The Trio of Elements: Service Codes, Zones, and Lanes
Transportation aspects have three essential elements: Transportation Service Codes, Transportation Zones, and Transportation Lanes. Picture this as a trio working in harmony to orchestrate the flow of goods.
Transportation Service Codes, such as shipping methods like express or standard, set the stage. Transportation Zones represent geographical areas, connecting the dots between sites, stores, and distribution centers. Finally, the Transportation Lanes act as the bridge, linking two transportation zones.
Transportation Service Codes
- Transportation service codes (TSC) are used to represent different levels of service for a given transportation lane.
- As an example, you could have "Express" or "Standard" service codes. Or service codes related to different carriers.
- You have to have at least one TSC defined.
Transportation Zones
- A transportation zone (TZ) is an entity used in OMSA defined as a collection of geographical areas.
- Currently, the only geographical areas that can make up a transportation zone are countries and regions.
Transportation Lanes
- Transportation lanes (TL) connect TZs to each other, creating a "route".
- Each TL has a fromTransportationZoneID attribute and a toTransportationZoneID attribute which represent the route an order can take.
Note
Transportation Service Codes and Zones are a prerequisite for Transportation Lanes. They are imported via APIs.
Transportation Lanes
Each move, defined by a transportation lane, carries valuable information - the cost to ship and the delivery time.
Whether spanning a country or a more granular region, the transportation lane dictates the logistics, ensuring goods move seamlessly from point A to point B.
Transportation lanes (TL) connect TZs to each other, creating a "route".
Each TL has a fromTransportationZoneID attribute and a toTransportationZoneID attribute, which represent the route an order can take.
Also, a TL includes a service code and an average cost to ship (cost) and an average delivery time (durationInSeconds).
Example
Transportation Lanes - Example
| fromTZ | toTZ | Service Code | Cost to Ship | Delivery Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iberian Peninsula | Iberian Peninsula | Standard | 3 EUR | 2 day |
| British Isles | British Isles | Standard | 4 EUR | 3 days |
| British Isles | Iberian Peninsula | Standard | 5 EUR | 3 day |
| British Isles | British Isles | Express | 5 EUR | 1 day |
Data Ingestion from SAP S/4HANA
The data about Transportation Zones, Transportation Lanes, and Service Codes isn't replicated from your back-end ERP system. It must be uploaded via third-party integration with APIs (see Transportation Aspects | SAP Business Accelerator Hub).
- Transportation Zones
- A group of locations that are considered a collective when planning the transportation of products. Both the site and the shipping address are part of a transportation zone, but not necessarily of the same one.
- Transportation Lanes
- A group of elements providing specific information regarding a connection between two transportation zones. The information included are transportation zone of the site and of the shipping address, transportation services, transportation time, and also transportation costs.
- Transportation Service Codes
- A group of transport related Services such us Standard Service or Express Service.
SAP S/4HANA Inventory Snapshot can be replicated to OMSA using Data Replication Framework using Outbound Implementation CIC_INV_SC.
ATP snapshot represents the Stock availability for DCs in a time series. It includes future receipts and issues. DRF for ATP Snapshot uses the default Availability Check Rule (A Sales Order). But it is configurable in SAP S/4HANA.
Inventory Snapshot considers the Stock on Hand by Storage Location, Stock Type (Available, Block, Quality) and Stock Special Indicator (Customer Stock, Consignment Stock, Transit, and so on)
Data Ingestion APIs
The data about Transportation Zones, Transportation Lanes, and Service Codes must be uploaded via third-party integration with APIs (see Transportation Aspects | SAP Business Accelerator Hub).
Example
