2 Understanding the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management System

This chapter contains the following topics:

2.1 The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management System

The transportation industry is the element of the supply chain process that is responsible for moving goods and materials. The movement of raw materials, components, and finished products—from supplier to manufacturer to distribution center to the customer—represents a significant portion of the final cost of the product. The ability to track goods while they are in transit is a part of providing quality service to the customer. The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system provides features that enable companies to significantly reduce costs.

Transportation management is a vital aspect of any product manufacturing and distribution business. Businesses that have transportation needs must consider:

  • Selecting appropriate freight services.

  • Calculating freight charges.

  • Creating loads to decrease costs and meet shipping commitments.

  • Planning warehouse operations based on shipping schedules.

  • Determining the location and status of shipments.

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system provides these features:

  • A single solution for the distribution of products.

  • Efficient automated dispatch and tracking of shipments.

  • Heightened customer service through integration with sales order and purchase order entry.

Transportation management enables the dispatcher to create shipments and loads based on available resources at the depot. To manage resources effectively, you must keep accurate and complete records. The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system maintains a variety of resource information, such as:

  • Vehicle information, such as licenses, maintenance records, and vehicle type information.

  • Routes, which are specific transportation paths for shipments.

  • Rates, which are specific charges for the transportation of the shipments.

  • Items, such as gasoline, bicycles, milk, and other types of perishable food.

  • Invoices, which provide detailed shipping information such as a bill of lading.

  • Loading documents, which provide specific information about preparing a load, and which include documents such as loading notes.

2.2 System Integration

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system integrates with other JD Edwards EnterpriseOne systems to provide a total solution to transportation requirements. The table describes how Transportation Management works with other closely integrated systems.

2.2.1 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne General Accounting

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne General Accounting system is the central point of integration. It tracks shipment charges using automatic accounting instructions (AAIs).

2.2.2 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Address Book

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Address Book system stores customer, carrier, hub or depot billing, and warehouse address information.

2.2.3 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Sales Order Management

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Sales Order Management system integrates with the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system through sales orders. As you create sales orders, the system creates shipments, adjusts inventory, and manages orders. Sales Order Management also stores shipment information if sales orders are placed on hold or are backtracked.

2.2.4 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Inventory Management

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Inventory Management system stores item information for all manufacturing and distribution systems. Item information includes sales and purchasing costs and quantities that are available by location.

2.2.5 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Procurement

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Procurement system integrates with the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system through purchase orders. After you create purchase orders, the system then creates shipments, adjusts inventory, and manages the incoming orders. Procurement also stores shipment information if purchase orders are placed on hold or are backtracked.

2.2.6 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Quality Management

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Quality Management system works with the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system to ensure quality throughout the system by performing checks on various processes, such as:

  • Preferences for sales or purchase orders.

  • Confirmation of loads and delivery of loads.

  • The type of load to which shipments are assigned.

2.2.7 JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Warehouse Management

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Warehouse Management system works with the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system to provide reporting, shipment picking, multiple shipping and receiving locations, and warehouse setup features.

2.3 Features of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management System

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system contains planning features for shipments that enable you to arrange, track, configure, and update the transportation system. JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management includes these features:

Feature Description
Transportation planning with shipments After you place an order through the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Sales Order Management system, the system creates a shipment. You can place multiple orders on a single shipment or only place one order per shipment. Shipments, the foundation of the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system, are then shipped along a particular route, either automatically or manually selected. The shipment must be confirmed to verify the product on board, the actual shipment date and time, and the actual weight. Shipments can be combined and placed on loads to save freight charges and delivery times.
Shipment routing Shipment routing is the process of selecting a carrier and a mode of transport to service the shipment. Routing entries define origins and destinations that are served by common carriers or a private fleet. After a shipment is routed, the system then calculates possible rates to charge for that shipment.
Shipment rating Shipment rating provides information about the cost that is incurred to move goods from an origin to a final destination. Shipment rating calculates the charges based on routing and the amounts that are billed to customers for transportation costs. Rating offers flexibility through lookup type, unit, and prorated rates.
Load building Use load building to consolidate shipments into loads for easier transporting. Loads reduce both billable and payable freight costs. You can build loads from shipments that consist of either packaged or bulk products.
Shipment and delivery confirmation Shipment confirmation (or load confirmation) verifies the quantities of items that are placed on the shipments or loads against the quantities as recorded on the original order. Delivery confirmation verifies the quantities of items that are actually delivered to the customers against the quantities that were recorded on the original order. The system enables you to record inventory depletions and track in-transit inventory through delivery confirmation. For inbound shipments, the system includes receipt processing for purchase orders at shipment and delivery confirmation.
Shipping documents Shipping documents are standard delivery documents, such as bills of lading, shipment manifests, and shipment labels.
Shipment tracking The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system provides a method of tracking shipments through carriers. The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne system offers a standard business function to track shipments over the internet if a carrier provides internet tracking.
Freight update During freight update, the system creates shipment charge records to various accounts. The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system completes these tasks:
  • Creates records in the general ledger for shipment charges.

  • Creates vouchers in the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Accounts Payable system.

  • Creates records in sales order tables for billable charges that are associated with freight invoices.

Freight audit history You can review and revise the Fee table. This table contains freight charges that you incur and charge to customers.
Transportation Preferences Transportation preferences enable you to configure shipment processing for specific business requirements. Typically, you create preferences when you have consistent business requirements that differ from the default values of the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Transportation Management system. For example, you can create preferences to accommodate:
  • Customer-specific requirements.

  • Supplier-specific requirements (for inbound shipments).

  • Company policies.

  • Regulatory agencies' rules.

  • Item-specific requirements.

Inbound shipments Inbound shipments, such as purchase orders or credit returns, have many of the same characteristics as standard outbound shipments. For example, an inbound shipment represents a movement of products from a single origin (for a purchase order, the supplier) to a single destination (the purchaser).

2.4 Terms and Concepts

Before you use Transportation Management, you should be familiar with these terms:

Accessorial charges

Charges for a service other than the actual transportation of goods. Examples include notification before delivery, inside delivery, or levitate service.

Ambient temperature

The temperature of a liquid product when you load the product onto a vehicle. This temperature affects the volume of the product that is loaded on the vehicle. Contrast with standard temperature.

Billable freight charges

The amount of freight that is charged by the shipper to the customer when the freight terms are prepaid.

Bulk products

Product, such as gasoline, which is shipped in bulk containers or compartments.

Carrier zone

A code that identifies the geographic region for rating shipments.

Connected vehicle

Two or more vehicles that are physically connected, such as two interconnected trailers or a group of rail cars.

Delivery

A single delivery of one or more shipments to the same customer. For the purpose of rating a shipment, the system assigns a single delivery number to multiple shipments on a single manifest, load, or master bill of lading, and that are destined t o the same customer location.

Delivery confirmation

A confirmation that an order or orders have been delivered to a customer. This confirmation includes information about the specific product and the exact quantity that was delivered.

FAK (freight of all kinds)

Freight of all kinds. This is an attribute of a carrier, route, or rate table in which all freight is accepted and rated the same way, regardless of the freight classification code.

Freight category

A user-defined code that is assigned at the item level and that you can use to determine a freight charge.

Freight classification code

A code that classifies freight according to product density, packaging, and other characteristics that affect transportation costs. For example, a fully assembled bicycle has one code, whereas a bicycle requiring assembly has a different code. The common standard for the United States is the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) code.

Gain/loss

Temperature differences between standard temperature and ambient temperature can result in a gain or loss to inventory on a load. The system accounts for this gain or loss as additional journal entries to inventory.

Lead time

The time specified in days that is required to secure a transportation resource.

Load

Shipments, not necessarily to the same customer, that have been combined for delivery.

Load confirmation

A confirmation that products have been placed onto a vehicle for shipment. This confirmation includes information about the specific product and quantity and, in some cases, the specific location or compartment on the vehicle.

Load lines

For bulk trailers, load lines account for differences in the density or temperature of a product, which helps you avoid exceeding restrictions while loading.

LTL (Less Than Truckload)

A shipment or load that does not require an entire truckload. LTL shipments are generally less than 20,000 pounds, but exceed the maximum weight for a parcel carrier.

Mode of transport

The method for transporting a shipment. Examples include air, rail, and parcel.

Multiple drop load

A load that contains shipments that are to be delivered to multiple destinations.

Multiple pickup load

A load that contains shipments that are picked up from different locations.

NMFC (National Motor Freight Classification)

An organization in the United States that establishes codes for all items. Carriers use these codes to rate shipments.

Options

Additional services or requirements for a shipment, such as inside delivery. Options are often associated with accessory charges.

Payable freight charges

The amount of money that is charged by the carrier to the shipper when the freight terms are prepaid, or charged to the customer when the freight terms are collected.

Pooled shipments

Multiple orders that have been combined onto a load as one shipment for delivery to a hub or distribution center to reduce freight costs.

Prepaid

Freight terms in which the shipper is responsible for paying the carrier. The shipper might, in turn, assess a billable freight charge to the customer.

Routing entry

A record in the F4950 table that specifies an origin and destination, both of which are served by a specific carrier and mode of transport. The routing entry also identifies the rate schedule that the system uses to calculate the freight charges, and the required lead time and transit time.

Shipment

A movement of goods from a single origin to a single destination.

Shipment confirmation

A confirmation that an order or orders have been shipped to a customer. A confirmation includes information about the specific product and exact quantity shipped.

Shipment container

A container that you use to ship one or more shipment pieces.

Shipment piece

A single part of a shipment, usually a parcel or carton.

Shipment routing step

An intermediate step of a shipment from a single origin to a single destination. An intermodal shipment contains multiple shipment routing steps.

Standard temperature

For liquid products, you set a standard temperature for the shipping depot to account for changes in inventory due to temperature variances. Contrast with ambient temperature.

Transit time

The time, specified in business days, that is required to send a shipment to its final destination. The system calculates the promised shipment dates by subtracting the transit time from the promised delivery date.

Trip

The planned or scheduled transportation of shipments that use a specific vehicle.

Zone

A code that is assigned to a customer and generally associated with a geographic location.