CREATING AN ASN: IMPORTANT NOTE: When creating ASNs for the first time, we recommend you call our support team for assistance. While this document will serve as a general guideline when creating your ASN documents, there are variances from retailer to retailer and the information contained here may not apply to the rules set forth by your retailer. It is important you understand what your retailers expect when it comes to the ASN. Failure to send accurate ASNs per your individual retailer s requirements may result in charge-backs. This tutorial will provide an overview of the ASN document and assist in the first steps of the ASN process creating the ASN. Please note the ASN tutorials are done in sections. Step one: Creating your ASN. Step two: Packing your ASN. Once you have finished this tutorial, you will need to decide which pack method is right for you. Note: To help determine your best pack method, please review the Pack Methods document. Once your pack method is determined, you may proceed to step 2. Please be sure to read this tutorial in its entirety before proceeding to the ASN Packing tutorials. What is an Advance Ship Notice (ASN)? The ASN is a shipping document you must create before you ship. You will send the ASN to the retailer on the day you ship. (There are rare exceptions when you might send the document a day early. If, for example, you ship and deliver your goods on the same day, you would need to send the ASN early. Again, this is the exception.) The ASN document contains general information about your shipment, but more than that, it s an electronic representation of how you re physically packing your goods. This is a very specific and detailed document that must perfectly reflect your shipment. Errors on this document, or a delay in sending it, will likely result in retailer charge-backs. Creating an ASN: Must Receive Orders via EDI: To create an ASN, you will need to have received your orders through EDI (in LINGO). There is no way to create an ASN without first receiving EDI orders. Anytime after the orders are received you may create your ASNs. ASN Configuration: Generally speaking, you should create one consolidated ASN per Distribution Center (or DC). In other words, if you re shipping out multiple orders on the same truck to the same location, they should be combined on the same ASN document. In general, what you do not want to do is create individual ASNs per store. There are exceptions: Some retailers will instruct you to ship direct to store. If this happens, you would then create one ASN for each direct to store shipment. Another exception is that some retailers require one ASN per carton when shipping through a private parcel service such as UPS or FedEx. Note: While our support team can guide you, it is your responsibility to know in what manner to create your ASNs and whether or not to consolidate them per your Retailer s Routing and Vendor guides.
Verify Ship-to Location: To begin, you must verify the Ship- to location for each of the orders you ll be shipping. Most of the time, the ship-to location will be indicated on your Purchase Orders. However, some retailers do not send this information. If the ship-to information is not present on your orders, you will be required to verify with your retailer where you will be shipping. Determining where you re shipping: In most cases, you can determine where you re shipping by reviewing your Purchase Orders. Here are some examples. Example 1: Direct to Store Order. Note the matching bill-to and ship-to address are that of a store location (versus a Distribution Center). When these locations match, this is generally an indication that you re to ship direct to store. Example 2: Cross Dock order shipping to a Distribution Center (DC). Note the bill-to location and ship-to location do not match. While the goods will end up at store #4284MCH, they must be shipped to the Distribution Center. The DC will then forward the goods on to the store they are allocated for.
Example 3: Bulk Order. Note the matching bill-to and ship-to locations are that of a Distribution Center (versus a store location). In this type of order, the locations match, but the location is that of a DC, not a store. Bulk orders tend to have greater quantities because the DC will then parse out the goods to individual stores as they see fit. Example 4: Undetermined Ship-to location. Note there is no ship-to location in this example. While the goods would end up at location #0001, you would have to check with your retailer to determine where you re shipping.
Let s get started: The first thing you ll do is go to your new orders or open orders folder and begin selecting the orders you re shipping. If you have a lot of orders in your inbox, and you want to avoid selecting each order individually, you may use the search feature to pull up only the orders you re shipping. How to search: To search for specific orders, hover over the word searches on the blue navigation bar, and click orders. When your search screen comes up, enter the unique criteria that will lead you to the orders you re actually shipping. For example, you may type the PO number into the purchase order number field. (Keep in mind, you may search for multiple order numbers by using the multiple or paste feature.)
Next, you ll need to indicate one or more statuses in the Order Status section. In this example we re choosing New and Open. (When searching for orders, you may choose as many statuses as you like.) Next, we ll move to the bottom of this page and click Find Orders. When your screen refreshes, you will see the results of your search in your Inbox folder.
NOTE: Some retailers will use a single PO number for multiple locations. Even though the PO number is repeated, each location is considered a single PO. Other retailers may send a different PO number for each location. In this example, the retailer Nordstrom has sent a single PO number for multiple locations. To view designated ship-to locations in batch: Once you ve found the orders you re planning to ship, click Detailed View to access your ship-to locations.
Next, you ll need to select all the orders that are shipping to the same location. Note: You may easily select a range of orders by selecting the first order in the range, hold your shift key down on your keyboard, and select the last order in the range. (See the tutorial titled How to Display PO Groups for easy select options.) Once selected, move to the bottom of the screen to select an action. There are two possible action choices when creating ASNs. The choices are Create ASNs and Create One ASN From Selected Orders. The first choice would create a separate ASN for each order selected. In the example below, we must create a single consolidated ASN for each DC. To create a consolidated ASN, you must choose create one ASN from selected orders and click Go.
Once you click Go, LINGO will take you directly to your Outbox where the ASN you ve just created is stored. Please note: you are no longer in your inbox where the orders reside, but in your outbox where your ASNs are stored until you send them. Reviewing the ASN: To open up the document, click directly on the document ID (in this case, the ASN number DSS1001284), or you may click on the location number. When the screen refreshes, you ll be looking at your ASN document.
Here s a screen shot of the entire ASN:
Header Section: The ASN has two main sections: The header section and the order section. Let s talk about the header section first. 1. At the top left, you ll notice the Customer Number is always the retailer s name in this case Nordstrom. 2. The Shipment ID is your ASN number. 3. ASN Status indicates on hold because there is a lock on this document. You should leave your ASNs on hold until you re ready to send them to ensure you don t accidently send the documents before you re ready. 4. Your Packing Type is indicated next. We ll talk more about this in the ASN Packing tutorials. 5. Your Total Carton count is next. More than likely, when you create your ASN, your total carton count will read zero. This simply means your ASN is not yet packed. After it s packed, your carton count must be accurate. 6. The Ship From address should reflect where you re shipping from. If it doesn t, you may manually update the address by clicking edit address. You can make a permanent change for future ASNs by going to the Administration / Account information / General Information link within your LINGO application. 7. At the top right is the Vendor Number field. This is a number your retailer has assigned to your company. 8. AP Vendor Number is assigned by select retailers. This is an additional vendor number for accounting purposes. 9. At the top right, you ll see the Ship Date field. The date you create your ASN will automatically populate in this field. Since you ll likely create your ASNs a few days before you ship, you ll need to update this field to the date you actually ship before you send the document. You can update this field in one of two ways. If you click on the calendar icon to the right of the field, a calendar will pop up. Simply click on your ship date and the field will auto fill for you. You can also type directly into this field. If you do this, be sure to enter the date in the same format found in the sample below (MMDDYYYY). 10. The Requested Delivery Date field is used to indicate an Estimated Delivery Date the date you estimate the goods will arrive at the retailer s facility. (Not required by all retailers.) 11. Transit Time Type is rarely used. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. 12. Transit Time is rarely used. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2.
13. Total Weight / Volume. This will calculate from the weight / volume entered in the order section. 14. Next is the Ship-To location. It is critical that you ensure the ship-to location populated here is accurate. If this does not reflect your accurate ship to location, you must click the Edit Address link and correct it. When you click Edit Address, a new window will pop up offering you the opportunity to edit the address if necessary. Once your correct address is entered, simply click Save Address and your ASN will now reflect the updated location. Continue to the next page to see additional fields in the Header Section of this ASN example.
As you move further down the ASN screen you ll find additional fields in the header section. 15. Master Bill of Lading (Master BOL). The use of this field is conditional and used for select retailers only. It is your responsibility to check your retailer requirements to determine whether or not a Master BOL is needed. Regular Bill of Lading requirements still apply and are separate from the Master BOL requirement. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. 16. Bill of Lading (BOL). Most retailers who require the ASN will require the BOL number. If you re unsure what to use as the BOL, please consult your retailer s routing guide. In general, you should never repeat numbers in EDI. BOL numbers are no exception. Once you assign a BOL, it s important that you never use it again. If you need to repeat a Bill of Lading number on more than one ASN, you must consult your retailer to ensure it is OK to do so. 17. FOB Location. This refers to where the transfer of ownership of the goods you re shipping occurs. This field should auto-populate from your trading partner settings. 18. FOB Code. This refers to the party paying the freight charges. This field should auto-populate from your trading partner settings. 19. Transportation Carrier Code. This field must reflect the carrier you re using to ship the goods contained on your ASN. You should check with your retailer to verify which carrier and the accompanying code they would like you to use. 20. Transportation Carrier Service is rarely used. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. 21. Routing. This field is used for various requirements depending on your retailer. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. 22. Packing Code: Generally this is set to CTN Carton & 25 Corrugated or Solid, though it s possible there may be variances. This should auto-populate from your trading partner settings. 23. Ship Mode is rarely used. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. 24. PRO Number. This is your carrier s tracking number. If you re shipping through a freight carrier (such as Roadway, or Yellow Freight), the carrier should provide a PRO number for you to use in this field. If you re shipping via FedEx or UPS parcel services, you would have a tracking number for each carton. You would enter one of the tracking numbers in this field. Certain retailers require that you provide ALL tracking numbers when shipping via FedEx or UPS parcel services. For retailers requiring all tracking numbers on the ASN, you must enter your tracking numbers in the By Case view of your ASN. Be sure to reference the ASN Assistant tutorial for your specific retailer to see whether or not you ll be required to enter all tracking numbers for any parcel shipment you may be sending out. 25. Appointment Number. This field is used for various requirements depending on your retailer. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2.
Placement of these fields on your ASN document: This concludes the header section portion of this tutorial. Please continue to the next page to learn about the order section of your ASN document.
Order Section: There are multiple views of each ASN document. The various views can be accessed from the green bar below the header section. Regardless of the view you re on, the layout of your header portion will not change. What will change is the data below the green bar. The view you re currently on will be highlighted in blue. Summary View: This view (pictured above) is the most condensed version of the ASN document and provides only basic information about the orders contained on it. You ll see your PO number, your billto location (again, this represents the store the goods will eventually wind up at). The ship to number represents the ship-to location populated on your purchase order. If you create an ASN where the shipto location on your ASN does not match the ship-to location on your purchase orders, the orders will be highlighted in orange. This orange color serves as a warning to you (see screenshot below).
Next on the ASN summary view, you ll see your Purchase Order Date, your vendor number, and the number of cartons packed. Since the ASN hasn t been packed yet, this field is indicating zero. The weight & volume fields are next one per store. Volume is rarely required. For questions on this field, you may contact our support department at 877-765-3564, option 2. You should refrain from entering your weight information until after you ve packed your ASN. (If you enter weight information prior to packing, the weights will zero out upon packing and you ll need to reenter the information.) Last on the summary view are select boxes. The only reason you would ever check these boxes in the summary view is if you need to remove a location from the ASN, or split the ASN into multiple ASNs. For more information on splitting ASNs, see the tutorial Reorganize ASNs (splitting ASNs). Detailed View: Your detailed view provides a lot more information regarding the product being ordered. In your detailed view, you not only have general order information, you have detailed item information as well. The Ordered column indicates how many pieces were ordered. The Shipped column indicates how many pieces have been packed on the ASN. The Quantity to Ship column indicates how many you have left to pack. Since nothing has been packed yet, the ordered column matches the quantity to ship column. If you re selling in standard pack sizes, the pack and inner columns will be very useful. If you re not selling in standard packs, but rather you re mixing different items in the cartons you pack, you may ignore the pack and inner columns altogether.
Next, you ll notice basic information about the product being ordered, including the UPC code, and in many cases, your style number, color and size. If the ASN is not packed, when you hover over the by item and by case selections, you ll receive a message indicating these views are only available for packed ASNs. If you actually click the by item or the by case buttons before packing your ASN, you will not be redirected. If no cartons exist for your ASN, these views are simply not available. This concludes the Creating an ASN tutorial. Your next step is to review the different packing types described in the document titled Packing Methods. Once you ve determined your best pack method, you ll be ready for step two packing your ASN. There are several packing tutorials, each one tailored to the various pack methods. It s quite possible you could employ multiple pack methods on a single ASN. Please be sure to contact us when questions arise, particularly when it comes to the ASN. To avoid retailer charge-backs, it s imperative your ASNs are an exact representation of your shipment. The ezcom Support Team is happy to assist in getting you started. You may reach us by dialing our support line (877-765-3564, option 2) or through the Help / Contact Us feature within your LINGO account.