Originally written by John Hardwick, last updated Jun 21, 2024, on the Swan Retail knowledge base (FRS).
This document is based on SwanFRS release 1209
Overview
This guide describes how to set up SwanFRS for use with 3rd party carriers.The Outside carrier functionality has three modes#
-
Off - Outside carrier functionality is not in use.
-
Manual - Outside carriers are used, however the decision to uses these services is at the discretion of the operator with no automatic allocation of carrier.
-
Automatic - SwanFRS will automatically force the delivery of goods via an outside carrier if the delivery address on the sales order has a postcode (Eircode / Zipcode) linked to the carrier.
Configuration
This section details how to configure SwanFRS to operate with Outside Carriers.
Application Parameter
Menu Location: System Admin > Set Application Parameters
Set the EXCLUSIVE_LOCATIONS application parameter to Y.
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
USE_OUT_OF_AREA_DELIVERY |
Ticking tells the system to check the delivery postcode of the order and if the postcode is mapped to an outside carrier, the system will force delivery via the linked carrier. Unticking turns off this feature, allowing the operator to choose whether orders are to be delivered to the customer via a third party or outside carrier. |
This parameter does NOT turn on or off the outside carrier feature. It simply acts as a control, instructing SwanFRS whether to force its use on specific sales orders.
Locations
Menu Location: System Admin > Sales – Set Up Locations
See Set Up Locations
To use outside carriers, it is necessary to set up a location for each carrier used.
The location is effectively a pseudo stock holding location used to track your stock whilst in the possession of the carrier. It should be named as per the carrier and have the Outside Carrier checkbox ticked.
This restricts the use of the location within SwanFRS however if the carrier will receive goods directly from the supplier other check boxes such as ‘can receive’ need also to be checked.
Delivery Areas
Menu Location: System Admin > Sales > Set Up Location Delivery Area Links
This step is only required if SwanFRS is to force the use of outside carriers, dependant upon the delivery postcode of the sales order.
When setting up postcodes where the outside carrier is to be used, it is possible to use a wildcard. The % symbol instructs SwanFRS to search for postcodes beginning with the specified characters and if a match is found force the outside carrier. Spaces are significant.
For example
-
HU% includes all combinations of HU
-
HU1% would only include postcodes in the HU1 postal zone.
-
HU1 2% restricts postcodes to those within the HU1 2 sectors.
Setting up HU% and HU3% effectively means the HU3% is redundant, in that HU% covers all postcodes, including those in the HU3 area.
Operation
There are no changes to the way a sales order is added or maintained when using outside carriers.
New sales Orders
Automatic Assignment
When the USE_OUT_OF_AREA_DELIVERY application parameter is ticked, adding a customer to a sales order with automatic assignment of outside carriers the system checks the delivery to postcode / Eircode / Zipcode and if a match is found against the Set Up Location Delivery Area Links control settings the order is automatically set with a delivery method of Outside Carrier.
This can be manually changed by the operator where necessary.
The delivery carrier is set using the relationship between ‘carrier’ (location) and postcode (delivery postcode) set within the Set Up Location Delivery Area Links program.
Automatic Assignment
When USE_OUT_OF_AREA_DELIVERY is unchecked, SwanFRS does not attempt to assign the outside carrier.
This is done manually either when creating the new sales order.
Alternatively, the outside carrier can be selected by clicking the delivery tab and selecting outside carrier.
Adding Product
When adding a product or a service to a sales order, the default delivery method will be the one set against the order header.
It is important to ensure the correct settings are chosen at this stage, as these direct onwards processing.
-
Receiving Location - Where presented, this is the location the goods are to be delivered to the retailer from the supplier and is typically a warehouse.
-
Delivery Method - This is the method by which goods are to be delivered to the customer and should be set to ‘outside Carrier’ if a third party delivery agent is to complete the ‘to customer’ element of the sale.
-
From - When outside carrier is selected, this is the third party delivery agent to be used to fulfil the customer delivery.
These fields are amendable subject to the status of the item being added to the order, for example there is no receiving branch if the item is already in stock.
Changing the delivery method of the sales order via the delivery tab may impact on the delivery method of the order line.
Order lines marked as outside carriers will present the OUTSIDE ....... legend in the delivery status column.
The colour of the badge is controlled by the delivery status of the order line. For example, if the item is on order, the badge will show OUTSIDE ORDERED in that the goods are not yet deliverable but are on order.
It is possible to instruct the system to mark the purchase order to be delivered directly to the outside carrier by setting the Receiving Location as the outside carrier.
This bypasses the warehouse and follows the ‘home delivery’ concept, whereby the order is only marked as delivered once notification of delivery has been manually processed via the Confirm Outside Delivery option on the side panel when viewing the sales order detail.
Sales Order Items
If the sales order contains items which require purchasing from a supplier, the standard method of purchase order creation and progression occurs.
Once the goods are ‘in stock’ the carrier can be notified to collect the goods for customer delivery.
It is suggested that upon collection a transfer note is raised which will move the goods from the retailer's warehouse to the outside carrier.
This is an optional step, however it provides tracking as to where the goods are should this be needed.
There is no requirement for delivery planning or delivery scheduling for outside carriers, as this aspect of the customer delivery is handled by the outside carrier.
Purchase Order Processing
There are no changes to the purchase order processing in that goods are ordered, acknowledged and received into stock.
Please note that if the purchase order is configured for the supplier to deliver goods directly to the third party deliverer, it will be necessary to GRN the item into stock in the usual way (with the change or selecting the outside carrier as the receiving location).
Order Searching
Once the goods are in stock the process of progressing the delivery can begin.
The following are recommendations which will assist with control.
Create a Sales Order Search profile configured to show outside carriers and use this to see the status of orders where third party carriers are to be used.
The main selection criteria for the search is to choose the Outside Carrier Delivery Method.
Transferring Stock
This step is optional, however when used increases the visibility of stock and relates to moving the stock from the retailers location to the outside carriers.
If stock is in a warehouse and is to be collected by the outside carrier, generating a transfer note for the goods to be collected provides a form of stock ownership transfer moving the goods from the retailers location to the ‘pseudo’ carriers location and can be used to value the goods the outside carrier has possession of perhaps for insurance purposes.
If the sales order was raised with a distribution point of an outside carrier the order will show as a ‘requires transfer' order ( TRANSFER button showing on the order line).
Where configured the transfer can be instigated from the side panel whilst viewing the sales order.
Once stock is marked as with the outside carrier it is possible to use the warehouse search features to see what stock the carrier has.
Confirming the Delivery
SwanFRS doesn’t attempt to manage the delivery to customer of outside carrier orders.
Once the retailer has been notified the delivery has been successful, the Confirm Outside Delivery option on the side panel of the sales order detail page should be selected.
Selecting this option presents the confirmation of delivery screen as shown below.
To confirm outside carrier delivery, check the appropriate tick boxes and click the CONFIRM button. This action generates the delivery information for the items selected including delivery invoices, consumes deposits and posts details to a linked accounts' system.
Where desired, changing the Date Delivered, tells the system the delivery occurred on the specified date, which is important if the outside carrier is late informing the retailer of completed deliveries.
Files from the Confluence page
Was this article helpful?
That’s Great!
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry! We couldn't be helpful
Thank you for your feedback
Feedback sent
We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article