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SendIT – Freight Despatch Module Version 1.6

Setup

After installing SendIT, and running it for the first time, SendIT will take you through the setup wizard.

Firstly, select whether you want to install the database on the local computer (use this option when SendIT will be used on a stand-alone computer), or in a network share (use this option if SendIT will be run from more than one computer, so multiple computers will be able to share the same database.) If you choose Network Database, you will require a shared network location where the shared files can be stored, and users will require full rights to that share (your network administrator will need to set this up before you proceed with the setup.)

Next, enter your account details (your sales rep should supply you with an account number). Leave the Connote Prefix blank – we will come back to that during the carrier configuration. Once your details are entered, click Create:

If you have multiple accounts, you can continue to create additional ones, or just click Next to continue. (NOTE: you can add additional accounts at a later time if necessary.)

Next select the carriers you want installed in SendIT from the list of available carriers. (NOTE: The first carrier you select will be set as the default carrier, but you can change this later on if required.) Click Next when done.

Finally, SendIT needs to be registered. If you have a MAPI-compliant email program (e.g. Microsoft Outlook) installed and configured, you can simply click the Email button, and you will get a registration key by return mail. If you use Web Mail (instead of a MAPI-compliant app.), you can click the Copy button, create a new email in your web-mail client, and paste into the body of the email (right-click and choose Paste, or press <Ctrl>V). Send the email to the address shown on the registration screen. Alternatively, you can call the phone number shown, but you will need to have the registration screen in front of you, as you will be required to quote the Build no, Licence No, and Registration Name exactly as shown on the screen.

Once you have your registration key, enter it into the field provided, and click

Register. If you are not able to get your registration key at this time, you can click Skip to continue, but you only have one month’s use of SendIT without registering the software.

Refer to Registration for more details.

NOTE: SendIT requires re-registering every 12 months.

Initial Setup is now complete! The final setup requirement is to configure your carriers (refer to Maintenance > Carriers.)

Logon

SendIT requires users to login, allowing system administrators to control access to various features in the system, and for users activities to be logged.

The system comes with two pre-configured users:

• The System Administrator (User Id = SYSADM, Password = aaaa). This account has full access to the system.
• A Generic User (User Id = USER, Password = 1234).

Passwords and access can be changed on these accounts, and new accounts added (see Security.)

Enter your User Id and Password to login to SendIT.

Consignments

Select Enter Consignment from the Consignment menu. Most of the work done in SendIT is performed from the consignment screen.

Enter a Consignment

Data entry in SendIT is configurable, so the screen can be customised to meet the needs of the user (fields in white are the normal data entry fields and the cursor will tab through these fields. Colour fields cannot be reached using the tab, but can be access with the mouse.) In typical use, data entry involves the following steps:

• Select a receiver or enter a new receiver
• Record any customer reference numbers (eg. invoice, order, pick slip etc.)
• Enter details about the items making up the consignment (number, type, description, weight, cubic.)
• Record any specific instructions for delivery.

Default values will usually suffice for the other consignment fields.

Selecting a Receiver

SendIT can store receiver details in a database to avoid repetitive data entry. These receivers are retrieved from the database using the select field on the consignment screen. SendIT requires all receivers stored in the database to have an account number, however, the application can be configured to generate account numbers for new receivers.

The application will be pre-configured to select receivers either by account number, or by name (this behaviour can be changed however by ticking the checkbox at the end of the Select field.)

Begin typing the account number or receiver name, and a drop-down list will appear containing all matches from the database.

You can select an item from the list using the keyboard arrow keys or the mouse, or type in the complete account number or name and press enter. If you type an account number or name and press enter, and the entry cannot be found in the database, then the cursor will drop down to the receiver fields so you can enter the details for the new receiver. By default, SendIT will save the new receiver when the consignment is saved.

SPECIAL CASE: If your configuration is set to retrieve receivers by account number, then you can enter one-off addresses using the special account “0”. Using this account number will drop the cursor down into the receiver address fields so you can enter the one-off address. The address will not be saved in the receiver database.

Customer Reference

SendIT can store multiple references, eg. an order number, an invoice number, a picking slip number, or multiples of each.

To record a single reference number against a consignment, enter its value into the Customer Reference field. The value in this field will print on the address labels.

To record multiple references, click on the Refs button.

Enter each reference into the New Reference field and press Enter to add it to the references list. To remove an entry from the list, just click on the entry you want to remove.

Press Enter when the New Reference field is blank, or click the Close button,  to close the form.

Item Details

SendIT records details (weight, cubic measurements, type, description, and contained dangerous goods) about each individual item. By default, the Consignment Items form will popup automatically when entering a new consignment, or it can be manually opened by clicking the Items button.

If all items in the consignment are different, then the details for each item will need to be entered one at a time. If you have multiple items of a similar weight and size, they can be entered in bulk.

Select the Item Type from the drop-down list (using mouse or arrow keys) or type in the item code. For existing types, the weight, measurement and description fields will be filled with default values (these can be over-written.) If you enter the code for a new type, you will be prompted to save the type so that it can be recalled in future.

If the package contains DGs, enter the UN number, and select the appropriate entry from the drop-down list.

When you enter off the description field, the item record will be added to the list (alternatively, click the Add button.) To remove a record from the list, just click on the record you want to remove.

Save and Print

Once all details have been entered, the consignment will automatically be saved when you enter off the last field. In the default configuration, Special Instructions is the last field, so pressing Enter or Tab with the cursor in that field will save the consignment.

If the auto-save is successful, then labels and a connote will automatically print for the consignment if required. (Auto-printing of labels and connotes is configurable for each carrier – the default is to print labels only.) After printing, the screen is cleared ready for the next consignment.

Alternatively, the consignment can be manually saved by clicking the Save button.

Find a Consignment

Click on the Find button to open the search screen.

Enter your search criteria in the search fields and click the Search button to find a consignment. If you click Search without entering any criteria, all consignments in the current database (SendIT archives data monthly, so the system comprises a current database, plus a monthly archive database for each of the past twelve months.)

Unless a date or date range is entered as part of the search criteria, then only the current database is searched.

Click on a consignment in the list to view the details in the consignment screen.

Reprinting Labels

Some or all labels for a consignment can be reprinted, as long as the consignment is still active (a consignment is no longer active in the system once that consignment has been included in a transfer file.)

To reprint all labels for a consignment, find the consignment, either through the search screen, or if it’s a recent consignment, you can scroll through the consignments using the previous or next buttons. Once the desired consignment has been found, click on the printer button.

To select individual labels to print, click on the Label button to open the Label Print form.

Type in the consignment number and you will receive a drop-down list of matching labels (there is a three-digit suffix on the consignment number representing the label number, i.e. 001 = label 1.) Select the start and end labels in the range you want to reprint, and click the Insert (single right-pointing arrow) button.

You can insert multiple ranges to the list. You can also remove items from the list by selecting them and clicking the Remove (single left-pointing arrow) button. You can clear the list by clicking the Remove All (double left-pointing arrows) button.

Once the desired labels have been selected, click the Print button to print the labels.

Manifesting Consignments

Consignments are typically manifested at the end of the day, but can be manifested multiple times throughout the day.

To manifest consignments, select Carrier File Transfer from the File menu on the main screen, or click the Transfer button on the consignment screen.

The Carrier’s list (top left) will show a list of all carriers, and the number of consignments available for manifesting. All consignments for the selected carrier with a release date up to the current date that have not been manifested are available. Consignments that had been entered with a future release date cannot be manifested until that release date.

Generating the Manifest

Typically you will be releasing all consignments, so select the carrier (all available consignments for that carrier will be listed in the Consignment List and selected for manifesting) and click Create Manifest.

Some users however will prepare freight for despatch, but may not despatch the freight immediately (eg. they may wait for payment before releasing the goods.)

To select consignments for release, just select your carrier, and tick the consignments you want to manifest (by default, all consignments are ticked, so you just need to untick the consignments you want to hold.)

NOTE: Clicking on the column header above the tick boxes will select/deselect all consignments:

Alternatively, you can use the filter option to select consignments for release:

E.g. you may want to manifest freight for each state separately (in this case you would choose a Sate from the State drop-down list.

NOTE: By default, manifests are generated with the current date as the release date. If you require a different release date, change the release date in the Consignment Filter section before generating the manifest.

Transferring the Manifest

SendIT will automatically transfer the manifest when it is created, so this step is no longer necessary. Occasionally, however, the carrier may request that you re-send their manifest. In this case, select your carrier, select the manifest (or manifests) you need to resend, then click the Transfer button.

Printing the Manifest

To view a copy of the manifest, click on the Print Manifest button. If you do not select a manifest from the list, then the system will select the first one (most recent) from the list.

The format of the Manifest is determined by the selection made in Manifest Format combo. If a carrier has a specific format manifest they require, that format will be selected when you choose the carrier.

Printing Connotes for a Manifest

Typically, connotes are printed by the carrier from the transferred manifest, leaving the SendIT user with a “paper-less” system. However, there may be circumstances where a customer is required to print connotes. The SendIT connote is designed to be printed on plain A4 paper, and best quality is achieved with a laser printer.

To print connotes for a manifest, click on the Print Connotes button. If no manifest has been selected from the list, then the connotes will print for the first (most recent) manifest.

Reports

Select Reports from the main screen menu.

There are two four types of reports available:

• The Daily Activity Log: This is a list of all SendIT activity for a specified day, and includes Log In/Out events, consignments added, modified, or deleted.
• The Transaction List: Similar to the Manifest Report, except different criteria can be selected. There are 4 variations (Layouts) available as shown in the samples below.

The reports can either be viewed/printed, or exported to a csv file where the data can be loaded into another system, or manipulated using an application such as Microsoft Excel.

DG Report

Item Summary (or Detailed) Report

Multi-reference Report

Standard (or Basic) Report

There are two types of reports available:

• The Daily Activity Log: This is a list of all SendIT activity for a specified day, and includes Log In/Out events, consignments added, modified, or deleted.
• The Transaction List: Similar to the Manifest Report, except different criteria can be selected.

The reports can either be viewed/printed, or exported to a csv file where the data can be loaded into another system, or manipulated using an application such as Microsoft Excel.

Maintenance

Re-usable data such as receivers, dangerous goods descriptions, and types of items, are stored in the database so the information can be retrieved. From time to time you will need to add, delete, or modify this data. Data in these tables can be maintained from the Maintenance menu on the main screen.

Accounts

To maintain your account details, select Accounts from the Maintenance menu.

Choose an existing account from the Name drop-down, then edit the details, and click Save. Or click Clear, then enter the details of a new account (if you require multiple accounts.)

Carriers

To maintain or configure your carriers, select Carriers from the Maintenance menu.

During initial setup, you need to come to this screen to configure your connote sequence generation, and setup your label and connote printers.

Dangerous Goods

To maintain your list of dangerous goods, select Dangerous Goods from the Maintenance menu of the main screen.

Enter the UN number and select your entry from the drop-down list. If the UN number doesn’t exist (i.e. a new DG), just enter the new details and click the Save button.

Click on Delete to remove the selected entry from the list.

Item Types

To maintain your list of item types, select Items from the Maintenance menu on the main screen.

Select an item type from the drop-down list to maintain an existing type, or enter a new item code (NOTE: Item Codes can be a maximum of 10 characters) to create a new item.

The length and weight measurements are defaults for the selected type, but can be modified when creating a consignment.

Maintain Receivers

To maintain receivers, select Receiver from the Maintenance menu of the main screen, or click the Receiver button on the consignment screen.

As with the consignment screen, use the Select field to locate a receiver. The details recorded in the Receiver database are default values, but can be over-written in the consignment screen.

Service and Account are linked to Carrier, so to set a default value for these fields, you must first set a default Carrier.

Utility Features

Backup and Restore

To backup the main SendIT database, select Backup from the System menu of the main screen. This will create a backup of the main database, using a timestamp (ddmmyyhhmmss.bak) as the filename.

To restore the main database from a previous backup, select Restore from the System menu on the main screen. Enter the backup file timestamp of the backup you want to restore.

Security

SendIT requires users to log into the system, and all activity by the user is logged. To use the security features of SendIT, all users should be given their own login, and the system administrator password changed.

To access SendIT security, select the Security menu from the main screen.

An existing user can be modified by selecting the user from the drop-down list, or a new user created by typing in a new name and details (NOTE: Names and User Ids must be unique.) To save changes, click on the Update button if modifying an existing user, or click the Add button if adding a new user. 

The UserID cannot be changed. This is because the ID is recorded on transactions and deleting the UserID would invalidate the data. The Name for a UserID can be changed. If a UserID is no longer required then it’s status  should be changed to inactive.

NOTE: Name, User Id, and Expiry Date are required. Be aware that some older computers will not accept a date beyond 31/12/2029, so a date of 31/12/2030 would be treated by the computer as 31/12/1930, and therefore SendIT will prevent access.

All users require a password. To set or change a password for a user, click on the Password (Pwd) button (NOTE: If you are creating a new user, you must save the user before you can set the password.)

Enter the old password (this will be blank for a new user), then type in and confirm the new password.

Any user can access the Change Password feature from the Change Password menu on the main screen.

Polling

Consignment entry in SendIT can be automated using its polling feature. This process monitors a specified folder for data files, and when they appear, it will load the file, creating consignments and printing labels automatically.

The polling process is a valuable time-saving feature of SendIT for customers that have their own system that records the basic detail required by SendIT for generating consignments. The customer enters the detail into their own system, then outputs the data to a text file, which SendIT then loads through the poll process to generate consignments and print labels. Refer to your SendIT supplied for customisation of the poll process to meet your needs.

To start the polling process, click the Poll Now menu on the main screen.

The accepted record count will be incremented with every record that is successfully processed. If the poll process cannot process a record (usually due to invalid data), the rejected counter will be incremented, and the record will need to be manually updated.

To manually update rejected entries, click the Rejected counter.

A list of rejected records will be displayed in the grid. To correct an entry, select the entry in the grid and modify the data in the form fields. A message detailing the reason for the rejection will be displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the form.

Configuration

Some features of SendIT need to be pre-configured before installation. Other features can be modified from the application.

Printers and Paths

NOTE: The Label Printer setup has moved to Carrier Maintenance, so this section is now disabled.

Manifest Report Layout

Select the Report Printer and Manifest Report layout to be used as the default layout for Manifests.

NOTE: The printing module in SendIT is being replaced, so this section may be obsolete, depending on your version.

User Defined

Most features in the User Defined tab are pre-configured, so do not need to be changed.

The Label fields relate to the User Fields on the consignment screen. For example, if you wanted to record an order number in User Field 1, then set Label 1 to Order No (Order No will then appear on the consignment screen in place of User Field 1.)

The connote sequence is usually defined at carrier level, but if you have multiple carriers that share a common sequence, then those details are defined here.

Receiver Defaults

This tab sets the default values for new receivers, and specifies the behaviour of receiver details entered into the consignment screen.

Service and Charge To are now obsolete.

Minimum Search Characters represent the minimum number of characters entered into the Select field of the consignment and receiver screens before the system will start searching for receivers from the database. This is used to prevent the system from making unnecessary queries to the database.

When entering consignments, the default behaviour is to automatically add receivers to the database if they do not exist, and to ask the user if they want to update a receiver in the database if their address details have changed. This behaviour can be changed by selecting the appropriate options for Add and Update behaviour.

Data Entry

The consignment screen can be customised to meet the data entry requirements of the user. The Data Entry tab allows you to specify which fields are commonly used, and the tab order.

A value of 0 removes the field from the tab sequence (though it can still be access by the mouse.) A value of 1 is the first field in the tab sequence, 2 is the second, etc.

NOTE: If a user field is selected in the TAB sequence, then the field is mandatory.

The Configuration and Print Labels options are now obsolete.

System

The system tab is for information only – it specifies some of the pre-configured options in SendIT.

Carrier

The Carrier tab is obsolete – use Carrier Maintenance now.

Codes

The Codes tab allows you to maintain a list of pre-defined delivery instructions. This list will appear in the Delivery Instructions drop-down list in the consignment screen.

To add a new entry, enter in the text and click Save.

To delete an entry, select it from the drop-down list and click Delete.

Registration

SendIT requires a registration key to enable use to continue beyond 30 days from installation. 

The following screen will be diaplayed each time program is started during the first 30 days until a valid registration key has been obtained and entered.

The Registration key can be entered at any time during the first 30 days however you can use the software normally during that time by clicking the “Skip” button.

After 30 days the program will display the following message. Clicking ‘OK” will allow the registration page to display and you need to enter

If the Registration key has not been obtained and entered before the 30 days expired. The program will close when you click “Skip”. Entering a valid Registration key and clicking Register (provided the key is valid) will allow the program to continue.

How to Register SendIT

There are 2 registration methods:

Manual Registration (if and email client does not exist on the PC)

Copy the following information from the registration screen and email it (from another computer) to register@opensys.com.au. The following information must be copied exactly as shown on the registration screen including the Case of the letters in the name.

Registration Name

Licence No

Build No           

You will receive an email reply providing the Registration key. Copy the registration key and when you next use SendIT enater the Registration Key into the Registration Key field and click the “Register” button.

Automatic Registration (if an email client exists on the PC)

Click the “Email” button. The program will display the following message.

Click on “yes” to send the Registration request. You will receive a reply email containing the Registration Key. You can continue to use the program (within the 30 day period) by clicking “Skip” and enter the Registration Key when you next start SendIT.

To Register SendIT after receiving the key Copy the Registration Key to the clipboard by highlighting the number and pressing Ctl/C or using Edit/Copy from the menu.

Start SendIT and enter the key into the Registration Key field using the key sequence CTL/V. Click on the Register button.

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SendIT – Freight Despatch Module Version 1.6