Improve your 3PL operations using EDI 940 and 945 documents

Increase efficiencies and accuracy

Whether you are a distributor, importer, manufacturer or contract manufacturer, you made the right decision to outsource your warehouse and shipping operations through a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) provider to reduce costs and increase your company’s bottom line. But how efficiently are you communicating with your 3PL?  Perhaps your staff is spending inefficient time faxing or e-mailing picking tickets? When your 3PL sends back bill of ladings or shipping confirmations, is your staff spending long hours updating and processing sales orders?

What if communicating with your 3PL could be fully automated?

With Microsoft Dynamics NAV EDI 940 (Warehouse Shipping Order) and 945 (Warehouse Shipping Advice) document processing, your staff can automatically send electronic picking tickets to your 3PL warehouse. No more faxing or e-mails. When the warehouse receives the 940 EDI document, pick tickets are automatically created in their system – virtually eliminating data errors while increasing your order fulfillment capabilities. This efficient data transition can help keep your current customers and attract new ones.

When your 3PL ships your customer’s order, the 3PL will send back the EDI 945 document to you:

• Each NAV Sales Line ‘Quantity To Ship’ field is automatically updated.
• For each Sales Order, shipment is automatically posted.
• Data entry time is dramatically reduced.
• Customers can be invoiced faster.

NAV EDI 3PL 940 and 945 document processing is fully integrated within NAV providing a full feature of benefits including:

• Full lot number and serial tracking (item tracking): EDI 940 documents are sent with specific lot number tracking information letting the warehouse know which lot numbers to pick. When EDI 945 documents are sent back to you, each NAV sales line is updated with the exact lot number the warehouse actually shipped.
• Sales Order Status Tracking: You will be able track the status of each sales order at every stage including: Sales Orders with EDI 940s not sent, Sales Orders with Pending EDI 945s, Sale Orders Shipped/Ready to Invoice.
• Sending of EDI 940 Modify or EDI 945 Cancel orders: If you need to make a change in shipping instructions, or cancel the 940, users can easily send 940 modified or cancel documents to your 3PL.
• Transfer Order compliant: For companies with multiple locations using multiple 3PLs, EDI 940/945 processing is available for NAV transfer orders and includes 943 (Outbound Warehouse Stock Transfer Advice) and 944 (Inbound Warehouse Receipt Advice) processing. This enables you to use EDI documents to communicate between two 3PL warehouses.
• EDI Document Tracking: Within NAV, you will be able to track all in-bound and out-bound EDI documents and review historic data, if needed.

Written: by Mark Stept