Organizations that seek to identify mixed product-line-item handling units can do so by leveraging this capability within v3 orders. This functionality can be leveraged by both customers and their suppliers if the customer is leveraging Shipwell’s Supplier Collaboration Portal.
There are two ways this can be done:
Passing in handling unit information via Shipwell API integration with your ERP or WMS. Learn more about passing in handling unit information via Shipwell API integration at docs.shipwell.com.
Providing order-level handling unit information manually within Shipwell
Whichever method chosen, once the information is passed the functionality will be generally the same within Shipwell.
Order Line Item Data Representation Options to Leverage Handling Units
There are two ways to represent order line item data within Shipwell to be incorporated into handling units.
‘Piece Only’ Method: The most common method ‘Piece Only’ method is displayed below wherein:
‘Quantity’ field represents the number of pieces
‘Packaging Type’ field will represent the piece type (e.g. Box or Case)
‘Package Weight’ field will represent the per piece weight
‘Length’, ‘Width’, and ‘Height’ fields represent the dimension of the piece
Note in this instance the fields of ‘Number of Pieces’ and ‘Piece Type’ are intentionally left blank
‘Piece and Package’ Method: The ‘Piece and Package’ method is displayed below wherein:
‘Quantity’ field must be set to 1
‘Packaging Type’ field must be set to ‘Pallet’
‘Package Weight’ field will represent the aggregate weight of all pieces for that line item
‘Length’, ‘Width’, and ‘Height’ fields represent the dimensions of the piece
‘Number of Pieces’ represent the number of pieces present
‘Piece Type’ will represent the piece type (e.g. Box or Case)
Providing Order-Level Handling Unit Information Manually Within Shipwell
Once an order is ‘Ready’ then it can be placed on one or more handling unit(s). This is done by going to the Order Dashboard and selecting the order(s) that are going on the handling unit and under ‘Order Bulk Actions’ selecting ‘Create Handling Unit ID(s)’.
A modal will popup wherein you select ‘+ Add Handling Unit’ on the right and then on the lefthand side you add the individual line items that go into the handling unit by selecting ‘Add’ or select ‘Add All Items’ to add all line items.
It will prefill ‘Quantity’ as ‘1' but if the items added are on multiple pallets, then simply update the quantity. It will prefill out the ‘Weight’ of the pallet based on the line items added. However, you can adjust this value. Note this is the aggregate weight of all line items for all handling units with the same handling unit ID. This means that you might have a ‘Quantity’ of 3 here and a ‘Weight’ of 1,500 lbs in the case you have three pallets that are 400, 500, and 600 pounds respectively but you are simply representing them as a ‘Quantity’ of 3 and a 'Weight’ of 2,500 lbs.
Press ‘Save’ when done and then you will be back on the Orders Dashboard. You will now see that under the ‘Handling Unit ID’ column with one or more Handling Unit IDs present. In the future we plan on allowing users to modify order-level handling unit information but for now this is only done by repeating the same process as previously done which will rewrite over the existing handling unit information.
Once order level handling unit information is applied to an order then this order will have the handling unit information applied when a shipment is created from this order. Shortly the same handling unit information will be applied in load optimization also.
Once a shipment is created and you are on the Shipment Details screen, you will see the handling unit and its child units displayed within the ‘Items’ card. In this example, you see three handling units detailed with two child units under the first two handling units each while the third line item is independent of a parent handling unit.
Once a handling unit is present on a shipment you can update these handling units and either remove or add line items to an existing handling unit. Learn more about this functionality under our documentation around shipment handling units.
The Bill of Lading can now be generated to reflect the new shipment configuration of now having 3 pallets on the shipment. In the BOL image shows the shipment’s new configuration with a total of 1 handling unit of 3 pallets. Also, the handling unit created will display the nested piece information and product descriptions from the original shipment line items. Hazmat information will also be displayed at this level, as it would be displayed for any shipment line items that are not assigned to a new handling unit.
The LTL rating process and Generate Shipping Labels function will also now recognize that this shipment now has only 1 handling units instead of the original 3 shipment items.
Note, some operations will not know what specific products and item quantities exist on each individual handling unit. Instead, they may just know there are 3 pallets, and the weights of each pallet. In this case, the user can go into the Assemble Handling Units screen and perform the following steps:
Click ‘Add Handling Unit’ and enter the weight (and freight class if needed for LTL rating)
Click ‘Add Handling Unit’ again to create a 2nd pallet, and enter weight and freight class
Click ‘Add Handling Unit' again to create the final 3rd pallet. Click 'Add All Items’ to assign all shipment line items to the last handling unit, update the weight, then click ‘Save’.
Following this method will result in a BOL that displays the Pallet 1, Pallet 2, and Pallet 3 information, followed by all of the detailed piece information being displayed nested under the last pallet. In this way, the BOL will accurately display the total number of handling units (3), as well as all of the individual product and piece information from the original shipment line items.
The handling unit assembly functionality is only available for customers leveraging v3 Orders. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you want to learn about the benefits of v3 Orders.