Abc analysis: a classification of items in an inventory according to importance defined in terms of criteria such as sales volume and purchase volume. Abc classification

Seasonality: A repetitive pattern of demand from year to year (or other repeating time interval), with some periods considerably higher than others. Seasonality explains the fluctuation in demand for various recreational products which are used during different seasons.
Secure Electronic Transaction (SET): In e-commerce, a system of guaranteeing the security of financial transactions conducted over the Internet.
Self Billing: A transportation industry strategy which prescribes that a carrier will accept payment based on the tender document provided by the shipper.
Self Correcting: A computer term for an online process that validates data and won't allow the data to enter the system unless all errors are corrected.
Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses: Includes marketing, communication, customer service, sales, salaries and commissions, occupancy expenses, unallocated overhead, etc. Excludes interest on debt, domestic or foreign income taxes, depreciation and amortization, extraordinary items, equity gains or losses, gain or loss from discontinued operations and extraordinary items.
Serial Number: A unique number assigned for identification to a single piece that will never be repeated for similar pieces. Serial numbers are usually applied by the manufacturer but can be applied at other points by the distributor or wholesaler. Serial numbers can be used to support traceability and warranty programs.
Service Level: A measure (usually expressed as a percentage) of satisfying demand through inventory or by the current production schedule in time to satisfy the customer's requested delivery dates and quantities.
Service Parts Revenue: The sum of the value of sales made to external customers and the transfer price valuation of sales within the company of repair or replacement parts and supplies, net of all discounts, coupons, allowances, and rebates.
SET: See Secure Electronic Transaction.
SG&A: See Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses.
Shared Services: Consolidation of a company's back-office processes to form a spinout (0r a separate "shared services" unit to be run like a separate business), providing services to the parent company and sometimes, to external customers. Shared services typically lower overall cost due to the consolidation, and may improve support as a result of focus.
Shareholder Value: Combination of profitability (revenue and costs) and invested capital (working capital and fixed capital).
Shelf Life: The amount of time an item may be held in inventory before it becomes unusable. Shelf life is a consideration for food and drugs which deteriorate over time, and for high-tech products which become obsolete quickly.
Shewhart Cycle: See Plan-Do-Check-Action.
Shingo's Seven Wastes: Shigeo Shingo, a pioneer in the Japanese just-in-time philosophy, identified seven barriers to improving manufacturing. They are the waste of overproduction, waste of waiting, waste of transportation, waste of stocks, waste of motion, waste of making defects, and waste of the processing itself.
Shipper: The party that tenders goods for transportation.
Shipper-Carriers: Shipper-carriers (also called private carriers) are companies with goods to be shipped that own or manage their own vehicle fleets. Many large retailers, particularly groceries and "big box" stores, are shipper-carriers.
Shipping: The function that performs the tasks for the outgoing shipment of parts, components, and products. It includes packaging, marking, weighing, and loading for shipment.
Shipping Lane: A predetermined, mapped route on the ocean that commercial vessels tend to follow between ports. This helps ships avoid hazardous areas. In general transportation, the logical route between the point of shipment and the point of delivery used to analyze the volume of shipment between two points.
Shipping Manifest: A document that lists the pieces in a shipment. A manifest usually covers an entire load regardless of whether the load is to be delivered to a single destination or many destinations. Manifests usually list the items, piece count, total weight, and the destination name and address for each destination in the load.
Shop Calendar: See Manufacturing Calendar