Optimizing SAP for Enterprise Transportation Management

Transcription

1 If your transportation system is not under control,you are shipping away some of your profits every day. Optimizing SAP for Enterprise Transportation Management

2 Overview The Challenges of Integrating Transportation Management In today's complex, multi-carrier shipping environment, there is always a best choice for every shipment; it just is not easy to determine quickly and accurately what that best choice is. The optimal shipping method depends on a myriad of factors, such as the package size, weight, date needed, package dimensions, number of packages, destination, recipient address type (business vs. residence), any shipper discounts available, content types (e.g. perishable, hazardous, fragile, etc.), international compliance considerations, customer shipping/payment preferences, and many others. Driven to Deliver Where business is going Getting it right on every shipment can save a lot of money as well as making customers happy and enhancing your reputation. The challenge is how to seamlessly integrate automated multi-carrier transportation management capabilities directly into your day-to-day operations so that the right choices become a routine part of doing business. TM Page 01

3 Understanding Your Own Transportation Priorities The first step in creating an enterprise-level transportation management program is to take a comprehensive inventory of your shipping requirements. For example, a company that only ships small parcels domestically would have very different requirements from those that ship a mix of small parcels, LTL (Less- Than-Truckload), and TL (Truckload) or global companies with a large mix of shipments going to many different countries. A company that ships fine glassware and gift items would have very different requirements from one that ships heavy machinery or appliances. Companies that ship from multiple locations using multiple carriers are significantly more complex than those that ship from one location. But every mid-size to large-scale organization can benefit from a comprehensive review of their shipping requirements and a retuning of their processes to optimize shipping procedures. Some of the key factors that should be considered when taking your shipping-needs inventory are: Number of shipments per month and any definable peaks or seasonal issues Size, weight of typical shipment (or range of variety if no typical shipment type) Variety of different shipment categories (small parcel, LTL, TL, Ocean, Rail) How many locations do you ship from? Nature of products (fragile, heavy, liquids/solids, hazardous, perishable, etc.) Value of products and any insurance requirements International compliance and customs requirements Billing flexibility issues (e.g. billing receiver accounts, using receiver-designated carriers) It's also important not to overlook the opportunities for savings and operational efficiency benefits through better management of your inbound shipping processes from vendors, suppliers, or partners as well as any shipping between your internal locations. In addition, integrating comprehensive analytics into the overall transportation management system can provide significant savings over both the short and long term. It is estimated that as much as 20 percent of all carrier invoices are billed incorrectly, resulting in millions of dollars being spent in overpayments by companies that simply pay the aggregate carrier invoices without being able to analyze the traffic against the charges. Over the longer term, built-in freight analytics can enable companies to define, track and analyze relevant KPIs as a basis for continuous improvements in the shipping processes and policies, thereby improving both service levels for customers and bottom line profitability. Page 02

4 Enhancing Your SAP Investment with Transportation Management Idhasoft and ProcessWeaver: Uniting the Pieces of the Puzzle Over the course of many SAP design, implementation and managed support engagements, Idhasoft has amassed an extensive portfolio of end-to-end business solutions for mid to large size companies across a wide spectrum of market segments. Using a toolsbased approach and disciplined best-practices methodology, which Idhasoft has been refining since 1992, we are able to quickly understand the client's business situation and create well-tailored solutions that are implemented quickly, with a typical 20 to 30 percent reduction in time and cost, as compared to other approaches. Idhasoft also uses a philosophy of partnering with best-of-breed solution providers to complement and extend the breadth of our SAP capabilities by providing additional expertise and specialized solutions for particular arenas. When it comes to specialized SAPenabled solutions for enterpriselevel transportation management, there is no better partner than ProcessWeaver. Since 2005, ProcessWeaver has specialized in the creation of automated multicarrier compliance global shipping software that helps customers overcome the complexity and maximize the efficiency of their shipping operations. The following sections provide an overview of how the suite of SAPenabled ProcessWeaver solutions can be leveraged within the enterprise and optimized to provide significant savings over the long-run through the combined capabilities of ProcessWeaver and Idhasoft. Enterprise Centralized Shipping (ECS) ECS is a next generation shipping solution for SAP that leverages years of industry expertise and proven software technologies into a single-source enterprise-level capability that allows users to rate, pack, ship, and track small parcel, LTL/TL, and Ocean shipments without ever leaving the SAP system. Instead of juggling information with a 3rd-party shipping system or individual carrier interfaces, the enterprise can leverage the existing investment in SAP with a solution which resides within your SAP system and is certified by carriers. ECS takes the complexity out of multi-carrier shipping and provides a comprehensive, cost-effective, and ready-to-use application that integrates directly with SAP's ERP offerings providing the ability to rate, pack, ship, and track packages from within your SAP system. ECS ensures that you consistently meet carrier and customer requirements for rating, routing, label and document printing, and EDI, without relying on an external 3rdparty solution. ECS ensures shipping in SAP is faster, more accurate, less problematic, and results in lower transportation spending and enhanced operational efficiencies. Page 03

5 Best-alternative shipping methods are automatically determined based on specific enterprise parameters and multicarrier options, then the shipping labels are generated directly from within the SAP-enabled ECS module. From the end-users perspective, they have never left the familiar SAP environment. ECS is written in ABAP/4 using /PWEAVER namespace and installs in your existing SAP system landscape. Since ECS is deployed as an ABAP/4 stack, its rating, packing, shipping, and tracking functionality can be accessed from any SAP module (i.e., ERP, CRM, WM, TM, etc.). Multi-Carrier Compliance Powered by the most advanced carrier compliance technology, ECS ensures that you consistently meet carrier requirements for rating, routing, labeling, and international documents. ECS supports certified shipping for DHL, FedEx, TNT, UPS, USPS, and many more. In addition to small parcel carriers, ECS supports rating and shipping for virtually any LTL/TL carrier. It also complements SAP's TM by providing small package shipping execution and SAP's GTS module by filing export data via AESDirect. Packing Handling Units ECS lets you pack and ship, print a carrier label for each Handling Unit, a packing list, and any other transportation documents you need from a single transaction. By integrating processes and streamlining packing with shipping, you reduce the time it takes to pack and ship Deliveries/Shipments. Updating SAP Deliveries, Shipments, and Sales Orders For each shipment, ECS automatically updates the Delivery, Shipment, or Sales Order with freight amount, tracking number, and any other required information to help facilitate other SAP processes. ECS can automatically trigger the Post Goods Issue (PGI) as part of the shipping process. Page 04

6 Enhanced Supply Chain Visibility Real-time updating of Deliveries/Shipments/Sales Orders with shipping and tracking information means real-time supply chain visibility. Enterprise users can easily access POD and tracking information by viewing Deliveries in VL03N. From ECS' Tracking Tab, users can access all tracking numbers associated with a specific Delivery, as well as delivery dates and signature information. Tracking numbers can be linked to Handling Units (if applicable) and contain hyperlinks that take users to carrier web sites for more detailed tracking information. Page 05

7 Key Benefits of ECS: Accurately rate & route all shipments Print carrier-compliant labels & documents Prevent shipping errors that result from bad or incomplete information Electronically communicate with carriers, trading partners, and customers Track and monitor shipment status Automatically update Deliveries and Shipments Receive Proof of Delivery Global Trade Link (GEL) Global Trade EEI/SED Link (GEL) is an additional capability for comprehensively managing international shipments. Generally, U.S. firms exporting goods have to electronically file export information through the Automated Export Systems (AES) if any Harmonized Tariff Code is valued at $2,500 or more. Until now, companies using SAP have had to enter their export information through the AESDirect web site, integrate to an external application, or outsource it to a third-party. With the GEL solution, these filings can be processed directly from your SAP system. GEL is an ABAP application that resides within the SAP landscape and automates the AES export filing process. GEL allows you to file SEDs either at the time of shipping or as part of a batch process. GEL analyzes export data contained in Deliveries, Shipments, and Export Documents to ensure that there is no missing data which might cause the SED filing to be rejected. GEL continuously monitors transmitted filings, and upon receiving acceptance, automatically updates SAP with the Internal Transaction Number (ITN). GEL easily integrates with SAP ECC, SAP EWM and SAP GTS. The GEL report center provides a single location for tracking customs status of shipments. Page 06

8 Key Benefits of GEL: Single click filing from a standard SAP transaction Eliminate administrative costs/errors associated with manual filings Avoid fatal errors completely Automatically update Deliveries/ Shipments with correct ITN Instant access to details/statuses of all filings through SAP Report Enterprise Freight Auditing Freight rating and billing errors are a common and costly problem for businesses. With up to 20% of all carrier invoices billed incorrectly, millions of dollars are being spent in overpayments. Auditing and paying freight bills are very involved business processes that can consume vital resources and time. For businesses running SAP, Enterprise Freight Auditing (EFA) provides a ready-to-use solution. Freight auditing functionality allows you to audit each and every carrier invoice (Parcel, LTL/TL) by checking it for fraudulent use, carrier service failures, correct contract rates, negotiated discounts, correct freight classification, weights, accessorial charges, fuel surcharges, duplicate invoices, and overcharges. Upon approval, EFA atomically creates the SAP Accounts Payable Document. EFA Analytics functionality helps to analyze all manifest and invoice data based on a wide range of client-definable KPIs. Page 07

9 Key Benefits of EFA: Audit carrier invoices for errors Automatically generate SAP Accounts Payable Documents Identify service failures and guaranteed service refunds View carrier shipping, tracking, and invoice details Identify shipping errors that are resulting in accessorial charges Generate reports by plant, sales order, delivery, shipment, date, carrier, account, service type, and many more Meshing Transportation within Overall SAP Business Systems Over the course of many system implementations, Idhasoft has become very aware that every company's specific requirements are unique. With all of our solutions technologies, we approach the challenges by first understanding the client needs and then tailoring the tools and system options within the implementation scenario so that all of the pieces serve as extensible building blocks that achieve the current requirements while at the same time building in a growth path for future needs. By partnering with ProcessWeaver, Idhasoft has extended our deep SAP capabilities to also encompass a full set of transportation management solutions that are optimized for the SAP environment. Together, Idhasoft and ProcessWeaver are able to deliver and support complete endto-end business systems that seamlessly incorporate multicarrier, multi-faceted, transportation management capabilities. Page 08

10 About Processweaver: Founded in 2005, ProcessWeaver has operations worldwide. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, ProcessWeaver specializes in providing automated multi-carrier compliance global shipping software. ProcessWeaver solutions simplify global transportation management process by helping customers unleash innovation and overcome complexity. ProcessWeaver Shipping Suite is tailored specific to wide range of industries. We support the following industries' shipping needs. Communications Engineering and Construction Financial Services Healthcare (Payer & Provider) Consumer Goods High Technology Industrial Manufacturing Insurance Life Sciences Media & Entertainment Mill Products & Mining Oil and Gas Professional Services Public Sector Retail Telecommunications Transportation & Logistics Utilities Wholesale Distribution Page 09

11 About Idhasoft Idhasoft Inc. is a global leader in strategic technical solutions, SAP gold channel partner and 2010 SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year-USA, providing innovative end-to-end business solutions to companies around the world. Idhasoft founding vision is to serve the SMB marketplace with a unique blend of business solutions and services. We help our clients drive efficiency, improve profitability and build a lasting competitive advantage. Idhasoft capabilities and services include the following: 100% commitment to SAP solutions, services and technologies SAP Gold All-in-One Solution Provider and Premier Implementation Partner Partner Center of Excellence Certified master VAR SAP Certified Industry Specific Solutions Dedicated SAP Practices- ERP, CRM, SRM, SCM, BI and Net Weaver/Portals Senior SAP experienced consulting team with both industry and SAP experience Invited expert each year at ASUG, SAPPHIRE and other SAP conferences State-of-art Solutions Center with SAP Ramp-up Applications Idhasoft's pre-configured Industry and Solutions templates Our consultants work closely with SAP COE and SAP Product Development Page 10

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