K

Kanban
A method which during storage uses standard units or lot sizes with a single card attached to each. A pull system used at a stock point in which a supply batch is ordered only when a previous batch is withdrawn. Note: Kanban in Japanese means loosely translated 'card or sign'.

Keel
Longitudinal girder at the lowest point of a vessel from which the framework is built.

Kimbal Tag
A label containing bar coded information about product size, colour etc.

Kind of Packing
Description of the packaging material used for goods to be transported.

King Pin
The coupling pin, welded or bolted in the centre of the front underside of a semi-trailer chassis, which couples to the fifth wheel of the towing tractor or dolly convertor.

Knot
Unit of measurement for the speed (of a vessel) equal to a nautical mile (= 1852 metres) per hour.

Kyoto Convention
The convention for the International Customs Co-operation Council held in Kyoto in 1974 for the simplification and harmonisation of national customs procedures.

On 25th of June 1999 the updated and restructured International Convention on the simplification and harmonisation of Customs Procedures (Kyoto Convention) was unanimously adopted by 114 customs administrations.

This convention was restructured to deal with computerised controls and to ensure better co- operation between customs authorities mutually and with trade in general.

A method of inventory control that brings stock into the production process, warehouse or to the customer just in time to be used, thus reducing stock piling.