Transportation Management

Main Process

 

Is a complete and integrated solution that creates, executes, and monitors shipments.

Shipping

SAP Transportation Management provides different options for consolidating deliveries and orders as shipments. It is possible to combine orders based on rules and strategies, based on optimization logic in SAP APO, or interactively and manually in SAP ERP and SAP APO. It is also possible to combine orders using collaboration over the Internet. If you decide to rely on your carrier's ability to consolidate your orders into shipments, you can give your carrier access to your deliveries through the Internet, where it can consolidate your shipments. Different types of shipment documents have been defined to enable you to reflect in the system the various forms of transportation used. You can use shipment documents to:

1. Specify shipment stages, legs, border crossing points, and load transfer points.
2. Assign service agents and means of transport.
3. Define the packaging for goods (handling unit management).
4. Specify planned transportation deadlines.
5. Record actual transportation deadlines and statuses.
6. Specify output required for transportation (such as shipping papers, XML, and EDI messages).
7. Define transport-relevant texts.
8. Separate document types and deal with inbound and outbound shipments

Collaborative Shipment Tendering

Enables you to tender, based on your actual shipment plans and orders, your offers to your carriers over the Internet or using XML or EDI directly into your carrier's or your forwarder's system. This collaborative process enables you to integrate your business partners into your business processes and keep control of your plans.

Express Ship Interface (XSI)

Offers a generic, customizable online interface to express carriers. Supplies three basic functions:

1. Assigns unique, carrier-specific parcel IDs to outbound parcel shipments.
2. Prints parcel label.
3. Retrieves tracking information.

The tracking information is displayed on the standard SAP screen. It mirrors the complete itinerary of the parcel and is pulled on demand out of the carrier system.

Distance Determination

Service Retrieves distances from third-party providers. Is an add-on for transportation.

Calculates and settles freight costs.   

Freight Cost Calculation

An accurate and detailed freight cost calculation is essential for the verification of invoices sent from the carrier or to self-bill carriers. Shipment costs are calculated using the standard condition technique for pricing.

Freight Conditions

Freight rates are the basis for the shipment costs calculation. The totals of the different freight rates that are used for a particular transaction give the shipment costs. Freight rates are stored in the system in the form of condition rates that can be created at a very detailed level.

Freight Cost Settlement

Is initiated with the relevant service agents after shipment cost calculation has been completed. Within the settlement process, SAP is able to carry out settlement for multiple carriers who may have taken part in a shipment. Both costs and accruals are posted. The users then decide if they would like to settle the costs with the carrier through classical invoice verification or through an automated self-billing function. With self-billing, the evaluated receipt settlement feature is used in purchasing to pay the service agents automatically, based on the calculated shipment costs. If required, aspects of the shipment costs can be billed to the customer directly.

Freight Costing Extension

Extends the ability to charge a customer an amount that differs from that paid to a carrier for transportation services. Includes tariff reference data, routing guide, customer freight invoicing, and inter-company settlement of freight costs. The customer freight invoicing engine allows companies to simultaneously manage buying and selling tariffs with consideration to competitive freight discounts, equalization, and out-of-territory moves. The freight costing extension is an add-on for transportation.