Glossary

Account
Used as a synonym with "Customer" and can refer to anyone who shops in the store. Normally, "accounts" have their own account, while "customers" are walk-in or identified retail shoppers.   

 

Attribute
A piece of information that determines the properties of a field in a table. Customer and part number attributes are set up and stored so that PartsWatch knows how to "handle" or "treat" customers and parts within the application. For example, a part attribute is its pricing and taxability.

 

Browser

Can be either:

 

• A graphical user interface opened from PartsWatch to display and navigate to web pages. 
• A pop-up opened within PartsWatch to find or select information needed to continue working.

 

Commercial Account
Wholesale customers who have their own account in the store and can mean any customer or account that is not a "Retail Main".

 

Company / Enterprise / System
A business or organization under the same ownership comprised of one or more stores that have the same controlling interest.

"Company" is also referred to as the "System" and is used to distinguish the entire business from individual stores. 

An "Enterprise" is a large-scale organization.

 

Core
A part or a component of an auto part that can be rebuilt and sold as a re-manufactured part or that can be recycled for its materials. Common core parts may include batteries, water pumps, and alternators.

 

Data
Facts, figures, or information stored in or used to run the business.

 

DSL / DSO / T1
High-speed network or internet access.

 

eOrder
Any retail customer (B2C) or any transfer (B2B) order created at Point-of-Sale.

 

Field
The actual data entered or viewed. Each field is responsible for data specific to that field. Normally, data entered in a field is stored in a table.

 

Field Store
A way to mass update data.

 

File / Table
A container in a computer or a server used to store data.

 

Internet 
A global network of interconnected computers on which the web runs and the conduit through which emails and data pass.

 

Invoicing / Point-of-Sale / POS

Invoicing is the itemized, recorded transactions between a buyer and a seller. Point-of-Sale (POS) is the place at which the goods are sold. Both are used as synonyms to mean the public area where business is conducted.

 

Kit / BOM
While both KITs and BOMs are a list of pre-determined components that are sold together as a single part for a specific job:

 

• The QOH for the components that make up a Kit is not tracked until the Kit is built and all components, whether identified part numbers or vehicle-specific Part Types, are pulled off the shelf at the time of the sale.   
• The QOH for the components that make up a BOM is tracked at the time the components are pulled and the BOM is pre-built and added to the shelf, ready to be sold.   

 

Line Code / Line / Manufacturer / MFG 
The provider of the parts sold. Parts are organized by the manufacturers that make or provide the parts.

 

Line Code
A line code is 2 or 3 characters used to identify a part manufacturer for easy entry and tracking. For example, instead of entering and tracking "ACDelco (part number) 47AGMA", "ACD 47AGMA" is used instead. 

 

Location / Store
A place where inventory is sold to consumers or business is conducted, whether brick and mortar or internet-based. 

 

Mode
Types of information specific to a setup that are separated into different levels usually by tabs on the screen. An example of "modes" is the customer price plans with the hierarchy of 'Account', 'Model', 'Group', etc., each set up as a separate "mode".  

 

Module
All the screens and data related to a specific function. Examples of modules are Invoicing, Purchasing, and Controls. 

 

Local Area Network / LAN 
A collection of computers all linked together to exchange information.

 

Non-stocked / Not In File / NIF 
Any part not physically kept in the store's inventory, regardless of whether the Line Code and Part Number exist in the store or not. 

 

Non-SKU / Virtual Table
A parts table shared across multi-store enterprises consisting of parts not stocked (non-stocked), but still sold in the stores, thereby allowing access to part information without tracking a large number of parts in the store's part table.  

 

Part Number
Alphanumeric/special characters that represent a part. For example, an ACDelco battery may be tracked as "47AGMA".

 

Program
The entire PartsWatch system. Synonymous with "application".

 

Purchase Order / PO

Can be either:

 

• Customer PO: A tracking number given to the store by the customer at Point-of-Sale to identify the department or project the purchase is being made for. 
• Store PO: A list of products given to the supplier identifying the parts and quantities the store wants to purchase.

 

QOH / Quantity on Hand

The total number of parts in stock that are available for sale.

(QTY AVAILABLE – QTY RESERVED) = QOH

 

Retail Main Account
Walk-in unidentified or identified cash customers who do not have their own account with the store and always pay cash for purchases made.

 

Router
A device that forwards data packets (small segments of data) to the appropriate parts of the network.

 

Sales Order / Open Sales Order / Ticket / Reference
Invoices created at Point-of-Sale that are not yet finalized and printed.

 

Screen
The user interface where images and data are displayed and accessed on a monitor, tablet, smartphone, or laptop.

 

Server
A computer that stores data for and provides data to other computers. Servers are much larger and faster than Workstations or Desktops. All data is stored on a Data Server.

 

Sourcing

Can be either:

 

• Invoicing: Process of quickly obtaining parts not physically in the store that are needed to complete a sale by querying the warehouse or supplier for availability and placing the order directly from the counter at Point-of-Sale. 
• Shelf-Sourcing: Process of quickly obtaining parts not physically in the store that are needed for the shelf by querying the warehouse or supplier for availability and placing the order at the same time. 

 

System
All of the hardware and software that make up the application. 

 

Vendor / Supplier
The sellers where the stores obtain the goods that are then sold by the stores at Point-of-Sale.

 

Web
The collection of pages that are viewed online on a computer or other device.

 

Workstation / PC / Computer / Desktop / Notebook
Personal Computers, with a Workstation being the largest and a Notebook being the smallest.

 

Write-In 
(See Non-Stocked / Not-In-File / NIF)