Shipping Documents

The Order Processing module enables you to generate shipping documents that accompany shipments to identify and verify their contents.  Shipping documents include:

·      Bills of lading

·      Shipping labels

·      Packing labels

·      Packing lists

Bill of Lading Generation

The bill of lading (BOL) feature is part of both the Order Processing and Transfer Control modules.  The following is a general description of bill of lading functionality in the Order Processing module.  Processing is similar regardless of module; however, functional characteristics vary.  For more specific information about BOL processing characteristics for transfer orders, refer to the Screens section of the Transfer Control User Manual.

A BOL may be generated to accompany shipped items and provide relevant shipping information to various sources.  Four different copies are available: customer, carrier, customs, and direct distribution customer.  Two copies (carrier and customs) can be printed, but all four copies can be generated via EDI.  Several options exist for bill of lading generation:

·      A single or consolidated bill of lading may be generated and printed before or after shipment.

·      Bills of lading may be reprinted at any time as long as the information still exists in the BOL workfiles.

Processing Options

The bill of lading contains shipment information, including ship date, carrier, ship reason code description, goods description, and shipping terms.  The bill of lading summarizes items by Freight Rating Code (Freight Class), listing the weight, volume, and number of cartons.  If the goods being shipped are either samples or prizes with a price code of 8 (no charge) and you need to print a special description on the BOL, you can either:  1) use a special Freight class code containing the description; or 2) you can enter a user-defined description on the Bill of Lading Create window.  The bill of lading layout complies with the Federal Code of Regulations bill of lading document requirements.

You can use the Shipping Workbench to generate single or consolidated bills of lading for order shipments.  To create a consolidated bill of lading, on the Shipping Workbench Select screen, select order shipments to be included and press F8-BOL Create.  You can then enter bill of lading information on the BOL Edit screen.  You can update bill of lading header information for a single bill of lading by using an action code on the Shipping Workbench Select screen.  When you end the Shipping Workbench conversation, you can specify whether you want the bill of lading to be printed to be generated via EDI by using the End Transaction window.

When you enter a single shipment using the Open Order Shipping/Billing conversation, you may automatically generate a bill of lading for each individual shipment by setting the BOL release code on the Open Order Shipping/Billing Header screen.  The BOL Release Code defines how the BOL should be processed (I-Immediate, N-End of Day, H-Hold Indefinitely). 

You can maintain the document format codes for each of the different copies.  (Document format codes determine whether a document is produced on paper, electronically, or both.)  The name of the carrier used to ship the goods can also be maintained.  These tasks can be accomplished when you use the Shipping Workbench by entering an Action Code for an order shipment or when you use the Open Order Shipping/Billing conversation by pressing a function key (Select BOL).  In each case,  a pop-up window shows bill of lading information.

Bills of Lading may be requested off-line by selecting the Bill of Lading Report option on the Order Processing Application Menu.  They can be printed/reprinted any time after their creation as long as the information still exists in the Bill of Lading workfiles.

Consolidating Bills of Lading

Consolidation of bills of lading allows you to collect order shipments that have been or will be shipped from the same warehouse on one bill of lading. 

Bills of lading can be consolidated by using the Shipping Workbench.  You enter selection criteria on the Shipping Workbench Prompt screen to display the order shipments you want to consolidate.  The selection criteria allows you to consolidate across a specific entity:

·     Ship-to customer

·     Bill-to customer

·     Order number

·     Order shipment number

·     Load number

·     Ship Reason Code

·     Picker batch number

On the Select screen, select the order shipments, press F8-BOL Create, and enter information for the consolidated bill of lading on the BOL Edit screen. 

Considerations

Regardless of whether shipments are consolidated on one bill of lading or not, a BOL should be generated to obtain a Bill of Lading number.  This number is required to print/reprint the bill of lading.

Reference File category D91 automatically assigns bill of lading numbers when a bill of lading is requested.  Category D91 is keyed by company/warehouse.  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.

Label and Packing List Generation

Shipping paperwork (packing labels, shipping labels, and packing lists) identifies the contents of shipments.  Packing Labels (OP686A) are affixed to the containers into which items are initially packed (e.g. boxes).  Shipping Labels (OP686B) are affixed to the containers in which items are actually shipped (e.g. pallets).  Packing Lists (OP685A) are placed in or on the containers in which items are packed or shipped.  All picker lines for each order shipment are listed on the packing list.  A ship reason code description explaining the reason why the order was shipped may also be included on the shipping paperwork.

When you use the Shipping Workbench to ship order shipments, you determine which paper work you want to generate by setting the flags on the Paperwork window.  This window also gives you the option of deciding when the paperwork is printed.

When you use the Open Order Shipping/Billing conversation to ship an order shipment, you must generate shipping paperwork using a separate step.  Paperwork can be generated using the Shipping Documents Release Report Requests screen in the Report Request Entry conversation.

Labels can be printed using barcode and non-barcode formats.  The label type is defined on the Customer Master File.  Valid options are defined on Reference File category G99.