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Connecting your carrier

  • Updated

Goal 

Xentral can communicate with multiple carriers to automate the creation and printing of your shipping labels. This guide will show you how the connection works in general and how to test this connection.

Prerequisites

  • There are no requirements in Xentral to connect your carrier. Some carriers need to activate an endpoint for you and Xentral, so you need to contact their support. If so, the corresponding manual for each carrier will contain the information.
  • If you want to test the connection, you should create some products and delivery addresses in Xentral. Next to that, you will need a delivery note
  • If you want to send tracking emails from Xentral, check if the corresponding email template fits your needs

Workflow

The following procedures describe best practices for connecting your carrier.

  1. Setting up the connection

  2. Testing the connection

Setting up the connection

You need a username, password, and/or API credentials for most connections. The detailed settings for each carrier are different, but the following steps are the same for all shipping providers:

  1. Log into Xentral and go to Administration > Fulfillment > Shipping methods.
  2. A list of available carriers displays, but no connection is established yet. If you found the carrier you need, click the pencil icon to open it.
    • Click the pencil icon to open the details page of the carrier. 
    •  Click +New the carrier you need is not listed.
  3. After clicking +New, Xentral displays a list of all existing interfaces. Select the one you want to use. If you use DHL, you can choose between “DHL versenden” and “DHL 3.0” - “DHL versenden” is enough for standard parcels.
  4. When you click the carrier, Xentral will generate a new interface. Most settings you see differ according to the carrier you chose. For a list of detailed manuals, click here.

Note: All detail settings contain a field to choose a printer. This field is empty when creating a new interface. Select the PDF document printer to check the created label. When a physical printer is connected, select this printer in the settings.

Hint: If your carrier has no standard interface in Xentral, you can consider a connection via Sendcloud. In that case, Xentral sends the request to Sendcloud, which takes care of the connection to your carrier. Xentral receives the shipping label and the tracking code from Sendcloud.

Testing the connection

Xentral can create the shipping label via different processes. You should use an existing delivery note or create a new one for testing. We recommend testing each use case that frequently happens, like standard deliveries and exports within and outside the EU.

  1. Log into Xentral and go to Fulfillment > Delivery notes.
  2. Open an existing delivery note or click +New to create a new one.
  3. Enter a delivery address and an email address to check the tracking mail. You can use a mock address for the delivery address, but you must use an existing postcode.
  4. Change the field Shipping method to the one you want to test and save these changes. If your shipping method is not listed, it might be due to a missing or wrong project in the settings of your delivery note.
  5. Enter at least one product to the delivery note in the Positions tab. The product should have weight in its detail settings.
  6. Go to the Parcel label tab to open the shipping dialog. You can change the delivery address in this dialog if you want to check a different one.
  7. Click Print shipping label.

Xentral displays the generated tracking code and gives you an option to scan and save a tracking code. Additionally, the Xentral download printer will give you an option to download the label as a PDF file.
Xentral will display an error message from the carrier if something is incorrect. If you need help with the connection, please contact our support team.

Common issues and questions

The generated and printed shipping label has a strange format.

  • Xentral does not create the shipping label. It requests it from your carrier. The carrier creates the label that Xentral passes to your printer without changing it. If the label has the wrong format, check your carrier's documentation. Another reason for incorrect printing could be the settings of your printer

I can’t print the shipping label, but no error message appears.

  • Confirm that you added the printer to the settings of your carrier in Xentral. 

I have different packaging stations, each one with its printer. How can I set this up?

  • Use a specific user account for each packaging station. You can add a different printer in the user-specific settings.

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