The standard Xentral logistics process consists of three main steps:
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Handing the order over to logistics (auto dispatching)
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Picking products
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Packaging and printing the shipping label
After completing the steps from this article, you will be able to automate multiple tasks in your process, such as creating invoices, sending delivery notes, and stock write-offs.
To use auto dispatching in Xentral, please ensure that you:
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have basic knowledge of sales orders in Xentral. To test this process, create a few test orders containing at least one stock item.
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have basic knowledge of projects in Xentral
Note
Auto dispatching works only for orders with a green “traffic light”.
Select one of the following workflows to set up auto-dispatching depending on your business needs.
Hand over individual orders to logistics, create invoice and delivery notes. We recommend a manual workflow process for single orders.
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Log into Xentral and go to Sales > Salesorder. All open orders are listed in the overview. All dispatchable orders can be transferred to logistics with the dispatch transfer
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Create a sales order or open an existing one.
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Click the Action dropdown menu and select Mark as released.
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Click Save.
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Xentral has now created the invoice and delivery note for this order.
Hand over a selected list of orders to your logistics, create invoices and delivery notes for multiple orders at the same time.
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Log into Xentral and go to Sales > Salesorder.
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Open your main order list in the Delivery handover tab. Xentral displays all incomplete orders with the green traffic light.
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Click Calculate auto-shipping to update the list.
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Select each order you want to send to your logistics and select auto-shipping in the Bulk processing area.
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Click Execute to use the auto dispatching on all selected orders.
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Xentral has now created the invoice and delivery note for selected orders.
Note
When using the mark all setting to select your orders, Xentral will process only the orders from the page you’re currently on.
Use this option to hand over all orders ready for logistics automatically. This process runs at specific intervals, and you only need to set it up once.
Note
Once you activate this process starter, it starts processing all orders with a green traffic light without additional checks. We recommend running a test first using your test products, orders, and contacts. Green orders can thus be processed automatically by warehouse receipts.
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Log into Xentral and go to Administration > System > Processstarter.
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Click +New to create a new entry.
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Enter your preferred settings:
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Designation - enter the description of your choice.
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Type - The first Type field indicates whether you want the process to run periodically or at specific times of the day.
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Weekday - indicates if you want this process to run on a selected day only.
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Start time - indicates when this process starter becomes active. If you don’t need a specific starting time, the field can remain as it is.
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Last run - Xentral updates this field automatically.
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Period - This field represents the interval in minutes, and only appears if you have selected Periodically in the Type field.
Important
The minimum interval is 31 minutes. Do not use a less frequent interval.
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Type - Set the second Type field to cron job.
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Parameter - Enter autoversand_plus.
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Select the Active check box.
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Click Save.
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Xentral now creates invoices and delivery notes at the set interval.
The Shipping Transfer tab in the Order module (Sales > Order > Shipping Transfer) displays all orders that are ready to ship. All orders for which the payment status has been clarified and the item stocks are available are ready for shipping. For these orders, the shipping transfer can be carried out by auto shipping.
For each order, a picking slip is created that specifies the items and quantities as well as storage locations. With a picking slip, the required goods for one order at a time can be fetched from the warehouse (from the specified storage bins). With the picking list (also picking run) the required goods for several orders can be fetched from the warehouse (from the specified storage bins) at once. Once the items are retrieved from the warehouse, the shipping process can be started.