the shipping data required by a carrier to produce a shipping label. XSI can be employed to generate shipping labels, bills of lading, air waybills and commercial invoices, as well as perform parcel tracking and proof of delivery in complex, high-volume shipping environments.
3.
Packing station: The packing station transaction in SAP is used to pack items from deliveries and shipments into shipping cartons, coolers, pallets and the like. All the hardware required to support shipping (laser printers, barcode printers, scanning devices, scales, etc.) is connected to SAP and made available in the SAP’s packing station. The packing stations are carrier independent; shipping labels for all of your carriers can be generated at one packing station.
Current Business Drivers & Trends Supported by SAP’s Technology Companies are showing increased interest in parcel and LTL shipping. This stems from a variety of motivations:
ously expanding their businesses into new geographies and channels.
} Extending beyond B2B into B2C: Many of the companies we speak to are traditionally B2B focused and are seeking to develop a stronger relationship with the end customer. There is a trend for companies to ship direct to the end customer and bypass distribution channels. Plugging SAP into the carriers’ SaaS shipping engine provides quick access to a fully integrated parcel and LTL solution at a low price. This helps to address the need for delivering today’s B2C experience, where consumers demand user-centric, anytime/anywhere information, and expect their experience on a mobile device or online.
} Increased emphasis on Reverse Logistics: A number of different customer return scenarios are supported with the SAP shipping solution. This includes: printing return labels alongside the standard outbound shipping label, scheduling a carrier to pick up returns at the customer’s facility, and requesting the carrier to email shipping labels to the customer, which can then be printed.
} B2C Experiences Set Expectations for B2B Customers: New customer expectations are inspiring innovation and driving competitive pressure in B2B industries like distribution and manufacturing. B2B business leaders are seeking to roll more B2C-like capabilities into the B2B user experience while simultane-
} Compliance and governance requirements to reduce waste and preserve the environment: When the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive (WEEE) was introduced to UK law in January 2007, focus turned to the reverse supply chain. With the intention of reducing waste and improving
Customer returns are increasingly prevalent for various reasons:
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 | www.PARCELindustry.com
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