
Definitions compiled by Supply Chain Visions, Bellevue, WA, www.scvisions.com. Updated May 2009.
Please note: The Center for Value Chain Research (CVCR) does not take responsibility for the content of these definitions, nor does the CVCR endorse these as official definitions except as noted.