Automatic Shipping Documents
Automatically selecting and printing the right documents from Epicor Kinetic, based on the rules that apply to each transaction.
Challenge
When rules determine that multiple documents need to be printed, users shouldn’t have to remember which ones are required.
Outcome
A rules-based printing solution determines what’s needed and prints it automatically, while keeping users in control.
A manufacturer and distributer implementing Epicor Kinetic cloud needed help streamlining the dispatch process. The standard process worked, but preparing the paperwork required for many shipments involved significant manual effort.
The problem
Operating in a safety-conscious and regulated area, each shipment needed specific paperwork. A high proportion of deliveries were also international, adding further documentation requirements.
Kinetic could already produce each document on demand, so the process was functional. Users could print everything they needed. The problem was that they had to know which documents were required, remember to select them, and get it right for every shipment.
That added time to every dispatch and created an unnecessary opportunity for error.
The approach
We deliberately built the solution in layers. Printing depends on external factors that aren’t always under the ERP system’s control, so the automation needed to make the standard process easier without leaving users stuck if anything failed.
First, we added flags to the shipment record for each type of document that might be required. We then extended the standard dispatch-note printing process so that when Kinetic prompted for the dispatch note, every other flagged document was printed automatically at the same time. All of the documents remained available for manual printing as before.
Second, we modified the dispatch-note print screen to show which documents were flagged for the shipment. Users could review and change the selection when necessary, giving them visibility and control over what the automation would do.
Finally, we added rules-based automation to set the appropriate flags when each shipment was created. In normal circumstances, the correct documents were therefore already selected before the user reached the printing stage.
The outcome
Users no longer need to remember the paperwork required for each shipment or repeatedly select individual documents. The system determines the normal requirements and handles the printing automatically.
More importantly, automation hasn’t removed control. Users can see what the system has selected, change it when circumstances require, and still print any document manually.
The same principle isn’t limited to shipping paperwork. Wherever Epicor users are expected to know which documents a particular transaction requires, the system can potentially make that decision for them.
It is also a useful example of how we approach ERP automation: remove repetitive decisions where the system can make them reliably, while preserving visibility and a straightforward manual route when something unexpected happens.