How To Guide

Shipping System Interface

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2
Setup and Process ........................................................................................................ 3
Activity Codes - GESACV ............................................................................................................................. 3
Sites - GESFCY ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Ship System Parameters - GESXBR ............................................................................................................ 4
Ship System Override User - GESXBU ........................................................................................................ 6
Sales Orders - GESSOH............................................................................................................................... 9
Shipments - GESSDH ................................................................................................................................. 11
Packaging Information ................................................................................................................................ 11
Tracking Status ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Ship Interface Editor - GESXBS ................................................................................................................. 18
Third Party Software ................................................................................................... 18

UPS Worldship is UPS trademark.

FedEx Ship Manager is a Federal Express trademark.
 Shipping System Interface

Introduction

The following information describes the basic changes made to the X3 system in order to interface to an
external shipping software package. The current configuration allows X3 to interface to the following:

UPS Worldship
FedEx Ship Manager
Other

The shipping system interface is primarily designed to interface to the standalone software applications
provided by UPS and FedEx. It also contains an option that allows it to communicate generically with
rd
other 3 party parcel or custom solutions. Implementations of other often require additional changes but
the interface framework provides the basic data elements required. The Shipping System Interface
provides the following information to the external shipping system.

Customer Name and Address

Third Party Billing Information (if applicable)
Packaging Information (if present)

The shipping system is used to select/override a service, weigh packages, get freight charges, print
carrier compliant labels and perform the end of day manifesting and electronic communication to the
carrier.

Note: The shipping system functions are part of the software provided by the parcel carriers or the
custom solution. The functionality is not provided by Sage and is subject to change without notice.

The inbound or import portion of the interface provides information and updates the X3 shipment as
appropriate. This update includes the following:

Service/Carrier
Tracking Number
Package Weight and Package Charge
Customer Freight (Total) Charge (based on terms)

The shipment is typically validated when completely processed. This behavior is optional and can be
disabled via a shipping system parameter setting.

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 Shipping System Interface

Setup and Process

Activity Codes - GESACV

The XA11 activity code needs to active during the NAV6-XA11 patch integration. If not, the fields and
objects will not be active or available. If the active flag is not set, set the active flag on these activity codes
and either re-apply the NAV6-XA11 patch or manually validate the objects in the NAV6-XA11 patch.

The last step is to validate the screens and transactions.

Make sure the XA11 activity code is active.
Validate all screens (AMK) and tables (ATB) listed in the NAV6-XA11 patch.
Execute transaction validation for the Quote, Sales Order and Shipment Transactions.
All the menu elements have been created in a menu called MXBSS. Add this menu to the
appropriate sections of the User Profile Menus, e.g., Sales Menu.
The parameter SUP / XANA / XADBSERV must be set to the X3 SQL server name (e.g. server\X3V6)

Sites - GESFCY

In order for a particular site to use the shipping interface, the appropriate box must be checked on the
Misc tab of the site record.

The use of Other is mutually exclusive from UPS Interface and the FedEx Interface options. If
Other is selected, the UPS and Fedex interfaces will be disabled. If either the UPS or FedEx interfaces
are selected, the Other is be disabled. The UPS and FedEx option can be used simultaneously. This
would require the shipments to be sorted or both of software applications to be installed on the
workstation.

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 Shipping System Interface

Ship System Parameters - GESXBR

This object is used to define the parameters that control how data is exchanged between the X3 Shipping
Interface the external shipping systems.

Shipping System The external shipping system associated with the parameters.
Domestic Frt Ele Invoice element number mapping for the domestic freight charges on
Prepaid and Add and COD deliveries. A shipment is considered to be domestic when the
package is being shipped to a destination country that is the same as the country in the
Domestic Country field.
Domestic Country The country of origin for the package
International Ele Invoice element number mapping for International freight charges.

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 Shipping System Interface

Auto Validate Shipment If set to Yes, the shipping interface automatically validates the
shipment after successfully importing the data from the external shipping system.
Freight Collect Freight term designating if the customer pays the freight on a shipment. When
this freight term is used on a shipment, you must enter the customers carrier account number in
the shipping system.
Third Party Collect Freight term indicating that neither the shipper nor the recipient pay the
freight. It is billed to a third party (which could be the recipient). When this freight term is used on
a shipment, you must enter the third partys carrier account number along with third party address
information at time of order entry.
Auto Create Packages If no packages were created in X3 for a shipment, this flag determines
if the shipping interface creates the X3 packages. If this is set to Yes, the interface creates
packages as it imports the records from the external shipping system. The tracking number is
used as the X3 package number.
Default Auto Package If the Auto Create Package flag is set to Yes, this defines the X3
package type to use.
Default Weight UOM unit of measure that will be sent from X3 to the external shipping
software. This unit will be used by the external shipping software as a default unit for the weight
of the package.
Default Dim UOM Unit of measure that is sent from X3 to the external shipping software. This
unit is used by the external shipping software as a default unit for the dimensions of the package.
Export Package Dim If set to Yes, X3 sexport the package dimensions to the external
shipping system. This applies when packages are created in X3 prior to export.
Carriers to Export This table will contain a list of valid carriers to be used by the shipping
system. Proper setup of this table is necessary to prevent the export of non-parcel and LTL
shipments to the parcel system.

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 Shipping System Interface

Freight Terms - Charged - This table contains a list of freight terms that result in the addition of
freight charges to the customers shipment. Once the external shipping software determines the
freight charges and the shipping interface is run, the shipment is updated with the calculated
freight. The destination is controlled by the either domestic freight invoicing element or the
international freight invoicing element defined on the shipping system parameters for the carrier.
The following illustration shows part of the Controls tab on the Shipment.

Invoice element 3 used for

freight due to setting in the
Shipping parameters

If a shipment uses a freight term that does not appear in this table, the freight charges are not
charged to the customer.

COD Freight Terms - Charged This table contains a list of freight terms that are considered to
be Cash on Delivery. When an X3 shipment uses one of these payment terms, the COD flag is
set on the external shipping software. The COD amount is also sent to the external shipping
software. This amount is equal to the total amount due for the shipment, including the invoicing
elements.

Ship System Override User - GESXBU

There is a user override facility that allows for shipments to be validated even though the shipment
information has not been returned from the external shipping system. The purpose of this function is for
those cases where shipment information has been downloaded but for valid business reasons, the
information is not returned to X3. When a user is listed in this function and the user has the override flag
set, then that user can validate the shipment even though the information has not been uploaded from the
external shipping system. This function is generally is setup for administrative or super user who
understand that once the shipment is validated, any upload from external system will not be processed
into the invoice information.

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 Shipping System Interface

Customers - GESBPC

The field, Residence, appears on the Addresses tab of the Customer object. If this box is checked,
the flag defaults on Orders, Quotes and Shipments associated with the customer/ship-to address
combination. This classification has an impact on the freight charges. A user may override this value
using the Free Address Entry function within those applications. However, only a change to the
customers address has a permanent affect.

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 Shipping System Interface

Free Address Entry

The field, Residence, appears on the Free Customer Address Entry screen. This field is used to
identify whether an address is residential or commercial. This information is passed to the external
shipping software in order to calculate the correct freight charges.

The Residence field can only be modified for a customers ship-to address. The option to change the
value of the Residence field is available for Sales Quotes (GESSOQ), Sales Orders (GESSOH), and
the Shipments (GESSDH).

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 Shipping System Interface

Sales Orders - GESSOH

If you enter a freight term that is designated as freight collect or third party collect, additional
information is required to process the shipment. The freight term defaults from the ship-to customer and
can be modified on the user by using the Option drop-down for Customs Information.

The collect options (Freight and Third Party) require additional information for processing of the
order/delivery. This information is entered in Freight Collect option located under the Option drop-
down menu.

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 Shipping System Interface

Once you select the Freight Collect option, a window appears with prompts for the additional
information needed to process a freight collect or third-party billing order.

If an order has a Freight Collect freight term, a billing account number must be provided before the
order can be created/updated. Address information is not required. If the order has a Third-party
Billing freight term, billing account and address information must be entered.

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 Shipping System Interface

Shipments - GESSDH
When the shipment interface is in use, a ship interface status is provide on the Misc. tab of the
shipment. This status provides information on where the shipment is in the interface process and the
freight terms that apply. The following represent the list of potential statuses.
Not Required LTL or non-support parcel carrier
Completely Downloaded Sent to the shipping system for processing
Partial Upload Confirmation of packages partially complete
Complete Package(s) have been shipped

Packaging Information
Packages can be created in X3 prior to exporting the shipment to the external shipping software. Clicking
the Packaging button in the Shipment object creates packages.

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 Shipping System Interface

Note: If nothing happens when you click on the Packages button, its most likely because the Packaging
mode has not been defined on the Shipment Entry Transaction.

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 Shipping System Interface

When packages are configured in X3, the package number and optionally the package dimensions are
sent to the external shipping software. The external system determines the weight (usually via an
integrated scale) of the packages. The weight, tracking number and freight charge for the package back
are sent back to X3. Each package is updated with this information once the Ship System Interface
(XBSHPINT) is executed. The freight amount for each package is returned for domestic shipments.
Currently, UPS Worldship does not return a freight amount for international shipments by package. It
returns a single amount for the entire shipment. The package freight amount is not set on international
shipments. The total freight charges for an international shipment may be loaded into the International
Freight invoice element. This is dependent upon the freight term associated with the shipment.
If packages are not created in X3 prior to exporting the shipment to the external shipping software, the
interface can automatically create the packages in X3 once the data is returned from the external system.
In order for this to occur, the Auto Create Packages flag must be set to Yes in the Ship System
Parameters. The package number assigned to the auto-create packages is the tracking number
assigned to the package by the shipping system.

Tracking Status

Once the shipping information is imported/loaded into X3, the tracking number can be used to determine
shipment status. There are a couple methods for accessing package tracking status. The first method is
designed for use by a customer service representative to provide order/package status. When an order is
shipping via parcel carrier, new options within the Option Status drop down inquiry provide the
package level detail. The information is available once the tracking numbers are updated on the X3

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 Shipping System Interface

packaging tables. The sample below shows how to access the Status inquiry from within the Sales
Order maintenance function.

Selecting the status options triggers the status window. This window provides order, shipment, invoice
and purchase order information associated with the order. A button has been provided to provide access
to the packaging/tracking data. The screen example below shows Tracking button.

Pressing the Tracking button opens a window providing package level data associated with the
shipments against the order.

The tracking number can be used to access the carrier web site for real-time tracking data. This is done
via a right-click on the package/tracking number.

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 Shipping System Interface

The same capability can be access from the Packaging option within Shipping. There is a button in
Shipment Maintenance that allows you to access package data. When accessed in that mode, additional
information is available.

The carrier website is accessed in the same manner as when done from order entry. Simply trigger and
select the Tracking Info option. A window is opened and the carrier web site is accessed using the
tracking number is used to get the package status.

Note: If using the web client and you receive the following prompt, respond with Cancel. A response of
OK will close X3 before proceeding to the carrier site.

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 Shipping System Interface

Ship System Interface - XBSHPINT

This function is used to process records that have been returned from the external shipping system after
the end of day process has been run. This interface will update the shipment and package information in
X3 with the data returned from the external system.

A log is generated that will display the shipments that have been processed along with any errors that are
encountered.

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 Shipping System Interface

Note: This interface is typically setup to run as a recurring batch job.

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 Shipping System Interface

Ship Interface Editor - GESXBS

If any errors are encountered during the import of date from the Shipping System(s) this utility is used to
make corrections. An error message is provided to indicate the data element that requires attention.
The user may correct the element and save the changes.

Once the error has been corrected, the Ship System Interface must be run in order to re-process the
record.

Third Party Software

This document does not provide any information on the use of the third party software products. An
overview of the UPS Worldship and FedEx Ship Manager processing is provided in separate HTG
documents. Specific detail on the third party software is available in documentation provided by the
parcel carrier.

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