Logistics service providers operate globally. Therefore, they also operate multiple transportation modes. Each transportation mode has its own specific information requirements. You enter these requirements into the forwarding order. In most cases, the customer predefines the mode of transportation based on the locations involved in the transportation. The method of processing forwarding orders can also vary from customer to customer, region to region, or product to product. The general forwarding order process normally starts with the receipt of customer requirements, either as an e-mail, phone call, through direct bookings on the forwarding company’s portal, or via the receipt of electronic messages. A dispatcher or forwarding agent may only have a few minutes to dispatch a customer requirement. Therefore, you must be able to process this customer requirement quickly. TM achieves this through the use of fast-entry screens and templates.
The system can receive forwarding orders electronically and create them automatically, based on the information of a B2B message. TM offers a predefined interface for B2B communication between the LSP and the customer. The customer can therefore send a B2B message to the LSP’s TM system, in which a forwarding order is automatically created. The B2B message contains all the fields of a forwarding order, which means that compared to the manual entry of the forwarding order document, there is no loss of information. If the system receives messages in a different format, you can map them to the standard interface using a middleware, for example, SAP PI.
You can create forwarding orders independent from the transportation mode, or you can create them for a specific mode, if it is known upfront.
Different transportation modes may require you to enter and process different information. For example, an air freight transport requires other DG and compliance checks compared to a road transport.
The forwarding order type defines which user interface (UI) to use for the forwarding order (for example, a general UI, or an air-specific UI). It also defines if charge calculation and settlement should be enabled.
The general forwarding order UI offers several tabs that offer information on different aspects of the transportation process. However, due to the high amount of fields and information, entering the forwarding order can be a lengthy process. With the customer on the phone, you can expedite entering a forwarding order with the most important information (the information that the customer provides like items, locations, and dates). A Fast Order Entry UI offers only the most important information. The LSP can therefore use the Fast Order Entry to enter the data provided by the customer and later on switch back to the general forwarding order UI to enter further information that are required for the contract, standard operating procedures, and so on. The Fast Order Entry UI differs depending on the transportation mode required.
The forwarding order comprises the following information and functionality:
- Locations
Locations are one of the major elements of a transportation requirement. The locations define the origin and destination of the transport.
- Dates/Times
For transportation requirements, ‘when’ is almost as important as ‘where’. Therefore, dates and times are another major element of the forwarding order.
- Business Partners
The business partner details lists all parties involved in the transportation process. For LSP driven processes, the number of involved parties can be much higher than in shipper processes, including additional parties such as preferred carrier, notify parties, and a payer different to the ordering party, and so on.
- Charges
On forwarding orders, you can calculate charges for the transportation requirement. You can settle the calculated charges to create an invoice that is sent to the LSP's customer.
- Planning and Execution Organizations
For each defined stage of the transportation requirement, the LSP can maintain which planning and execution organization within the LSP company is responsible for the follow-up activities for this transportation requirement, such as planning, subcontracting, or execution.
- Output
The LSP can issue documents such as a House Air Waybill (used in air transportation) directly from the transportation requirement.
- Items
The forwarding order contains information about what goods to transport. These can be physical items, like containers, packages or products, and non-physical items like services. Note that the system does not propagate items that do not represent physical objects to subsequent documents (freight units).
One of the most important aspects of a forwarding order is the information regarding what will be transported. As goods are usually packed several times, resulting in a different volume and weight than the product itself, you must note the packing in the forwarding order.
You can add items of a forwarding order in a hierarchical way. The hierarchy itself has to follow certain guidelines, which represent the packing hierarchies in real life. The top-most item is the passive vehicle resource, which can represent a trailer or rail car. In some cases the customer orders the LSP to transport an already filled trailer or railcar. If the customer provides no passive vehicle resource, the top-most item is usually the container. The container may then contain several packages. The package itself may contain further packages whilst the container may not contain any further containers. In each package, you then add the product items. The system propagates the net weight of the product to the packaged item where it is added to the tare weight of the package, and so on.
The item hierarchy is also important later when creating freight units, as you cannot split items contained in one superordinate item (such as the container).
Each item of the forwarding order needs to have an item type assigned. Item types are defined in Customizing. In general, item types are associated with item categories. For each item category, you can store special information within the item type. There are five item categories:
- Passive Vehicle Resource
When defining an item type for a passive vehicle resource, you need to differentiate between a trailer and a railcar. Both options can have a default resource type assigned to them that the system automatically adds into the corresponding item when using this item type. The resource type carries information such as the tare weight of the trailer or railcar as well as the length, width and height.
- Container
The item type for containers looks very similar to the item type for passive vehicle resources, only without any differentiation. For containers, you can also assign a default equipment type, which is automatically populated in the item section of the forwarding order. Information such as tare weight and measures are included in the item information of the forwarding order. Like with passive vehicle resources, you can amend the populated information in the forwarding order.
- Package
You can maintain the settings for the item type of a package, to allow for a check of over dimensional cargo to be executed. Apart from this package-specific setting, you can only define settings that are common to all item categories, such as default units of measurement or text schemas.
- Product
For the item type of products, you can only define settings that are common to all item categories, such as default units of measurement or text schemas.
- Service
Item types for services can only have a text schema assigned. All other settings concerning services are set in different Customizing activities.
It is possible to assign item types to forwarding order types. During forwarding order creation, the forwarding order evaluates whether the item type is allowed for its forwarding order type. If there is no item type of an item category assigned to the forwarding order type, you cannot insert it into the forwarding order. However, when assigning item types to the forwarding order type, you can define a default item type for each item category, which is then populated once an item of an item category is inserted.
You can also add service items to the forwarding order. However, they do not influence the planning and are only used for instructions and additional charges in the forwarding order. Therefore, the system only propagates the cargo items (package and product) and the equipment items (container and passive vehicle resource) to the freight unit. Service items remain on the forwarding order and are only tracked within the forwarding order.
While the forwarding order merges the item information on header level, the LSP still needs to know the exact information about each item of the forwarding order. When you select an item, the item details show further information that is sometimes merged on header level (such as insurance value, value, weight and volume) but also information that remains for the individual item only. An example of this information is the seal numbers that are allocated to the container by the customer or customs. Furthermore, you can store document references (even references that are unrelated to the system environment such as customs process number) on each item. The system also propagates this item-specific information to the freight unit.
On each item, you can define locations and dates individually. By doing so, the freight unit building splits the items, consolidating items into only one freight unit for which the location and date is the same. The location and date on the header level becomes irrelevant in this case.
Shipping types define how the cargo is given to the LSP or carrier for transportation. In general we can differentiate between two transportation scenarios: If consolidation is required, the customer only provides pallets to the LSP. The LSP finds other customer orders during planning in order to consolidate these orders into one container to reduce costs. In the other case consolidation is not needed, as the customer provides the LSP already with a full container which can be transported individually as it is.
Depending on the transportation mode, the consolidation processes and the shipping types are different:
- Air
In air transportation, cargo is loaded into Unit Load Devices (ULDs) in order to be transported. In some cases, airlines accept cargo that is not loaded into ULDs, which is called loose cargo. Therefore you can differentiate between the shipping type ULD where consolidation is not needed and loose where consolidation is needed.
- Rail
In rail transportation, everything needs to be loaded onto a rail car which can carry several containers. The customer usually provides only a container that arrived at a port or needs to go to a port. The container then needs to be transported to a railway station where it is loaded onto a railcar. The shipping type where a container is provided for rail transportation is called Intermodal. Large customers order entire rail cars that they own or rent. If the customer orders an entire rail car, this is referred to as the Carload shipping type.
- Road
If the customer does not provide enough cargo for an entire truck, the LSP organizes multi-pick and multi-drop transports. This shipping type is knows as Less than Truck Load (LTL). If enough cargo for an entire truck is provided, it is called a Full Truck Load (FTL).
- Sea
Ocean transportation uses containers of different sizes. If the customer has already loaded a container and provided it to the LSP or carrier, this is known as Full Container Load (FCL) transportation. If the customer provides some pallets but still wants transport via the ocean, this is referred to as the Less than Container Load (LCL) process.
Shipping types are mandatory for forwarding orders. The shipping type in the forwarding order determines which items may be inserted into a forwarding order. For example, if the shipping type LCL is used, no item of the item category Container may be used. If the shipping type FCL is used, an item of the item category Container must be used. You can predefine shipping types in the forwarding order type. In this case it cannot be changed in the forwarding order document. Alternatively, you can enter the shipping type in the forwarding order document itself.
Business Partners
Many parties are involved in the transportation process. The minimum amount of parties involved in a forwarding order is two, the shipper and the consignee. One of the parties acts as the ordering party. Each party role takes over different responsibilities in the forwarding order, some are only for informative use.
The ordering party is the party role ordering the transportation at the LSP. It is also used for determining the right contract and rates for charge calculation. The shipper is the party role that hands over the goods to the first carrier while the consignee will receive the cargo at the end of the transport. In the forwarding order only ordering party, shipper and consignee are mandatory but depending on the complexity of the transport more parties are involved and therefore maintained on the forwarding order.
Common additional party roles include the notify party, which receives information about the forwarding order, and the carrier, which is supposed to transport the goods (this only applies if there is only one transportation leg for the entire transport) or the payer. While the charges will be determined based on the ordering party, the invoice can still go to a different business partner, the payer.
If you would like to populate party roles in the forwarding order automatically you can use a business partner determination profile. Business partner determination profiles are assigned to a forwarding order type in Customizing or based on the combination of forwarding order type and incoterm. In the business partner determination profile, you can define the business partners for the party roles in two ways. You can either define a business partner directly for a party role or define interdependencies. In this case you can define that, for example, the shipper should always be the same business partner as the ordering party. If defined like this you will need to enter the business partner only for the ordering party.
Locations
The forwarding order needs to have at least a source location and a destination location. You maintain the locations on the Locations and Dates/Times tab. Locations are stored as a master data record. Most locations are derived from business partner master data. However, you can also create them manually in the transportation network, for example, ports or airports. When entering the location into the forwarding order, the system automatically draws the address of the location master data into the forwarding order.
The source and destination location is defined on the forwarding order's header level, which means that they apply to all items of the forwarding order. Alternatively, you can also define locations for each item individually. In this case, the location on header level is left empty and is only defined in the item details. It is also possible to define the source location on header level for all items and different destination locations for each item. You can prohibit entering locations and business partners on item level with the corresponding settings in the forwarding order type Customizing.
In the LSP business there are numerous recurring customers and transports. Therefore it is best to have the locations stored as master data as entering the location into the forwarding order is quicker and the use of master data helps to create analysis reports.
However, new customers or new locations may occur anytime and it is time-consuming to create a location master data separately first and to then enter the new master data into the forwarding order with the customer on the phone. Therefore, it is also possible to enter only the address of the location into the forwarding order without defining a master data record. Once the address is entered, the system automatically creates a location master data. This location is called a one-time location.
Stage Definition
In most international transports, the LSP does a routing of the entire transportation prior to the planning itself. To do so, the LSP enters stages into the forwarding order on the Ordered Route or Actual Route tab. Initially, when only source and destination locations are entered, there is only one stage in the forwarding order. However, the LSP can split this stage and enter intermediate stops as well as planned arrival and departure dates for each intermediate stop.
These stages are propagated into the freight unit and the planning complies with it. The stages can be maintained manually or automatically, running a transportation proposal. As different items of the forwarding order may have different destination locations, you can also define the routing for each item individually. This is done on the Actual Route tab. You can switch the view of the stages between a Stage View, where the different stages are listed on header level, displaying which items are contained in each stage, and an Item View where each item is listed on header level and the routing of each item is shown below.
For each stage, you can maintain the required transportation mode. The definition of the transportation mode per stage is optional but if a transportation mode is defined for a stage, the corresponding freight units stage may only be planned on freight documents and resources of this transportation mode.
Furthermore, you can classify stages with so-called stage types. There are predefined stage types such as pre-carriage, main carriage and on-carriage. The transportation modes used in the stages do not have to match the transportation mode defined for the forwarding order, however, the transportation mode of the stage representing the main carriage should always match the transportation mode for the entire forwarding order.
You can maintain stage types in Customizing. There are five stage categories to which the stage types are assigned. To each stage type, you can add instruction sets. Instruction sets contain instructions to be fulfilled. Once a stage of this stage type is added to the forwarding order, the instructions contained in an instruction set are added to the forwarding order and are visible on the Instructions tab. The customer service is then responsible for executing the instructions and reporting the execution of the instructions in the forwarding order. You can define instructions and instruction sets in Customizing.
For each stage type, you can define allowed transportation modes in Customizing. If you do so, you cannot use any other transportation mode for a stage type than that defined in the Customizing activity. Furthermore, you can define if a specific transportation mode should be used as default transportation mode for a stage type. The system automatically proposes the default transportation mode for the stage using this stage type.
Rather than entering all of the stages manually, it is often required to have a populated stage grid on the forwarding order. For example, if you know you are going to create a forwarding order for ocean transports you will probably have a pre-carriage with a truck, a main carriage by ocean and an on-carriage by truck. When a customer calls to order such a transport, the LSP does not want to create these three stages manually but only wants to enter the ports of the main carriage having the stages already populated. You can accomplish this with stage profiles.
You create stage profiles in Customizing and assign them to the forwarding order type. In a stage profile, you can enter a defined set of stages in a defined order. If the stage profile is defined for the forwarding order document, it is not possible to alter the sequence of the stages. Furthermore, only the stage types defined in the stage profile are allowed for the forwarding order. In the stage profile, you define stage types in a sequential order. Additionally you can define whether a stage type is mandatory for the forwarding order. If this is the case, the freight unit will not be built unless the mandatory stage types are entered into the forwarding order. Furthermore, it can be defined whether stage types should be automatically populated into the forwarding order stages upon creation of the document with the Propose Stage option. It is beneficial to propose the mandatory stages in the forwarding order to help the user.
Ordered Route and Actual Route
The ordered route contains routing that the customer has ordered. This determines which charge calculation and settlement must run. However, the LSP might decide to route the cargo differently to what the customer has ordered due to more capacities being available on a different route. Therefore, you need to differentiate the ordered route (customer requested and funded) and the actual route (used by the planning department).
The actual route defines the transportation of the cargo. Therefore, when a transportation proposal is run for a forwarding order, only the actual route is updated according to the selected result of the transportation proposal. The routing used in the actual route is always used for the freight unit. The routing of the ordered route is irrelevant to the freight unit and therefore the planning process.
Movement Type
Stage profiles provide a preset set of stages for a forwarding order. However, stage profiles are assigned as fixed to a forwarding order type and cannot be influenced. An alternative to the use of stage profiles are movement types, which you can define in a forwarding order manually.
The movement type describes the geographical nature of the entire transportation process. While the shipping type described the nature of what is going to be transported, the movement type describes the way it is going to be transported. Common examples for movement types are door-to-door or port-to-port.
When defining a movement type, the business partner entered as the shipper of the forwarding order can be used as source location of the forwarding order (that is, the location that has the business partner defined as shipper assigned). The same can be done for the destination location which is derived from the consignee of the forwarding order
Once the movement type (which is mandatory information for the forwarding order) is entered, the stages defined for the movement type are entered as they were defined for the stage profiles.
In Customizing, you can define stage type sequences and assign them to movement types in the same way as you do for stage profiles. In the forwarding order type Customizing, you can then decide whether the stage determination should be run based on an assigned stage profile (the stage profile is assigned to the forwarding order type) or on a movement type. The movement type can either be assigned to the forwarding order type or inserted into the forwarding order document directly.
Forwarding Order Template
LSPs may have a number of key accounts with transports recurring on different dates. To save time, the LSP can create a template for the forwarding order as it is the same in every transport, and enter as much information as necessary. Forwarding order templates are based on forwarding order types and appear the same as forwarding orders but without fields for dates.
When a customer orders a transport for a specific date on one of the recurring transports, the LSP only must create a forwarding order from the template. All of the data is copied from the template into the forwarding order.
On the forwarding order template, you can enter and save all of the information that a forwarding order has except for the dates. It is not possible to do any follow-up activities, for example, charge calculation and HBL number drawing. Additionally, freight unit building is not possible as planning is only done based on the information from the forwarding order and planning cannot be done without any dates.
Forwarding order templates and forwarding orders, based on the same document type, can be differentiated by different number ranges. When customizing a forwarding order type, you can dedicate a number range for templates and a number range for forwarding orders.