Bill of Lading Options

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.  Processing is basically the same regardless of module, however there are some field and functional characteristics that vary slightly.  For more specific information about field characteristics, refer to the Screens section of this manual.

Generation

A BOL may be generated to accompany shipped or transferred items and provide relevant shipping information to various sources.  For shipped items this information is available to the carrier and customer.  For transferred items, BOLs provide information to the carrier and receiving warehouse.  Several options exist for bill of lading generation:

·     A bill of lading may be automatically printed at shipment time.

·     Sales order and/or transfer order lines may be collected and printed on one consolidated bill of lading.

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

Consolidation groups sales order/transfer order releases that have been shipped on one bill of lading.  To qualify for consolidation, shipments must meet the following criteria.

·     The order must have at least one shipped line to be consolidated.

·     The BOL flag on the order header must be Y (Yes-defer BOL generation; allow collective generation of a single BOL at a later time).

·     The BOL workfiles must not have been cleared.

The bill of lading contains information about a shipment including ship date, carrier, number of boxes, goods description, shipping terms, shipment reason code and description, sales/transfer order number, and order-specific data.  You may automatically generate a BOL for each individual shipment by setting the Consolidated BOL flag to N (No) on the Sales Order Shipping/Billing Header screen (OP120S02) and/or the Transfer Order Shipping Detail screen (TC120S02).

Consolidation Methods

Consolidation of BOLs allows you to collect sales or transfer order releases that have been shipped/transferred from the same warehouse on one bill of lading.  If grouped shipments are desired, the Consolidated BOL flag on either the Sales Order Shipping/Billing Header screen (OP120S02) or the Transfer Order Shipping Detail screen (TC120S02) must be set to Y.  This allows shipments to be combined through the Consolidated Bill of Lading conversation.

There are three consolidation options depending on how you want to group shipments on a bill of lading.  Determining if an option is valid or not depends on whether the shipment being consolidated is associated with a sales or transfer order.  The following describes the various options and their stipulations.

·     BOL consolidation can be done by Ship-to Customer.  This option groups shipments that have the same ship-to customer on one bill of lading.  If this method is used, the system will display a list of sales orders and their releases for the same ship-to customer.  Transfer orders and their releases are ineligible for consolidation by Ship-to Customer because the destination of transfer order shipments is a company/warehouse rather than a customer.

·     BOL consolidation can be done by Receiving Company/Warehouse.  This option groups shipments that have the same receiving company/warehouse on one bill of lading.  If this method is used, the system will display a list of transfer orders and their releases for user selection for the same receiving company/warehouse.  Sales orders and their releases are ineligible for consolidation by Receiving Company/Warehouse because the destination of sales order shipments is a customer rather than a company/warehouse.

·     BOL consolidation can be done by Carrier code.  This option groups shipments that have the same carrier code on one bill of lading.  If this method is used, the system will display a list of sales and transfer orders and their releases for the same carrier.  Any order releases that are selected will be consolidated on one bill of lading, regardless of the shipments' customer or company/warehouse destination.

·     BOL consolidation can be done by Ship Reason code.  This option groups shipments that have the same ship reason code on one bill of lading.  If this method is used, the system will display a list of sales and transfer orders and their releases for the same ship reason code.  Any order releases that are selected will be consolidated on one bill of lading, regardless of the shipments' customer or company/warehouse destination.

Additional selection criteria can be entered to narrow the scope of consolidation.  For specific information regarding optional selection criteria and the implications of their use, refer to the Screens section of this manual.

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.

Bills of Lading may be requested off-line by selecting the Bill of Lading Report option on either the Order Processing or the Transfer Control 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.

Considerations

Two Reference File categories affect BOL processing:  categories 413 and D91.  The default value for the Consolidated BOL flag is established on Reference File category 413.  The value established on category 413 defaults to both the Sales Order Shipping/Billing Header screen (OP120S02) and the Transfer Order Shipping Detail screen (TC120S02).  The BOL number is automatically assigned according to Reference File category D91.  Category D91 is keyed by company/warehouse.

If the consolidated BOL function is used, bill of lading generation is associated with a specific sourcing company/warehouse.  During the shipping conversation, the value of the BOL number in the BOL workfiles is written with blanks.  When you access the BOL Consolidation conversation and select orders, the BOL number is assigned and written to both the Bill of Lading Header Workfile (OP690AP1) and the Bill of Lading Async Trigger File (OP690BP).  The BOL Report will print asynchronously if the Shipping/Billing Update monitor has been activated.

If the consolidated BOL function is not used, the bill of lading number is retrieved at shipping time.  In this case, the transaction is still written to the Bill of Lading Header Workfile (OP690AP1) and the Bill of Lading Async Trigger File (OP690BP).  These records will be processed when the Shipping/Billing Update monitor has been activated.

Furthermore, carrier information may be set up in the Carrier Maintenance conversation.  Carriers are the entities responsible for transporting shipments of goods.  General information about carriers, including address, phone/fax number, and taxpayer ID, is stored on the Carrier Master File (CF160M).  Some of this information, such as the carrier's name and current address, is printed on the Bill of Lading Report (OP690A).  In addition, if BOL consolidation is used, shipments can be grouped together based on their carrier code.  Default carrier codes can be defined on the Customer Address File (ARADDRP).  Once specified, the carrier code linked to the customer's record defaults to both the Sales Order Shipping/Billing Header screen (OP120S02) and the BOL paperwork.  This information can be overridden at shipment time.  Carrier information can be specified for Transfer Orders, but will not default since transfer orders do not use a customer.

The following is a list of the Reference File categories whose information is printed on the bill of lading. 

Note:    The applicability of the categories in this list depends on whether you are consolidating sales or transfer orders.  The Quote Order Print codes are found on Reference File category A14; Sales Order Print codes are located on Reference File category 410; and the Expert Configurator Print Codes can be found on Reference File category Y33.  Defining print codes allows comments to be printed on the bill of lading.  This information includes extended comments, part comments, sales order header/detail comments, and customer messages.

In addition, the Ship Reason Code descriptions that are printed on the bill of lading are found on Reference File category M11.

Options are printed on the bill of lading for configured orders.  In a lot-controlled environment, lot control information is printed on the bill of lading for the appropriate parts.  Job control information is printed for sales orders if the Job Control module is installed.