Terminology 

M-Commerce: - Mobile commerce applications involve using a mobile phone to carry out financial transactions. This usually means making a payment for goods or transferring funds electronically. Transferring money between accounts and paying for purchases are electronic commerce applications. An emerging application, electronic commerce has been facilitated by developments in other areas in the mobile world, such as dual slot phones and other smarter terminals and more standardized protocols, which allow greater interactivity and therefore more sophisticate services.



M-Day Calendar: - See Manufacturing Calendar



M2M: - See Machine-to-Machine interface



Machine Downtimes: - Time during which a machine cannot be utilized. Machine downtimes may occur during breakdowns, maintenance, changeovers, etc.



Machine-to-Machine interface (M2M): - A term describing the process whereby machines are remotely monitored for status and problems reported and resolved automatically or maintenance scheduled by the monitoring systems.



Macro environment: - The environment external to a business including technological, economic, natural, and regulatory forces that marketing efforts cannot control.



Mainframe: - A term sometimes generically used to refer to an organization's central computer system. Specifically the largest class of computer systems manufactured.



Maintenance, Repair, and Operating supplies (MRO): - Items used in support of general operations and maintenance such as maintenance supplies, spare parts, and consumables used in the manufacturing process and supporting operations.



Major carrier: - A for-hire certificated air carrier that has annual operating revenues of $1 billion or more: the carrier usually operates between major population centers.



Make-or-buy decision: - The act of deciding whether to produce an item internally or buy it from an outside supplier. Factors to consider in the decision include costs, capacity availability, proprietary and/or specialized knowledge, quality considerations, skill requirements, volume, and timing.



Make-to-Order (Manufacture-to-order): - A manufacturing process strategy where the trigger to begin manufacture of a product is an actual customer order or release, rather than a market forecast. For Make-to-Order products, more than 20% of the valueadded takes place after the receipt of the order or release, and all necessary design and process documentation is available at time of order receipt.



Make-to-Stock (Manufacture-to-stock): - A manufacturing process strategy where finished product is continually held in plant or warehouse inventory to fulfill expected incoming orders or releases based on a forecast.



Manifest: - A document which describes individual orders contained within a shipment.



Manufacture Cycle Time: - The average time between commencement and completion of a manufacturing process, as it applies to make-to-stock products. Calculation: [Average # of units in WIP] / [Average daily output in units]



Manufacturer's Representative: - One who sells goods for several firms but does not take title to them.



Manufacturing Calendar: - A calendar used in inventory and production planning functions that consecutively numbers only the working days so that the component and work order scheduling may be done based on the actual number of workdays available. Synonyms: M-Day Calendar, Planning Calendar, Production Calendar, Shop Calendar.



Manufacturing Capital Asset Value: - The asset value of the "Manufacturing fixed assets" after allowance for depreciation. Examples of equipment are SMT placement machines, conveyors, Auto guided vehicles, robot cells, testers, X-ray solder machines, Burn-in chambers, Logic testers, Auto packing equipment, PLC station controllers, Scanning equipment, PWB magazines.



Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES): - Programs and systems that participate in shop floor control, including programmed logic controllers and process control computers for direct and supervisory control of manufacturing equipment



Manufacturing Lead Time: - The total time required to manufacture an item, exclusive of lower level purchasing lead time. For make-to-order products, it is the length of time between the release of an order to the production process and shipment to the final customer. For make-to-stock products, it is the length of time between the release of an order to the production process and receipt into finished goods inventory. Included here are order preparation time, queue time, setup time, run time, move time, inspection time, and put-away time. Synonyms: Manufacturing Cycle Time. Also see: Lead Time



Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II): - A method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufacturing company. Ideally, it addresses operational planning in units, financial planning in dollars, and has a simulation capability to answer what-if questions. It is made up of a variety of processes, each linked together: business planning, production planning (sales and operations planning), master production scheduling, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, and the execution support systems for capacity and material. Output from these systems is integrated with financial reports such as the business plan, purchase commitment report, shipping budget, and inventory projections in dollars. Manufacturing resource planning is a direct outgrowth and extension of closed-loop MRP.



Mapping: - A computer term referring to diagramming data that is to be exchanged electronically, including how it is to be used and what business management systems need it. Preliminary step for developing an applications link. Performed by the functional manager responsible for a business management system.



Marginal Cost: - The cost to produce one additional unit of output. The change in total variable cost resulting from a one-unit change in output.



Marine insurance: - Insurance to protect against cargo loss and damage when shipping by water transportation.



Maritime Administration: - A federal agency that promotes the merchant marine, determines ocean ship routes and services, and awards maritime subsidies.



Market Demand: - In marketing, the total demand that would exist within a defined customer group in a given geographical area during a particular time period given a known marketing program.



Market dominance: - In transportation rating this refers to the absence of effective competition for railroads from other carriers and modes for the traffic to which the rate applies. The Staggers Act stated that market dominance does not exist if the rate is below the revenue-to-variable-cost ratio of 160% in 1981 and 170% in 1983



Market Segment: - A group of potential customers sharing some measurable characteristics based on demographics, psychographics, lifestyle, geography, benefits, etc.



Market-Positioned Warehouse: - Warehouse positioned to replenish customer inventory assortments and to afford maximum inbound transport consolidation economies from inventory origin points with relatively short-haul local delivery.



Marquis Partners: - Key strategic relationships. This has emerged as perhaps the key competitive advantage and barrier to entry of e-marketplaces. Get the big players in the fold first, offering equity if necessary.



Marshaller or Marshalling Agent: - This is a service unique to international trade and relates to an individual or firm that specializes in one or more of the activities preceding Main Carriage, such as consolidation, packing, marking, sorting of merchandise, inspection, storage, etc. References state that Marshaling Agent, Consolidation Agent and Freight Forwarder all have the same meaning.



Mass Customization: - The creation of a high-volume product with large variety so that a customer may specify his or her exact model out of a large volume of possible end items while manufacturing cost is low because of the large volume. An example is a personal computer order in which the customer may specify processor speed, memory size, hard disk size and speed, removable storage device characteristics, and many other options when PCs are assembled on one line and at low cost.



Master pack: - A large box that is used to pack a number of smaller boxes or containers. Aids in protecting the smaller cartons or packages and reduces the number of cartons to be handled during the material handling process.



Master Production Schedule (MPS): - The master level or top level schedule used to set the production plan in a manufacturing facility.



Material Acquisition Costs: - One of the elements comprising a company's total supply-chain management costs. These costs consist of the following: 1. Materials (Commodity) Management and Planning: All costs associated with supplier sourcing, contract negotiation and qualification, and the preparation, placement, and tracking of a purchase order, including all costs related to buyer/planners. 2. Supplier Quality Engineering: The costs associated with the determination, development/certification, and monitoring of suppliers' capabilities to fully satisfy the applicable quality and regulatory requirements. 3. Inbound Freight and Duties: Freight costs associated with the movement of material from a vendor to the buyer and the associated administrative tasks. Duties are those fees and taxes levied by government for moving purchased material across international borders. Customs broker fees should also be considered in this category. 4. Receiving and Put Away: All costs associated with taking possession of material and storing it. Note that carrying costs are not a part of acquisition, and inspection is handled separately. 5. Incoming Inspection: All costs associated with the inspection and testing of received materials to verify compliance with specifications. 6. Material Process and Component Engineering: Those tasks required to document and communicate component specifications, as well as reviews to improve the manufacturability of the purchased item. 7. Tooling: Those costs associated with the design, development, and depreciation of the tooling required to produce a purchased item. A tooling cost would be incurred by a company if they actually paid for equipment and/or maintenance for a contract manufacturer that makes their product. Sometimes, there isn't enough incentive for a contract manufacturer to upgrade plant equipment to a level of quality that a company requires, so the company will pay for the upgrades and maintenance to ensure high quality. May not be common in some industries such as the Chemicals Material index: The ratio of the sum of the localized raw material weights to the weight of the finished product.



Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS): - A document that is part of the materials information system and accompanies the product. Prepared by the manufacturer, the MSDS provides information regarding the safety and chemical properties and (if necessary) the long-term storage, handling, and disposal of the product. Among other factors, the MSDS describes the hazardous components of a product



Materials Handling: - The physical handling of products and materials between procurement and shipping.



Materials Management: - Inbound logistics from suppliers through the production process. The movement and management of materials and products from procurement through production.



Materials planning: - The materials management function that attempts to coordinate the supply of materials with the demand for materials.



Materials Requirements Planning (MRP): - A decision-making methodology used to determine the timing and quantities of materials to purchase.



Matrix Organizational Structure: - An organizational structure in which two (or more) channels of command, budget responsibility, and performance measurement exist simultaneously. For example, both product and functional forms of organization could be implemented simultaneously, that is, the product and functional managers have equal authority and employees report to both managers.



MAX: - The lowest inventory quantity that is desired at a ship to location or selling location. This quantity will over-ride the forecast number if the forecast climbs above the MAX. Maximum stock



Maximum Inventory: - The planned maximum allowable inventory for an item based on its planned lot size and target safety stock.



Maximum Order Quantity: - An order quantity modifier applied after the lot size has been calculated, that limits the order quantity to a pre-established maximum.



Mean: - The arithmetic average of a group of values. Synonym: arithmetic mean.



Measurement ton: - Equals 40 cubic feet



Median: - The middle value in a set of measured values when the items are arranged in order of magnitude. If there is no single middle value, the median is the mean of the two middle values.



Merger: - The combination of two or more carriers into one company for the ownership, management, and operation of the properties previously operated on a separate basis.



MES: - See Manufacturing Execution Systems



Message: - The EDIFACT term for a transaction set. A message is the collection of data, organized in segments, exchanged by trading partners engaged in EDI. Typically, a message is an electronic version of a document associated with a common business transaction, such as a purchase order or shipping notice. A message begins with a message header segment, which identifies the start of the message (e.g., the series of characters representing one purchase order). The message header segment also carries the message type code, which identifies the business transaction type. EDIFACT's message header segment is called UNH



Meta Tag: - An optional HTML tag that is used to specify information about a web document. Some search engines use "spiders" to index web pages. These spiders read the information contained within a page's META tag. So in theory, an HTML or web page author has the ability to control how their site is indexed by search engines and how and when it will "come up" on a user's search. The META tag can also be used to specify an HTTP or URL address for the page to "jump" to after a certain amount of time. This is known as Client-Pull. What this means, is a web page author can control the amount of time a web page is up on the screen as well as where the browser will go next.



Metrics: - See Performance Measures.



Micro-land bridge: - An intermodal movement in which the shipment is moved from a foreign country to the U.S. by water and then moved across the U.S. by railroad to an interior, nonport city, or vice versa for exports from a nonport city.



Mileage allowance: - An allowance based upon distance and given by railroads to shippers using private rail cars.



Mileage rate: - A rate based upon the number of miles the commodity is shipped.



Milk run: - A regular route for pickup of mixed loads from several suppliers. For example, instead of each of five suppliers sending a truckload per week to meet the weekly needs of the customer, one truck visits each of the suppliers on a daily basis before delivering to the customer's plant. Five truckloads per week are still shipped, but each truckload contains the daily requirement from each supplier. Also see: Consolidation



Min Max System: - A type of order point replenishment system where the "min" (minimum) is the order point, and the "max" (maximum) is the "order up to" inventory level. The order quantity is variable and is the result of the max minus the available and on-order inventory. An order is recommended when the sum of the available and on-order inventory is at or below the min.



Mini-land Bridge: - An intermodal movement in which the shipment is moved from a foreign country to the U.S. by water and then moved across the U.S. by railroad to a destination that is a port city, or vice versa for exports from a U.S. port city.



Minimum weight: - The shipment weight specified by the carrier's tariff as the minimum weight required to use the TL or CL rate



Misguided Capacity Plans: - Plans or forecasts for capacity utilization, which are based on inaccurate assumptions or input data.



Mixed loads: - The movement of both regulated and exempt commodities in the same vehicle at the same time.



Modal split: - The relative use made of the modes of transportation



Mode: - See Transportation Mode



Move ticket: - A document used to move inventory within a facility. Warehouse management systems use move tickets to direct and track material movements. In a paperless environment the electronic version of a move ticket is often called a task or a trip.



MPS: - See Master Production Schedule



MRO: - See Maintenance, Repair, and Operating Supplies



MRP-II: - See Manufacturing Resource Planning



MRP: - See Material Requirements Planning



MSDS: - See Material Safety Data Sheet



Multi-Currency: - The ability to process orders using a variety of currencies for pricing and billing.



Multi-Skilled: - Pertaining to individuals who are certified to perform a variety of tasks.



Multinational company: - A company that both produces and markets products in different countries.



Multiple-car rate: - A railroad rate that is lower for shipping more than one carload rather than just one carload at a time.