Shipping Cost utility for QuoteWerks

For use with: QuoteWerks v4.0 build 17 to v24.0 build 4.16.

About the User: This project was commissioned by a client who sells standard and customised pop-up shelters in part of a general review of their use of QuoteWerks and other internal systems, and with the goal of making some of their many processes less manual. They import components and manufacture / customise the end products for delivery to the customer.

Project Brief: the client (who also uses our ConnectIt Workflow add-on utilities for QuoteWerks) wanted to leverage the web services which are provided by 3D Bin Packing and FedEx to create an easier way for QuoteWerks users to calculate the cost of shipping an order to the customer. Based on a recommendation from Aspire Technologies (authors of the QuoteWerks software) and their experience with ConnectIt-Workflow we were approached to build a similar, minimal-fuss interface for this integration.

The screenshot and video below illustrate how the Tools menu | ‘One-Step Shipping Costs’ option calculates the Bin packing sizes and weights before providing the user with the FedEx courier delivery service options available for the QuoteWerks user to select:

Please click on the player below to view a demonstration video of the Courier integration and Shipping Cost calculation utility for QuoteWerks.

Features:

• Calculating the Bin packing sizes and weights from the Line Items in QuoteWerks using the 3D Bin Packing web services.
• Validation checks to ensure that all Line Items on the QuoteWerks Document will fit into the available Bin sizes.
• Saving of the 3D Bin Packing JSON details to the QuoteWerks Document.
• Calculating the FedEx courier delivery service options available based on the Bin sizes and weights, merchant and customer addresses and merchant FedEx account details.
• Breaking out details of the FedEx service charges and any particular notifications relevant to the chosen service.
• Saving the chosen service details to the QuoteWerks Document.
• Configuration options to tailor which fields in QuoteWerks are mapped to which fields in the 3D Bin Packing and FedEx web services.
• Support for QuoteWerks Standard, Professional and Corporate editions.

Benefits:

• Considerable time-saving as compared to manually working out the packing Bin sizes and weights, the FedEx services available based on the Order’s destination and the FedEx account considerations.
• Reduced likelihood of human error calculating details incorrectly or offering services which cannot be fulfilled.
• The utility runs seamlessly from the QuoteWerks Tools menu so the user experience is that they are using a QuoteWerks native feature.
• Once configured, very easy to train users on the additional functionality.

Differences to QuoteWerks’ out-of-the-box Features:

• The option for 3D Bin Packing optimisation.
• The option to configure multiple FedEx accounts.
• No need for QuoteWerks Real-Time module licenses.
• Size and weight package information is taken from the Product itself or written into the QuoteWerks Document and so no need to re-key information.
• Retrieves pricing for multiple packages with different sizes and weights in one single request to optimise costs.
• Includes validation as to what Document Type and Status combinations may have the Shipping Rate updated.
• Illustrates a breakdown of how the Shipping Rate is calculated (fuel, surcharges, etc.) which are also written into the QuoteWerks Document for reference.
• The options for HTML email notifications (see here).
• The option to retrieve Tracking References and Statuses into the QuoteWerks Document (see here).