| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Assistive technology (AT) | Any item, piece of equipment, or product that helps a child or adult carry out tasks they might not otherwise be able to do easily or at all. May also be called 'assistive products' or 'assistive devices'. |
| Automated | An automated process is a process that is carried out by machines or computers without needing much human control or input. |
| Budget | An estimate of the funding available for a certain activity for a specified period of time. |
| Buyer | The person or organisation who purchases the goods from the supplier. |
| Carrier | The company who transports the goods from one location to another, this will commonly be performed by air freight or ocean freight. May also be referred to as the ‘airline’ (for airfreight) or ‘shipping line’ (for ocean freight). |
| Consignee | The person or organisation who will receive the goods at the final destination. Sometimes the buyer and the consignee will be the same. The buyer must nominate a consignee, whether that is themselves or another person or organisation. |
| Consumables | Any item that is used up in a single use - such as food, gloves or bandages. |
| Data | Specific information about a service, part of a service, stock or individual users. |
| Exchange rate | The difference in value between different currencies. Exchange rates are constantly changing based on economic information from around the world. |
| Freight forwarder | A company who transports goods on behalf of other companies. They are experts in shipping and logistics, and work with the carriers. May be called the ‘logistics company’. |
| Goods | Items or products that are procured for a certain purpose. May also be called 'supplies' or 'products'. |
| Inflation | The gradual increase of prices over time. Generally, inflation is approximately a 3% to 5% increase per year. |
| Invoice | A written record of a transaction between a buyer and supplier. It should show each item, quantity, price, date and payment information and shipping terms. |
| Not for profit | A not for profit is an organisation which is driven by achieving a defined mission without making financial profit. May also be called a 'charity', 'non-profit' or 'non-governmental organisation'. |
| Procurement | Procurement is the entire process of purchasing supplies or receiving appropriate donations, from planning to evaluating. |
| Quantity | A number of items. |
| Quote | A quote is a written record of the prices of products offered by a supplier. These prices are fixed within a certain period of time that should be communicated clearly by the supplier. May also be called a 'quotation'. |
| Risk | Anything that may have a negative impact on your ability to achieve your mission, goals and objectives. Risk can be seen as a combination of the chance that something may happen (likelihood) and the severity or amount of loss or damage (impact) that may result. |
| Search engine | The web service used to search the internet inside your browser. Common search engines include Google, Yahoo and Bing. |
| Service | The health service, department, organisation or centre that will benefit from the goods being procured. May also be called 'organisation', 'department' or 'centre'. |
| Service provider | The person responsible for providing assistive technology, treatment or referrals to a service user. May also be called 'health worker' or 'health professional'. |
| Service user | The end user of a piece of assistive technology, treatment or assessment. This includes family or guardians of users. May also be called 'client' or 'user'. |
| Specifications | What an item is made of, its size, details about what is included, and other details. |
| Stakeholder | A person or organisation who has an interest in a procurement or another activity being conducted. |
| Sub-total> | The total cost for a portion or group of items within a larger procurement. |
| Supplier | The person or organisation that supplies or owns the goods being purchased and shipped. The supplier may sometimes be called the ‘shipper’ or ‘seller’. |
| Stock | The goods that you have available to make or provide products for service users. |
| Stock control | The process of managing and tracking the items available to a service. |
| Stocktake | A physical count of the stock that you have in storage, compared to what is recorded in your stock control system to check it is the same. |
| Total cost | Unit cost multiplied by quantity of units. For example: 5 wheelchairs have a unit cost of $300. The total cost would be 5 x $300 = $1500. |
| Unit | One item. For example: a box of nails contains 500 individual nails. The unit is the box, not each nail. To purchase 1000 nails, you would purchase 2 units. |
| Unit cost | The cost for one item. |
| Value for money | A principle that helps services use funds to best meet the needs of their users. Something can be considered ‘good value for money’ if the cost is reasonable for the quality of the offer. |
| Warranty | A written guarantee given to the purchaser that promises to repair or replace the product if necessary within a specified period of time. |
| Web browser | The software you use to browse the internet on your computer, phone or tablet. Common web browsers include Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge. |
