Procurement glossary for production buyers
The terms you see every day in your ERP, your supplier emails, and your POs, explained in plain language, the way a buyer would explain them to a colleague.
PO Acknowledgment
The supplier's confirmation that they received your PO and can deliver on the dates you need. Without it, you're flying blind. PO-Relay starts a 48-hour timer the moment a PO is placed.
Read the definitionExpedite
Asking a supplier to deliver faster than originally agreed. The most common urgent action a buyer takes, and one of the hardest to track because the new date often lives only in an email.
Read the definitionThree-Way Match
Matching the PO, the receipt, and the invoice before approving payment. If your receipt tracking is unreliable, your three-way match is unreliable. PO-Relay's delivery tracking is the foundation.
Read the definitionLead Time
The time from placing an order to receiving the goods. Every buyer thinks about it, but few track it systematically. PO-Relay tracks it implicitly across every delivery.
Read the definitionASN
Advance Shipment Notice, the supplier telling you what's been shipped and when to expect it. PO-Relay's email intelligence detects ASNs automatically and advances the loop to "shipped."
Read the definitionPPAP
Production Part Approval Process, the quality gauntlet a new part goes through before it enters production. Relevant when you're onboarding a new supplier and need to track the approval alongside delivery.
Read the definitionNCR
Non-Conformance Report, what gets filed when a part fails inspection. As a buyer, an NCR means your loop just reopened and you're managing a replacement timeline on top of everything else.
Read the definitionPartial Receipt
When a supplier ships only part of your order. You received something, but the loop isn't closed. PO-Relay keeps tracking the remaining quantity and flags partial receipts that weren't communicated in advance.
Read the definitionBlanket PO
A standing purchase order covering multiple releases over time. Each release has its own delivery date and quantity. PO-Relay tracks each one independently.
Read the definitionBackorder vs Partial Shipment
Two situations buyers see all the time, often used interchangeably. A backorder has a confirmed future ship date; a partial shipment may or may not. The difference shapes how you track the unshipped balance.
Read the definitionOpen Purchase Order
A PO that has been placed but not yet fully received and closed. The daily worklist of every production buyer, where delivery surprises hide between acknowledgment and the dock.
Read the definitionPurchase Order Expediting
The discipline of monitoring open POs, flagging the at-risk ones, and pushing suppliers or internal handoffs to recover the schedule before production feels it. Half of every buyer's job in 2026.
Read the definitionKanban Replenishment
A pull-based reorder system where parts are released the moment on-hand stock drops below a threshold. How buyers run kanban alongside MRP and where the model breaks.
Read the definitionMOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
The smallest quantity a supplier will run per order. The MOQ tax for production buyers, where it actually hits cash flow, and the levers for negotiating it down.
Read the definitionSafety Stock
The buffer quantity above expected demand that absorbs supplier delays without stopping production. The buyer's view of who sets it, why it matters, and how it shapes triage.
Read the definitionConsignment Inventory
Parts held at your site but owned by the supplier until you consume them. How the workflow differs from a normal PO cycle, and where consumption reporting drift breaks the program.
Read the definitionSupplier Scorecard
A structured record of how a supplier is performing on delivery, quality, and responsiveness. The buyer's view of what to track, how often, and what to do with the answer.
Read the definitionRFQ (Request for Quotation)
A formal request to suppliers for a price, lead time, and terms on a specific part. How production buyers actually run RFQs and where the unanswered ones get lost.
Read the definitionMRP vs ERP
MRP creates the buy signal; ERP holds the PO and receipt records. The production buyer's view of which system does what, and where the email layer between them gets lost.
Read the definitionECO (Engineering Change Order)
The document that authorizes a change to a part's revision and triggers updates to drawings, BOM, and any open POs already in flight. The buyer's view of what to do when one drops mid-cycle.
Read the definitionIncoterms
The three-letter shipping terms (FOB, DAP, EXW, DDP, and the rest) that define who pays freight, who carries risk, and when title transfers. The half-dozen production buyers actually see.
Read the definition