WMS: PRO# concept , generation and support for Parcel, LTL, TL shipment types in Sterling Supply Chain Application 7.11

Answer

   
1. What is a Pro#?
      Pro# is a tracking number used to track Load and Shipments.
      PRO Number refers to the unique progressive or serial number assigned by the carrier to identify and track a specific shipment and usually passed from an external Transport Management System to Sterling Application.
       
   
2. Which are the various documents where Pro# is used?
      Pro# is used on freight bills, bills of lading, and waybills for invoicing and tracking purposes.
       
   
3. How to generate Pro# in Sterling Multi-Channel Fulfillment Application?
      LTL Carrier Preferences should be configured in Sterling application for PRO Number generation.
      A warehouse may define the range of PRO Numbers assigned by a carrier. The PRO Number has a fixed length defined for each carrier, and may contain a prefix.
       
   
4. When does pro# get generated?
      PRO Number is typically generated during routing for a load with carrier type 'LTL'. The PRO number is regenerated automatically when the carrier/service on the load is changed.
       
   
5. Is Pro# generation supported for Parcel shipments?
      PRO# generation is supported for only LTL loads/shipments. For parcel shipments, tracking can be done using the container tracking number.
      Sterling Application does not support PRO# generation for TL mode.
       
   
6. Configuring PRO# generation for LTL mode in Sterling Application:
      
      Navigate to WMS tree --> Shipping -->LTL carrier Preference.
      Configure all the required fields based on the requirement.
      
      Note: System will decide whether the shipment falls into Parcel,LTL or TL based on Routing guide configuration if set-up. If not, it is categorized based on the Carrier-Service associated on the shipment.
       
   
7. Additional Information on PRO# and behavior with TL and LTL:
      Note: Below information is generic and not related to Sterling application.
      
      "PRO" is an acronym for 'Progressively Rotating Order'
      PRO number - A number assigned to each shipment which allows to uniquely identify that shipment.
      
      PRO# and LTL behavior:
      
      When using LTL in system or electronic processing:

The carrier will assign customer with a "pre-determined" set of PRO numbers to be used by that customer. This is done so that the customer follows the LTL carrier format and "progressively   rotating order". The customer "loads" these numbers into their system to process their bill of ladings with the correct carrier PRO number printed on them.
This LTL PRO number then becomes the actual freight bill number for tracking, invoicing, freight claims and any other reference purpose once the carrier accepts the freight.
For LTL one PRO number serves the purpose

PRO# and TL behavior:

As for TL, the carrier does not use a PRO number, but an identifier as we note. This "identifier" is normally the bill of lading (BOL) number issued by the customer system at the time of shipment.

This BOL number is then used for tracking and other purposes. This BOL is not normally used as the invoice number, but is cross referenced to another number issued by the carrier’s freight billing process.
For TL, customer needs to have BOTH numbers (cross referenced) to support the TL process.
This process is due to the fact that TL volume (based on identifier number required) is higher than that of the LTL carriers. A TL can have 30 to 75 plus PRO numbers in one truck and hence, set of PRO numbers can get repetitive with this kind of volume.