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Configure shipment consolidation policies

The shipment consolidation process that uses shipment consolidation policies automates shipment consolidation during automated and manual release to the warehouse. After you turn on this feature, you must configure your initial policies. If you don't configure any policies, each sales line generates a separate shipment that has a single load line.

The scenarios in this article show how to set up default and custom shipment consolidation policies.

Scenario: Configure custom shipment consolidation policies

This scenario provides an example that shows how to set up custom shipment consolidation policies and then test them by using demo data. Custom policies can support complex business requirements where shipment consolidation depends on several conditions. For each example policy later in this scenario, a short description of the business case is included. Set up these example policies in a sequence that ensures a pyramid-like evaluation of the queries. (In other words, the policies that have the most conditions are evaluated as having the highest priority.)

Make demo data available

This scenario references values and records included in the standard demo data that's provided for Supply Chain Management. If you want to use the values that are provided here as you do the exercises, be sure to work in an environment where the demo data is installed, and set the legal entity to USMF before you begin.

Prepare master data for this scenario

Before you can go through the exercises in this scenario, you must prepare the master data that is required to do the filtering, as described in the following subsections. These prerequisites also apply to the scenarios that are listed in the Example scenarios of how to use shipment consolidation policies section.

Create two new product filter codes

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Product filters > Product filters, and add two product filters:

    • Product filter 1:

      • Filter code: Flammable
      • Filter title: Code 4

    • Product filter 2:

      • Filter code: Explosive
      • Filter title: Code 4

  2. Go to Product information management > Products > Released products.

  3. Open the product that has item number M9200. The product that you select must be enabled for advanced warehouse (WMS) processes, and this product is pre-enabled for WMS processes in the USMF demo data.

  4. On the Warehouse FastTab, set the Code 4 field to Flammable.

  5. Close the page.

  6. Open the product that has item number M9201. This product is also pre-enabled for WMS processes in the USMF demo data.

  7. On the Warehouse FastTab, set the Code 4 field to Explosive.

  8. Close the page.

Create a new transportation mode of delivery

  1. Go to Transportation management > Setup > Carriers > Mode.

  2. Create a transportation mode for use in consolidation queries, and name it Airways.

  3. Go to Transportation management > Setup > Carriers > Shipping carriers.

  4. Create a carrier that has the following settings:

    • Shipping carrier: Airways
    • Name: Airways
    • Mode: Airways

  5. On the Services FastTab for the new carrier, add a row that has the following settings:

    • Carrier service: Air
    • Transportation method: Air

  6. On the Action Pane, select Save.

    Note

    When you save the new carrier, the Mode of delivery field for the new row in the Services grid is automatically set to Airwa-Air. When you use the Airwa-Air mode of delivery for a sales order, the Airways transportation mode is used for related shipments.

Create an order pool

  1. Go to Sales and marketing > Setup > Sales orders > Order pools.

  2. Create an order pool that you can use for the consolidation query. This order pool should have the following settings:

    • Pool: Enter an integer that isn't already used by any other pool.
    • Name: ShipCons

  3. Go to Sales and marketing > Customers > All customers.

  4. Open the customer that has account number US-003.

  5. On the Sales order defaults FastTab, set the Sales order pool field to the order pool that you just created.

  6. Close the page, and then repeat steps 4 and 5 for the customer that has account number US-004.

Create example policy 1

In this example, you create a Customer+Mode policy for the following business case:

  • The policy queries for a specific customer account (US-001) and a specific mode of delivery (Airwa-Air).
  • Consolidation with open shipments is turned off.
  • Consolidation is done per order ID. (In other words, there are separate shipments per order, warehouse, and so on.)

Follow these steps to create the shipment consolidation policy for this business case.

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. On the Action Pane, select New to create a policy that has the following settings:

    • Policy name: CustomerMode
    • Policy description: Customer account and mode of delivery

  4. Leave the Consolidate with open shipments option set to No.

  5. On the Action Pane, select Save.

  6. On the Consolidation fields FastTab, in the Remaining fields list, select the row where the Field name field is set to Mode of delivery.

  7. Select the Add button to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  8. On the Action Pane, select Edit query.

  9. In the query editor dialog box, on the Range tab, in the grid, find the row where the Field field is set to Customer account, and set the Criteria field for that row to US-001.

  10. Select Add to add a row that has the following settings to the grid:

    • Table: Order lines
    • Derived table: Order lines
    • Field: Mode of delivery
    • Criteria: Airwa-Air

  11. Select OK to close the dialog box.

Note

For this business case, order lines for customer US-001 that use the Airwa-Air mode of delivery aren't consolidated across orders. Use this policy first in a sequence, in cases where shipments for all other modes of delivery are consolidated for this customer.

Create example policy 2

In this example, you create a Hazardous goods policy for the following business case:

  • The policy queries for a specific filter code (hazardous) and a specific mode of delivery (Airwa-Air).
  • Consolidation with open shipments is turned on.
  • Consolidation is done across orders. (In other words, there are separate shipments per account, warehouse, and so on, but only within the item group that is specified in the query.)

Follow these steps to create the shipment consolidation policy for this business case.

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. On the Action Pane, select New to create a policy that has the following settings:

    • Policy name: Item type
    • Policy description: Consolidate the same type of item across orders

  4. Set the Consolidate with open shipments option to Yes.

  5. On the Action Pane, select Save.

  6. On the Consolidation fields FastTab, in the Remaining fields list, select the row where the Field name field is set to Mode of delivery.

  7. Select the Add button Right arrow. to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  8. On the Action Pane, select Edit query.

  9. In the query editor dialog box, on the Joins tab, expand and select Tables > Load details in the tree.

  10. Select Add table join.

  11. In the grid of relations that appears, find and select the row where the Relation field is set to Warehouse item number (Item number), and then select Select.

  12. On the Range tab, select Add to add a row that has the following settings to the grid:

    • Table: Warehouse item number
    • Derived table: Warehouse item number
    • Field: Code 4
    • Criteria: Flammable

  13. Select OK to close the dialog box.

Note

For this business case, all order lines where items have a specific filter code (that is, the filter code where the Code 4 field is set to Flammable) consolidated with other items of the same type across orders. If there's an open shipment for the same account, warehouse, and group of items, the new lines are attached to it.

Create example policy 3

In this example, you create a Customers' requirements policy that you can use for the following business case:

  • The policy queries for a specific customer account.
  • Consolidation with open shipments is turned on.
  • Consolidation is done across orders but is based on customer requisitions. (In other words, multiple orders are grouped into shipments, based on the same customer requisition number and warehouse.)

Follow these steps to create the shipment consolidation policy for this business case.

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. On the Action Pane, select New to create a policy that has the following settings:

    • Policy name: CustomerOrderNo
    • Policy description: Consolidate lines based on customer PO

  4. Set the Consolidate with open shipments option to Yes.

  5. On the Action Pane, select Save.

  6. On the Consolidation fields FastTab, in the Remaining fields list, select the row where the Field name field is set to Customer requisition.

  7. Select the Add button to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  8. In the Remaining fields list, select the row where the Field name field is set to Mode of delivery.

  9. Select the Add button to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  10. On the Action Pane, select Edit query.

  11. In the query editor dialog box, on the Range tab, find the row where the Field field is set to Customer account, and set the Criteria field for that row to US-001.

  12. Select OK to close the dialog box.

Note

For this business case, all order lines where sales orders have the same customer requisition number are consolidated into one shipment, regardless of the sales order number. (The customer requisition number is used as the customer's purchase order [PO] number.) If there's an open shipment for the same account, warehouse, and customer requisition, the new lines are attached to it. Use this policy if the customer sends additional order lines that have the same PO number several times during a day and wants all the lines to be grouped into one shipment. (In other words, there's one bill of lading and one packing slip.)

Create example policy 4

In this example, you create a Customers allowing consolidation policy for the following business case:

  • The policy queries a specific order pool to identify customers who accept consolidated shipments.

  • Consolidation with open shipments is turned off.

  • You can override the rule on a sales order by selecting a different order pool.

Follow these steps to create the shipment consolidation policy for this business case.

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. On the Action Pane, select New to create a policy that has the following settings:

    • Policy name: Order pool
    • Policy description: Consolidate across orders based on order pool

  4. Leave the Consolidate with open shipments option set to No.

  5. On the Action Pane, select Save.

  6. On the Consolidation fields FastTab, in the Remaining fields list, select the row where the Field name field is set to Mode of delivery.

  7. Select the Add button to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  8. On the Action Pane, select Edit query.

  9. In the query editor dialog box, on the Range tab, select Add to add a row that has the following settings to the grid:

    • Table: Sales orders
    • Derived table: Sales orders
    • Field: Pool
    • Criteria: ShipCons

  10. Select OK to close the dialog box.

Note

For this business case, all order lines where sales orders belong to the same order pool consolidated into one shipment across sales orders for the same account, warehouse, and transportation mode of delivery. Instead of the order pool, you can use any other field to distinguish a group of customers and use the sales order header by default. Use this approach if the customer, not the warehouse, drives the need for consolidation. (In the earlier consolidation logic, the warehouse drove the need for consolidation.)

Create example policy 5

In this example, you create a Warehouses allowing consolidation policy for the following business case:

  • The policy queries a specific order pool to identify warehouses that can consolidate shipments.
  • Consolidation with open shipments is turned off.

Typically, you can use default policies to address this business case. However, you can also manually create similar policies by following these steps.

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. On the Action Pane, select New to create a policy that has the following settings:

    • Policy name: Cross-order
    • Policy description: Cross-order consolidation for specific warehouses

  4. Leave the Consolidate with open shipments option set to No.

  5. On the Action Pane, select Save.

  6. On the Consolidation fields FastTab, in the Remaining fields field, select the row where the Field name field is set to Mode of delivery.

  7. Select the Add button to move the field to the Selected fields list.

  8. On the Action Pane, select Edit query.

  9. In the query editor dialog box, on the Range tab, find the row where the Field field is set to Warehouse, and set the Criteria field for that row to 61, 63.

  10. Select OK to close the dialog box.

Set the order

After you create all your policies, establish the order in which they're applied. To use a pyramid-like approach, where the policies that have the most conditions are evaluated as having the highest priority, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Release to warehouse > Shipment consolidation policies.

  2. Set the Policy type field to Sales orders.

  3. Select each policy that's listed in the left column, and then use the Move up and Move down buttons on the Action Pane to arrange the policies in the following order:

    1. CustomerMode
    2. Item type
    3. CustomerOrderNo
    4. Order pool
    5. Cross-order
    6. Default

Example scenarios of how to use shipment consolidation policies

The following scenarios illustrate how you can use the shipment consolidation policies that you created while reading this article. Each scenario walks you through a shipment consolidation process that uses shipment consolidation policies during automated or manual release to the warehouse:

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