An exponential moving average (EMA) is a type of moving average (MA) that places a greater weight and significance on the most recent data points. The exponential moving average is also referred to as the exponentially weighted moving average. An exponentially weighted moving average reacts more significantly to recent price changes than a simple moving average (SMA), which applies an equal weight to all observations in the period.
Reference:
LO 2, AC 2.3

The bullwhip effect (or Forrester effect) is a distribution channel phenomenon in which forecasts yield supply chain inefficiencies. It refers to increasing swings in inventory in response to shifts in customer demand as one moves further up the supply chain.
Seasonal demand: consumer interest in purchasing particular products only during a specific peri-od within the calendar year.
OPITZ is a coding system used to form Groups in Group Technology philosophy of Manufactur-ing.
The Pareto Curve is the shape created when the bars of a Pareto Chart are progressively summed and the points joined together. The final curve ends at 100% of items in the chart, which means that you can then draw a line across at 80% and 'bounce' it down to find the bar which, when combined with all bars to its left, will give 80% of all items.
Reference:
LO 2, AC 2.3

According to Hines and Rich, value stream refers to specific parts of the firms that actually add value to the specific product or service under consideration. XYZ Ltd is mapping the value stream by analysing the value-adding activities that contribute to their most important product.
Postponement is a business strategy which maximizes possible benefit and minimizes risk by delaying further investment into a product or service until the last possible moment. An example of this strategy is Dell Computers' build-to-order online store. One of the earliest references to the concept was in a paper by Zinn and Bowersox in the Journal of Business Logistics. They highlighted five types: Labelling, Packaging, Assembly, Manufacturing and Time postponements.
Kanban (signboard or billboard in Japanese) is a scheduling system for lean manufacturing and just-in-time manufacturing (JIT). Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, developed kanban to improve manufacturing efficiency. Kanban is one method to achieve JIT. The system takes its name from the cards that track production within a factory. For many in the automotive sector, kanban is known as the "Toyota nameplate system".
Put simply, silo working occurs when several departments or groups within that organisation do not want to share information or knowledge with other individuals they work with.
Reference:
LO 2, AC 2.3

ABC analysis is applied to stock and its management. It is based loosely on the Pareto principles, better known as 80/20 rule. Pareto principle is the theory that 80% of outcome results from 20% of inputs. For example, 80% of sales are to the top 20% of customers; 80% of spend on inventory is accounted for by the top 20% of stock items.
The ABC concept is based on Pareto's law. The following steps are carried out for the ABC analy-sis.
- Step 1: Compute the annual usage value for every item in the sample by multiplying the annual requirements by the cost per unit.
- Step 2: Arrange the items in descending order of the usage value calculated above.
- Step 3: Make a cumulative total of the number of items and the usage value.
- Step 4: Convert the cumulative total of the number of items and usage values into a percentage of their grand totals.
- Step 5: Draw a graph connecting cumulative % items and cumulative % usage value. The graph is divided approximately into three segments, where the curve sharply changes its shape. This indicates the three segments A, B and C.
LO 2, AC 2.1

Kanban (看板) (signboard or billboard in Japanese) is a scheduling system for lean manufacturing and just-in-time manufacturing (JIT).
Poka-yoke (ポカヨケ, [poka yoke]) is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "inadvertent error prevention". A poka-yoke is any mechanism in any process that helps an equipment operator avoid (yokeru) mistakes (poka). Its purpose is to eliminate product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur.
Kaizen is a concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. Kaizen (改善) is the Sino-Japanese word for "improvement". Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logis-tics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain.
Muda (無駄, on'yomi reading) is a Japanese word meaning "futility; uselessness; wastefulness", and is a key concept in lean process thinking, like the Toyota Production System (TPS) as one of the three types of deviation from optimal allocation of resources (the others being mura and muri). Waste reduction is an effective way to increase profitability.
Reference:
LO 2, AC 2.3