Reference · CPG operations
The language of CPG wholesale operations.
Stable, plain-language definitions help operators, buyers, and machines understand the same workflow.
Core operations
The PO, the workspace, and the deduction.
- Intelligent PO™
- A living workspace organized around a retailer-issued purchase order and the people, systems, requirements, evidence, and actions needed to execute it.
- Retailer-issued PO
- A purchase order created by a retailer or distributor and received by the supplying CPG brand.
- PO-to-shelf
- The operational journey from receiving a retailer-issued PO through acknowledgement, fulfillment, shipping, receiving, payment, deductions, and closeout.
- Deduction
- An amount withheld or subtracted from payment, which may reflect a contractual allowance, fee, compliance issue, shortage, damage, pricing issue, or other reason.
- Deduction evidence
- Documents and system records used to explain, validate, or challenge a deduction, such as BOLs, packing lists, photos, EDI records, appointments, and messages.
- Contractual passthrough
- A deduction that follows an agreed term or documented allowance. In one audit, 88% of deduction dollars were contractual passthrough.
Systems and tools
The systems that hold the data.
- K-Solve
- KeHE’s supplier-facing environment used for financial and deduction-related workflows. Current KeHE instructions govern its use.
- UDR
- A workflow or document associated with delivery or receiving discrepancies. Current distributor documentation governs deadlines and procedures.
- EDI
- Electronic Data Interchange, the structured exchange of business documents such as purchase orders, acknowledgements, shipment notices, invoices, and credit information.
- ERP
- Enterprise Resource Planning or accounting software used to manage financial, item, customer, invoice, and other business records.
- WMS
- Warehouse Management System software used to manage inventory and warehouse execution.
- 3PL
- A third-party logistics provider that performs warehousing, fulfillment, transportation, or related operations for a brand.
Compliance and metrics
The thresholds that cost money.
- Compliance mismatch
- A difference between an order or shipment and the applicable retailer or distributor requirement.
- Fill rate
- Cases received divided by cases ordered. KeHE’s threshold is 95%; below that, a 3% service level fine applies.
- On-time delivery (OTD)
- Percentage of POs delivered within the scheduled window. KeHE’s threshold is 85% per quarter; below that, $250 per late PO.
- OTIF
- On-time, in-full. The combined metric of OTD and fill rate that governs compliance fee exposure.
These terms in context.
See how these concepts connect in the operating guides, or look up the deduction codes that appear on your remittance.
Definitions describe the EasyOps concept and general operations context. Retailer and distributor source documents govern their specific programs, deadlines, and requirements.