Warehouse & Business Central Glossary
Warehouse & Business Central“>Plain-language definitions for the warehouse, inventory and Dynamics 365 Business Central terms you’ll meet when evaluating a WMS. Written for operations people, not just developers.
3PL (Third-Party Logistics)Warehouse
A company that handles warehousing, fulfillment and shipping on behalf of other businesses. 3PLs often run several clients’ inventory in one building, which makes accurate bin, batch and ownership tracking essential.
Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN)Warehouse
An electronic notice sent ahead of a shipment listing exactly what is on the way — items, quantities and packaging. Receiving teams use it to check goods in faster and flag discrepancies on arrival.
AppSourceBusiness Central
Microsoft’s marketplace for business apps that extend Dynamics 365. A listing there signals an app has passed Microsoft’s technical validation. MetaWMS is available on AppSource.
Barcode ScanningWarehouse
Reading a printed barcode with a handheld or mounted device to identify an item, location or document. It replaces manual keying, which is the single biggest source of warehouse data errors.
Batch (Lot)Warehouse
A group of items produced or received together, sharing a single identifier. Batch tracking lets you trace which customers received goods from a given production run — critical for recalls and expiry management.
BinWarehouse
The smallest defined storage location in a warehouse — a specific shelf, rack position or floor spot. Bin-level tracking tells you not just how much stock you have, but exactly where each unit sits.
Bin ReplenishmentWarehouse
Moving stock from bulk or reserve storage into pick faces before they run empty, so pickers never arrive at an empty bin. Good replenishment rules keep picking fast without overfilling.
Business Central (Dynamics 365)Business Central
Microsoft’s ERP for small and mid-sized businesses, covering finance, sales, purchasing and inventory. MetaWMS runs inside Business Central as a native extension rather than a connected external system.
CarrierWarehouse
The company that physically moves a shipment — UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, Purolator and others. Warehouse and shipping systems integrate with carriers to rate, label and track parcels.
Cross-DockingWarehouse
Moving inbound goods straight from receiving to outbound shipping with little or no storage in between. It cuts handling and holding cost for items that are already spoken for.
Cycle CountWarehouse
Counting a small subset of inventory on a rolling schedule instead of shutting down for a full annual count. Cycle counting keeps records accurate without stopping operations.
Directed Put-Away
The system tells a worker exactly which bin to store received goods in, based on rules like item velocity, size or zone — rather than leaving it to memory. MetaWMS uses directed put-away to keep fast movers close to dispatch.
DispatchWarehouse
The final stage of fulfillment where packed, labelled orders leave the building. Clean dispatch depends on everything upstream — accurate picking, verified packing and correct documents.
ExtensionBusiness Central
An app that adds capability to Business Central using Microsoft’s supported development model, without altering the core platform. Because MetaWMS is an extension, it upgrades cleanly alongside Business Central.
First In, First Out (FIFO)Warehouse
A rule that ships the oldest stock first, so goods don’t age on the shelf. Essential for perishables, and common wherever inventory has a shelf life or a version number.
Goods ReceiptWarehouse
The act of formally accepting inbound stock into the warehouse and recording it against a purchase order. Scanning at receipt is where inventory accuracy begins.
Guided Picking
Directing a picker along an optimised route and confirming each pick by scan, rather than handing them a paper list. MetaWMS guided picking shortens travel time and verifies every item before it leaves the shelf.
Handheld TerminalWarehouse
A rugged mobile device — barcode scanner plus screen — that workers carry to receive, put away, pick and count. It puts the warehouse system in the operator’s hand, on the floor.
Inventory AccuracyWarehouse
How closely the stock figures in your system match what is physically on the shelf. Low accuracy quietly drives stockouts, over-ordering and failed picks. Real-time scanning is the main lever for raising it.
Item TrackingBusiness Central
Business Central’s framework for following inventory by serial number, lot or batch. MetaWMS extends it onto the warehouse floor so tracking happens at the point of each physical move.
KittingWarehouse
Assembling several separate items into a single ready-to-ship kit or bundle, tracked as its own unit. Common in manufacturing, e-commerce and promotions.
Landed CostWarehouse
The full cost of getting an item into your warehouse — purchase price plus freight, duty, insurance and handling. Tracking it gives a truer picture of margin than the invoice price alone.
License Plate (LP)Warehouse
A single barcode that represents a whole pallet or container of goods, so a stack can be moved and tracked with one scan instead of many. Speeds up bulk moves and put-away.
Pick FaceWarehouse
The accessible front position of a bin where pickers actually grab stock, as distinct from bulk storage above or behind it. Kept topped up by replenishment.
PickingWarehouse
Selecting and collecting the items for a customer order from their storage locations. It’s the most labour-intensive warehouse task, which is why routing and verification matter so much.
Purchase Order (PO)Business Central
A formal order to a supplier for goods, raised in Business Central. Inbound stock is received and checked against its PO so quantities and costs reconcile automatically.
Put-AwayWarehouse
Moving received goods from the receiving dock into their storage locations. Whether it’s guided by the system or left to the worker is a major driver of long-term warehouse efficiency.
Real-Time Inventory
Stock figures that update the instant a physical move happens, rather than in an overnight batch. MetaWMS posts every scan straight to Business Central, so the ledger always matches the shelf.
ReceivingWarehouse
The inbound process of accepting, checking and recording goods as they arrive. Errors here ripple through everything downstream, so scanning at receipt pays off across the whole operation.
ReplenishmentWarehouse
See Bin Replenishment. The broader discipline of keeping pick locations stocked from reserve so fulfillment never stalls on an empty bin.
Serial Number TrackingWarehouse
Following individual units by a unique serial, rather than just by quantity. Needed for warranties, high-value goods and full unit-level traceability.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)Warehouse
A unique code for a distinct sellable item — a specific product in a specific size, colour or pack. The basic unit around which inventory is counted and managed.
SKU ComminglingWarehouse
Storing units of the same SKU from different receipts or owners in one bin. It saves space but demands careful tracking to keep batch, ownership and cost correct.
Transfer OrderBusiness Central
A Business Central document that moves stock between locations or warehouses, with the goods tracked as in-transit until received. Distinct from a shipment to a customer.
Warehouse Management System (WMS)Warehouse
Software that controls the day-to-day running of a warehouse — receiving, put-away, picking, packing and dispatch — down to bin level. MetaWMS delivers this natively inside Business Central.
Wave PickingWarehouse
Releasing a batch of orders to the floor together, grouped so pickers can collect for several orders in one efficient pass rather than one order at a time.
ZoneWarehouse
A defined area of a warehouse grouping bins with something in common — temperature, product type, or pick frequency. Zones let you route work and apply storage rules by area.
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