Assumptions:
- Jobs will be sent to Partnerlink and through to CALIDUS ePOD using the existing JobShare interfaces.
- Pallets for the Palletline pallet network will be labelled with their own network's pallet labels, and not Partnerlink labels. It is expected that pallet IDs will be created by CALIDUS ePOD in the normal way, identifying the individual pallets by assigning each pallet a unique ID, counting from the 1 to the total number of pallets.
- Palletline's Contrado system will be updated separately to the partner's TMS systems. This will require a modification to identify consignments as being completed for Palletline.
- The Consignment will already exist within the Palletline Contrado system, ready for updating with POD information from CALIDUS ePOD.
Process:
- Palletline-specific reason codes will be set up within CALIDUS ePOD, conforming to the list of delivery codes used by Palletline. These reason codes will be exclusive tot he Palletline job group, and the Palletline job group will be configured so that only those codes can be used on Palletline jobs.
- New Palletline Jobs will be sent to Partnerlink through the existing JobShare format, or directly to the back-end TMSs.
- When planned, these jobs will be sent to CALIDUS ePOD through the existing interface in use for the existing partners, and will be identified with a new Job Group e.g. PLINE. The Pallet Depot will be set to the Palletline depot code provided to the carrier, in Hathaway's case, this is "053". The Pallet Consignment will be sent in as the Palletline ID.
Note: This will require change to the sending process from the TMS system to accommodate these new values for every partner that wishes to join the Palletline network.
Note: The Palletline ID is noted to be field 4 in the Palletline manifest download file.
- The jobs will be completed like any other normal delivery.
- When jobs are completed, the existing AutoExport functionality will update the Partners (identified through their Partner Codes) using a flat-file export of the job details in OBS Logistics' XML format, as it does now.
- The AutoExport process will also export the files to Palletline Contrado system, identified through the Job's Group and the configuration attached to it.
- The AutoExport functionality will store the success or failure of the export, along with any of the returned reasons from the export.
The Admin Export Configuration screen will be changed to allow Palletline export types to be configured in it.
The Partnerlink Import process will be modified to identify the Palletline job group (e.g. "PLINE"). This will then generate Pallet Ids in the normal way.
The CALIDUS ePOD AutoExport function will be modified to recognise jobs with the Palletline job group and export a file in the Palletline format.
This format will identify the pallets delivered and any reason codes against them, including claused and cancelled pallets. This will also identify the signatory and signature (if delivered), the GPS coordinates (if available) and the status (POD Uploaded for pallets that were delivered, the selected reason code for clauses and cancellations).
The format will be in XML and will be named following the conventions specified by Palletline. A single file will be created per job completed or cancelled.
Note: It is as yet undecided what mechanism will be used to send this file to Palletline. It will however be one of the following:
- Create the file locally to the CALIDUS ePOD server and host an FTP service so that Palletline can pick up the file.
- Create the file and send immediately through FTP to the Palletline FTP server.
The process should support either case as standard. |