Consignor Product Manual Table of Contents

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2 Consignor Product Manual Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 How to Use This Manual 5 What is Consignor? 6 Consignor Features 6 Consignor Quickstart Guide 7 Switching on 7 Entering a New Consignment 7 Amending and Deleting Consignments 9 Processing Consignments via the Gateway (if enabled) 9 Amending Consignment Data via the Gateway 10 End-of-day Procedure 10 Consignor Manual 11 Installation and Configuration 11 Installing the Consignor Server Installing Consignor Clients Running Consignor 16 Common Features of Consignor Consignment Entry 17 Manual Consignment Entry Business to Business Deliveries Home Deliveries Packet+ Deliveries International Deliveries All Delivery Types Parcels International Waybills Reprinting Labels 29 Domestic and Home Consignments International Consignments Consignment Templates 30 Creating Consignments Based on a Template Collection / Carriage Forward Entry 32 Third Party Collection Carriage Forward Retail Logistics And Final Mile Type Consignments 35 Retail Logistics And Final Mile Time Window Maintenance 37 Other Retail Logistics And Final Mile Functions 37 Customer Maintenance 41 Domestic Business Customer Defaults Home Customer Defaults International Customer Defaults Creating New Customers via the Consignment Entry Screen 45 Customer Groups 46 Addressing Tools 47 Full Postcode Enquiry Screen The Postcode Enquiry Screen Amending Consignments Amending Collections 51 Consignment Enquiry 52 The Consignment Enquiry Screen... 52

3 The Collection / Carriage Forward Enquiry Screen The Audit Enquiry Screen Entering Batches of Consignments 54 Scanning Parcels 56 Reconciliation Scanning Reconciliation by Consignment The Consignor Gateway 58 Processing Incoming Consignments Scanning Parcels Generating a Manifest 59 Manifest Printed Report Floppy Disks FTP USB Key Reports 65 Customer Reports Customer Listing Consignment Reports Consignment Delivery Analysis Daily Consignment Summary Consignments by Customer's Reference Customer's Reference by Consignment POD Listing Mailbag Despatch Analysis Collection / Carriage Forward Despatch Analysis Daily Activity Reports Audit Report Manifest Report (not end of day) Scanning Reconciliation Manifest Check Sheet Waiting Gateway Consignments Gateway Address Changes Analysis Batch Detail Report Consignment Pricing Utilities 74 Backup / Restore Procedure Purging Data Customer Data Import Creating a New Schema Importing Data Working with the Customer Address Database Clean Customer Address Database (PAF) Clean Customer Address Database (manual) Export Customer Address Database to ASCII File Processing a New Licence Disk Initialise a USB key The Consignor Intranet 80 Searching for a Consignment Arranging a Third Party Collection Installing Consignor Client Consignor Administrators Handbook 84 User Administration 84 Consignor Options 86 Settings License Printing Server Network Configuration Client Network Configuration Manifest Backup / Restore Printer Queues Version /09/ of 130

4 Receive Manifest Files Log Files 93 Administering the Consignor Server 94 The Database Server Tab The Gateway Server Tab The FTP Server Tab The Web Server Tab Administering the Gateway 98 How the Gateway Works The Schema File The Gateway Manager The Import Tab The General Tab The Import Schema Tab The Output Tab Consignor Gateway Extract Format The Defaults Tab The Printer Queues Tab Packet+ Gateway Packet+ Gateway Import Format Packet+ GatewayOut Export Format Appendix 1: Example Gateway Scenarios 112 Example Example Appendix 2: Available Gateway fields Types and sizes (Business Delivery) 115 Recommendations for Required Fields (Business Delivery) Appendix 3: Available Gateway fields Types and sizes (Home Delivery) 117 Recommendations for Required fields (Home Delivery) Appendix 4: Available Gateway fields - Types and sizes (International) 119 Recommendations For Required fields (International) International Service Codes Road Economy Appendix 5: UK Mail Service Codes Appendix 6: Gateway Out Confirmation File Format 125 Appendix 7: Customer Data Import Fields 128 Index 129 Version /09/ of 130

5 How to Use This Manual This manual is divided into three sections. The first section is the QuickStart and should be printed off separately so it can be used as a handy reference for any users working day-to-day with Consignor. It is not an in-depth guide, but it will show you what to type and where to click to generate consignments and manifests. There is also a UK Mail Consignor QuickStart included in this section of the manual. The second section is an in-depth product overview of Consignor, and explains what all the available features on each screen actually do, and describes situations where you might need to go beyond the basics. The third section describes various administration tools available to supervisors and administrators of the Consignor application. Version /09/ of 130

6 What is Consignor? UK Mail Consignor is a computer system designed to streamline the despatch process for volume shippers. Consignor is a product created by the UK Mail IT department for shipping consignments using the UK Mail network. UK Mail supply PCs with Consignor installed to UK Mail customers. All consignments sent using UK Mail should be entered onto the Consignor system, labels are printed for all parcels, and a daily manifest (list of consignments) generated every day on which parcels are sent. Consignor Features Has a Windows interface, which makes it intuitive to use. You can use Consignor using just a keyboard if you prefer, or you can use a mouse. Can be used standalone or in a multi-user configuration. Enables creation of mailbags containing letters, flats or packets for delivery into the UK Mail network. Avoids re-keying of addresses by integrating your computer's systems directly with the Consignor Customer Gateway. Allows enquiry on previous despatches, including proof of delivery, via a web browser on your company network. Has integrated full postcode functionality down to delivery point level, ensuring accurate delivery and high service performance. Can be used to despatch business-to-business consignments, business-to-home consignments, and International consignments. Allows third party collections (them to you) and collection carriage forward (them to someone else) requests to be made. Returns can be booked via a web browser via your Internet connection by your customer service team while still talking to your customers on the phone. Allows creation of consignment batches so that regular mail-shots can be created. Allows proof of delivery tracking including a POD download via modem/network/internet. Enables fast retrieval of details of previous despatches via consignment number or two other possible references (sales order number and despatch note number for example). These two references can be labelled throughout the system to match your business terminology. Contains a full audit facility that allows you to track entry, amendments (by individual field) and deletions of any consignment. Full user ID functionality allows you to track and report on individual user activity. Enhances management control through daily/monthly despatch reports. Version /09/ of 130

7 Consignor Quickstart Guide Consignor Quickstart Guide Switching on Double-click the Consignor icon on your desktop to start Consignor: When you first start Consignor, you will see the following screen: This is your logon screen. You need to enter your UserID and Password into the boxes and click on OK. Your UserID is:... Your Password is:... Once Consignor has started, you should see the main Consignor window, with menus at the top: Handy Shortcuts Menus Consignment Entry: Amend/Delete: Gateway End-of-Day: F2 F3 F10 F4 Entering a New Consignment To enter a consignment onto the system, you need to select the Consignments menu, and select Consignment Entry, as shown here: (Keyboard shortcut: F2) You will now see the Consignment Entry screen: You can now either create a customer and enter a consignment, or simply enter a consignment, without saving the customer information to the Consignor database. To create a customer, enter the customer account number (use either an account number you are familiar with or a postcode) and press Enter. If the customer does not already exist, the system will ask you if you want to create a new customer. Click Yes to save the customer details, or No to proceed with creating the consignment without saving. Version /09/ of 130

8 Consignor Quickstart Guide Customer details are entered in the following screen: Note that when you enter a postcode, the system will search for your customer's full address automatically, so all that you need to do after that is fill in any additional details. When finished, click OK Once you have entered customer details, as appropriate, you can continue with entering your consignment. Remember to enter the following: The number of Items The Weight of the consignment The Service to use Your default service level is:... When you finish entering the details of the consignment, either press F2 on your keyboard, or click the Save F2 button on the screen. At this point, your label(s) will be printed out. If you chose to save the customer details, then these details will be saved to the Consignor system. If you chose not to save, then the label(s) will still print, but the address details will not be saved. If there are any problems with the address, for example, if the postcode entered isn't recognised, you will be prompted to search for the details: When searching, the best method to use is the postcode search: The address fields on the left are searched, and possible matches are displayed in the bottom pane. Select the appropriate address from this list and either click Copy Post Office Address or press F2 Accept. Version /09/ of 130

9 Consignor Quickstart Guide Amending and Deleting Consignments To leave the Consignment Entry screen, you can press the Esc key on your keyboard. This will return you to the main menu. From here, you should click the Consignments menu, followed by the Amend / Delete Consignments option: (Keyboard shortcut: F3) In the Consignment Amend / Delete screen, enter the Consignment Number for the consignment you wish to amend or delete. If you do not know the number, you can click Search F10 to search through consignments entered that day. Either click Delete F4 to delete the consignment permanently... Or amend your consignment as required, and when finished, click Save F2 to reprint the label. Processing Consignments via the Gateway (if enabled) Click on the Consignments menu and select Process Incoming Consignments (Gateway). (Keyboard shortcut: F10) This screen is where you can see all the consignments awaiting despatch. This is the screen you will have open when scanning parcels for despatch. Note: This option is only available if you have configured a gateway on your Consignor system. In this screen, note the following areas: The Search By drop-down box allows you to list consignments by Reference, Alternative Reference, Customer Name, and so on. When scanning parcels, if you select Search By Reference, then click in the Search For box, you can simply type reference numbers (or scan them in) to scan parcels. When you scan a parcel, the system will automatically be updated. The Consignment Valid column will notify you if any part of the consignment is invalid, for example, an invalid postcode. Version /09/ of 130

10 Consignor Quickstart Guide Amending Consignment Data via the Gateway When you need to amend consignment delivery details, click once on the consignment you want to edit, then click the Edit Address button. Note that this button is only visible if your administrator has enabled this option (If a consignment has an invalid address, you will be taken to the Consignment Entry screen automatically to fix the address). The Edit Address screen: used to manually amend an address. The Postcode Enquiry screen: used to compare an address with Post Office address data. To quit out of these screens, either press the Esc key, or click the Stop - Esc button. If the address is still not valid, the system will force you to correct the details before you can quit out of the Edit Address screen. End-of-day Procedure When you have finished entering all of your consignments for the day, and your consignments are due to be collected by a driver, you need to run the end-of-day procedure to produce a Manifest and a Consignment Disc. Click on the Consignments menu from the main screen, and select Perform End Of Day (Manifest Report/ /Disk) (Keyboard shortcut: F4) Note that if you use a USB key for manifesting, you need to insert it before you select this option. Make sure that the selected date in the window is correct. Ensure that your daily manifest floppy disk (or USB key) is inserted into the drive and click Start F2. The manifest will start to be printed, and the details of the day's consignments saved to disk. Note: watch the bottom of the window to tell you when all the data has finished being saved and printed. Keep one copy of the printed manifest for your own records. Give the other copy, and the disk (or USB key), to the driver. If you have any problems with the system, please call UK Mail IT Support on Version /09/ of 130

11 Consignor Manual This section of the manual covers the following aspects of Consignor: Installing and configuring your Consignor installation Entering consignments, collections, and mailbags Amending consignments, collections, and mailbags Enquiring about consignments, collections, and mailbags Scanning parcels Creating consignment templates and batches of consignments Importing external consignment data Generating a manifest Producing reports Performing day-to-day tasks Installation and Configuration Consignor is a desktop application installed by running CDInstall.exe on the Consignor disk. Insert the CD Rom into your drive, and, if the installation program doesn't run automatically, you will need to browse to the root of the CD and double-click the Setup program. When installing Consignor, you will see the following screens: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

12 Consignor Installation Screen 1 If you only have one machine running consignor, then this machine will be both your client and your server (a standalone system), and hence you need to click on Install Consignor Server. If you have multiple machines, then you will have one central consignor server, and the other machines in the network will act as clients. Run the server installation on the server machine, and the client installation only on the client machines. In addition to the standard Consignor application, a server installation and also installs the following: The Consignor Server The Gateway Manager Installing the Consignor Server When you run the server installation, you will see the following: Installation Status Screens Note that the Postcode data file is quite large, so may take a while to copy. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

13 Once all files are copied, you are presented with the main installation screens. Click Next when prompted to continue the installation: Consignor Installation wizard Once the installation has finished, you are given the option of launching Consignor, however, on some systems, you may have to restart your computer before you can start Consignor: Once you have rebooted, you can launch the Consignor application by double-clicking the icon on the desktop: There are some additional steps that you need to take to complete a server installation. Once you start Consignor for the first time, you will see the following: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

14 In this screen, you can choose what type of installation you want: Standalone server: if the machine you are installing onto is the only machine at your location that will be running Consignor Networked server: where client machines at your location will all connect to the central Consignor server for working with consignments To complete the next stage of the wizard, you need to have a license disk from UK Mail. This disk is used to activate your Consignor installation, and personalise the package for your use, including setting a range of consignment numbers that you can use. A licence disk is unique to a company, and it can configure several default settings for your Consignor system automatically when processed. The Server Configuration Wizard Once installation is complete, you are presented with a screen that lists some default login details. You should make a note of these details for your reference: Processing a Licence Disk Installing Consignor Clients Server Setup Complete The client installation process is very similar to the server installation. Simply launch the installer, and click the Install Consignor Client button. The installation proceeds in much the same way as before: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

15 Consignor Client Installation Screens Once the installation is complete, you may need to restart your computer. When you launch Consignor for the first time on a client machine, you need to enter the details of the server you will be connected to when working with Consignor: In the installation screen, you need to enter the details of your local consignor server. As long as the server is running, the details will appear in the drop-down box. You can also enter an IP address for your server. For this configuration to work, however, you do need to ensure that the server has been configured correctly. For more details on troubleshooting your installation (including detailed descriptions of how to manually configure Consignor, see the section on Consignor Options, page 86). Note that the Consignor Client installation can also be launched via the Consignor Intranet. For more information, see The Consignor Intranet, page 80. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

16 Running Consignor Consignor is started by double-clicking on the Consignor icon on the desktop: Your username and password are generated when Consignor is first installed. You can make a note of them here: Your UserID is:... Your Password is:... Note that logon details are case sensitive. Consignor login screen Once you have successfully logged in, you are presented with the Consignor main screen: Consignor Main Screen (UK Mail customers will see the UK Mail logo in the top left corner, in place of the UK Mail logo.) Common Features of Consignor When running Consignor, you will notice that each screen that you use has a set of buttons at the bottom for working with the screen: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 Sample Navigation Buttons These buttons help you to navigate around the Consignor system. On each screen, for example, you can press the Stop - Esc button to bring you out of the current screen, or (in many screens) press Save - F2 to

17 save any changes you have made. The on-screen buttons have physical keyboard counterparts, so in this case, instead of using the mouse, you could simply press the Esc or F2 keys respectively. You will also often find menus at the top of each window. In these menus you will find the same functionality that is available at the bottom of the screen, and functionality that is offered elsewhere on the screen. In this case, you will notice the Postcode Enquiry menu option this feature does not have a corresponding button at the bottom of the screen, but there is a button on the form that links to this functionality. Sample Menu Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

18 Consignment Entry When entering a consignment onto the system, it's important that the correct details are entered. For example, the delivery address must be a valid address, and the number of items must match the number of parcels in the consignment. There are two main methods of entering consignment data: Manual consignment entry this method relies on the Consignment Entry screen of Consignor, and all details of the shipment are entered by hand. Importing consignments via the gateway this method is used to automatically import consignment data from a customer's own system (for example, you may want to import consignments using data generated by your sales / stock control system). This has the advantage that your data is only entered once, although addresses may need to be altered slightly to match the official Post Office postcode data. For a full description of the Gateway, see the section on The Consignor Gateway, page 58 Manual Consignment Entry The consignment entry screen can be launched by selecting Consignments Consignment Entry from the main menu, or by pressing F2. You are presented with the following screen: The Consignment Entry screen In this screen, working from the top left downwards, you can enter the following information: Item Description Default Value Collection Date Used to specify the date when the collection is due. Today Company Number Customer Num. Contact / FAO Business Name If your organisation has different divisions and cost centres, ensure that you select your local office. Your reference number for the destination customer. Clicking on the... button will take you to a screen where you can select from one of the customers on your Consignor system. If the customer you require is not yet on your system, you can add them to your database at this stage via the Add New Customer screen (see page 45). Maintaining customers is covered in the section on Customer Maintenance, page 41. A contact name at the destination customer. If the customer is a business, their company name needs to be in this field. 1 Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

19 Item Description Default Value Postal Code Address, Postal Town, County Country Telephone Service Service Code (unlabeled) Customer's reference Alternative reference This box is the most important box on the form, since the post code is the key to locating any address in the UK. Once you enter a valid postcode, the address is filled in for you automatically. To further refine the address, or if the postcode isn't a valid UK postcode, you can click the icon to look up the rest of the address via the Full Postcode Enquiry screen (page 47). Either entered automatically for you following a postcode search, or entered by hand. If you select any country other than the UK, you will be given the option of sending a consignment to an International destination. See International Deliveries, page 23. Enter the contact telephone number for the customer here this number will be used by UK Mail to contact the customer in case of delivery problems. Enter the contact address for the recipient. Selects whether the consignment is going to another business, or to a home. (Note, this box only appears if the Allow Home Consignments box is checked in the main Options screen. For more information, see Consignor Options, page 86.) The drop down box below the field for the telephone number is where the service code for the consignment is entered, for example, Next Day, Next Day by 12pm (if available for that address), or Timed. The services displayed depend on the postcode of the recipient. for more information on delivery services, see the section on the Postcode Enquiry screen, page 49. Your reference for the consignment (this may correspond to your own order numbering system). This reference will appear on your UK Mail invoice. Note that it is possible to change the name of this field to, for example, Sales Order, or any other reference of your choosing. For more information, please refer to the section on Consignor Options in the Administration manual (page 86). A second field that you can use for storing additional unique consignment identification information. This can be customised in the same way as the Customer's Reference field (for more information, please refer to the section on Consignor Options in the Administration manual, page 86). Business to Business Deliveries The right-hand pane will change depending on the shipping method selected. In the previous screenshot, the business-to-business pane is visible. The options available here are as follows: Item Description Default Value Pallets If a pallet service is selected this is used for entering the number of pallets in the consignment (if no pallets are used, this can be 0). Items The number of items (boxes, documents, cartons, etc.) in the consignment. 1 Weight Extended Liability Confirmation Of Delivery Delivery time COD amount Swap Out The total weight of the consignment in kilograms. If you would like to add extra insurance cover for the consignment, enter the number of additional units of cover here (details of the amount of additional cover provided per unit can be obtained via your UK Mail account manager). If you would like a confirmation SMS or when this consignment has been delivered tick the box and enter the SMS or address for the confirmation to be sent to. If a general Timed delivery is selected, the actual time for the delivery must be specified here. If a cheque needs to be collected when a delivery is made, enter the amount here. If you would like a package returned to you in exchange for the delivery being made 0 Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

20 Book in Special Instructions Notes then tick this box. If the delivery address only allows deliveries that are booked in by arrangement, this box needs to be checked. Note that some delivery addresses enforce bookins. Used to add additional instructions that are printed both on the label and the run sheet for use by the driver. Additional information. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

21 Home Deliveries If a home delivery has been selected (the default if a customer is entered that doesn't have any data in the business name field), the right of the screen will have different options enabled: The options for home deliveries are as follows: Home Delivery Consignment Entry Item Description Default Value House Details Secure Location Delivery Date Special Instructions No. of Items Weight Swap Out COD Amount Information on Delivery For entering extra information to assist the driver in locating the customer, for example, "House at end of main road, down a small dirt track on the right". If the recipient isn't in when the delivery is attempted, details can be entered here for alternative recipients, for example "Leave with neighbour at number 28" or "leave in porch". The date that the delivery has been arranged for. This value is very important for Home consignments. Any additional information that needs to be on the label and the driver's run sheet can be added here. The total number of items in the consignment. The weight, in kilograms, of the consignment. If you would like a package returned to you in exchange for the delivery being made then tick this box. If a cheque needs to be collected when a delivery is made, enter the amount here. If this box is checked, after the consignment has been delivered, a confirmation will be sent to the address configured on the UK Mail website. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

22 Packet+ Deliveries UK Mail offer a low cost packet service where parcels are collected by UK Mail, moved through the UK Mail network and then handed over to Royal Mail for final mile delivery. No tracking once within Royal Mail is available with these services. Minimum daily collection volumes apply. If your Consignor is licenced, it is possible to use Consignor to manually enter details of individual Packet+ despatches or use the Packet+ gateway (see later section). Details of the Packet+ shipments created are not stored within Consignor once labels have been printed, the shipment is enlivened when scanned and check weighed in the UK Mail network. To use the manual entry in Consignment entry either pick Packet+ service code 545 in the Service list drop down or if your Consignor has only been licenced with Packet+ this will default automatically. It is possibe to use the address book functions in the normal way with Packet+. When entering the weight, please remember to enter the weight in grams, so entering 2500 is correct for a packet that weighs kilos. The optional delivery message prints on the label. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

23 International Deliveries If a country other than the UK has been selected, the right of the screen will have different options enabled: International Delivery Consignment Entry Since International consignments pass through Customs authorities, the set of information that has to be included with the consignment is slightly different. The options for international deliveries are as follows: Item Description Default Value No. of Packages Total Weight Dimensions Description of Goods Value Extended Liability Information on Delivery Goods in Free Circulation in EU Contains No Dangerous Goods Special Instructions Notes The total number of items in the consignment. The weight, in kilograms, of the consignment. When entering international consignments, you must enter the dimensions of the consignment (in centimetres). You must enter a description for International consignments for customs purposes. The value, in Pounds Sterling, of the consignment. Whether extra insurance is required for the consignment. If this box is checked, after the consignment has been delivered, a confirmation will be sent to the address configured on the UK Mail website. This box and the next box are both checkboxes that are printed on international waybills. Checking these boxes here will ensure that the waybill prints these fields pre-checked. See International Waybills, page 26. See previous comment. Any additional information that needs to be on the waybill and the driver's run sheet can be added here. Additional information. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

24 All Delivery Types At the bottom of the screen are several buttons, which perform the following actions: Item Description Default Value Save Cancel Reprint Last Label Stop Template Saves the current consignment details and prints labels for all boxes in the consignment. Aborts entry of the consignment and abandons changes. Reprints the last label (or set of labels). Useful if your label is damaged and unreadable, or if it hasn't printed due to a printing error. Leaves the Consignment Entry screen and returns to the main menu. Used to apply a consignment template, if there any have been specified. These are specified in the Maintain Consignment Templates screen (page 30). Parcels When a consignment is entered and saved a label is printed with the parcel details, ready to be attached to the relevant parcel: A Sample UK Mail Label If the Consignor system has been configured to ask for descriptions for every parcel, then any user entering a consignment will be prompted to add descriptions for all parcels: The Parcel Descriptions Window The user is then able to enter details in the description and parcel reference fields. These details will not appear on either the label or manifest for security reasons, but they will be saved to the electronic manifest Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

25 files that are either saved to floppy disk, USB key, or transferred electronically to UK Mail. For more information on manifesting, see the section on Generating a Manifest, page 59. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

26 International Waybills If a consignment is for an international destination, then instead of a label, a set of five waybills are printed: The five copies are marked as follows: 1. Delivery Copy 2. Road Express Copy 3. Manifest Copy 4. Depot Copy 5. Customer Copy International Waybill The customer should retain their copy, and place the rest in the document wallet accompanying their consignment. The top half of the waybill is to be displayed in the document wallet, the bottom half aids sortation, but will not be visible in the document wallet window. Note that the 2D barcode on the waybill Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

27 contains all of the despatch information for the consignment, including the address, dimensions, value, and so on. If the Consignor system is configured to print Pro-forma invoices, then an invoice will be printed when the waybills are printed: An International Pro-forma Invoice The invoice is not required for all International consignments. For clarification on which consignments require a pro-forma invoice, you should consult your UK Mail Account Manager. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

28 You can control when and how pro-forma invoices and waybills are printed via the Printing tab of the Consignor Options screen (see page 88). Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

29 Reprinting Labels If a label has been misplaced or damaged prior to a consignment being shipped, you may wish to reprint the labels for that consignment. This facility is available in two forms: Via the Consignments Print/Reprint Consignment Labels menu option for printing labels for Domestic and Home customers Via the Consignments Print Waybill Labels and Pro-Forma Invoices menu option for printing International labels and invoices Domestic and Home Consignments The option of reprinting labels is available via the Consignments Print/Reprint Consignment Labels menu option: The Reprint Labels Screen Simply select the required consignment range from the list and click OK to reprint the required labels. International Consignments The Consignments Print Waybill Labels and Pro-Forma Invoices menu option exists for reprinting Waybills and Pro-Forma invoices. The default options enable you to choose from a list of non-manifested consignments, but you can easily include manifested consignments by checking the box at the top of the form, and select an appropriate date range and click Apply in the Date Range Filter box: The Print Waybills and Pro-Forma Invoices Screen You can choose whether to print Waybills, Invoices, or both for the selected consignment range. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

30 Consignment Templates When creating consignments, it is sometimes useful to have a set of default instructions that can be applied to each consignment. In the Consignment Entry screen, you may have noticed the button at the bottom of the screen marked Templates: The Template Button Clicking this button will enable you to choose from a set of pre-defined templates, however, before you can select from a list of templates, you need to have created a template. To create a template, select Maintenance Consignment Templates from the main screen: Consignment Template Maintenance Screen In this screen, once you click Add F3 to add a new template, you can enter a name to identify the template (the number is generated for you), then enter the default delivery options for all consignments based on that template. When you've entered all the required details, click Save F2. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

31 Creating Consignments Based on a Template When you want to use or apply a template when creating a consignment, in the Consignment Entry screen, click the Template F12 button: Applying a Template Double-click the template you want to apply, and the default parameters that you've specified will be applied to the consignment. You can also choose a template to apply by default to all new consignments by checking the Sticky Template box. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

32 Collection / Carriage Forward Entry Collection entry is similar to entering a normal consignment. You launch the Collection / Carriage Forward Entry screen by selecting Consignments Collection / Carriage Forward option from the main screen (or by pressing F6). Collection / Carriage Forward Entry screen Stage 1: Entering a Collection By default, the first view you will have is for entering a 3 rd party collection (collect from a 3 rd party, deliver to yourselves). You can select either a Third party Collection or a Collection Carriage Forward (for 3 rd party to 3 rd party deliveries) by using the radio buttons in the top left of the screen. Third Party Collection The right hand side of the screen is greyed out, and contains your company's address information. The fields you can edit are as follows: Item Description Default Value Collection Date The date the consignment should be collected. (tomorrow) Customer Number Contact Business Name Postal Code Address, Postal Town, County Telephone Customer's Reference The unique identifier for the customer on your system where you will be collecting from. If the customer does not exist, you will be taken to the Customer Maintenance screen. The name of the person to contact at the delivery address. The name of the customer from which you will be collecting. The postcode of your customer. Address information. A telephone number must be entered in case of problems with the collection. Your reference number for the collection. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

33 Item Description Default Value Time Ready / Latest Pickup Open Lunchtime Collection Special Instructions Service Extended Liability Book In Delivery Special Instructions Times between which the item(s) to be collected can be picked up. If there is a break for lunch, during which the item(s) may not be collected, ensure that this box remains unchecked, otherwise, check the box to indicate a collection any time between the Time Ready and Latest Pickup times. Add extra information here to assist the driver in collecting the item(s). Indicates which level of service is needed to return the item(s) to you (for example, Collection Next Day, or Collection Next Day by Noon). If you would like to add extra insurance cover for the consignment, enter the number of additional units of cover here (details of the amount of additional cover provided per unit can be obtained via your UK Mail account manager). If the collection address only allows collections that are booked in by arrangement, this box needs to be checked. Note that some delivery addresses enforce bookins. Any necessary instructions for coordinating the delivery of the collection can be entered here. No Note that if the default address details on the right hand side (for your location) are incorrect in any way, you need to contact UK Mail technical support, who will issue you with a new license disk that will update your details. For more information on processing a licence disk, see the section on Processing a New Licence Disk, page 79. Carriage Forward If a Carriage Forward delivery is selected, the screen changes as follows: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 Collection / Carriage Forward Entry screen Stage 2: Entering a Carriage Forward The right hand side of the screen is now enabled, allowing you to choose the destination customer and enter details in the same way as the source customer.

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35 Final Mile Type Consignments If your Consignor system is enabled for Final Mile type consignments, then if you select a postcode area where the service is available and select a final mile service you will be asked for final mile specific details in the Consignment Entry screen: These include the following specific fields: Delivery Date The date you wish the consignment to be delivered. The time window you wish the consignment to be delivered in. These can be configured, see next page. Delivery Time If you select a timed type service, please enter the specific time for delivery. Two Man Lift Tick this option if the consignment is heavy and will require two people to deliver the item. Tail Lift Required Tick this option if the consignment will require a tail lift at delivery. Swap No Install Tick this option if you would like to collect parcel(s) as this consignment is delivered and return them back to you. Swap With Install Tick this option if you would like to collect parcel(s) as this consignment is delivered and return them back to you. As the consignment is delivered, with this option an agreed installation process can take place. Unpack Goods Tick this option to deliver the goods and then unpack them. Unpack Remove Packaging Tick this option to unpack the goods and remove the packaging when the consignment is delivered. Dedicated vehicle Tick this option if a dedicated vehicle is required at delivery. Person To Person Tick this option if the consignment should only be delivered to the specific named contact rather than goods in or reception etc.. Tech Courier Level this will have a different meaning dependant on your contract. Optionally select the tech courier level from the drop down list, this will override and turn off all the other tick box options. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

36 Confirmation Of Delivery If you require an SMS or an when the consignment is delivered, tick this box and enter the mobile and/or the address for confirmation. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

37 Final Mile Time Window Maintenance The time windows used in the Consignment Entry screen can be tailored in your Consignor system by selecting Time Window Maintenance from the Maintenance menu: The time windows can be different by each day of the week and bank holidays. The time windows can also be tailored differently by UK Mail account. Click the + and below each day to add and remove time windows. As a quick setup shortcut, the Copy Monday To All Days button will copy the time windows for Monday to all other days. Other Final Mile Functions You can enquire on, amend/delete, reprint labels and manifest final mile or retail logistics using the normal functions within Consignor. You can also use final mile or retail logistics through the customer gateway, see the separate FinalMileGateway.pdf in the Factsheets folder of the Consignor install CD. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

38 Retail Logistics Type Consignments If your Consignor system is enabled for Retail Logistics type consignments, then it is possible to enter retail consignments in a very similar way to business type consignments through the consignment entry screen. Select the relevant Retail service required, retail logistics labels are printed in a specific retail format. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

39 Retail Logistics Sub Item Types It is possible to specify the type of container (Sub Item Types) for each retail logistics item e.g. Hangers, Sets etc. To turn this feature on, from the main menu (logged in as a supervisor), go into the Maintenance -> Options and then tick the Ask For Parcel Descriptions tick box and press Save. Before you can use the Sub Items Types feature, you must first specify which Sub Item types should be available to your Consignor users. To do this, from the main menu (logged in as a supervisor), go to Maintenance -> Sub Item type Setup. Once in this screen, tick the sub item types you want to be made available to your users and press the Save this account button. If you want the same options for all Uk mail accounts within your system then click the Save To All Accounts button. You can set different options for each UK Mail account by selecting the UK Mail Account from the drop down list at the top of the form. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

40 Once the sub item types feature is turned on an setup, when you enter and save a consignment, you will see a new screen which prompts you to select which item is of which sub item type. When selected, the sub item type also prints on the item label for easy identification. Retail Logistics Gateway You can also use the Consignor gateway to send details of Retail Logistics consignments. You can either do this at order level or at item level specifying the sub item type for each item. Full details of the Retail Logistics gateway are in the separate factsheet Retail Logistics Gateway in the factsheets folder of the Consignor installation CD. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

41 Customer Maintenance The customer maintenance screen can be used to enter address and default delivery details for customers, and for administering existing customer records. The Customer Maintenance screen can be accessed by selecting Maintenance Customers, or by pressing F5 from the main menu: The Customer Maintenance screen This screen has two main sections for holding basic address details for customers and default consignment options. The section on the left is generic for all customers. The section on the right changes for different types of customers (domestic businesses, Home customers and International customers). The section on the left is comprised of the following fields: Item Description Default Value Customer Number Contact / FAO Business Name Country Postal Code Address, Locality, Postal Town, County A reference of your choosing for the customer. This could be the same as a reference number you use on a different system. The main point of contact at the customer's premises (in the case of a home customer, this is the customer's name). The name of the business. The country that the customer is based in. The accurate post code of your customer. Once you enter the postcode and the first line of any domestic business or Home customer's address, the system can search for the remainder of the address details, and can automatically populate the subsequent fields if a match is found. If these fields aren't filled in automatically, you need to enter the remainder of the address details here. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

42 Telephone, Fax, Additional contact details for the customer. Default consignment options will be applied to all new consignments created to that customer. These fields are not mandatory, but they can save time for regular customers with predictable ordering patterns. The options available will vary according to customer type. Domestic Business Customer Defaults Domestic business-to-business customers have the following default options available: Item Description Default Value Default Service Default delivery service (next day, next day by noon, and so on). 1 (Next day) Default Items The default number of items per consignment. If this is not specified, each new consignment will assume that one item is being shipped. Default Weight The default weight of each consignment. 1 Default Extended Liability Special Instructions Default Timed Delivery Time COD Amount Default Book In Default Customer's Reference Notes Group Name Date Last Used The default extended liability for each consignment, which can be useful when working with customers who frequently receive fragile or expensive items. Stores a set of specific instructions that can be printed on labels for every consignment for a customer, for example, if the customer requires that all deliveries must be sent to a specific goods inwards area. If the default service is a timed delivery (6), the normal time of the delivery can be specified here. Stores a default amount for customers who normally give a standard amount to a driver on delivery. Specifies whether all deliveries must be booked in by default. Stores a default reference number. Stores notes that are common to most consignments to that customer. Can be used to add selected customers to a specified group. This enables you to send out batches of consignments, for example, to every member of this group. Customer Groups are covered on page 46. Automatically indicates when the last shipment was sent to a customer. This feature can be useful for housekeeping procedures, such as removing old, inactive customers from the database to free up resources. For more information, see the section on Purging Data, page Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

43 Home Customer Defaults For Home customers, the Customer Maintenance screen changes as follows: The Customer Maintenance Screen (Home Customers) The fields in the bottom half of the pane are the same as for Domestic customers, but the top part, marked Home Customer Details, is unique to Home customers: Item Description Default Value House Details Secure Location / Neighbour Information that can be useful to the driver on delivering to the customer, for example "Deliver to red door at side of house" Description of an alternative delivery address in case the recipient is unavailable to receive the parcel. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

44 International Customer Defaults If you select a country other than the UK or the Republic of Ireland, you'll see that the screen changes once more: The Customer Maintenance Screen (International) Again, many of these fields are similar to those used in the Domestic and Home tabs. The only unique tab is the Vat Number field, which can be used to store the Vat number of the customer. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

45 Creating New Customers via the Consignment Entry Screen When you create a new consignment and specify a customer that doesn't yet exist on your database, you'll be taken to the following screen for creating new customers: The Add New Customer Screen Selecting a different country will change the form so that you can enter the details of a new International destination: Adding a New International Customer Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

46 Customer Groups You can group together related customers into a group that can be used for sending out batches of consignments. To create, amend, or delete a group, select the Maintenance Customer Groups option from the main menu: The Customer Grouping Screen In this screen, you can search through the customers on your system, and assign a group name for those customers. To search through the customers on your system, enter some criteria in the Name Like, Post Town, Postcode, List of Postcodes, or the Customer number Range fields and click Search. If you include customers who are already members of a group, by checking the Include customers with group names checkbox, you can specify new group information for those customers. In the screenshot, when filtered using the Post Town field, all customers on the system based in Birmingham appear on the screen. Once a name is entered in the Group Name box, and you have selected the appropriate customers, you can click Save to update the database. You will see a dialog asking if you want to enter another group clicking Yes will clear all the fields in the screen, ready to start again, whereas clicking No will quit back to the main Consignor screen. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

47 Addressing Tools There is one main tool in Consignor to assist with searching for addresses, and that tool is the Postcode Enquiry tool. This tool works by accessing a database of postcode and address data on your Consignor system that is updated on a regular basis by installing postcode update CDs. The current version of your postcode file is always displayed on the main Consignor screen, and is one of the core pieces of information that the Consignor support team may ask you for in the event of any problems: The Postcode Version Number in the bottom right corner of the main Consignor screen. The addressing utility requires that any address must pass three validity checks: The first line of the address must contain some data The postcode must be complete and valid (when checked against the Post Office postcode data) The Post Office postal town field must match the post town field in Consignor Only when all these three criteria are met will the address pass validation. There are two main screens that use postcode data: The Full Postcode Enquiry screen, used when entering new customer data (either directly via the Customer Maintenance screen, or when entering a new consignment) The Postcode Enquiry screen, used for more general searching of postcode data Full Postcode Enquiry Screen This screen is used when entering new customers into your Consignor database, and when checking address details for any customers' details imported via the Gateway. The Full Postcode Enquiry screen When adding a new customer, you can use this screen to search for the appropriate address. To search for an address, enter the details in the Free Format Address box, select the Search Type from the list, and press F10 Search. Any matching addresses will appear in the box at the bottom of the screen. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

48 You can double click on a relevant match to refine the list further. For example, if you searched for all locations within the B8 2 postcode region, you would see the following list: Searching by Postcode Double-clicking on the appropriate match will either present you with a sub-list of matches, or, if there is only one match, it will take you back to the Customer Maintenance screen with the address fields filled in for you. Alternatively, if the company you require is not listed at the specified address, you can click Copy Post office address button (or press F8) to fill in the address fields for you and return you to the Customer Maintenance screen, where you can add the company name separately. Note that consignments bound for the Republic of Ireland are slightly different from standard consignments because there are no postcodes in the Republic of Ireland. If you want to enter an Irish address, click the F4 Enter Irish Addresses button. UK Mail have their own method of routing consignments bound for Ireland, and have created a set of pseudo postcodes for the Republic of Ireland, for example D1 is for Dublin. You can search through these pseudo codes (and if you already know them, you can enter them as if they are a normal address) to match the required address. Note also that if you are using special UK Mail internal routing codes instead of a postcode, these codes will not be accepted in the Postcode Enquiry screen, but will be processed correctly in the Consignment Entry screen. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

49 The Postcode Enquiry Screen This screen is slightly different from the full enquiry screen. You can view this screen by selecting Enquiries Postcode Enquiry from the main menu. The Postcode Enquiry screen This screen can be used to look up service availability for different postcode regions. Certain regions, for example, northern Scotland, restrict which delivery times are available if you are shipping a parcel from, for example, the south west of England, simply because it's physically very difficult to ship a parcel over long distances in such a short space of time. Use the Postcode, PostTown and PlaceName fields to search for the appropriate destination. As you type into the boxes, the data displayed below will update dynamically. Note that, at present, Consignor does not change the available delivery options dependant on your physical location. For example, although Aberdeen is a long way from Lands End (hence early timed deliveries are not available), Aberdeen to Aberdeen consignments are certainly able to be delivered more promptly. The services available to your company in relation to your location are available to you via your UK Mail Account Manager. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

50 Amending Consignments Once a consignment has been entered onto the system, you may want to amend or alter that consignment in some way. You can amend a consignment by selecting Consignments Consignment Amend / Delete (or by pressing F3) from the main menu. The Consignment Amend / Delete screen The fields in this screen are essentially the same as the Consignment Entry screen, so for more details on how each of the fields work, you should refer back to Manual Consignment Entry, page 18. There are some extra buttons at the bottom of the screen for navigating to the consignment that you want to amend (Back - F5, Forward - F6) and a search facility (Search - F10) that enables you to filter the available records by date: The Date Range Filter If you want to delete a consignment, simply press the Delete F4 button. You will be warned before the consignment is actually deleted in case you pressed delete in error. Consignment Deletion Confirmation Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

51 Amending Collections Similarly to amending standard consignments, you can amend details of a collection or carriage forward. Launch the screen by selecting Consignments Collection / Carriage Forward Amend / Delete: Collection Amend Screen At this stage, you can convert a standard collection into a carriage forward and vice versa by selecting the appropriate collection type from the radio buttons at the top left of the screen. Again, you can navigate through the available collections by using the Back - F5 and Forward - F6 buttons, or click the Search - F10 button to filter the list. To delete a collection, press the Delete F4 button. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

52 Consignment Enquiry If you want to simply find out more about the consignments on your system, or search for older consignments, you can use the Consignment Enquiry, Collection / Carriage Forward Enquiry, or the Audit Enquiry screens. The Consignment Enquiry Screen This screen is accessed via the Enquiries Consignment Enquiry menu, or by pressing F9 from the main screen: The Consignment Entry Screen Using the text boxes at the top of the screen, you can search for consignments by any one of the following: By consignment number By customer reference By the alternative reference Simply enter the appropriate details and either press Enter, or click the Search F10 button. The search string must match one or more consignments exactly for a match to be produced. If more than one match is found, you will need to cycle through the matching consignments by using the Back F5 and Forward F6 buttons. Detailed analysis of all stages your consignment has gone through, including details of parcel scans, are stored in the audit details, which can be found via the Audit Enquiry Screen, page 53. If you have recently downloaded Proof of Delivery (POD) data, and are enquiring about an older consignment, you can use this screen to display that information by clicking the POD button at the bottom of the screen. For more information on downloading POD information, see the section on Working with PODs, page Error! Bookmark not defined.. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

53 The Collection / Carriage Forward Enquiry Screen This screen operates in a very similar manner to the Consignment Enquiry screen: The Collection / Carriage Forward Enquiry Screen You can search through your collections using one of two fields: By consignment number By customer's reference As with the Consignment Enquiry screen, this screen can also display POD information, if available. The Audit Enquiry Screen This screen provides different information about consignments. Rather than information about where the consignment is going, this screen tracks events in the lifecycle of the parcel in the Consignor system, providing date and time stamps that accompany each event. In the screenshot to the right, you can see that a consignment has been input via the gateway and confirmed. Then the consignment was manifested shortly afterwards. If POD data has been imported into Consignor, further tracking details can be viewed via this screen. For more information on importing POD data, please refer to Working with PODs, page Error! Bookmark not defined.. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 The Audit Enquiry Screen

54 Entering Batches of Consignments Consignor has the facility to enter batches of consignments for situations where you may need to send out a set of parcels to many customers, for example, a mailshot. The Batch Entry screen is launched by selecting Maintenance Batch Contents Entry from the main menu. The Batch Entry Screen Enter the name for your batch, the number of items, weight, and so on in the boxes at the top of the screen as shown in the screenshot. Once you are satisfied with the default consignment options, you can then define a list of customers who will be receiving this batch by clicking on F10 Add/Delete Customers. The Batch Customer Selection Screen When you first open this screen, you will see a list of all of your customers displayed in the left hand pane of this screen. You can refine this list by using the search fields at the top of the screen. For example, if you want to send out a batch to a named group of customers, you can simply select the group using the drop down box. Once you have refined the list displayed in the left hand box, either add each customer individually to the recipient list by selecting each customer then clicking F3 Add >, or click F8 Add All >>> to add all of the customers displayed in the left hand window to the recipients list. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

55 Once you have built up the recipient list, you can click the F2 Accept button at the bottom of the screen, or press Stop to cancel. A Sample Batch with List of Customers When you are ready to run a batch, you select the Consignments Run Batch of Consignments option from the main menu. In the screen that appears, ensure that the appropriate batch is selected (in the Batches Available drop-down box in the top left of the screen): Creating Consignments by Running a Batch At this stage, you cannot alter any of the default settings (for example, the default weight, number of items, or service level), but you can decide whether all of the customers on the list will receive the consignment or not by checking (or unchecking) the boxes on the right-hand side. When the batch is run, labels are printed for each customer. You can choose to sort your labels by different parameters using the radio buttons at the top left. The Pause after how many labels box is used to specify when the printer will pause printing to enable you to change label rolls (there are normally 300 labels on a standard roll). Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

56 Scanning Parcels If you have UK Mail scanning equipment attached to your Consignor system, you can reconcile parcels to be shipped against the list of parcels awaiting despatch using your scanner. Reconciliation Reconciliation is the process of matching up physical parcels to the parcel records on Consignor. It can only be performed if you have a barcode scanner attached to a PC at your location. To record parcels being scanned, from the menu select Consignments -> Reconciliation Scanning. Scanning Reconciliation by Checkpoint This screen can be launched by selecting Enquiries Scanning Reconciliation by Checkpoint, or by pressing F11 from the main screen. This screen will display the results of any scanning activity that has been input via the Consignor Scan Manager software. Checkpoints can be defined by pressing the F2 Start New Scanning Checkpoint button: Adding a Checkpoint Once a new checkpoint is created, any new consignments will be added to this checkpoint ready to be reconciled. Scanning Reconciliation by Checkpoint Screen Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

57 Scanning Reconciliation by Consignment This screen can be launched by selecting Enquiries Scanning Reconciliation by Consignment, or by pressing F12 from the main screen. Scanning Reconciliation by Consignment Screen This screen provides a different view on reconciled parcels, and enables you to search for consignments directly by consignment number. You can also sort the list of consignments by consignment number, or by whether they've been reconciled or not. The list can also be filtered to show only reconciled or unreconciled consignments, or just a list of the daily consignments. The fields at the top of this screen are used to activate the sorting and filtering functionality, and the list of consignments below will update dynamically whenever you select different sort or filter parameters. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

58 The Consignor Gateway The Gateway is used to import data from external systems. The data is passed into the Consignor system as flat text files, which are then decoded and imported into the system automatically. Before this process can take place, a schema file must be created and imported into the Gateway Manager. This will tell the Consignor system how to interpret the incoming data. Once data has been imported, the new consignments can then be processed (posted) and accepted into the normal outgoing consignments system, ready for manifesting. Since much of the operation of the Gateway is an administrative issue, you may want to refer to the Administering the Gateway section, page 98. On a day-to-day basis, your interaction will be when scanning orders on incoming consignments. Processing Incoming Consignments Once data has been imported into Consignor, the list of imported consignments can be viewed on the Process Incoming Consignments screen, accessible via the Consignments Process Incoming Consignments menu or by pressing F10 from the main page. The Process Incoming Consignments screen In this screen, you will see the list of imported consignments and their delivery details. In here, you can sort your list of consignments by various parameters using the Search By drop down box: Available Search Types The default selection of Reference will sort consignments in order by reference number. Similarly, changing the Search By method to Delivery Postcode or Job Date, for example, will list consignments in order by the required field. Scanning Parcels To confirm each order on the screen and print a label for the boxes in the consignment, you can scan a barcode on your parcel's despatch note that includes your reference number using a simple barcode decoding scanner (not a UK Mail scanner) that connects to your PC via a Keyboard wedge. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

59 Generating a Manifest At the end of the day, when all consignments are ready to ship, a manifest needs to be performed. A manifest is a summary of all outgoing consignments. When a manifest is generated, a set of files is created and either saved to floppy disk or USB key, transferred electronically to UK Mail, or ed to a specific location. The manifest files are then imported onto the UK Mail system to track each of the outgoing consignments as they are shipped. Hardcopies of the manifest data are also printed out when a manifest is performed, listing all of the outgoing consignments on paper. To launch the manifest screen, select Consignments Perform End of Day (Manifest Report / / Disk) F4 from the main screen. In this screen, you can alter several settings. Job Date: changing the date will enable you to manifest consignments that have not yet been manifested that have a different date, other than the current date (for example, on one day you may enter four consignments, but not send them until the following day when you enter more consignments - backdating the manifest run to the previous day will only manifest those first four consignments). Manifest Report sort method: When a manifest report is produced, the default setting will print out two copies of the report. One copy (the UK Mail copy) must be given to the driver when the consignments are collected, and the other copy is retained by you. The UK Mail copy is always sorted by consignment number order, so the sort method you choose on this screen will affect only your copy of the report. Manifest Disk: By default, Consignor will write manifest files to a floppy disk (or USB key if available) that has to be given to the collecting driver at the end of the day. Ensure that the drive letter selected corresponds to the correct drive letter on your system. If a USB key is inserted when this screen is launched, the default drive letter and manifest method will be to manifest to a USB key: USB Manifest Screen If a manifest has already been performed for the day, the Reproduce Manifest F3 button can be used to rerun the manifest, and incorporate additional consignments if required. Alternatively, you can produce a second manifest for late-entered consignments, as long as you ensure that all manifest data is passed to the driver on collection. Note that you will need to have more than one Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

60 floppy disk or USB key if you have multiple manifests on a given day, since each manifest run will wipe any existing data on the floppy disk / USB key before continuing. If you attempt to start a manifest run when all consignments have already been manifested, you will be prompted as to whether you wish to reproduce the manifest or not. When a manifest is performed to floppy disk, a series of messages will appear in the bottom pane of the window: Sample Manifest Messages You will also likely see a series of pop-up dialogs with various messages (detailed below), and a Windows Print dialog will appear when the manifest is ready to be printed. Note that each type of consignment (domestic consignments, Home consignments, International consignments, collections, carriage forwards) will each be printed on a separate page or group of pages. Once the manifest has been completed, you will see the following message: Manifest Complete Message If you have not performed a backup of your Consignor system for some time, you will be prompted to run a backup. If you want to proceed, you need to make sure that, if you have selected that you want to backup onto floppy disk, that a suitable disk (and not your manifest disk) is in the drive. For more information on performing a backup, see the section on the Backup / Restore Procedure, page 74. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

61 Manifest Printed Report A printed manifest will look similar to the following: Sample Manifest (normal consignments) You'll notice the text at the top of the report that indicates the method used when manifesting (USB key, floppy disk, FTP, etc.). This can help to avoid confusion when a driver comes to collect consignments and isn't sure whether to expect a floppy disk or USB key, or whether the manifest data has already been transferred electronically. The 2D barcode that's printed on the manifest contains all of the required shipping information for each consignment. Sample Manifest (collections) Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

62 Floppy Disks One method of passing consignment data to UK Mail is to save manifest data onto floppy disk, then pass the disk to the driver when the outgoing consignments are collected. A different floppy disk must be used for each manifest generated per day because when a manifest is performed, any existing data on the disk is erased before new data is added. FTP Confirmation and Warning Dialogs when Manifesting via Floppy Disk If your Consignor system has a connection to the Internet, it is possible to transfer manifest data electronically to UK Mail using FTP (File Transfer Protocol). FTP is a standard Internet mechanism for transferring files from one location to another. Before you can use FTP to transfer your manifest data, you need to have consulted with UK Mail. Once your system is configured to transfer files to UK Mail using FTP, an additional part of the manifest screen will become visible: A Manifest Screen with FTP Manifest Transfer Enabled, and the No Manifest Floppy Disk option enabled When a manifest is performed on a system with FTP enabled, as the manifest is produced, the dark green boxes will turn bright green in turn (as long as the transfer is successful). If there are any problems with the transfer, these boxes will turn red: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

63 Sample FTP Manifest Error Message If this happens, you should, as advised, contact the UK Mail helpdesk and check your FTP settings. These are covered in detail in the section on adjusting Manifest settings, page 89. If you have selected not to write to a floppy disk or USB key by default, you will also see the following dialog: Manifesting to Alternative Devices This ensures that manifest data can still be transferred by alternative methods to the UK Mail servers. If is configured on your Consignor system, then a copy of the manifest will also be sent electronically via to the designated address (or addresses). You will need to ensure that your Consignor system has a connection to a local server that can send the successfully. USB Key This new method of storing manifests detects if you have a USB key plugged into your machine when you open the manifest screen. The bottom of the screen changes to read as follows: The USB Key Manifest Screen When using a USB key, you can manifest as normal, and the files will be stored on your USB key, instead of on a floppy disk: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 USB Key Manifest Confirmation Dialog If you do not have your USB key inserted when you launch the manifest screen, you will be presented with the standard screen. You will need to close this screen, insert the key, then relaunch the screen to use the USB key for manifesting. Note that before you can use a

64 USB key, you need to initialise it using the Utilities Initialise USB Key menu option. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

65 Reports Consignor has several different reports built in that can be used to display information about all of the consignments and customer records that exist on your Consignor system. Consignor offers the following reports: Customer Reports These reports are used for gathering information on the customers stored in your Consignor system. Customer Listing Consignment Reports Customer Listing Report These reports contain information about all of the consignments sent using the Consignor software. Consignment Delivery Analysis This report is very flexible, and offers many different ways of presenting data: Consignment Delivery Analysis Report Launch Screen Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

66 When this report is run, you will see something like the following, depending on the options you've chosen: Daily Consignment Summary Delivery Analysis Report This report has two output types, summary and detailed. In the summary mode, the totals for all consignments sent using each type of service are printed: Daily Consignment Summary Report The detailed report will list each consignment, the full address, number of items in each consignment and the weight of the consignment: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

67 Consignments by Customer's Reference Detailed Daily Consignments Report This report lists consignments grouped firstly by date, then by Customer Reference. In the following sample, you can see that a batch of consignments produced on one day all appears on the report since all items in the batch have the same reference number: Customer's Reference by Consignment Consignments by Customer Reference This report lists all consignments within a given date range in consignment number order, with the Customer Reference clearly visible next to each consignment number: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

68 Customer Reference Report The report can also be run to display the alternative reference field, instead of the customer reference. POD Listing If POD information has been downloaded from the UK Mail server, you can display POD information for each of your consignments using this report. Mailbag Despatch Analysis This report is used to view information on mailbags that have been processed on the Consignor system. The main screen appears as follows: Mailbag Despatch Analysis Report Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

69 On this screen, select the appropriate company, whether you want to filter the report by Job Reference, check the box. Once you have selected the appropriate options, you can run the report and it will print on the default printer. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

70 Collection / Carriage Forward Despatch Analysis This report summarises any collections or carriage forwards, and can be customised to present the information in the desired style: The Collection / Carriage Forward Report Screen Using the defaults, you can produce a report that looks similar to the following: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

71 Daily Activity Reports Collection Analysis Report These reports provide information on daily activity and the status of the Consignor system. Audit Report This report prints logs of all the activity generated on the Consignor system, from entering consignments, to manifesting them. A sample of the first part of an audit report is shown here: Manifest Report (not end of day) Consignor Audit Report This report essentially prints a manifest for the current consignments without actually manifesting them, which can be useful for summarising the outgoing consignments for the day so far. The output of this report looks the same as a standard manifest report. Scanning Reconciliation Manifest Check Sheet This report is used by a driver on collection of the daily consignments, to reconcile all the outgoing parcels with the items on the manifest. Each parcel will have its own label printed (several labels, hence barcodes, per consignment), however the barcode on the report is per consignment, and contains details on the number of outgoing parcels expected per consignment, the consignment type, and the consignment number. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

72 Waiting Gateway Consignments Scanning Reconciliation Report If you use the gateway to import consignment data, this report can be used to print details of all the consignments still in the gateway awaiting despatch. Gateway Address Changes Analysis Waiting Gateway Consignments Report This report is used to summarise the changes made to addresses of consignments in the gateway, for example, so that they match the Post Office postcode data exactly. Batch Detail Report This report displays details of each consignment batch defined on your Consignor system. You can choose which batch to display on the report, and whether to include details, or whether to only print a summary. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

73 Consignment Pricing This report lists each consignment and any price that is associated with that consignment. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

74 Utilities The Utilities menu in Consignor contains many useful tools that you will encounter from time to time as you work with Consignor. These include: Backup Restore List users logged on Download PODs Import POD data Purge data Process new licence disk Recover data from manifest disk Customer data import Clean customer address database (PAF) Clean customer address database (manual) Export customer address database to ASCII file Initialise USB key Backup / Restore Procedure Running a backup is part of life when working with computer systems. Consignor has its own backup systems in place which are easily launched from the Utilities menu. Utilities Backup will immediately launch a backup: The Consignor Backup Progress Screen If ever you need to restore Consignor, all you need to do is run the Utilities Restore utility: The Consignor Restore Confirmation Dialog If you click No, the restore will be aborted, however, if you proceed, once you have successfully restored your Consignor database you will need to ask the UK Mail technical support team for a new license disk. Restoring your Consignor database will stop you from consigning until a new batch of consignment numbers has been allocated to yourselves (this ensures that new consignments are not shipped using preexisting consignment numbers). Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

75 Purging Data Purging data should be a routine process that you use once or twice a year to clean out old or out of date data from your Consignor system. If there are a lot of old records on your system, you will find that they will be taking up hard drive space and slowing down searches on your system. Purging data files is a good way to free up resources by removing unused or out of date information. There are three different types of data that you can purge from Consignor: Customers Not Referenced Since Date: removes older customers who you may not have dealt with in a long time Trunk File: removes records of old consignments from your system Audit File: removes consignment audit data from your system In each case, you are prompted for a date, before which all data in the selected category will be purged. Note that the Trunk and Audit files are purged of old data at the end of each manifest, so you will only need to run the Trunk or Audit file purges if you wish to purge additional data. Before performing a purge, you may want to back up all of your data. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

76 Customer Data Import To import a batch of data from another system into Consignor, the Customer Data Import utility can be used. This utility, launched via the Utilities menu, takes data stored in a flat ASCII file and imports that data into Consignor using a definition file known as a Schema to tell Consignor which sections of the file correspond to Consignor fields: The Customer Data Import Screen When this screen is first launched, you can create a new schema by clicking on the New Schema button at the top of the form, or you can load in an existing schema using the Load Schema option. Creating a New Schema If you click the New Schema button, you will be asked to give your new schema a name. Once created, you can start to build up the new Schema definition. Note that schema files must have the file extension.sdf. You will need to choose whether the source data file is likely to be presented in a fixed-length file, for example: 1 Test Company Name TE12 3ST... 2 Another TestCo TE45 6ST... Or you can specify that data is presented in a delimited file: 1#Test Company Name# #TE12 3ST#... 2#Another TestCo# #TE45 6ST#... If you choose a delimited file, you will need to select the character used as the delimiter (for example, #, as used above). Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

77 Importing Data Once you have selected the type of file (fixed length or delimited), you can specify a source file that contains data. The next stage is to then specify any import options and choose fields to import: Import Options Field Chooser Importing Customer Data: Specifiying Fields The Import Options are optional. In the above screenshot, the Account Number Prefix is entered as T, which means that as each account is imported, the customer number will be prefixed with a T. For delimited data, to select fields to import, simply select the appropriate field from the list on the left, and click the Add button. Note that it's easiest to add fields in order, though you can change the order manually if necessary by editing the value in the Occurrence field. As you select fields, the corresponding data will be previewed and highlighted in the bottom pane. For fixed-width data, again, select a field and click Add, but you will also need to ensure that the Start Position and Field Width values are correct. Note that a complete list of available fields and their descriptions are provided in Appendix 7: Customer Data Import Fields, page 128. You can delete a field from the list by clicking the Delete button, but this will mean that you will have to manually update the position information for the subsequent fields in the field list. The Field Formats box will help you to import date and time information. Because different systems export date and time information in different ways, you need to enter a format that corresponds to the data to be imported, for example HH:MM will match 17:45, 09:30, etc. HHMMSS will match (5:45pm and 5 seconds) DD/MM/YY will match 12/02/04 (12th February 2004) MM/DD/YY will match American-style dates, hence 12/02/04 will be read as December 2nd 2004) DD/MM/YYYY will match 12/02/2004 Once you are confident with the schema definition, click the Save button. When ready, click Start to import the account data. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

78 Working with the Customer Address Database The Post Office postcode data stored in Consignor can be used to fix partial or incorrect addresses. Consignor has two different methods available for fixing incorrect addresses. One method is an automatic fix of all addresses in the system, the other works on a manual system of correcting one address at a time and is therefore slower. There are advantages to using each method, as described in the appropriate sections below. Clean Customer Address Database (PAF) This tool is used to automatically fix all the incorrect addresses in your Consignor system, and is useful when importing many addresses from your own system that have not yet been checked against the official postcode records. This method, although fast, can result in some addresses being changed completely (if they are very ambiguous). You can either choose to leave these ambiguous addresses as they are for manual correction later, or you can force them all to be corrected as best possible. If you want to leave this procedure to run unattended, you need to uncheck the box. The Clean Domestic Address Tool Clean Customer Address Database (manual) This method of cleaning addresses is somewhat slower than the automatic method, but you get a lot of control over the results of the clean. It is normally used after an automated clean to further clean the worst addresses: The Manual Address Clean Up Screen In this screen, you can select customers from the list in the main window, and use the F11 launch the Full Postcode Enquiry screen (see page 47) to correct each address. button to Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

79 Export Customer Address Database to ASCII File This option enables you to export corrected and cleaned addresses back into your own systems, which ensures that all of your addresses on your other systems are accurate. The Address Export Tool You can control whether the data that is output is using fixed length or delimited data (and you can choose which delimiter to use). You can then use your own tools to import that data back to your own systems. The exported data contains a flag indicating whether the address is valid or not, so any addresses that couldn't be cleaned can be highlighted and manually checked from this file. Processing a New Licence Disk There are a couple of situations that may arise when you may want to process a new licence disk, for example, if you have performed a restore, or if you have run out of consignment numbers. Once you have spoken to IT support, all you have to do to process a new disk is put it in the drive, and run this menu option. Initialise a USB key The USB key method of saving manifest data relies on a USB key having been initialized prior to first usage. If you are using a USB key for the first time, you need to run this tool before you can use the key to store manifest data. Ensure that the drive you select from the drop-down box is the correct drive letter for your USB key. The Initialise USB Key Tool Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

80 The Consignor Intranet The Consignor Intranetis used to perform simple queries against the Consignor database to find out more information about a consignment. To use the Intranet, you must first ensure that the Consignor web server is running (for more information on how to run the web server, see the Administering the Consignor Server section, page 94). To launch the Intranet, you need to type in the address into a web browser. The general format of this address is as follows: where servername is the name of the server that is running Consignor. If you are launching the web browser on the server machine itself, you can either refer to the machine by name, or you can use localhost in place of the machine name: The Consignor Web Interface Main Page To perform a search, click on one of the links on the left hand side, or on the links at the bottom of the page. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

81 Searching for a Consignment You can search for a consignment using the Customer Reference, the Alternative Reference, or the Consignment number: The Search By Customer Reference Page Enter the reference you are searching for in the textbox and click Submit. If your search matches more than one consignment, you will be presented with a list to choose from: Search Results Multiple Matches Simply click on the consignment number you're interested in and you'll be shown the full details of the consignment: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

82 Arranging a Third Party Collection Full Consignment Details If this option is available on your Consignor system, you can request a collection from the main page of the Consignor Intranet. Simply click on the Collection Request link on the main page and you will see a logon screen: Use the same User ID and Password as a user on the Consignor system, and you can log in. Note that if this option is not available on your system, this link will not appear on the main page. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

83 The Collection Request Page In this screen, you can enter details of a collection or a collection / carriage forward by filling in the appropriate fields, and scrolling down the page to ensure that all the information has been entered correctly. Installing Consignor Client To install the Consignor Client software on a PC via the web interface, click the Install Consignor Client link in the menu bar: In this screen, clicking the blue Install link will launch the installation program: Click Open to start the installation process and follow the on-screen prompts. This process is described in detail in the section on Installing Consignor Clients, page 14. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

84 Consignor Administrators Handbook Consignor is a flexible program, and as such, many customers will use different settings for day-to-day consignments. This manual is designed to explain how to use the more advanced features of Consignor. User Administration One of the main tasks that need to be completed before Consignor is to be used full time is to ensure that all Consignor users have the appropriate level of access to the system. This may mean that you have to create some user accounts. Select Maintenance Users from the main screen to open the user administration screen: The User Administration Screen In this screen, you can scroll through the existing user accounts using the Back F5 and Forward F6 buttons, and you can add and delete new user accounts using the Add F3 and Delete F4 buttons. When you enter new user account details, ensure that you enter the user ID and password in the correct case, since Consignor's user validation is case sensitive. The password must be entered twice (enter the password in the Password box, then repeat in the Re-enter Password box). This ensures that the password is entered correctly (if the two boxes don't match, the account details will not be saved, and you will see a warning message that tells you that the passwords don't match). Make sure that you select the appropriate level of security for new users. There are three levels of security: Level 1 is for normal users (administration menus are disabled, but normal consigning options are still available) Level 2 is for administrators or supervisors, and enables all menus Level 4 is a restricted account, and is for running enquiries and reports only (level 4 users cannot enter new consignments or amend existing consignments) Note also that this screen shows whether the user is currently logged on to the system or not. Each user can only be logged in once on the system, so if you have multiple users accessing the system, they each need to use different user accounts. If a logged in user has only level 1 or level 4 privileges, several menus and options are hidden from them: Level 1 Privilege Menus Level 4 Privilege Menus Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

85 Further user privilege options exist in the main Consignor Options screen, described on page 86, and are designed to further limit the level 1 privilege user accounts (preventing them from amending or deleting consignments, reprinting labels, manifesting, or even entering consignments as required). Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

86 Consignor Options If you launch the Maintenance Options screen from the main menu, you will be presented with the following interface: The Main Consignor Options Screen In this screen you have the ability to customise many of Consignor's features. In this section, each of the available configuration tabs are explained in detail. Settings In the first tab of the main options screen, you can change many settings that affect day-to-day Consignor usage: Item Description Default Value Customer Reference Mandatory Disallow Duplicate Customer Reference Alternative Reference Mandatory Disallow Duplicate Alternative Reference Disallow Consignment Amend/Delete if not Supervisor Disallow Label Reprint if not Supervisor Disallow Consignment Entry if not Supervisor Disallow Manifest if not Supervisor If enabled, forces the user to enter a customer reference for every consignment. If enabled, forces the user to select a unique customer reference for every consignment. If enabled, forces the user to enter an alternative reference for every consignment. If enabled, forces the user to select a unique alternative reference for every consignment. If enabled, prevents any user other than a supervisor-privileged user from amending or deleting consignments. If enabled, prevents any user other than a supervisor-privileged user from reprinting labels. If enabled, prevents any user other than a supervisor-privileged user from entering consignments. If enabled, prevents any user other than a supervisor-privileged user from generating a manifest. No No No No No No No No Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

87 Item Description Default Value Prevent Forward Dating of Consignments Allow Home Consignments Auto Default Business to Home when no Business Name Days to Keep History Days to Keep Gateway Queue Allow Edit of Address in Customer Gateway Holding Area Barcode Specs? Ask for Parcel Descriptions Trusted Scans? Extended Input Time Reference 1 (Customer Reference) Reference 2 (Alternative Reference) Print 'Parcel nn of n' on labels? Date of last Audit file purge / Trunk file purge If enabled, forces all consignments entered to use the current date. Enables consignments to be sent using the Home network if the consignment is a home consignment type. If a business name isn't entered when entering a consignment, the consignment type defaults to a home consignment. This option determines how long the Consignor system retains a history of all consignments. Any data remaining on the system after this time will be removed automatically to preserve space on the Consignor server's hard drive. Determines how long to keep consignments in the Gateway queue before they are removed. If checked, enables a button on the gateway screen that allows users to edit an address before processing the consignment. If checked, enables custom barcode specification to be uploaded onto the Consignor system so that parcels scanned with the customer's barcode on them will correspond to a consignment in the gateway. If checked, forces users to enter a description and/or serial numbers for the parcels in a consignment when entering new consignments. Specifies whether scans by a keyboard wedge scanner are to be marked as processed by a trusted or non-trusted user. Allows despatches to occur up to 1am and still be included on the previous days manifest. Changing this box alters every instance of the words Customer Reference to a reference of your choosing (for example, Sales Order Number) so that the terminology used in Consignor matches up with the terminology used at your location. Alters the words Alternative Reference to reference identifiers of your choosing. If checked, changes the text on a label from simply listing the number of the parcel to listing the number of the parcel and the total number of parcels (for example, "Parcel 2 of 5" instead of "Parcel 2". Two dates that are displayed on the form to highlight when the previous purge of each file occurred. No Yes Yes No No No Customer Reference Alternative Reference No Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

88 License This screen displays the information that was used to licence your Consignor system. You cannot alter any of the greyed-out fields. This screen only lets you enter data for the Contact name, the Telephone number, Fax number and address of your company. Printing Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 The Licence Options Screen The printing tab of the options screen contains, as its name suggests, options that control how labels and reports are printed: In this screen you are presented with numerous drop-down boxes that can be used to select the appropriate printer for each aspect of Consignor. The standard setup uses two printers; one for labels, one for reports. Each of these printers can either be a local printer, or a network printer in the above example, the label printer is a local printer, whereas the report printer is a network printer. The label definition file used is normally printer and operating system specific. In the above screenshot, the label printer is configured to print labels on a system running on Windows NT / 2000 or XP using the Zebra thermal printer. At the centre of the page, you have the option of specifying how many customer copies of a manifest to print whenever a manifest is run. You will always have one copy printed (the UK Mail copy), and you can choose to print as many customer copies of the manifest as you require. As mentioned in the section on Generating a Manifest, page 59, customer manifests can present data differently compared to UK Mail manifests (which must always present data in the same way for the benefit of drivers). You can also specify what type of printer is used to print out the manifest if a dot matrix printer is used, for example, the Consignor software alters the printed manifest slightly so that, for example, the UK Mail logo printed in a normal manifest does not appear. The summary report condenses manifest printouts (including the UK Mail copies) to a single line, and is not normally used. Mail Printing Options controls how the Mailbag Tag Printer operates. You need to ensure that you set the Baud rate and COM Port number to match your system setup. The Print Mailbag Tags check box determines whether a tag will be printed or not when you enter a mailbag.

89 The International printing options control which printers are used for different types of International report. The International Pro Forma section controls when a Pro-forma invoice is printed and offers the following options: Print manually (never auto-print): Pro-formas can be printed on an individual basis via the Consignments Print Waybill Labels and Pro-forma Invoices menu option. Prompt to print invoice when creating International cons: This option pops up a dialog for all new International consignments, offering the choice of printing a pro-forma for that consignment. Note that you will only be prompted when entering consignments manually, not via the Gateway. Automatically print for cons to non-eu destinations: Any consignment to a country outside of the European Union will have a Pro-forma printed when the consignment is saved, along with a set of waybills. Always print invoices when creating International cons: This option will always print a Proforma invoice when you create any International consignment. Server Network Configuration If the machine you are working on is a server machine, you will have a Server Network Configuration tab in your System Options screen, as shown in the screenshot. This dialog controls whether the machine runs as a standalone server, or whether it is used as a networked server. The default settings in here are specified when Consignor is installed, and will very rarely need changing in this dialog. Client Network Configuration If you are running Consignor on a client machine, you will see the Client Network Configuration tab instead. This configuration panel can be used to specify a different consignor server on your network, or to map the client machine back onto the appropriate server in case the IP address of the server ever changes. The default settings in here are specified when Consignor is installed, and will rarely need changing here. Server Network Configuration Utility Manifest The Consignor Client Configuration Settings The manifest options screen is used to alter some of the default manifest settings: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

90 The Manifest Options Screen This screen is used to specify that manifest data can be sent via FTP or via , in addition to being written to disk (or USB key). If these options are not yet enabled, then you should not enable them here without consulting UK Mail technical support. Backup / Restore The Backup / Restore options allow you to control how your backups of Consignor data are performed. The Backup / Restore Configuration Settings The default option is to backup Consignor data to floppy disk, but if you prefer to use 3 rd party backup software, you can check the box in the top left hand corner and fill in the details of your backup software in the boxes provided. Printer Queues The Printer Queues options screen only contains one editable area: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

91 Printer Queues Configuration This screen is used to filter incoming Gateway consignments by printer queues that have been configured in the Gateway Manager. This enables selected sets of labels to be printed on different printers on the network. For more information on configuring printer queues, see the section on Gateway Printer Queues, page 105. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

92 Receive Manifest Files This screen is used for configuring Consignor to receive manifest files: Receive Manifest Files Options Screen This screen can be used for customers who do not use the Consignor system to ship consignments, but who want to reconcile manifested consignments using Consignor. For more information, contact UK Mail technical support. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

93 Log Files In the Help menu, you can view logs of activity on your Consignor system. These log files include: Event Logs: displays details of all unhandled errors that may have occurred (useful if you are having problems with your Consignor system and need to give details on errors you are having to the Consignor support department) Manifest Log: displays details of all attempts and whether they were successful Backup Restore Logs: displays details of when Consignor was backed up and restored POD Download Logs: displays logs of when POD data was downloaded and whether the download was successful Each of these options will produce a preview of a report which can then be printed: A Sample Error Log File Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

94 Administering the Consignor Server The Consignor Server controls the underlying Consignor Database, and also controls several other important Consignor processes. To display the Consignor Server settings window, you need to double-click the Consignor icon in your server's system tray (in the bottom right corner of your screen): The Consignor Server Settings Window In this window you can control the four main aspects of the Consignor system: The Database Server: when running, makes it possible to enter consignments, produce reports, and so on. The database server must be running to use the Consignor system. The Gateway Server: only needs to be enabled on those systems that use the gateway to process incoming consignments. For more information on the Gateway, see the section on Administering the Gateway, page 98. The Web Server: provides a simple web-based interface for clients on the local network so that they can view simple details of consignments. For more information on using the web interface, see The Consignor Intranet, page 80. The FTP Server: enables order data to be sent to the Consignor Gateway electronically. Note that the Updates section on the summary screen refers to functionality that has not yet been implemented. The main tab (the summary tab) of the server configuration utility simply displays which of these services are currently running, and gives you the option of forcing Consignor Server to start automatically at system start up. Note that at any time you can minimise the server configuration utility by clicking the Hide button in the bottom left corner. The Close button, in the bottom right hand side, shuts down all Consignor services. Therefore, the Close button should not be pressed if there are any clients connected to Consignor at the time or they will be logged out. If you accidentally click close, you will be prompted either proceed with shutdown, or to simply minimise the server (leaving it running in the background): Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

95 If you do intend to shut down the server and clients are still logged in to the server, you may also be prompted: The Database Server Tab This tab displays statistics for the database server, and it also gives you the option of restarting the database server if, for any reason, you consider that it may have stopped working: You can also alter the amount of memory the database server consumes on your machine, while monitoring the number of active sessions, number of connected clients, and so on. Server Shutdown Client Confirmation Dialog The Consignor Database Server Configuration Utility Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

96 The Gateway Server Tab The Gateway server tab is used to control the status of the Gateway. This tab doesn't present all of the available options for administering the Gateway, but if you need to access those options, you should click the Gateway Manager button to bring up the Gateway Manager screen. This tab has some default options that you can change, for example, you can specify a standard date to apply to all new consignments imported via the Gateway, or you can change how often the Gateway checks for new files. The Check Now button is there for you to use when you want to force Consignor to check to see if any new Gateway files are ready for processing. The Gateway is started by checking the box marked Consignor Gateway Enabled if this box is unchecked, the Gateway is not running. For more information on administering the Gateway, see the section on Administering the Gateway, page 98. The Consignor Gateway Server Startup Control The FTP Server Tab This tab controls whether the FTP server is running. The large textbox in the centre of the dialog stores a log of all FTP attempts made, and the counter at the bottom tracks how many FTP requests have been made in total. The FTP Server Enabled checkbox is used to activate the FTP server so that FTP manifest data can be sent. The Consignor FTP Server Control Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

97 The Web Server Tab This tab is used to control whether users can connect to the central Consignor server and view consignment data on the Consignor Intranet over a web interface: The Consignor Web Server Administration Console In the large pane in the centre of the screen is a log of all of the requests made to the web server. One entry is made for each item downloaded from the web server, hence most of the detail above is for the images used on the front page of the Consignor Intranet. The web server is enabled by checking the box in the bottom right hand side of the screen. For more information on the Consignor Intranet, see page 80. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

98 Administering the Gateway The Consignor Customer Gateway is an optional component of Consignor that allows customers to import consignment data directly into Consignor saving on re-keying of data. The gateway is flexible in its ability to accept data in a variety of formats and configurations. The gateway can also return confirmation information when a consignment is accepted into Consignor. The gateway accepts data in ASCII files in either a fixed length or delimited format. The data must have one consignment per line and the file can have one or many consignments in it. The gateway runs in the background on a Consignor server and "polls" (looks at) a directory every few seconds for files with a particular file extension. The gateway can be configured using the Gateway Manager to run in a variety of ways; the gateway can either put the consignment data in a queue of unconfirmed consignments for later validation and production of labels or try to validate and print the labels immediately. When consignments are successfully posted and validated the gateway can optionally return a confirmation file giving final confirmed consignment information including the allocated consignment number. The gateway will work with all standard outgoing domestic or home consignments, collections, and carriage forwards. How the Gateway Works The Consignor Gateway is used to import data from an external system into Consignor. Once the gateway has been correctly configured, data files containing consignment data can be imported simply by copying them into a specific directory on the Consignor server machine, and that data will be processed and imported automatically. To use this facility, you will need to be able to export a flat ASCII file from your order processing system (ask your IT department if you are unsure). The basic components used to achieve this are as follows: Data files containing consignment information are formatted as either fixed length or delimited text files. The exact data structure is unimportant, as long as the fields can map successfully onto their Consignor equivalents. A schema file is used to map incoming data fields onto Consignor fields. Once this file has been created, data files can be imported automatically. A separate document exists that describes the fields used in the Consignor database for imported data, which can be used to create your own schema file. For more information, you should contact Consignor technical support. The Schema File The schema file describes the format of incoming consignment data, for example, which fields to expect, and how they are structured. It is used to assist with reformatting this data into a Consignor-compatible format. This file is created in collaboration between the Consignor development team and your IT department. Its structure is defined in the Gateway Manager's Import Schema tab. It is likely that, unless your data structure changes regularly, you will only have to configure a schema from scratch for your system once, and normally this process is performed by coordinating with the Consignor Technical Support team. Minor updates are relatively simple to perform via the Gateway manager. You should ensure that you are aware of the location of your companies schema file (with file extension.sdf) for administering the Gateway via the Gateway Manager. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

99 The Gateway Manager The Gateway Manager is a tool for controlling how incoming data is processed: The Gateway Manager The default tab visible when the manager is launched is the Import tab. The Import Tab In this main tab, several general settings are defined. Item Description Default Value Directory to Poll The physical patch to the directory into which incoming consignment data files are placed. File Extension The file extension of incoming files. *.txt Polling Interval The frequency at which Consignor checks for new incoming data. 10 seconds Action to carry out on Transfer Select from: Transfer to Holding Area: imported consignments appear in the gateway screen in Consignor, ready for confirming Post with no Labels all consignments imported are confirmed automatically and added to the list of consignments awaiting manifest, but no labels printed Post with Labels: all consignments are confirmed and labels printed C:\ProgramData\Business Post\Consignor\GatewayIn\ Transfer to holding area Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

100 Item Description Default Value Import Options Action on selection in holding area First field after picking from holding area Four checkboxes that control the level of duplicate consignment checking, how collections are handled, and whether to attempt to validate incoming consignments as they are transferred. The results of this validation are displayed in the Gateway screen in Consignor. If the list of imported consignments appears in the Gateway screen on Consignor, this determines what happens when the consignment is double-clicked. Either you are taken to the Consignment Entry screen or the consignment is confirmed and labels printed automatically. This field can be used to highlight a particular field in the Consignment Entry screen that appears once the consignment is picked from the queue in the Process Incoming Consignments screen. For example, you may find it more intuitive for users to be taken straight to the weight field so that they can enter the weight of the consignment if this data isn't included in the data you pass into the Gateway. Validate on Transfer Go to Consignment Entry The General Tab The general tab contains 2 checkboxes and the polling interval. The check boxes decide which elements of the gateway are run when Consignor Server starts and how often the gateway polls for files. The Import Schema Tab The General Tab of the Gateway Manager This tab is where the mapping between the fields in the imported file and the fields available in Consignor are displayed, and where the schema is loaded: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

101 The Import Schema Tab of the Gateway Manager The window at the bottom of the page highlights whether the schema file is matching the appropriate data in the example file (specified at the top of the screen), which is a good indication as to whether your import will be successful or not. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

102 On this screen, you can enter the following data: Item Schema Definition Example ASCII File Import Type Delimiter Delimiter is a Tab Fields Available, Fields in Import File Occurrence (appears only if Delimited is selected as the import type) Start Position & Field Width (appears only if Fixed Length is selected as the import type) Field Formats Description File name and path to the schema file for your data A file containing sample data for testing the schema file against (results appear in the bottom window) Either import data from a Fixed Length type of text file (fields identified by character position in text file) or a Delimited (data fields separated by special delimiter characters) file. If a delimited file type is selected, this is where the delimit character is specified Tick this box if your field delimiter is a tab. These two list boxes relate the data fields in the source data file to the available fields in Consignor. The box on the left (Fields Available) contains a list of all Consignor data fields. The box on the right contains a list of fields as specified in the schema file. If the file is a delimited file, this specifies the number of the field counted in order from the start of the line. If the file is a fixed width file, this is used to specify the start position and the length of the field in the import file. If data is being imported from a system that uses different date or time formats (for example, a US based system), the format of the date and time needs to be specified in order that the data is imported correctly into Consignor. For example, 01/07/2003: Consignor reads this as 1 st July DD/MM/YYYY, not 7 th January MM/DD/YYYY) If you have not yet used the Gateway, when you first launch the Gateway Manager, a simple.sdf schema file is created for you as part of the initial configuration process that contains the default data. As you then configure the schema using the manager so that it works with your company's data, this file is updated. If you want to save the schema file with a different name, simply enter a new name and path in the Schema Definition field when you save the form by pressing F2 Save, the new schema file is saved. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

103 The Output Tab The Gateway Manager Output Tab If you check the Produce Posting Confirmation Information box, the gateway will output files whenever a gateway consignment is confirmed and turned into a real consignment with a consignment number. The output file will be saved to the specified directory (please do not use mapped drives because they can be unreliable), the default is C:\ProgramData\Business Post\Consignor\GatewayOut\. The GatewayOut folder is always shared. The output filename is always the same as the input filename. You can also choose whether to output cancellations data and information on validation failures for future analysis. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

104 Consignor Gateway Extract Format This is the format produced by selecting the Produce Consignment Confirmation Extract File option from the Consignment menu in Consignor. The file is a delimited file, delimited by the delimiter you specify. The field order is as follows: Customers Reference Consignment Number Collection Date Number Of Parcels Weight Outer Postcode (bit before space) Inner Postcode (bit after space) UK Mail Service Code Business Name Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Placename/Locality Postal Town County (or Country if International) Delivery Outer Postcode (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Inner Postcode (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Business Name (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Address 1 (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Address 2 (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Placename/Locality (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery Postal Town (Collection/Carriage Forward only) Delivery County (Collection/Carriage Forward only) UK Mail Country Code (International only) Alternative Reference Country (International only) InternationalWeight (International only) UK Mail account number Deleted flag, Y if consignment was deleted Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

105 The Defaults Tab This tab is used to specify the default company and service for Domestic, International, mail and pallets consignments, and to configure the default service to use for collections: The Gateway Manager Default Tab This tab is used when these fields cannot be output from the external system, and hence are not included in the file imported into the gateway. The Printer Queues Tab This tab is used to define printer queues that enable you to print selected incoming consignments on different printers according to which queue they are configured to use: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130 The Gateway Manager Printer Queues Tab In the example shown above, two queues have been configured to use a local Zebra label printer. You can add many different queues according to your PC network setup. For example, you may have two more consignor client machines, each with their own label printers this screen can be used to map the flow of consignments to each of these machines by assigning a printer queue to each client. All that needs to be

106 done then is to ensure, as the label at the top of the page highlights, that the PrinterQueue field on the Import Schema contains details of which printer queue to use for each consignment. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

107 Packet+ Gateway UK Mail offer a low cost packet service where parcels are collected by UK Mail, moved through the UK Mail network and then handed over to Royal Mail for final mile delivery. No tracking once within Royal Mail is available with these services. Minimum daily collection volumes apply. It is possible to use the Consignor gateway to produce Packet+ labels, details of the Packet+ shipments are not stored within Consignor once labels have been printed although a confirmation output file is produced with full details including the consignment number allocated. Packet+ Gateway can be used in two different scenarios: As the gateway imports data files it immediately prints Packet+ labels if the shipment details passed are valid. Using this method the printer queue functions can also be used to automatically print the Packet+ labels to different network printers dependant on a value in the input data file. The gateway imports data and holds the records in the Process Incoming Consignments screen within Consignor ready to be printed off on demand. This also allows for records to be searched for within the queue by sales order number (customer reference), with use of a barcode scanner and the sales order number barcoded on your despatch paperwork you can even scan to label: Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

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109 Packet+ Gateway Import Format Like the rest of the Consignor gateway, the fields to import into the Packet+ gateway can be setup using a Gateway Manager field schema mapping: If your Consignor is licenced for use only with Packet+ and with only one Packet+ account number then it is possible for Consignor to just import name and address fields to produce Packet+ labels (example schema shown above). To do this you must also setup the Packets return address within Consignor using the Maintenance -> Companies option from the menu. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

110 The full list of available Packet+ Gateway import fields is listed below: Field Name Type Size Mandatory Description CompanyIdentifier Alpha 10 Y UK Mail account number JobDate Date 8 Y Despatch date of the Packet+ consignment DDMMYYYY Contact Alpha 40 Y Customer contact for delivery DestinationName Alpha 40 N Business name Address1 Alpha 40 Y Customer Address1 Address2 Alpha 40 N Customer Address2 Placename Alpha 40 N Customer Placename Posttown Alpha 40 N Customer Postal Town County Alpha 40 N Customer County PostcodeBoth Alpha 9 Y Full Postcode TrunkWeight Integer 4 N Declared weight in grams e.g = 1.5Kg. N.B. The packet will be check weighed on entry into the UK Mail network. ServiceKey Integer 4 Y UK Mail Packet+ Service Code CustomersRef Alpha 20 N Your Reference AltRef Alpha 20 N Second alternative reference Notes Alpha 160 Y Return address for Packet SpecInstr1 Alpha 30 N Message line 1, appears on label underneath postcode. SpecInstr2 Alpha 30 N Message line 2 PrinterQueue Alpha 10 N Printer Queue value, if not blank the printer queue list will be checked to match up a network printer to print the Packet+ label. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

111 Packet+ GatewayOut Export Format The GatewayOut export file is produced when the Packet+ label is printed and the UK Mail consignment number is allocated. The filename of the file is the same as the name of the file imported. If the import file had many lines in it, as labels are printed more lines are just added to the export file. The format of the Packet+ Gateway Export format is as follows: Field Name Type Size Description CustomersRef Alpha 20 Your Reference AltRef Alpha 20 Second alternative reference Consignment Number Alpha 14 Unique UK Mail consignment assigned to this packet Account Number Alpha 10 UK Mail account number JobDate Date 8 Despatch date of the Packet+ consignment DDMMYYYY Contact Alpha 40 Customer contact for delivery Business Name Alpha 40 Business name Address1 Alpha 40 Customer Address1 Address2 Alpha 40 Customer Address2 Placename Alpha 40 Customer Placename Posttown Alpha 40 Customer Postal Town County Alpha 40 Customer County PostcodeBoth Alpha 9 Full Postcode TrunkWeight Integer 4 Declared weight in grams e.g = 1.5Kg. N.B. The packet will be check weighed on entry into the UK Mail network. ServiceKey Integer 4 UK Mail Packet+ Service Code SpecInstr1 Alpha 30 Message line 1, appears on label underneath postcode. SpecInstr2 Alpha 30 Message line 2 Notes Alpha 160 Return address for Packet Primary Sort Alpha 6 UK Mail primary sort Seg Code Alpha 2 UK Mail seg code Consignor User Alpha 10 Name of Consignor user who generated label Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

112 Appendices Appendix 1: Example Gateway Scenarios Example 1 As a customers sales order is confirmed for despatch on the customers Sales Order Processing system; a tilde (~) delimited file is sent down to the Consignor server running on Windows. A file is sent down for each sales order and the filename used is the <salesordernumber>.txt. An example file called is transferred (normally on one line but word wrapped here): ~28/07/1998~UK Mail~Express House~Wolseley Drive~Heartlands~Birmingham~West Midlands~B8 2SQ~Greg Hughes~ ~1~1~2~4~Leave at Security~Lodge~DES The fields in the file sent are: customers reference (sales order number), despatch date, despatch name, despatch address1, despatch address2, despatch placename, despatch posttown, despatch county, despatch postcode, despatch contact, despatch telephone number, company number, UK Mail service, items, weight, special instructions (x2) and alternative reference (despatch note number). The consignment details are transferred into a holding area awaiting confirmation and labels printing. The consignment is selected from the holding area and confirmed by using the customers sales order number: As the consignment is posted, a confirmation file (same name as file sent into gateway i.e txt) is produced: ~ ~28/07/1998~2~4~B8~2SQ~1~DES133444~ The fields returned are customers reference (sales order number), UK Mail consignment number, despatch date, items, weight, postcode out, postcode in, service code and alternative reference. If consignments are cancelled from the queue, or the queue is cleared at the end of the day, a file is produced (same name as file sent into gateway i.e txt) which provides an audit trail back to the customer sales order system ~DES133444~super~28/07/1998~15:14:19 The fields in the cancellation file are customer's reference (sales order number), alternative reference, user id of person who cancelled consignment, date cancelled and time cancelled. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

113 Example 2 A customer sends down a file twice a day by disk, the consignment data is immediately posted, validated and the labels are printed. The data is in a fixed length format and the file is called cons.txt: UK Mail Express BP Leeds 99 Leeds BP Slough 464 Berk BP Docklands Dockland A schema is defined in the Gateway Manager to describe the data format of the file: As the consignments are processed, the Gateway manager has been configured to immediately post and print labels. Again, as the consignments are confirmed a confirmation file is produced in the file cons.txt: /07/ B8 2SQ 1DES /07/ LE1 1DES /07/ SL1 4PL 1DES /07/ E1 1DES25 Since multiple consignments were imported in one file using a fixed length format, the confirmation information is also output in a fixed length format in one file (same file name, cons.txt). If the data is valid then the consignments are immediately posted and the labels are printed. If the data fails validation then the consignment can either be left in the waiting consignments queue to be corrected later, or the consignment can be discarded and an error file can be posted out of the gateway describing the validation error. Version Back to Table of Contents 30/09/ of 130

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