Summary

This article provides an overview of the SWCS 4.2 Shipping and Delivery Manifest and explains how to setup and use this feature in the software.  To add this feature to the software, download and install this hotfix: https://www.solatech.com/downloads/hotfixes/HF12262018.exe

More Information

  • Currently the software supports an Order History Status as well as a Current Order Status.  The Shipping and Delivery Manifest will use the Current Order Status vs the Order History Status since a single order can have a History Status value for every Status type.  Currently the Order Status can only be changed in Order Entry one order at at time.  Below is a screenshot of the current Preferences settings for Order History.



  • Below is the screenshot of the current Status History from Order Entry.

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                    

  • The SWCS 4.2 Shipping and Delivery Manifest will allow Preference settings to automatically change Current Order Status as well as Status History changes.  The user (determined by security) could select which actions trigger the changes to the Current Order Status in addition to marking a Status History change.  Below is a sample table of how you may want to setup the default status for each item, as displayed from Preferences.

 


Setting up Preferences

  1. From the File menu, select Preferences.
  2. Under Quotes and Orders, select Setup History under the Status and History section.  The new Automatic Status Changes screen will be displayed.
  3. The fields under Change current status to will default to blank values.  You may select the desired values from the drop-down arrow menus, as shown in the screenshot above.
  4. You may also change the Order History Item as desired.
  5. Click OK when finished to close the Automatic Status Changes screen.
  6. Click OK to close Preferences.


Managing the Shipping & Delivery Process

  1. From the Tasks menu, select Shipping/Delivery.  
  2. The new Shipping and Delivery screen will appear as shown below.
  3. Select the Processing status and Ship via fields to sort as needed.  All columns can be used to sort the listed orders.
  4. To Sort by Status Only, Ship Via can be changed to None.
  5. Use the Filter results field to quickly find records that contain the data you want to process.
  6. To process orders, use the check boxes and select the orders you wish to process.  Then select the Update button at the bottom to to apply the desired updates.  No changes are made on this screen.


Using the (CSV) Export Button

  1. Click the Export to create a CSV File that can be opened in Excel for the orders that are checked.
  2. A screen will be displayed to allow the user to determine the name and location of the file to be created.  A default unique name may be provided and the location of the file will default to the last location used.
  3. This Excel report will be used to provide to Production a list of the orders that need to be completed for an upcoming delivery.
  4. The file heading will be Orders Pending for Shipping / Delivery.
  5. The column fields will be:  Order Number, Sidemark, Customer, Cust. PO#, Delivery City, Tracking #, Status and Ship Via.
  6. The Status and Ship Via are included as column headings to allow sorting if needed if multiple lists are grouped together in one sheet.


Using the Deliver Button

  1. Click the Deliver button, which will allow you to select Delivery Manifest, Customer Email Report and/or Packing List.
    1. Select Delivery Manifest to view in PDF, where you can Save, Print or Email a manifest for your delivery driver.
    2. Select Customer Email Report to run a report that will include all selected orders displayed for each particular customer. The report will include these fields:  Order Number, Sidemark, PO and Balance Due.
      • If the customer has Terms of COD, then the Balance Due amount will be reflected on this emailed report as a currency value; otherwise, it will be ignored.
      • This report will generate one email for each of the customers for the selected orders and send them the information regarding what will be on their next delivery.
      • Note:   The Customer Email Report requires the file, Customer Delivery Notice.txt, which is located in your \Program Files (x86)\Solatech\WCS 4\Reports folder.  Copy and paste this file to your \Solatech Data\WCS4\Reports folder.
    3. Select Packing List to generate packing lists for the selected orders, which will include the Tracking # field in the Order Info section for this group.  This will automatically add the selected orders to Batch Processing.  A prompt will appear asking if you want to open Batch Processing now.
      • Batch Processing will change the Status of the order based upon the Auto Change Status setup in Preferences as outlined above. 
      • The main page will auto refresh when the OK button is pressed.  When returning to the Shipping & Delivery Processing screen, it will be automatically refreshed and the original orders selected will be cleared because their status has changed due to Packing Lists being generated.

Using the Ship Button

  1. Click the Ship button to select a Customer Email Report or Packing List.
  2. The process will be the same as for the Deliver button, except there will not be a delivery manifest to select.

Using the Update Button

  1. Click the Update button to display the Shipping Updates screen.
  2. Orders selected on the previous screen are displayed on this screen where they are processed.
  3. This screen is designed to allow the user to make changes to the Status, Ship Via, Shipping amounts and Tracking # Fields for the displayed orders.
  4. All columns except for Shipping and Tracking can be sorted.
  5. Click the Update Status button to change the Status of all checked orders.
  6. Click the Update Ship Via button to change the Shipping Method of all checked orders.
  7. The Shipping and Tracking # Fields will display the current values for those fields for each order.  The Shipping & Tracking # fields can be edited for each line item.
  8. Notes:
    • If the orders are being delivered by company trucks, then the number of boxes/pieces/pallets are entered into the Tracking # field.
    • If a Shipping Value field is updated, then the order itself is updated and thus new order totals will be calculated for the new shipping value entered.
      • Any Invoices, Confirmations, etc., already provided to the client will not accurately reflect the total for the order if the shipping values are updated
      • This is the same process as if you were editing the Shipping Field in Order Entry.
  9. Orders can be selected using the check boxes, but the boxes are not pre-selected by default when the screen opens.
  10. Click Close when finished with the Shipping Updates.

Closing the Orders

Using the Update Button

  1. As part of the Next Step in the Delivery Process, when ready for delivery or shipment, the user will return to the Shipping and Delivery Processing Screen and filter on the Ship Via and Shipped/Delivered Status.  Then select Update to open the Shipping Updates screen where specific line items to be modified are selected.
  2. For the orders that are checked, click on the Update Status button, which will cause the Status Update screen to display.
  3. Select the new Status to be assigned to selected orders, i.e., Closed.  When OK is pressed, the status for the displayed orders are changed.  
  4. The Status Updates screen will return and refresh to reflect the updated Status value.
  5. Select Close to return to the Shipping and Delivery screen.  This page will be refreshed and the updated orders won't be displayed because their status values will have changed.
  6. Repeat the above steps to close orders that may be set to different shipping methods.
  7. Another option to Close an order is to do so automatically when an order is exported to QuickBooks, if setup accordingly in Preferences. 

Using the Update Ship Via Button

  1. For the orders that are checked, click on the Update Ship Via button, which will cause the Update Shipping Method screen to display.
  2. Select the new Ship Via method to be assigned to the selected orders.  When OK is pressed, the Ship Via for the displayed orders are changed on the Shipping Updates screen.
  3. Select Close to return to the Shipping and Delivery Screen.

    

Applies To:   

  •     SWCS 4.2