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The words this industry uses, without the fog.

Every term below appears on this site or in logistics contracts. Each gets a plain definition and a note on why it matters.

ASNBYOCCMRControl towerDDP and DAPDPPEPCISERPESPRGS1 Digital LinkGTINItem level vs parcel levelISO/IEC 15459Last mileMulti-carrierOMSSerialisationSGTIN3PLTMSWMS

ASN

Advance Shipping Notice

A message sent ahead of a delivery telling the receiving site the contents, the timing and the packaging. It lets the receiving site plan for an arrival before the goods reach the dock.

Why it mattersWithout one, a warehouse discovers its inbound at the dock. With one built from item identities rather than a forecast, space and labour can be planned about a week ahead.
In the product

BYOC

Bring Your Own Carrier

An arrangement where the customer keeps their own carrier contracts and negotiated rates, and the software generates labels against those accounts rather than reselling transport.

Why it mattersYour rates stay as negotiated and the labels count against your plan allowance. It is the default option outside France and the United Kingdom, and a first-class one inside them.
In the product

CMR

The consignment note used for international road freight under the CMR Convention. It is the contract of carriage, the receipt and the evidence of condition, all on one document.

Why it mattersIt is the paper trail behind a road leg. When a claim is disputed, the CMR is usually the document that settles it, which is why the evidence needs to be attached before the dispute starts.
In the product

Control tower

A single operational view over shipments, orders, exceptions and compliance, with the authority to act rather than only to watch.

Why it mattersThe term is used loosely across the industry. The distinction that matters is whether the view is assembled from one shared item identity or stitched together from four systems that disagree.
In the product

DDP and DAP

Delivered Duty Paid, Delivered At Place

Two Incoterms that decide who pays import duty and tax. Under DDP the seller pays and the customer receives nothing extra to settle. Under DAP the buyer settles duty on arrival.

Why it mattersThe choice decides whether a cross-border customer meets an unexpected bill at the door, which is one of the larger drivers of refused deliveries and returns.

DPP

Digital Product Passport

A structured, machine-readable record of a product, kept at model, batch or item level, covering its identity, composition, origin and lifecycle events, accessible by scanning the item itself.

Why it mattersUnder ESPR this becomes a legal requirement across a widening set of categories sold into the EU. Built at the source, the passport fills in as the item ships; added later, it means reconciling records after the fact.
In the product

EPCIS

Electronic Product Code Information Services

The GS1 standard for recording and sharing supply chain events in a common vocabulary: the event, the item, the time, the place and the reason.

Why it mattersIt is the grammar that lets a factory, a forwarder, a warehouse and a carrier describe the same event in a way the others can read without a custom integration for every pair.
In the product

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning

The system of record for a business: purchasing, finance, inventory valuation and often production planning.

Why it mattersIt knows everything until the purchase order leaves it, and very little afterwards. Visibility usually stops at that boundary, which is why the thread has to start at the purchase order.
In the product

ESPR

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation

The EU regulation that sets ecodesign requirements for products sold in the Union and introduces the Digital Product Passport as a compliance instrument.

Why it mattersIt is the reason product passports stop being optional. Which categories are covered, and from when, is set by delegated acts that arrive category by category.
In the product

GTIN

Global Trade Item Number

The GS1 identifier for a product line. The number behind a retail barcode. It identifies the model, not the individual unit.

Why it mattersA GTIN identifies the product but not the unit, which is why item-level identity adds a serial number.

Item level vs parcel level

Parcel-level tracking follows a container from label to delivery. Item-level tracking follows the thing the customer bought, through packing, consolidation, receipt, re-picking and return.

Why it mattersA parcel is a temporary container that may hold several items and may be repacked twice. Recalls, warranties, provenance claims and passports all concern the item inside the box.
In the product

ISO/IEC 15459

The international standard for unique identifiers applied to items, transport units and locations in the supply chain.

Why it mattersIt is one of the specifications the passport implementation is built against, alongside the W3C CE-DPP work.
In the product

Last mile

The final leg of a delivery, from the local depot to the customer's door or a pickup point. Typically the most expensive leg per kilometre and the one the customer experiences.

Why it mattersIt is also where a parcel most often changes hands between networks, which is why a single consolidated status matters more here than anywhere else in the chain.
In the product

Multi-carrier

Running more than one carrier from one system, with rules deciding which carrier gets which shipment.

Why it mattersBeyond price, a second network keeps one carrier's bad week from holding up your shipping, provided the tracking and the invoice audit still read as one.
In the product

OMS

Order Management System

The system that decides where an order is served from and keeps its state across channels and locations.

Why it mattersWhere a brand runs one, it is read rather than replaced; a single-warehouse operation without one rarely needs to buy one.
In the product

Serialisation

Assigning a unique identifier to each individual unit produced, rather than to each product line.

Why it mattersEverything downstream depends on it, and it is hard to add afterwards. Minting the identity at the label, or earlier at the care label, avoids a separate project.
In the product

SGTIN

Serialised Global Trade Item Number

A GTIN extended with a serial number, so it identifies one specific unit rather than a product line.

Why it mattersIt is the identity used by default across Next Horizon. It ties a passport to one item and lets a return be recognised as the unit that went out.
In the product

3PL

Third Party Logistics provider

A company that runs warehousing, fulfilment or transport on a brand's behalf.

Why it mattersA good 3PL is an asset, and moving away from one costs a season. Keeping the operator and reading their system through the item identity usually brings the change a brand needs.
In the product

TMS

Transport Management System

The system used to plan, book and settle freight movements.

Why it mattersIt tracks consignments, the unit it moves, while a brand sells items. Inbound visibility problems often come down to that mismatch.
In the product

WMS

Warehouse Management System

The system that runs receiving, putaway, stock locations, picking and dispatch inside a warehouse.

Why it mattersIt counts stock well but rarely tells one unit from another. Reading the same WMS through an item identity answers both the replenishment question and the traceability question without replacing anything.
In the product

Related pages.

SolutionsFour ways in NetworkCoverage and rates CheckTwo-minute ESPR readiness check StackEvery integration

Questions we get asked.

Is an SGTIN the same as a GTIN?

No. A GTIN identifies a product line, which is the number behind a retail barcode. An SGTIN is a GTIN extended with a serial number, so it identifies one specific unit. A GTIN tells you the product; an SGTIN tells you which unit.

How does item-level tracking differ from parcel-level tracking?

Parcel-level tracking follows a container from label to delivery. Item-level tracking follows the thing the customer bought, and survives packing, consolidation, receipt, re-picking and return. Recalls, warranties and product passports all concern the item inside the box.

What is a Digital Product Passport?

A structured, machine-readable record of a product, kept at model, batch or item level, covering its identity, composition, origin and lifecycle events, reachable by scanning the item. Under the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation it becomes a legal requirement across a widening set of categories.

How does bring your own carrier work?

The customer keeps their own carrier contracts and negotiated rates, and the software generates labels against those accounts rather than reselling transport. Rates stay as negotiated and labels count against the plan allowance.

Why does EPCIS matter?

EPCIS is the GS1 standard for recording and sharing supply chain events in a shared vocabulary: the event, the item, the time, the place and the reason. It lets separate parties describe the same event without a custom integration for every pair of systems.

See them in the product.

SGTIN identity, EPCIS events, ASNs, your own carrier accounts and the Digital Product Passport run in one Next Horizon account. The demo takes 30 minutes.

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