Proof of Delivery (Paperless Delivery)

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The Problem

• You spend a lot of time and money managing a paper-based delivery process
• Your drivers have a hard time correctly recording the part number of returned assets

Overview

The Paperless Delivery Module allow drivers and dock worker to record deliveries to customers without starting with a paper copy of the order. After the delivery the data can be sent back into the business system. Below are the high level steps in the process:

• Order entry done in business system
• Orders sent to TrackAbout through integration
• Truck is loaded and counted in TrackAbout
• Inventory on truck is compared to orders (Using Truck Load Module)
• DOT truck manifest is created (Using Truck Load Module)
• Driver makes deliveries with handheld assigned to his route
• Handheld alerts driver if delivery is not complete
• Driver prints receipts if needed
• Truck contents are counted at end of day (Using Truck Load Module)
• Truck is reconciled (Using Truck Load Module)
• Updated orders are sent to business system

Billing Codes

Billing code are needed by some customer to help them bill properly based on asset ownership during paperless deliveries. A Billing Code is a short code that is used in some accounting systems for pricing of products for delivery and also for pricing of cylinder rental. This is not a permanent property of the asset. It is just the code under which the asset was transferred to the customer on a given order. Some gas distributors use the billing code in their accounting system to bill for the same type (e.g. product code/asset type) of asset differently based on whether or not that asset is owned by the target customer. They send TrackAbout this "billing code" via paperless delivery integration because they need it when actually picking which cylinders are going to get left with which customers and they need it to reconcile with their accounting system via invoice comparison later on.

Sample billing codes

• GD = Gas Distributor (Company name code). Indicates that the customer is to be charged for the gas in the cylinder as well as for rental.

For these next three codes, the customer pays for the gas, but does not pay rent for the cylinder.

• CO = Customer Owned
• EX = Exchange
• NR = Not Returnable

Why have both Ownership and Billing Code?

In an ideal world the Ownership and the Billing Code would be the same thing, but in practice we need two separate fields for this common case: Cylinders flow from the Gas Distributor (GD) to EX Billing Code and back again. A cylinder with an Ownership = "Gas Distributor ACME" could be delivered as either an "EX" or "GD" Billing Code. In either case when that cylinder is returned the Ownership must remain unchanged.

Notes

Billing codes are currently required by TrackAbout. There is a request to make it optional across the systems (Ticket 19091 and V1 B-04612).

Billing codes are setup by the TrackAbout support staff. There is currently no tools or API calls to set billing codes.

Screen Shots

Details/Notes

Deliveries from the Dock/Branch

It is also possible to use paperless delivery features when making deliveries directly from a branch. These are normally deliveries that take place "on the dock".

The handheld computers only have information for asset on a branch inventory that have been scanned on a record in the last X days ( this is a configurable value with a max of 180 days) . This is done to reduce the number of records that are sent down to the device, the assumption being that assets that have been inactive for so long will probably not be delivered.

A good way to find the assets that will be sent down is to use the "Only show assets that were on a record in the past X days" option in the Current Inventory page

Mobile Computer Setup

For a handheld to download and display the orders, the following mobile computer setting (Mobile Device List page) need to match the order entered:

• Location
• Load Inventory for this Truck or Branch - select a Branch unless you use the Truck Load module
• Route/Delivery Route

Orders Requirements

• Order's Planned Delivery date should not be in the future. Only Planned Delivery date with today's date or older will be downloaded to the mobile devices. Order status will display if the order has been sent to mobile device. Note that there might be exception to this for customer using Custom Asse Info (CAI) and Custom Info Types (CIT).
• Trip Number (only required for TAMobile 6): A trip can be in any format, but trips must be unique to each handheld. Trips group orders into batches, so if only some orders are not populating, check the trip drop-down box at the top of the order list screen.
  • Trip Number Examples:
    • Planned delivery date
    • "AM and PM" for morning and afternoon deliveries
    • "1,2,3,..." Groups of deliveries by stops for Universities
    • Geographical area