This section covers setting up data used in other customer schedule functions:

When customers do not work the same days that you do, you should set up customer calendars in Customer Calendar Maintenance (7.3.1). The system checks the customer calendar when required ship schedules (RSSs) are calculated so that releases do not occur on nonworking days. If you do not set up a customer calendar, the system uses your shipment planning calendar.

Use Customer Order Period Maintenance (7.3.3) to set up customer order periods. You can then match your shipment planning calendar to customer order periods. For example, some trading partners develop, and require you to use, period numbers that correspond to specific dates.

Customer order periods are used in detail screens such as Customer Plan Schedule Maintenance (7.5.1).

Your customers may have multiple docks at a ship-to location and may specify which dock to use for a particular shipment. Define dock addresses with Dock Maintenance (7.3.6).

Before you can define docks, the related ship-to addresses must exist. A dock address supersedes a ship-to address on orders specifying a dock.

You can assign the dock address in Scheduled Order Maintenance (7.3.13) as the default ship-to for the order. The dock should also be entered in Sales Order Shipper Maintenance (7.9.8) during shipment processing. Tax calculations use the ship-to site address.

See Processing Shipments for details.

Shipping labels are barcode labels that you can define and print for single-item-number containers, mixed-content containers, and master containers (such as pallets) of single-item-number subcontainers. The labels enable shipments to be received with barcode readers. Labels can replace printed shipper documents used as packing lists in some supplier-customer relationships.

To implement shipping labels, you must create a shipping label template file for each type of label required for each customer. These templates control the data format, the bar size, printed boundary lines, and other printed information. Templates are specific to your operation, to barcode reading equipment used by your customers, and to your industry.

You can select from a wide array of barcode label design software in creating templates. Each third-party package may have different requirements for creating a template.

In addition to creating template files, you must have a barcode-capable printer. You may need to add printer-control codes in the Bar Code Control frame in Printer Setup Maintenance (36.13.2), depending on the third-party software selected. The printer codes are usually described in the printer hardware manufacturer’s documentation. Escape codes for many of the standard printer types should be provided in the documentation of the third-party barcode template design software that you choose.

See User Guide: Manager Functions for details.

Enter template values in Shipping Label Definition Maintenance (7.3.11). Each of these template values corresponds to an order field value. At print time, they are converted to barcode symbols. Template Values lists template values and the field data that replaces them.

When the system sends labels to the printer, it checks the entire shipment structure. Label-related information from container and shipper maintenance must be complete and accurate. A label referencing the shipper ID is printed for each container in the shipment. The system prints:

When you define templates, you specify where template files are located in your file system. You also indicate the label type: mixed, master, or single.

Some customers may use their own identification number for you. If so, you must create a cross-reference between the customer’s ID number for you and an internal site so that the customer’s ID number prints on the shipping label. Use Site Ship-from ID Maintenance (7.3.10) to create these cross-references. The shipping label supplier ID is printed on the shipping label by the Shipping Label Print function (7.7.7).