Q1 2023
TMS RELEASE NOTES
Table of Contents
Release Summary
Product Enhancements
Verbiage Changes
Order Management
Loadsmart Integration
Truckload Functionality
End-to-End Order-to-Shipment Flow
Other Enhancements
Locations, Addresses, and Time Zones
Required Fields on BOL
Magento 2.0 PlugIn
Excessive Length Commodity Warning
GA: 3.31.23
Last Updated: 3.16.23
Release Summary
Greetings from FreightWise Product Management! This document serves as the official Release Notes for our Q1 2023 quarterly release, also known as release Q123.
Q123 focused on 3 key themes and included a multitude of different functional enhancements. The themes were:
- Order Management Workflow
- Order Management encompasses and enhances our ability to receive or create an order in FreightWise TMS and manage that order through the planning and execution process.
- Expanded Truckload (TL) Support
- Truckload enhancements include a new partnership and integration with Loadsmart for instant spot quotes and capacity, plus planning and execution capabilities for direct TL shipment management.
- User Experience
- Usability is and will be a continuous theme in our releases and in Q123 there were several areas of TMS that were enhanced.
- This includes verbiage changes, improved screen filtering and sorting, locations and time zone changes, more BOL flexibility, as well as an upgrade to our ecommerce integration to Magento.
Please continue reading below to learn more about our Q123 release.
If you have additional questions, please reach out to your account manager, customer success director, or product management team.
Product Enhancements
Verbiage Changes
Overview:
In this release, several labels throughout FreightWise were modified to better align with standards and prepare for future functional enhancements:
- Addresses throughout the system were previously called “From” and “To”. Addresses have now been updated to “Pick Up” and “Delivery”
- The previous Shipment state called “Quoted” is now called “Planned”. A shipment enters this state after a user quotes the shipment to get rate results. Nothing has changed to the workflow other than the verbiage.
- Pick Up and Drop Off hours in association with a company location are now called “Hours of Operation” on a BOL.
Order Management
Overview:
An Order is a transactional business object that gets uploaded or entered into TMS. It is the standard starting point for transportation planning and execution. In this release, we have added and enhanced the ability to manually create an Order, and interface Orders into TMS. An order can then be managed throughout its lifecycle.
By definition, an Order has a single Origin/Destination, ship and/or delivery dates, weight, volume, and a commodity. One or more orders can be combined to build a shipment (of any mode) in TMS.
Order Management enables an end-to-end user workflow in TMS:
In this release, we have expanded our support for order management by adding the following capabilities:
- Enhanced order grid
- Export of orders to csv
- Enhanced order creation
- Enhanced order API
- Order tracking through states
- Enhanced order profile
- Ability to plan order(s) onto a shipment
- Ability to remove order(s) from a shipment
- Ability to create an order template / copy an order
- Order search
- Enhanced commodity editor
- Enhanced accessorial management
Implementation:
Enhanced Order Grid
- New column options and flexibility
- Rearrange columns in custom order (user and session-specific)
- Dynamically filter multiple columns at once
- Download a CSV file with custom filtered order data
Enhanced Order Creation
- Manually create a new order through FreightWise UI
- Integrate with the Orders API
Enhanced Order API
- Certain order/shipment information can be sent back to the client’s ERP / OMS
- Updates via API can be blocked for Planned orders through a company setting
- A task can be created for a designated user to alert of order changes that come in via API
Order Tracking Through States
- Helps users track and manage progress of orders via unplanned and planned statuses
Enhanced Order Profile View
- The orders profile will show a new, sectioned user interface
- The reference fields associated with an order will now be grouped into 4 sections that can be expanded and collapsed
- Orders will have 4 date fields which will include date and time
- Early & Late Pick Up
- Early & Late Delivery
- “Pick Up” and “Delivery” have replaced “From” and “To” fields
Ability to Plan / Remove Order(s) on a Shipment
- Validation exists to ensure that orders are compatible / feasible with shipment
- All Order(s) must be in the Unplanned state
- All Order(s) must have the same Pick Up and Delivery Addresses
- All Order(s) must have overlapping Pick Up and Delivery Dates & Times
- All Order(s) and shipment must have the same direction
- The Shipment must not be tendered yet
Ability to Utilize an Order Template
- Users are able to copy an Unplanned or Planned order
- The new order will have all the same information with a new order ID
Order Search
- Orders are able to be searched by their order ID through the main search bar in FreightWise
Enhanced Commodity Editor
- When orders are linked to a shipment, all commodities from the order will be listed on the shipment
- On the shipment, a user will only be able to add an empty pallet, box or blank commodity for organizational purposes
- Line item commodities must be added from the order level
Enhanced Accessorial Management
- When orders are linked to a shipment, the accessorial panel will distinguish which accessorials are from the shipment level and which ones are from the order level
- To delete accessorials from an order, it must be unlinked from the shipment first
- A blue button will be listed next to the accessorials added from order(s) and will expand a popup showing order details
Loadsmart Integration
Overview:
FreightWise has partnered with Loadsmart for enhanced spot quoting and guaranteed carrier capacity, for dry van TL shippers. Loadsmart is a digital freight broker that uses dynamic pricing algorithms to offer instant quotes within FreightWise. Loadsmart’s spot quotes are available at no charge. If the quote is selected, Loadsmart acts as a typical carrier in our TMS and payment is required.
Implementation:
- Loadsmart is integrated into the existing rate function and can be turned on or off at any time. Pre-built APIs request and return the quote, instantly.
- Loadsmart populates as its own carrier in the rate results panel alongside the rates from other LTL & TL Carriers.
To retrieve a Loadsmart quote:
- Shipment date must be in the future
- Total commodity weight must be greater than 5,000 lbs
Note: Loadsmart requires a simple contracting process that requires company and payment setup. There is no upfront cost to do so. Please reach out to your FreightWise representative for more information.
Truckload Functionality
Overview:
In this release, we have expanded our support for TL planning and execution by adding the following capabilities:
- Create a direct TL shipment (with or without Order(s))
- Add an order(s) to an existing TL shipment
- Rating (Spot and Contract)
- Email Tendering
- Email Accept / Decline, confirmation
- Shipment state tracking
- Change management logic
- Carrier equipment definition and management
- Stops & Orders panel
- TL-specific BOL enhancements
- Basic appointment management
- TL-specific reporting
Implementation:
Create a direct TL shipment (with or without Order(s))
- Note: Truckload shipments can exist and be tendered without using Orders.
- Direct shipments are defined as having a single origin and single destination. Users can build and manage inbound (vendor to DC/Whs), outbound (DC/Whs to Customer) and/or interfacility (DC/Whs to DC/Whs) shipments.
- Within the addition of the Order object, shipments can now contain one or more orders.
- A shipment now has 4 distinct date fields that can be used at client discretion.
- Early Pick Up (previously Ship Date)
- Late Pick Up
- Early Delivery
- Late Delivery
- Only Early Ship Date (previously ship date) is required to manually create a shipment.
Add an order(s) to an existing TL shipment
- Ability to add or remove orders from a shipment
- Constraints will be checked upon this action to ensure the shipment is feasible.
Rating
- TL support for contracts (as part of rater function) and spot quoting is now available with results that are viewable on the same Shipment panel. This enables quick comparison of market versus contract rates at any time.
- Note: Only the spot quote function allows for intermediate stopoffs.
- Note: At this time, truckload rates can be viewed from the BOL tab, but truckload shipments can only be Tendered from the Shipments tab
Email Tendering, Accept/Decline
- Ability to define an email tender contact from carrier
- Email tender is sent to carrier with relevant shipment details
- Carrier has the ability to respond with accept / decline options
- Automatic state updates happen for shipment based on response
Shipment State tracking
- Shipment states are used to help track and manage progress of a shipment. States include:
- Planned = Has been quoted & has orders attached
- Tendered = Tender offer email has been sent to carrier. Carrier has not yet responded
- Accepted = Carrier has accepted the Tender Offer
- Declined = Carrier has declined the Tender Offer
- Re-Tendered = Tender request has been sent to a subsequent carrier (aka sequential tender process)
- Canceled = Shipment & tender requests are canceled. All associated orders are set back to unplanned
- Complete = After a shipment is accepted it can manually be moved into this status to show it is finalized
Change management logic
- Ability to restrict or allow changes to orders based on state.
- Planned orders are locked from change. Orders must be set to Unplanned in order for updates to be accepted.
Carrier equipment definition and management
- Equipment options for TL can now be defined in TMS via the Carrier Profile, Client Profile Freight Contract, or on the TL Shipment.
- Any Equipment types designated at the carrier level will then populate as options on the Freight Contract level
- If done under a contract, equipment needs to be selected for that carrier & client
- Transactionally, when a shipment is created, a user must select equipment to be requested for the shipment.
Stops & Orders panel
- For clients using orders, a new Stops & Orders panel will be added to all shipments.
- The Stops & Orders panel will display the stops of a shipment, linked order(s), and key order details
- For Q1: Stop 1 will always be the Pick Up address (previously known as From) and Stop 2 will always be the Delivery address (previously known as To)
- Orders can be added and removed from this panel
- When an order is linked to a shipment, data from the order’s reference fields, the order’s commodities, and the order’s accessorials will be added to the shipment
- When an order is removed from a shipment, any associated reference fields, accessorials, and commodities will also be removed from the shipment
TL-specific BOL enhancements
- When creating a BOL, a new option for TL is available.
- Additionally, a signature line can be added to a BOL, if configured by company setting.
- Note: Truckload Shipments can generate a BOL, but a truckload BOL cannot generate a shipment
Basic appointment management
- Appointment fields have been added to a shipment on the Stops & Order Panel
- This is intended to support the entry of pick up and/or delivery appointments that were scheduled externally.
- Note: Orders must be used on shipments for appointments to be set
TL-specific reporting
- Truckload specific data will populate in existing reports as long as the shipment was created under the Shipment tab.
End-to-End Order-to-Shipment Flow
Overview:
The additions of order management and TL shipment functionality combine to enable an end-to-end TMS workflow that supports TL, LTL, and Parcel shipping needs. The diagram below summarizes the process flow.
Other Enhancements
Locations, Addresses and Time Zones
Overview:
To improve efficiency in the system, we improved how we support branches, locations, and addresses.
- Time zone on a location will automatically populate based on the city & state combination of the address
- When an address is added on a BOL or Shipment, the address will be saved as a new company location
- Address validation will be pulled from google but can be manually edited
Implementation:
- Lookup and timezone population will occur for all future branches and locations
Required Fields on BOL
Overview:
The following fields can now be set as required fields, in order to manifest a BOL:
- Account #
- Cust #
- GL Code
- Pack #
- PO #
- Pro #
- SO #
Implementation:
Magento 2.0 PlugIn
Overview:
Magento is an ecommerce platform used by several FreightWise clients. We offer a plugin that allows our clients to easily connect to our public API for rates and transit times which are viewable on client websites. It is available here: https://marketplace.magento.com/freightwisellc-shippingmethod.html
Example of the API call response (above).
Implementation:
- After an client administrator installs the FreightWise Shipping plugin on its Magento store, he/she can add the details to each item such as unit of measure, pallet dimensions, hazmat description, and weight
- When a client’s customer checks out, Magento will call FreightWise to get price and transit time for any matching carriers
- Rates requested via the Magento plugin will be listed in the Recent Rates Tab in FreightWise
Excessive Length Commodity Warning
Overview:
Shipments and BOLs that have a commodity with dims over 96 inches, will now display
a warning stating: "Excessive Length Commodity. Consider adding an excessive length
accessorial".
This serves as an informational only message and does not stop the user from moving
forward if they do not add this accessorial.
End
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