Shipping allows customers to create shipments, assign parcels to shipments, assign shipments to carriers, print carrier-compliant shipping labels for all parcels, and manifest shipments to the carrier.
These requests and documents are created via the Metapack Shipping API.
The following is a summary of Shipping's capabilities:
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Shipments may be created, verified, updated, voided, and deleted using the Shipping API.
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Shipments may be allocated to a carrier service using Allocation Filters or Allocation Booking Codes, and specified using the Shipping API.
Delivery Manager will first exclude carrier services based on carrier service validation and Allocation Rules, then will select from the remaining services based on the customer-specified Allocation Filter or Allocation Booking Code.
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The Allocation Filter allows customers to specify a particular carrier, carrier service, service group, or service type, together with acceptable or unacceptable collection and delivery dates and times. You can also select defaults for the filtering and sorting of the outcomes. If there are multiple results, the allocation engine will choose the first service in the sorted results as the service to which to allocate the shipment.
The allocation filter has a number of filtering and sortation options, which creates a flexible and scalable solution.
The Booking Code is similar to the Allocation Filter in that it allows customers to specify a particular carrier service or service group, acceptable collection or delivery dates, and Allocation Filters.
The Booking Code option must be used when a shipment is to be delivered to a PUDO.
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Parcels may be added, updated, and deleted to a shipment prior to manifesting using the Shipping API, and products may be added or deleted from parcels to ensure accurate customs documents.
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Carrier labels, CN22/CN23 documents, and commercial invoices, can be printed, or reprinted, using the Shipping API. Customers may specify the type (label/customs) and format (ZPL, PNG, PDF). Commercial Invoices may only be printed on A4, and label sizes and formats vary by carrier, with global support for 10cm x15cm (4”x6”) ZPL/PDF. Printed labels are marked as Ready to Manifest by default.
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Manifests may be sent to the carrier using the Shipping API, may be set up in Delivery Manager to automatically be sent to carriers on specified collection days and times, or else they can be sent manually.
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More details on the capabilities and the technical integration specification for Shipping Labels can be found here.
In order to work effectively, Shipping has some configuration prerequisites:
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All warehouses, carriers, carrier services, cut-off times and allocation rules need to be configured in Delivery Manager.
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The Shipping API requires that the customer specify the warehouse from where the order will ship. The customer’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), Web Front End (WFE), or Order Management System (OMS), must determine the shipping origin.
Delivery Manager will review all service groups configured for the specified warehouse, and return the optimal carrier service based on the Allocation Filter or Booking Code.
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To accurately determine the availability of carrier services and meet customs requirements, the Shipping API requires that the customer specify the complete recipient name, address, country, and postal code, as well as the weight, size, and product contents of each parcel.