Using the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Integration

Key capabilities of integration

Supports multiple warehouse and inventory type locations.
Packing against picks or orders, and collection.
Multiple packing stations, with assigned local printers (without internet).
Wedge scanner (on PC) can be used on the packing bench.
Consignments for each warehouse shipment or order.
Tracking numbers on shipping documents.
Printing label(s) and other document(s) received from the Metapack Platform (PDF).
Manage reprinting by using the dashboard.
Process collection by carrier for manifest creation, optionally excluding specific orders.
Scheduled posting of the associated shipments on collected consignments.
Dashboard gives a complete overview and management.

Using the Packing Shipments app

After an order is released and picked (manually for an inventory location or using the system to specify the warehouse bins), the items must be packed into containers.

Depending on the configuration of a packing station, sales orders and/or transfer orders can be packed there.

Pack bench

There are two ways to access the Pack Bench page.

Method	Action
Role Center	Click Consignment Activities > Pack Bench.
Manual	Search for Pack Bench (tasks).

The key data in the Pack Bench page is as follows.

Parameter	Description	Settings/Usage
Location	Ensure that the correct location is displayed.	Click the ellipsis (three dots) button to select location/station manually.
Station	Ensure that the correct packing station is displayed.	Click the ellipsis (three dots) button to select location/station manually.
Outstanding Base Qty	The total number of items remaining to be packed for the current order.
Package <n> of <Total>	The current and total number of packages for the current order.
Status (Status)	The current status of the order.	Possible values: Vacant means there is no package for the current order. Handling means that the current order is suspended. During Packing means that there is a package open for packing. Boxing Complete means that there is nothing outstanding to be packed. Invalid Data means that an error was returned from the carrier integration. Outputs to Print means that there are labels/documents that require printing. Nothing to Print/Printing Complete means that the order is ready for collection.
Status (Input)		If the cursor is in the Input box, do one of the following: Scan a barcode of a Button or an Input (example: Item). Directly click onto a Button or directly type into the Input box (example: Order Number). Click the ellipsis button (next to the box) to select the required value manually.

Selecting order numbers

To select an order number, complete the following steps:

Either start packing an order or find an order that should be packed on the current station.
Either click the Previous Order or Next Order button, or scan/select the Order Number or Warehouse Shipment Number.

If the order was previously being packed on a different station, your next action depends on several factors:

If that packing station is closed, you will be prompted to move the order to your packing station.
If there is a currently open package and the other packing station computer is not working, you need to take over the packing as follows:
1. Change (temporarily) your current packing station to the other station.
  
  Your user ID must be allowed to use that packing station. The currently open order number will be displayed.
2. Suspend the packing by clicking the Close Package button.
3. Change the current packing station back to your actual station.
4. Select the order number.

Selecting packages or containers

To resume the packing of a suspended order or an existing package, complete the following steps:

Either click the Previous Package or Next Package button, or scan/select the Package Number.
Click the Edit Package button.
Either after selecting the order number (so starting to pack an order) or when a container is full and there are still items to be packed for an order, scan, input or search for the Container Type to start a new package.

Selecting items

To change the packing mode, click either the Remove Mode or Add Mode button.

Depending on the pack bench mode, to add (or remove) an item into (or from) a package, do either of the following:

Scan the Barcode of the Item/Variant. This will count as the quantity of the associated unit of measure. You are allowed to scan a barcode for an item unit of measure that has a quantity up to and including the unpacked item order quantity.
Manually type the item into the Input box (the item number can be entered if there is no variant needed) or search for the item line. If not a barcode, this will count only as a base quantity of one.

What is currently within a package is displayed in the Items list part (the latest item is at the top).

After the first item has been added into the first package, a consignment document will have been created and, depending on the order Status, it will appear in Consignment Activities and Consignment Dashboard.

Closing packages or orders

If you want to suspend packing of an order, click the Close Package button. This must be done before the packing of an order can be moved onto a different packing station.

You cannot change the Container Type after a package contains items, so click the Delete Package button and start from a new package.

After all the picked items for an order have been packed, click the Close Order button (). Any integration with a carrier system will occur at this point.

Error handling

If an error is returned (displayed in red), complete the following steps:

Modify the order to fix the data issue.
Go back to the Pack Bench and click the Close Order button to try again.

Successful response

If the closure is completed successfully:

The actual Shipping Agent and Agent Service will be assigned to the order.
Each package will be assigned a Tracking Number.
The Consignment Content report will be printed.

If the packing station is configured with a remote printer for Documents (see Automatic printing above), it will be printed automatically. Otherwise, it must be printed manually.
If any PDF files have been imported, these are listed in the Outputs.

If the packing station is configured for remote printing, these will be printed automatically. To view a PDF file (in a new tab, where it can be manually printed), click Manage > Display/Manual Print.

After all documents (if any) for an order are printed, it is ready for collection.

Carrier collection

Only Packing Users who have Carrier Collections selected for a Location (see Packing users above) are permitted to perform the collection process.

After a consignment has cleared the packing bench, it will be moved to the waiting area ready for carrier pickup.

There are two ways to access the Carrier Collection page.

Method	Action
Role Center	Click Consignment Activities > Carrier Collection.
Manual	Search for Carrier Collection (tasks).

The list of Shipping Agent and Location combinations displays all combinations where there are consignments that are ready for collection.

To display the consignments list for the current agent/location, complete the following steps:

Click a consignment tile to display the list of documents.
Click the Linked Document field to display the Consignment Card (see below).
Click Manage > Toggle Include if the current consignments is included in the collection. Alternatively, click Manage > Show Packages to display the Consignment Package List page (see below).

After the consignments to be collected have been checked (and any excluded if required), click the Collected button to:

Set the specified consignments with a Collection Batch number.
Initiate any carrier integration for manifest creation.

If successful, these included consignments are ready to be posted.

Dashboard

There are two ways to access the Dashboard page.

Method	Action
Role Center	Click Consignment Activities > Consignment Dashboard.
Manual	Search for Consignment Dashboard (tasks).

The settings on the Dashboard page are as follows.

UI control type	UI control	Usage
Navigation	All Locations	Clear the location filter.
	Increment/Decrement Refresh	Change the Auto Refresh Minutes (see below) by one.
	Hide List	Hide the Consignments List part.
	Increment/Decrement Finish	Change the Finished within Hours (see below) by one.
	Set Up Cues	Display the Cue Setup page for consignments (see below).
Settings	Location Filter	Set to display the dashboard numbers only for a single location.
	Auto Refresh Minutes	Set the number of minutes after which the dashboard will be updated automatically, where 0 means manual update (F5) only.
	Finish within Hours	Set to display only the number of documents that Finished Posting within the last specified hours, where 0 means today.
Tiles	Packing Bench (breakdown)	Options are as follows: During Packing is the number of consignments on a packing bench. Invalid Data is the number of consignments with carrier integration errors. Need Printing is the number of Outputs that need manual printing. Failed Printing is the number of Outputs that have failed the last printing attempt.
	Waiting Collection	The number of consignments that are waiting for carrier pickup.
	Posting Action (breakdown)	Options are as follows: Ready to Post is the number of consignments in the posting queue. Error/Stop Posting is the number of consignments that have either failed posted or are on hold.
	Finished Posting	The number of consignments that have been posted within the specified hours.
	Shipment Job	Displays the status of the scheduled job queue task. Click this tile to display the Job Queue Entry page (see below).
	Consignments	Click a consignment tile to display the list of documents. Click the Linked Document field to display the Consignment Card (see below). Click Manage > Show Packages to display the Consignment Package List page (see below) Click Manage > Show Original Document to display the source document card page. Click Manage > Show Posted Warehouse / Shipment to display the posted document card page. Click Manage > Show Error to display the last error message from the failed shipment posting. Click Manage > Set Ready/Stopped to set this as either ready for/stopped from scheduled posting. Click Manage > Manually Post to run the shipment/invoice posting now (not scheduled). (Precondition: Must be Stopped.) Click Manage > Manually Post to print the Consignment Content report either manually (with report dialog) or directly on the packing station document printer.
	Outputs	Click an outputs tile to display the list of files. Click Manage > Print This Now to print the current file(s) automatically. Click Manage > Display/Manual Print to display a PDF file in a new tab, where it can be printed manually.

Viewing consignments

Using any of the following standard pages (list or card), click Packing Consignment to display the Consignment Card page:

Sales/Transfer Order
Posted Sales/Transfer Shipment
Warehouse Shipment
Posted Warehouse Shipment

The data on the Consignment Card page is as follows.

Card	UI control type	Data	Description
Consignment	Navigation		(Same as Consignments part of Manage menu on Consignment Dashboard.)
	Window	General (details)	Includes the following: Linked Document Packing Station Weight Agent Status
		Packages (list)	Click the Package Code field to display the Consignment Package Card page.
		Outputs (list)	(Same as Outputs on Consignment Dashboard.)
Consignment Package	Navigation	Goto Tracking Site	Open a new tab to the shipping agent tracking page.
	Window	Package (details)	Includes the following: Tracking Number Container Type/Size
	Window	Contents (list)	Items with Quantity and Weight.

Data synchronisation

The status of a shipment job is displayed on the Consignment Dashboard. Use the Error/Stop Posting tile on the dashboard to handling any errors.

Shipment job actions:

Posts collected orders as follows:
- Moves consignments with a status of Collected to Ready to Post. Precondition: A consignment must not have an unregistered warehouse pick.
- Sets the source order/warehouse document with the Quantity to Ship.
- Uses the standard code units to post the shipment/invoice.
Deletes any finished consignments older than the number of Auto Delete After Days specified in the main configuration settings of the Packing Shipments app (see above).

Using the Metapack Essential app

Integration with the Metapack Platform occurs automatically during packing and collection procedures.

Pack bench

After an order is released and picked (either manually for an inventory location or by using the system to specify the warehouse bins), the items must be packed into containers.

After all the picked items for an order have been packed, click the Close Order button (). If the Agent of the order is set to Metapack, the consignment will be created in the Metapack Platform.

Error handling

If an error is returned by the Platform, complete the following steps:

Modify the order to fix the data issue.

For example, verify that the items in the order have valid data and the shipping address is valid.
Go back to the pack bench and click Close Order to try again.

Successful response

If a consignment is created successfully in the Metapack Platform:

Using rules defined in the Metapack Platform, the actual Shipping Agent and Agent Service will be assigned to the order and each package will be assigned a Tracking Number.
PDF label(s) and any customs document(s) will be listed in the Outputs. If the packing station is configured for remote printing, these will be printed automatically. To view a PDF file (in a new tab, where it can be printed manually), click Manage > Display/Manual Print.

After printing all labels and documents for the order and attaching them to the package(s), the order is ready for collection.

Carrier collection

When ready, click Collected in Consignment Collection.

If the Location being collected from is mapped to a warehouse (shipping location) in your Metapackshipper account, included packages that have a Metapack Reference will be added automatically to a newly created Metapack Carrier Manifest. These packages will then have the Collection Reference received from the Metapack Platform.

Note

This process will fail if it is executed after the manifest cut-off time defined in your Metapack shipper account.

Viewing consignments

When viewing a consignment document header in the dashboard/collection list part or on the consignment card, there are Metapack-specific details.

UI control type	Data	Description
(This opens a web browser window that links to Metapack Delivery Manager and displays consignment details.)	Weight, Dimensions	The units of measurement might be different from Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Field	Metapack Reference	The consignment number in Delivery Manager.
Field	Collection Reference	The carrier manifest collection number.

Data synchronisation

The status of the Metapack Job is shown on the Consignment Dashboard.

This job runs to synchronise any deleted packages with the Metapack Platform.