This is an optional feature. The FACTS Shipping System in the Sales Orders module is still available, but because of changes UPS made to its third-party software approval requirements, it is no longer supported by the carrier.
Distributors who wish to use a UPS-approved shipping package can activate the Clippership shipping software, which has been integrated into FACTS beginning with version 6.07.00. The Clippership software provided on the FACTS Installation CD is a UPS-only version of the package. Users can upgrade to a multi-carrier version if they wish. (Contact your Affiliate for specifics on hardware requirements, pricing and activation procedures.) The FACTS/Clippership integration provides the following features:
Clippership can calculate freight and send that information to FACTS in real time. Users can either accept Clippership’s calculations (estimates in Quote Entry) or manually override them. This means that the FACTS user entering a quote can key in a carrier code in the Quote Entry ship via prompt and receive a freight estimate within seconds. Distributors can also add handling charges to these real-time freight calculations.
Users can enter orders, confirm orders, print invoices and run the Daily Sales Register at the same time shipping activities are taking place. While Sales and Shipping perform their duties simultaneously, FACTS and Clippership share information, keeping the two departments in sync. If changes need to be made to an order that may affect freight and handling charges (shipping address, carrier, number of items ordered, etc.), FACTS users can send their shipping departments Change Requests.
Distributors using the FACTS/Clippership integration can create rate shops, or groups of available carriers that can provide a level of service, such as "Next Day Morning Delivery." Distributors can set up rate shops so Clippership can compare prices among carriers in a given service level. FACTS will be able to tap into rate shops from the Ship Via prompts in various programs, such as Quote Entry, Order Entry, Direct Invoice Entry and Counter Sale Entry. If a customer needs an item to ship Next Day Morning Delivery, Clippership will pick the least expensive carrier in that rate shop. Rate shops can also be used to select alternative carriers to the one requested by the customer or set up in its master file.
The FACTS/Clippership integration affects different areas of the Sales Order module as well as other parts of the FACTS system.
Freight Calculations in SO Entry programs: Since FACTS gets freight estimates and calculations real time from information entered into another station, timeouts may occur. As a result, UNDEFINED may appear in the freight field if Clippership does not respond in time. You have the option of waiting again for the information or continuing without it. If manual freight override has been enabled, a user can enter an amount. The timeout value is controlled in the IC Warehouse F/M
Ship Via Codes: In FACTS 6.06 and earlier, users could enter whatever they wanted in the ship via fields. As of FACTS 6.07, ship via codes must be created in the Ship Via F/M, whether Clippership is activated or not. In addition, those codes that correspond to carriers supported by Clippership must be linked to the appropriate Clippership carrier code. In other words, ship via entries are no longer arbitrary labels. Instead they are specific codes that convey specific information. It is recommended that ship via codes be created for each carrier service level. This will enable you to create codes for rate shops
Rate Shop Displays and Searches: Rate shops codes are Clippership codes that represent groups of carrier services. In Quote Entry, rate shops provide freight estimates, and in other SO entry programs display carrier options, allowing comparative shopping among carriers’ different service levels. For instance, if you entered a rate shop for 2nd Day Air services in the ship via field of a Direct Invoice Entry document, the FACTS/Clippership integration would look through all the carriers offering 2nd Day Air services in that rate shop and select the least expensive service delivering to the specified ship-to address. In FACTS, you can review the carriers that make up each rate shop code in case you need to select an alternate carrier to the one selected by the Clippership program. (This search feature is available in Quote Entry only if a polling station is used.)
Warning messages in SO entry programs: When Clippership is in use, FACTS may prevent users from entering or changing information after the shipping process has begun on an order. Warning messages ("Shipping has Begun. Log a Change Request (Y/N)?" ) will appear if you attempt to change the ship via, ship-to address or the shipping warehouse and if you try to add or delete items.
Change Requests: If shipping or item information needs to be changed after the shipping process has begun, Clippership allows you to enter a change request, which can be access by pressing the CR button in the Clippership tool bar. (If the CR button does not appear on your Clippership tool bar, its possible one was not created when Clippership was installed. Consult your Affiliate.) The individual or department in charge of shipping can review the change requests in a To Do list and contact the person who sent the request (via e-mail or phone) whether or not the change can be made.
Invoices and the DSR: If shipping activity has not been completed on orders (i.e., goods are still be boxed up, boxes haven’t been weighed), UNDEFINED will appear in the freight entry fields of the corresponding invoices. Those invoices can be printed individually, but they will be skipped during batch printing. TBD (To Be Determined) will appear under freight on the printed invoices. If shipping hasn’t been completed for certain invoices, they are skipped over during the Daily Sales Register update. They can be reprinted later when freight amounts have been determined. Once that is done and the invoices are reprinted, the DSR processes the invoices as usual.
For complete installation and setup instructions, see the Installation manual on the Install CD.