BOL Processing

A BOL may be generated to accompany shipped or transferred items and provide relevant shipping information to various sources.  Several options exist for bill of lading generation.  For more information about BOL processing, refer to the Bill of Lading Options section of the Shipping and Billing key concept.

When processing BOLs, you can decide when they will be generated, who will receive a copy, and in what format.  You can do this at shipping time by maintaining the document format codes for each of the different copies as well as the name of the carrier that should be used to ship the goods.  You can also use function key F8 - Select BOL which displays a pop-up window showing BOL information.  This window is available in Shipping/Billing, EDC Shipping Confirmation, and Transfer Order Shipping.

Release Options

There are three processing options that can be specified for the release code:  I - Asynchronous, N - End of Day, and H - Hold Indefinitely.

Recipient Options

Copies of a BOL can be generated for up to four recipients:  Customer, Carrier, Customs Authorities, and Direct Distribution Customer.

Format Options

BOLs have four format choices:  P - Paper copy, E - Electronic transmission (if using EDI), B - Both paper copy and electronic transmission, or N - Neither.

Processing Considerations

When processing a direct distribution order, you may want the associated bill of lading to be automatically generated at shipment time (not specified for consolidation).  If this is the case, the BOL release code should be maintained on the header screen to define how the BOL should be processed.

You may also choose to consolidate BOLs.  If you do, you may specify the BOL document format codes on the detail screen in BOL Consolidation for every shipment that should be combined on the Consolidated BOL.  The default values for the document format codes are retrieved from the Customer Master file, the Carrier Master file, Reference File category 007 (Country Codes for Customs Information), and from the direct distribution fields on the sales order for the direct distribution customer copy.  The BOL release code defaults to the value on the Customer Master file.