Proof of Delivery Import (EDI)

Proof of Delivery Import (EDI)

Proof of Delivery Import (EDI)

Overview

Transvirtual lets you set up EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) import rules that allow you to upload PODs (Proof of Delivery) and link them to a specific consignment. This is useful when an external system sends PODs directly to your Transvirtual account, for example where an agent emails you PODs for any work they have performed for you. This article runs through an example setup: emailing PODs to Transvirtual so they attach automatically to the relevant consignment.

Navigate to Import/Export > Data Import > Proof of Delivery.

Create the Import Rule

  1. On the Consignments POD Import Settings page, click Add Import Rule. A pop-up to create a new import rule displays.

  2. Manually enter the Rule Name and select the Import Framework using the drop-down button, then click Create.
  3. Once the rule is created, it displays in the Import Rules tab in orange, indicating it is not yet active.

Configure the Import Rule

  1. Double-click the new rule. Its details appear on the right side of the screen.
  2. On the rule detail tab, update the details:
    • Rule Name: this is the name of the EDI rule and should already be populated from when you created the rule. This can be changed if needed, but the name should be reflective of what the rule does or is used for.
    • Import Framework: this is how PODs will be uploaded to your account. In this example, we are using Transvirtual Email Account, which means any PODs emailed to the address listed against this rule will attach to the relevant consignment. To generate an email linked to this import rule, click the Settings button next to this field.

      The View the Email Settings for this Import Rule pop-up displays.

      Click Generate Address, then click Update to apply an email to this EDI import rule.
    • Import File Type: this is the import file type that must be used to attach PODs via this import rule. For this example, we are going to set this to Image Only.
    • Customer (Optional): if this POD import rule is for a specific customer, you can limit it to just that customer by setting their name against this EDI rule in this field. This is not required, as Transvirtual uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that matches any consignment numbers found in a POD image to consignment numbers in your account. If needed, this setting can be used to ensure only PODs captured by this EDI rule are attached to consignments for the specified customer.
    • Agent/Supplier (Optional): used to set an Agent/Supplier that will be responsible for the PODs. If you specify an Agent/Supplier, when the POD attaches to the relevant consignment, the consignment is automatically assigned to that Agent/Supplier, which then generates an auto Agent price for finance purposes. Only use this field when the Agent/Supplier for any consignment PODs under this EDI rule will always be the same.
    • The remaining settings specify Date/Time Formats, if they differ from what has been set up in your account. Configure these if required; this example leaves these fields blank.
      Note: Ensure the correct Timezone has been set.
    • Once the settings are configured, enable the EDI rule by setting the toggle to Yes, then click Update to save the changes.
    • The EDI rule now appears white in the list, indicating it is active.

Send PODs via the Import Rule

  1. Once the POD import rule has been set up, any PODs emailed to the linked Transvirtual email address are attached to the relevant consignment in your account, provided the POD image is of good quality.
  2. POD images should be grayscale, 100-200 dpi and of good quality, with no shadows obstructing numbers. The image should not be too small or taken from too far away. The ideal method to generate these POD images is to scan the paper PODs through a scanner or multi-function printer scanner.
  3. The POD should be an image type file (such as PNG or TIF). An image similar to the one below should work with no issues.
  4. When ready to email PODs, send the POD images as attachments. Multiple PODs can be sent in one email, but there must only be one POD per image file.
    Alert: This process does not work if an image attachment contains more than one page of PODs. PODs must be single-page, single-image files.
  5. The email for this example could look something like the below.
  6. The email is sent to the email address generated for this EDI import rule. The attached image file should contain only one POD image, in grayscale and of good quality.
  7. Once emailed to the linked Transvirtual email, the POD attaches itself to the corresponding consignment in your account. The status changes to Delivered if applicable.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

If the import is unsuccessful, the POD is added to an open image batch under Transport > Administration > Upload PODs/Images, on the Global Batch List tab. The Import History page also shows failed POD imports, as in the example below.
PODs that fail to import (for example, due to poor image quality) are added to an open image batch so a staff member can manually assign the POD to the relevant consignment, if applicable. This ensures all applicable PODs are assigned to their relevant consignments and none are missed. Below is an example of a failed POD import.
Double-click the batch to action it and assign each image to the relevant consignment. For more information on processing an image batch, see Uploading and Processing Images.

Notes

POD Filename Usage
The filename of a POD file can assist with matching PODs to consignments if the image quality is poor or unusable. For example, the file below is named per the consignment it should attach to, plus the file format.
Note: The .png seen here in the filename is added automatically based on the file type; since the file is a .png, the extension is added.
To open the image, double-click any of the columns. The import data page opens, as shown below.
When opened, the image quality of this POD is poor and the barcode or consignment number is not readable. You would expect that as a result of this poor image quality, the POD would not match any consignments. However, this POD was successfully attached to the correct consignment because the filename used was the consignment number, as shown below.
This functionality does not work with email type imports. It only works if the import type is set to FTP (including Remote FTP), as shown below.
This is due to the way in which files are received via FTP versus email. FTP delivers the file more directly, whereas email type POD imports send an email to Transvirtual, which then has to extract the image from the received email.
Date Time Listed on POD
A POD imported and attached to a consignment after the expected delivery date/time lists the expected delivery date/time as the POD time. For example, in the image below, the POD completion time is listed as 16/10/2023 at 2:08 PM Eastern Australian time.
In the admin tab of the consignment, you can see the expected delivery date/time, as shown below.
Note: the expected delivery date is based on your setup in Transit Times.
The system has no information to tell it otherwise for this example consignment, so it uses the expected delivery date for the time and date of POD completion. Transvirtual works this way because the system cannot always read handwriting on a POD image that specifies when a delivery was completed. Defaulting to the expected delivery date/time also compensates for situations where an agent completes a delivery on time but takes a week or two to email the POD across.
If the POD arrives and attaches to a consignment before the expected delivery date/time, the POD completion time listed is when the POD was imported, as shown below.
ImageOnlyManualProcess
If you create an import rule and set the Import File Type to ImageOnlyManualProcess, as shown below, any file uploaded via this rule lists the import as completed.
The POD image then appears in the open image batch, as described above. This setting lets you import the POD images but places them all in the open image batch, so a staff member can manually process them when required.

Related Article

For more detailed information about shared EDI import concepts, see Shared EDI Import Concepts.