The outbound shipment process simplifies the transportation of goods by co-ordinating deliveries of different order lines out of the same warehouse and forms part of the Shipment preparation process.
After orders have been consolidated for transport, you can print pick lists, freight documents, transport notes, shipment documents, and labels via this routine. You may also confirm pick lists, request shipment printouts, and report packaging.
Outbound shipments can be created in two different ways:
- Manually created where order lines that match the defined selection criteria belonging to the shipment are selected. This routine is described here. Read more about the Shipment type functionality which applies for manually created outbound shipments. See How the manual outbound shipment process works for an overview.
- Automatically created from a route list. This routine is described in About working with routes. This shipment will have order lines assigned automatically until the shipment is closed. See How the automatic shipment preparation process works for an overview.
Note: Automatically assigned order lines can be manually maintained and new orders can be manually added to the shipment in Work with outbound shipments. See the Related topics.
Prerequisites
The sales order lines that are pulled into this program are identified by the following parameters, which must be defined:
| Table/File | Field |
|---|---|
| Work with sales order types |
|
| The sales order lines are then sorted into shipments according to the following information: | Table/File | Field |
| Business partner file/Address file |
|
| Business partner file/Customer file |
|
| Note: These values can be manually overridden in the sales order header (on the Work with sales order, Delivery addresses panel). | |
General information
Each shipment is made up of:
- Shipment header, which contains the route delivery information, e.g. dispatch date and time, manner of transport, vehicle (weight and volume), driver and shipping agent.
- Delivery address(es) connected to the shipment.
- Order line(s)
- Assigned orders. The Assigned orders file contains shipment number, shipment address, order number, and pick list number. You can reach the file to view details for a whole outbound shipment as well as for a specific shipment address.
Additional fees
Additional fees such as freight, insurance and postage can be defined per shipment. These fees will be distributed down to all shipment lines through one of the following allocation methods:
- weight
- volume
- quantity
- line value
Any defined fees for a shipment will be added to the invoices.
Customer reception days
Although it is not mandatory to do so, it is strongly recommended that you define the days of the week and the times in which your customers are able to receive your goods. This information is entered via the Rec days function key on the Address file panel in the Business partner file.
Shipment status
As you work your way through the different stages in the shipment preparation cycle, the system automatically assigns status codes to your shipments. You can easily view these through the Outbound shipments enquiry. The status codes for the consolidated shipment are:
| Shipment status | Description |
|---|---|
| 10 | The shipment is open. |
| 45 | The shipment is closed.
Note: For shipments that are at status 45 a function key on the outbound shipment header is available making it possible to re-open a closed shipment. The shipment status will then be set back to 10. |
| 60 | The shipment is shipped. |
Note: The shipment status codes are different than those of the sales order lines. See About sales order entry.
- Sales orders are first entered into the system.
- The Work with outbound shipments menu item is selected.
- Sales order lines are manually pulled into shipments via the following routines:
- Work with outbound shipments
- Either through the Select lines function. See Create an outbound shipment for instructions.
- Or, through the Order assignment functionality (only available for manually created shipments). See Add lines through order assignment for instructions.
- Work with unattached lines
From this program order lines can be assigned to shipments. This program lists all the lines that were flagged to be handled by the Shipment preparation process, but were not assigned to an outbound shipment. It allows you to make powerful selections. Sales order lines can be added to specific outbound shipments or grouped together into a new shipment.
Note: You cannot add lines through this program to a shipment that has a shipment type defined for Order assignment.
Note: The sales order type must indicate that it is to be handled by the Shipment preparation process. Otherwise, you will not be able to add the sales order line to a shipment.
Note: The status of these order lines can be anywhere between 10 and 60 (inclusive).
Enquiries and printouts
- Outbound shipment enquiry
- Routes enquiry
- Route list enquiry
- Unattached lines enquiry
- Shipment types enquiry
- Outbound shipments list printout
- Pick list printout
- Shipping documents printout
- Freight documents printout
- Transport note printout
- Dispatch label printout
- Invoice printout
Related topics
- Create an outbound shipment
- Add unattached lines to a shipment
- Close a shipment
- Add fees to a shipment
- Print pick lists for a shipment
- Confirm a pick list for a shipment
- Report packaging of shipment lines
- Print transport notes from shipment address
- Ship an outbound shipment
- Add lines through order assignment
- Maintain the delivery sequence on a shipment address
- About sales order entry
- About working with routes
- Shipment preparation process
- Shipment type functionality