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( votes)How to assign and track shipments using your own delivery trucks in Business Central?
Shipping is a vital part of any warehouse operation, as it acts as a crucial link in the supply chain and ensures that the flow of goods to the end consumer is seamless and efficient.
It is important to have a smooth workflow to ensure the orders are packaged and shipped out of the door for timely delivery.
If you ship small parcels or LTL (Less than truckload) or FTL (Full truckload), you can use Dynamic Ship or Order Ship Express application for your shipping needs as it offers carrier integration, real-time shipping rates and tracking in Business Central.
But what if you are using your own fleet of trucks for delivery and need to assign shipments to your driver and track their status in Business Central?
Please follow along to see step by step instructions!
To achieve this, you can leverage on the Proof of Delivery app which is an add-on of the Warehouse Insight app. It comes with the following features:
• enables shippers to view a list of shipments to deliver and assign it to specific drivers
• enables drivers to use an Android device to record items delivered, customer signature and picture of delivery
Let’s run through the setup and process in detail.
*Note this applies to both scenarios in which the locations may or may not be configured to have a separate document for shipment (reference to the Require Shipment field on Location card).
Pre-requisites to use the Proof of delivery app are:
1. Warehouse Insight extension should be installed/configured in Business Central
2. Warehouse Insight app should be installed on the Android device
Setup in Business Central:
Look for the Warehouse Insight Add-on Catalog Page from the Search icon and open the page.
Find or filter the Proof of delivery app from the list and install it
Once installed, look for the Proof of Delivery Page from the Search icon and open the page to set up the following fields.
-Specify the Google Maps API Key: this will track the driver’s location in real-time using geo-location. To get the API key, you need to login to google, create a project, add a billing account, and then set up the API key. Copy that key to this field. Refer to this link for more details
-Set the Shipment Method Filter: this is to filter the list of posted sales shipments that would show up when you click the Proof of Delivery app on device. We will keep it blank
-Set the Shipment List Filter Field to Shipping Agent Service: this is to filter the list of posted sales shipments (with Shipping Agent Service) that would show when you click the Proof of Delivery app on device
-Set the shipment List Filter to Device Configuration Code. We will create device configuration code to match the Shipping Agent Service
Find the Shipping Agents Page from search icon and add a new record to represent your own fleet of trucks as a shipping agent
Click on Shipping Agent Services from the Shipping Agent menu and create new records to represent your fleet of trucks such as TRUCK1, TRUCK2, TRUCK3, TRUCK4
*Note: Based on your business needs, you can do the above shipping agent/services configuration differently
Create Device Configuration for each Shipping Agent Service Code and assign it to location BLUE.
Notice that the Device Configuration codes created match with that of the Shipping Agent Service
This completes the setup. Let’s get into the process.
As a warehouse supervisor or shipping manager, you would review the list of posted sales shipments with Shipping Agent OWNFLEET and delivery status as pending.
Consider creating a new View as Pending Assignments and saving it for repeated use as below.
Notice that all the sales orders in the list below were created with Shipping Agent as OWNFLEET as it is going to use your own fleet of trucks, however the Agent service code was left blank when shipment was posted.
Based on the ship-to-city, delivery load and schedule, you will assign the shipments to a truck/driver.
Select the line in the list and click on the Update Document button.
*Note You can assign a shipment from Posted Sales Shipment Card as well.
Update the Agent service to assign the shipment to the desired truck/driver
Once you assign all the shipments to respective truck/driver, the Pending Assignments View will be blank
As a driver using Truck1 with License Plate# ACE MICRO, you would have an Android device (phone or tablet) to execute pending deliveries and record proof of delivery.
Login to the Warehouse Insight app and open the Deliver application.
Notice the configuration code has TRUCK1 as the device configuration code
When you open the Deliver application, all the posted sales shipments with the Shipping Agent Service field as TRUCK1 (matching with the device configuration code) are shown.
The device configuration uses location BLUE, so only pending shipment for BLUE location are shown
You can sort the list by Ship-to-City, plan an optimal route and decide on the order to deliver.
If you need to filter the lookup to specific shipments, use the Search filter. Only the No. and Ship-to-Name fields are supported for searching, both fields are hidden and can be made visible by clicking the column header>Choose Columns and toggling on the visible property
In the Landscape orientation (or if using a tablet) it shows the map on the right
Click on View larger map to zoom the map
You can also use the Route to destination from menu to launch google maps to show navigation with directions to the delivery address
Let’s say you decide to make the first delivery Relecloud in Atlanta.
You can open the document to review delivery details.
From the menu, you can click on Start/Stop Tracking to send the Last GPS location to Business Central.
If this is enabled, the device location will be periodically sent to Business Central, which will allow real-time tracking of driver’s location on the map Factbox in Posted Sales Shipment.
*Note the Google Maps API key must be set up in Proof of Delivery Setup for the real-time tracking
You head to the customer site for delivery using the map directions.
After you reach the customer site, you unload the shipment and you can scan each product barcodes to deliver. Depending on how the scan behavior is set, the system will either scan one quantity for each scan or show a dialog to enter quantity.
If you do not have product barcode, then you can click on the Change Quantity from Menu and update the quantity
In case the shipment is in a package, and you are not required to open the package for scanning each item, then you can click on Deliver All from the menu, which will update the delivered quantity in full for all item lines.
Notice the Open Qty. is updated to zero after you click Deliver All
Once you hand over the product to the customer, you can record the proof of delivery by capturing a picture and taking the customer signature (options available from the menu)
In Landscape mode or on a tablet, you will see in one screen, the signature and picture that was captured
You can add any comments with regards to the delivery from the menu
Next step would be to click on Finish delivery in the menu.
This will update the Delivery Status of Posted Sales Shipment to Completed or Partial depending on whether all items are successfully delivered. If multiple deliveries are to be made against a single shipment, you should wait until the final delivery to mark it as completed.
In Business Central back-office, the posted sales invoice is updated with the status, picture, signature, and comments
What if the customer follows up on the status of a delivery, how do you track and respond?
If geo-location tracking is enabled for the shipment on the device, the device location will be periodically sent to Business Central, which will allow real-time tracking of driver’s location on the map in Posted Sales Shipment.
To check status, you can open the Posted Sales Shipment and check the map and vehicle tracker for the respective shipment.
This solution allows you to assign deliveries to your truck drivers and enhance your shipping process with the ability to track and capture proof of delivery for your shipments in Business Central.
If you are looking for a “Partner for Life” for your Distribution company, contact ACE.
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