Check out this Express Ship Interface Solution posted by Blue Harbors SAP Solutions Consulting Team:
Connect Parcel Carriers to Your SAP®
System Using the Blue Harbors Express Ship Interface Solution
The Blue Harbors XSI Product Overview:
- Provides a comprehensive, powerful, integrated solution that simplifies shipping and parcel tracking;
- Designed using standard SAP tools and functionality to provide seamless communication with all the leading parcel carriers;
- Utilizes SAP’s Express Ship Interface (XSI), an R/3 component released by SAP in version 4.6;
- Supports a `hosted’ solution offered by FedEx and UPS: shipping data is sent directly between SAP and the parcel carriers over the web (via XML);
- Available to companies using the traditional SAP Warehouse Management (WMS) application, or SAP’s Decentralized Warehouse Management (DWM) environment, or SAP’s next generation WMS application, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM).
The Blue Harbors Express Ship Interface Solution Functionality includes:
- Exchange data between SAP and the express delivery company using IDocs, Direct RFC and XSI function modules;
- Generation of tracking numbers, shipment cost and label image on carrier’s hosted system;
- Printing compliant shipment labels which are defined by the carrier’s system, including special data fields;
- Real-time tracking of individual parcels as they proceed through the express delivery company’s distribution network;
- Day-end closing (i. e. manifest, delivery list, end-of-day list).
- Supports all carrier service levels / shipping methods;
- Supports dangerous good shipments and international shipments;
- Packing station can solicit weight from integrated scale and print packing slips;
- Supports direct billing, third-party billing and collect on delivery (COD).
- Handles reverse logistics – schedule customer pickups or email call tags to customers directly from SAP.
System architecture:
Depiction of data exchange between SAP and express ship carriers.
Maintenance and Support
- No new shipping application to support — all activity happens on SAP in ECC or EWM:
- Eliminate need for carrier-specific servers and workstations;
- Shipping can be performed from any SAP workstation;
- Easy maintenance with carrier-hosted solution: no rate tables to update or label formatting;
- Real-time tracking information available directly in SAP sales orders, deliveries and shipments;
- Because this solution is based on standard SAP functionality, several benefits are realized from a maintenance perspective:
- Solution is included in SAP upgrades;
- Product defects are administered by SAP support (OSS);
- No dependence on a particular application provider for software support.
The Blue Harbors Express Ship Process Overview
Incorporating express shipping into sales and distribution processing.
SAP business process steps to ship with express ship carriers.
Incorporating express shipping into sales and distribution processing
- Enter a sales order in SAP. Select the shipping service (overnight, ground, Saturday delivery, etc.) using one of four possible triggers in the sales order: shipping condition, route, delivery priority, or special processing indicator. The carrier is assigned as the `Forwarding Agent’ partner.
- Pick product for deliveries. Deliveries are created for sales orders. Pick tickets are generated for the deliveries and warehouse personnel physically pick items the warehouse. *Note: it is not mandatory to use SAP’s warehouse management (WM) module to utilize express ship functionality.
- Pack product into a shipping carton. Next, the items are brought to a packing station and placed in a shipping carton. The carton is weighed on a scale that is directly integrated with SAP.
- Send details to small parcel carrier. Information about the shipping container and its contents are captured in XSI and transmitted to the parcel carrier (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.) via XML.
- Receive shipping label details. A XML response is received from the parcel carrier and processed in SAP. This includes an image of the shipping label, the cost of shipping the parcel and the tracking number. This data is saved in the delivery; the image of the shipping label prints at the packing station.
- Post goods issue / End-of-day close. A goods issue is posted for the delivery. When the UPS / FedEx truck picks up the packages, an end-of-day close transaction is performed.
- Parcel tracking. While the parcel is in transit current details about its tracking status are available in numerous documents in SAP, including the sales order, delivery and shipment.
For more information on Express Ship Interface Solutions , check out BlueHarbors.com
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