What it produces
A correct bill of lading, a booked pickup and a ship notice the customer accepts on the first try.
Workflows
Shipping, BOL & ASN
the outbound process of preparing the bill of lading, booking the carrier, and sending the customer an advance ship notice
The job in one minute
Who owns it
The shipping and logistics coordinator, with the warehouse, customer service, AR and AP.
How often
Every shipment. A busy dock cuts dozens of documents a day.
Why it hurts
A ship notice (ASN) describes the shipment down to every pallet, carton and item, and it must agree with the labels. Each carton carries an 18-digit serial shipping code that the customer's dock scans and looks for in the ASN. A missing or reused code, a quantity mismatch or a notice that arrives after the truck turns a routine receipt into a manual one, and retailers with compliance programs may deduct for it.
The bill of lading has its own trap. Freight class now depends heavily on density, so weight and dimensions decide the class. Guess the dimensions and the carrier can re-weigh, reclass and bill the difference. And rejections come back as cryptic EDI codes or red text on a retailer portal that someone has to decode.
Systems it touches
The agent books through the coordinator's existing carrier portal sessions, keys ship notices into retailer portals where customers take them, and hands EDI notices to your translator. Where a TMS or your ERP already handles a customer cleanly, it keeps that job. Product →
- ERP
- TMS and carrier portals
- EDI translator
- Customer supplier portals
- Barcode label software
- Outlook
- Excel routing guides
- SharePoint or OneDrive
12 steps · 6 actions · 5 decisions · 1 human reviews
The workflow, step by step
Action Decision Human review Select a step in the flowchart to jump to it.
Show the flowchart
- 01 Action · Agent When a shipment is confirmed as packed
- 02 Decision · Agent Compute density and freight class from your density table
- 03 Decision · Portal Pick carrier and service from the routing guide by customer
- 04 Action · ERP Create the bill of lading in the ERP or carrier portal and record the…
- 05 Action · Agent Book the pickup and record the confirmation
- 06 Decision · Agent Every serial shipping code must have 18 digits
- 07 Action · Agent Build the ship notice with BOL
- 08 Decision · Agent Shipment, notice and printed labels must agree exactly
- 09 Action · Portal Send by EDI or the customer portal before that customer's deadline
- 10 Decision · Agent No acceptance within the window opens an exception
- 11 · Human review · The shipping The shipping lead approves any correction that changes quantities or…
- 12 Action · Agent Resend, confirm acceptance and log the cause and fix
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Action · Agent
When a shipment is confirmed as packed, read its pallets, cartons, weights, dimensions, orders and lines.
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Decision · Agent
Compute density and freight class from your density table, unless the item carries its own class.
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Decision · Portal
Pick carrier and service from the routing guide by customer, lane and weight. Customer-routed freight goes to the customer's portal.
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Action · ERP
Create the bill of lading in the ERP or carrier portal and record the PRO number.
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Action · Agent
Book the pickup and record the confirmation.
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Decision · Agent
Every serial shipping code must have 18 digits, a valid check digit and no recent reuse.
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Action · Agent
Build the ship notice with BOL, PRO, carrier code, serial codes and quantities per PO line.
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Decision · Agent
Shipment, notice and printed labels must agree exactly. Any difference stops transmission.
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Action · Portal
Send by EDI or the customer portal before that customer's deadline.
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Decision · Agent
No acceptance within the window opens an exception. Each rejection is read and sorted: bad PO, quantity mismatch, serial code problem, late notice, unknown ship-to.
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Human review · The shipping
The shipping lead approves any correction that changes quantities or cancels a notice. Customer service takes PO errors to the customer.
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Action · Agent
Resend, confirm acceptance and log the cause and fix.
✓ Done
Rules vs judgment
Hazardous materials paperwork is prepared and signed by a trained person; the agent only carries it into the portal and the notice.
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Exact rule
- Density and class math, routing guide, serial code checks, three-way quantity agreement, deadlines
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Model reads
- Rejection messages and retailer portal error text
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Person decides
- Quantity changes after the truck leaves; freight outside the density table, including hazmat and oversize; reclass disputes; customer PO errors (the customer fixes its PO)
When it stops
What you end up with
- Ship notices that match the truck before they leave the building.
- Bills of lading with real dimensions, so reclass bills are rare and disputable.
- Rejections worked to acceptance with the cause logged.
- The notice as sent, with its timestamp, ready when AR needs to answer a compliance deduction.
Questions
Can the agent send notices if we have no EDI translator?
Many retailers accept notices keyed into their supplier portal, and the agent keys them there. Customers that require EDI still need a translator.
Does density classing apply to everything?
No. Items with special handling carry their own class, and the rule skips them.
Who keeps the routing guide current?
Logistics. One table changes and the next run follows it. No workflow edit.
Does the agent print shipping labels?
It prints through your ERP or label software like a packer does, then checks every printed code against the notice.
No prompts. No babysitting. No Integrations.