• Inbound Container Handling Implementation Questionnaire

  • Overview

  • The goal of this document is to facilitate the implementation of the Inbound Container Handling app by implementation teams. A series of questions highlights general use cases and the setup fields that must be configured for each. Setup questions are categorized in the following topics/areas:  

    • General; includes container naming conventions, measuring systems, locations, and others. 
    • Receiving; includes over receiving, undoing receipts, and multiple transfers.   
    • Transfers; includes multiple transfers, transfers processing.  

    Example:  

    1.      Is there a naming format that containers must follow?   (Question/Use case) 

    a.       Container Nos.                                                                  Setup 1 

    b.       Use Default Counter as ID                                               Setup 2 

    Remember to complete the application Onboarding Wizard. This wizard is designed to avoid common issues caused by missing permissions or due to missing registration details.  

    Note that the application includes a total of 5 user-defined fields for each of the following categories:  

    • Free text 
    • Date 
    • Toggle 

  • General

    Identify configurations that influence the creation and general management of Containers, including single vs multiple vendor containers, the naming of containers and the documents it creates, and UOMs. 
    • Basic Container Use:  

    • What is your receiving process like?

      Note that when you receive a container (issue a receipt), you take legal ownership of the goods being transported in it.
    • Will you be receiving containers while they are still in-transit?*
    • Will you be receiving containers at one of your locations, potentially a warehouse?*
    • Is a third-party company (called a 3PL) helping to manage and transport your container?*
    • If you use the FOB receipt option (receiving goods at the port of shipment), will you be receiving your container in a location other than “on the water” before it is received in its destination?*
    • Container types (single vs multiple vendor), UOMs, and capacity:  
    • Typical containers have multiple purchase orders assigned to them, each containing different items. Will you be receiving containers where all the purchase orders come from a single vendor?*
    • What are the process metrics you use?*
    • When a Container Type has been assigned to a container, as Purchase Orders are added to it, the Container app automatically generates rough calculations of the container’s weight and cubage, and their utilization. Do you need to be able to manually edit those values in the container card?*
    • Naming of Containers and the documents these create 
    • Like other entities in Business Central (i.e., items, vendors, customers, etc.), Containers are assigned unique identifiers (IDs). Is there a naming format that your containers must follow?*
    • As containers go through their receiving process, transactions (and documents) are generated by the Container App in Business Central. Do the documents generated by the Container app have to be identifiable by their ID/Doc No.?*
    • Which ones?*
    • When a Purchase Order is linked (loaded) to a container, each one of the individual order lines in the document is added to and listed in the container (card). What type of Orders & Lines will be added to containers 
    • Will you be adding lines for non-inventoried items?*
    • Should these lines be blocked/disallowed for adding to containers?*
    • Will you be adding lines for G/L accounts?*
    • Should these lines be allowed for adding to containers?*
    • Will you be adding Released Orders?*
    • Should these lines be allowed for adding to containers?*

  • Receiving 

    Identify configurations that influence container receiving, including the type of receiving (FOB vs Standard), the locations containers are received to, and how quantities are treated.  
    • When a container is received, the receiver issues a receipt document and takes legal ownership of the container. Containers can be received at the port of shipment (FOB receipt), or at a physical location designated by the receiver (Standard).  
    • Is there a type of receipt that you will never use (Standard or FOB)? *
    • Is the option to undo a receipt required?*
    • When posting a receipt, the Container app automatically assigns the current date to the 'document date' field of the documents it generates. Do you need to assign a different date to this field instead of the current date?*
    • Containers can be received in different locations, and each of these locations can have different characteristics 
    • Is there a destination location that must be set as default when receiving containers? This is the location where containers are received by default.*
    • Is the destination in (see previous question) a warehouse?*
    • Quantities and over / under receiving 
    • Will you be always fully receiving PO lines?*
    • Will you be over-receiving items in containers?*
    • How will you treat unreceived quantities? Are these to be received in a different container?*
    • How will you treat unreceived quantities? Are these to be received in a different container? This refers to the situation when you receive less items than ordered. Are the remaining items to be received in a different container?*
    • After receiving a container to an in-transit location, will you require the option to modify the quantities received?*

  • Transfers

    Identify configurations that influence container transfers. These setups are found in the Transfer section of the Container Setup page. 
  • When a container is received in a physical location after being received while in transit (FOB receipt), a transfer document is posted. Will containers be transferred more than once – in addition to their destination from an FOB location?*
  • The Container application offers the option to automatically generate transfer orders when a container is received while in transit (FOB receipt). Should transfer orders be automatically processed upon posting an FOB receipt?*
  • When the Container app automatically creates Transfer Orders, should the origin location indicated in the transfer always be the previous location where a transaction was generated / posted for the container?*
  • Should be Empty: