Manage shipping containers

Article
03/03/2023

Shipping containers are used to group together goods that are physically grouped together. They are also used in cases where costs must be shared only across those goods, usually because they are physically together.

Create shipping containers for voyages

You create a shipping container by opening or creating the voyage where you will use it, and then assigning the purchase order lines that the shipping container will include. Follow these steps to create a shipping container for a voyage.

Follow one of these steps:
- Go to Landed cost > Voyages > All voyages. To create a new voyage, select New on the Action Pane, fill in the Create voyage dialog box as needed, and then select OK. To edit an existing voyage, select it, and then select Voyage editor on the Action Pane. In both cases, the Voyage editor page is opened and shows the new or selected voyage.
- Go to Procurement and sourcing > Purchase orders > All purchase orders. Select the purchase order to create a voyage and container for, and then, on the Action Pane, on the Purchase tab, in the Landed cost group, select Create new voyage. Fill in the Create voyage dialog box as needed, and then select OK to open the Voyage editor page.
Use the filters at the top of the Voyage editor page to find the inbound order that you want to create the shipping container for. If you created the voyage from the All purchase orders page, the purchase order that you selected there will already be selected in the filter here. However, you can adjust the filters as you want.
On the Action Pane, select Generate data to update the list of orders on the Inbound orders FastTab, based on your current filter settings. (Each time that you change the filter settings, you must select Generate data to update the inbound order list.)
The Inbound orders FastTab shows all the qualifying purchase orders that match your filter settings. Select an inbound order to include in the new shipping container.
On the Lines to select FastTab, select the checkbox for each purchase order line that you want to include in the new shipping container.
Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you've found and selected all the order lines that you want to include in the new shipping container.
On the Lines to select FastTab, on the toolbar, select Add to staging list.
On the toolbar, select View staging list.
The Add staging list or shipping container page is opened. The purchase order lines that you selected are listed on the Lines in staging list FastTab. All the purchase order lines in this list will be added to the shipping container that you create. You can remove any line by selecting it and then selecting Remove line on the toolbar of the FastTab.
On the Lines in staging list FastTab, on the toolbar, select Add to new shipping container.
In the Create shipping container dialog box, on the General tab, define the new shipping container.
If you want to create the shipping container in batch mode, on the Run in the background tab, set the Batch processing option to Yes. If your container includes a large number of lines, batch mode can help improve performance.

Note

The Run in the background tab is available only if the Enable shipping container creation and update in batch mode feature is turned on for your system. For information about how to turn this feature on or off, see Turn on the Landed cost module and related features for your system.)

Background processing won't be activated if the transfer quantity is less than the total quantity of the related purchase order line.
Select OK to create the shipping container and add the selected purchase order lines to it.

Note

If a container already exists for your selected voyage, you can add new purchase order lines to it by selecting Add to new existing shipping container on the Add staging list or shipping container page.

View shipping container lists and details

To view and process goods through the shipping container page, go to Landed cost > Shipping containers > All shipping containers. The All shipping containers page shows a list of all available shipping containers. You can use the buttons on the Action Pane to delete and manage shipping containers. Select any shipping container in the list to view its details on the Shipping containers page.

The upper part of the shipping container details page shows shipping container and costing information. The Lines section shows the folios, items, and purchase orders or transfer orders that are attached to the container.

Shipping containers Action Pane

The Action Pane on the All shipping containers and Shipping containers pages provides buttons that let you work with a selected shipping container. Each button performs a single action. The Action Pane also includes tabs, each of which, in turn, provides a set of related buttons. Except where noted, all buttons and tabs that are described in the following subsections are available both in the list view (that is, on the All shipping containers page) and in the detailed view (that is, on the Shipping containers page).

Buttons on the Manage tab

The following table describes the buttons that are available on the Manage tab of the Action Pane.

Button	Descriptions
Post receipts list	Post a receipt list, or view the product receipt lists for all purchase order lines in the shipping container.
Post product receipt	Post a product receipt for all purchase order lines in the shipping container.
Post invoice	Post an invoice for all purchase order lines in the shipping container.
Ship transfer order	Post a transfer order shipment for all transfer order lines in the shipping container. Only those lines in the shipping container that are a type of transfer order appear in the dialog box.
Receive transfer order	Post a transfer order receipt for all transfer order lines in the shipping container. The receive dialog box is the simplest way to receive goods in a shipping container or voyage, and is one of three available options. You can also receive via arrival journals or mobile device processing.
Create arrival journal	You can generate an arrival journal for organizations by using advanced warehouse features. The options are Initialize quantity (recommended), and either Create from goods in transit or Create from purchase orders. The last two options depend on whether goods-in-transit processing is being used.
Rename	Open a dialog box where you can rename a selected shipping container.
Change journey template	Change the journey template. After you change the journey template, you might have to select Find auto costs or manually add costs again, because the shipment costs will be deleted.
Convert to rental	Convert a selected shipping container into a rental shipping container.

Buttons on the General tab

The following table describes the buttons that are available on the General tab of the Action Pane.

Button	Descriptions
Receipts list	Post a receipt list for all purchase order lines in the shipping container.
Product Receipt	View the product receipt record, if it's used. The product receipt process will be used only if the goods don't use goods-in-transit functionality.
Item arrival	View the item arrival journal for the shipping container, if that journal is used.
Legs	Legs are used to identify separate parts of a journey. Lead times can be associated with each leg to help with shipment tracking. For more information, see Multi-leg journey setup.
Tracking	View or update shipment tracking.
Goods in transit orders	You can open the Goods in transit page directly from the container. That page shows the goods-in-transit records for the selected shipping container only.

To open the Header view, open a shipping container, and then select the Header tab in the upper right of the shipping container heading.

Settings on the General FastTab

The following table describes the settings that are available on the General FastTab of the Header view of a shipping container.

Field	Description
Shipping container	The name of the shipping container.
Voyage	The voyage that is associated with the shipping container.
Shipping container type	Enter the shipping container type. This field must be set. You can use it to determine the cost for freight, for example, by selecting the auto cost that is associated with the shipping container type.
Vessel	Enter or select the vessel. If the vessel isn't listed as a value, you can enter the vessel ID as free text. In that case, the main table isn't updated so that the vessel ID can be selected in this field later. For more information, see Vessels.
Unit type	Unit types are used as an additional means of grouping and identifying shipping containers. They are shown and selected on the shipping container page. For more information, see Set up unit types.
Refrigeration type	Refrigeration types are used as an additional means of grouping and identifying shipping containers, usually refrigerated containers. They are shown and selected on the shipping container page. For more information, see Set up refrigeration types.
Measurement	This field enables a measurement to be specified in the Landed cost module. Measurements are often used by organizations that don't know the individual volume or weight of goods, but that require a more accurate apportionment than the amount or quantity provides. The freight forwarder will provide the weight in kilograms or the cubic measurement, and you can put it at the level of either an item or the purchase order. It can be automatically updated if the parameter is selected, or it can be manually entered.
Measurement unit	The unit of measure that applies to the number in the Measurement field.
Actual weight	You can record the actual weight of the carton or container. This value can be used for verification against the maximum weight that is allowed in the setup of a shipping container.
Number of cartons	The number of cartons is automatically updated if the parameter is selected.
Description of goods	A description of goods can be selected on the shipping container or folio header. It's used to help identify a voyage, shipping container, or folio of goods. For more information, see Description of goods.
House air waybill/Bill of lading	You can specify the house air waybill or bill of lading for the shipping container.
Remarks	Additional information that is related to the shipping container.
Returnable	A value that indicates whether the shipping container can be returned after the voyage.
Voyage status	The status of the journey that is associated with the shipping container.
Purchase order status	The status of the purchase order that is associated with the shipping container.

Settings on the Delivery FastTab

The following table describes the settings that are available on the Delivery FastTab of the Header view of a shipping container.

Field	Description
Created date and time	The date and time when the container was created.
Ex-factory date	This date is usually provided to the factory/vendor to indicate when you expect the goods to leave its premises. When you work with a factory in Asia, this date is often required instead of the date that you expect the goods by. (By contrast, for a local delivery, the date that you expect the goods by is required.) This field can be filled in from the purchase order lines in the shipping container list.
Ship date	This date can be printed on the purchase order document. It usually informs the factory/vendor about the date that the goods should be delivered to the port by. This field is for informational purposes only. It isn't used to estimate the expected delivery date of the goods in the shipping container. This field can be set so that it's automatically updated when the tracking control page is updated.
In to store date	The earliest date when the goods from the purchase orders that are linked to the voyage will be available for sale.
Estimated delivery date	Usually, the date when the goods are due to arrive in the warehouse. This field is for informational purposes only. It isn't used to calculate master planning on the purchase order lines in the shipping container. The expected delivery date on the purchase order lines is updated through tracking control. This field can be set up so that it's updated when the tracking control page is updated.
Departure date	Usually, the date when the plane or vessel actually leaves the overseas port.
ETA at shipping port	The estimated arrival date at the destination port ("to" port).
Original documents received	Optional: Update the date when the original documents were received.
Broker advised	Optional: Update the date when the broker was advised.
Original bill of lading sent	Optional: Update the date when the original bill of lading was sent.
Goods released	Optional: Update the date when the goods were released.
Customer appointment	Optional: Update the customer appointment date.
Delivered at warehouse	Optional: Update the date when the goods were delivered to the warehouse.
Verification date	Optional: Update the verification date.
Delivery instructions	Optional: Update the date of the delivery instructions.
From port	The port that the items will be shipped from.
To port	The port that the items will be shipped to.
Local forwarder	This field is for informational purposes only. The local forwarder should be selectable from the vendor table.
Local transport date	Enter the date that the local transport is booked for. This field can help the warehouse do its planning.
Local transport time	Enter the time slot. This field can help the warehouse do its planning.
Journey template	The journey template that is specified for the voyage. The journey template provides the details of the "to" and "from" ports, and the lead times that are associated with the tracking control of the shipping container.

Settings on the Other FastTab

The following table describes the settings that are available on the Other FastTab of the Header view of a shipping container.

Field	Description
Rental	A value that indicates whether the shipping container is a rental shipping container. Rental costs might be associated with rental containers.
Converted to rental	A value that indicates whether the shipping container was converted to a rental shipping container. Rental costs might be associated with rental containers.
Original voyage	If the shipping container was moved to a new voyage, the original voyage.
Used	Use this to record whether a rental shipping container has been used. It is for informational purposes only.
Expected loading date	The date when the shipping container is expected to be loaded with goods.
Our seal number	Enter the seal number that your company uses internally for the shipping container.
Shipping company seal number	Enter the seal number that the shipping company or agent provided for the shipping container.
Examination certificate applied date	The date when an examination was requested for the shipping container.
Examination certificate received date	The date when the examination certificate was received.
Examination certificate expiry date	The date when the examination certificate will expire.
Examination certificate number	The certificate number of the certificate that was issued after an examination was done.

Shipping container Lines view

To open the Lines view, open a shipping container, and then select the Lines tab in the upper right of the shipping container heading.

Information on the Shipping container FastTab

The Shipping container FastTab in the Lines view shows information about the folio. Most of this information also appears in the Header view, as described earlier in this article.

Information and buttons on the Lines FastTab

The Lines FastTab in the Lines view shows details about each full or partial purchase order line that is included in the current shipping container.

The following table describes the buttons that are available on the Lines FastTab in the Lines view.

Button	Description
Remove	Remove the selected purchase order line from the voyage.
Inventory > Transactions	View inventory transactions for the selected purchase order line. Note that if you're using goods in transit, the original order and the goods-in-transit orders are also shown.
Inventory > Display dimensions	Open a dialog box where you can select the inventory dimensions that appear for the transactions that you view.
Refresh	Update information that is related to the line amount, weight, or volume of the selected purchase order line.

Information on the Lines details FastTab

The Lines details FastTab in the Lines view shows details about the purchase order line that is currently selected on the Lines FastTab.