Import inbound ASNs through data entities

Article
08/23/2023

Advanced shipping notices (ASNs) notify you about vendor deliveries. They help the sender describe the contents of a shipment and additional information about it, such as the items and packaging.

ASNs can help warehouse workers learn what is arriving when. Therefore, they can prepare. In addition, warehouse workers can use ASNs to match the details of a shipment to the related purchase order or inbound shipment order that was previously created.

This article presents a collection of scenarios that show, through examples, how to work with ASN files.

Important

Inbound ASN import applies only to items that are enabled for warehouse management processes (WMS). Before you can receive an ASN, a purchase or inbound shipment order must be registered in the system.

Inbound ASN

You import inbound ASNs by using the Inbound ASN V3 and/or Inbound ASN V5 composite data entities, which take advantage of the following child entities:

Inbound load header
Inbound shipment header
Inbound load packing structures
Inbound load packing structure cases
Inbound load packing structure case lines
Inbound load packing structure lines

The Inbound ASN composite data entities are intended for asynchronous integration scenarios where, for example, XML file–based imports can be used.

Note

Only the Inbound ASN V5 data entity supports inbound shipment orders. The type of order must be specified as part of the ASN data, which can be either InboundShipmentOrder for inbound shipment orders or Purch for purchase orders.

XML format for importing V3 ASNs

Supply Chain Management supports the following XML format for importing ASNs. Each node in the XML file represents an attribute from an individual entity.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Document>
    <WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseEntity>
                    <WHSInboundPackingStructureCaseLineV3Entity>
                    </WHSInboundPackingStructureCaseLineV3Entity>
                </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseEntity>
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity>
                </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity>
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
    </WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
</Document>

Examples of using the Inbound ASN V3 entity (only for purchase orders)

The following subsections provide examples of ASN XML import files for purchase order vendor shipments for Inbound ASN V3.

Example 1

The following example shows an XML file for importing vendor shipments for one purchase order when no case details are included.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Document>
    <WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity TRACTORNUMBER="0000101">
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity VENDORSHIPMENTID="VendASN_01" VENDORADDRESSCOUNTRYREGIONID = "USA" VENDORADDRESSSTREET = "123 Coffee Street" VENDORADDRESSSTATEID = "WA" VENDORADDRESSCITY = "Redmond" VENDORADDRESSZIPCODE = "98052">
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_001">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000176" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" QUANTITY="1" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" />
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
    </WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
</Document>

Example 2

The following example shows an XML file for importing vendor shipments for one purchase order when case details are included.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Document>
    <WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity ESTIMATEDARRIVALDATETIME="2021-04-25T11:00:00+00:00">
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity VENDORSHIPMENTID="MVR_SNN_0004">
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="MVR_SNN_0004" PACKEDTOTALQUANTITY="2.00">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseEntity PARENTPACKINGSTRUCTURELICENSEPLATENUMBER="MVR_SNN_0004" LICENSEPLATENUMBER="MVR_SNN_0004A" PACKEDTOTALQUANTITY="2.00" />
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000175" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" PURCHASEORDERLINENUMBER="1" QUANTITY="2.00" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" />
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
    </WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
</Document>

Example 3

The following example shows an XML file for importing vendor shipments for multiple purchase orders when case details are included.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Document>
    <WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity TRACTORNUMBER="0000101">
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity VENDORSHIPMENTID="VendASN_01" VENDORADDRESSCOUNTRYREGIONID = "USA" VendorAddressStreet = "123 Coffee Street" VENDORADDRESSSTATEID = "WA" VENDORADDRESSCITY = "Redmond" VENDORADDRESSZIPCODE = "98052">
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_001">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000176" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" QUANTITY="100" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" />
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity VENDORSHIPMENTID="VendASN_02" VENDORADDRESSCOUNTRYREGIONID = "USA" VendorAddressStreet = "123 Coffee Street" VENDORADDRESSSTATEID = "WA" VENDORADDRESSCITY = "Redmond" VENDORADDRESSZIPCODE = "98052">
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_001">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000177" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" QUANTITY="200" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" />
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000177" ITEMNUMBER="P0004" QUANTITY="300" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" ITEMBATCHNUMBER="BN0001" />
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_002">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseEntity LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_002_C01">
                    <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseLineV3Entity PURCHASEORDERNUMBER="00000177" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" QUANTITY="400" UNITSYMBOL="pcs" />
                </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureCaseEntity>
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
    </WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
</Document>

Example of using the Inbound ASN V5 entity

This section provides an example of an ASN XML import file for inbound shipment orders that can be used with the Inbound ASN V5 entity.

Note

The Inbound ASN V5 entity supports the MODULE attribute for both the WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity element and the WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV5Entity element. This attribute can be used for both purchase orders (MODULE="Purch") and inbound shipment orders (MODULE="InboundShipmentOrder").

The following example shows an XML file for importing shipments for an inbound shipment order that doesn't include case details.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Document>
    <WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity TRACTORNUMBER="0000104">
        <WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity VENDORSHIPMENTID="VendASN_04">
            <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity MODULE="InboundShipmentOrder" LICENSEPLATENUMBER="LP_ASN_004">
                <WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureLineV5Entity MODULE="InboundShipmentOrder" ORDERNUMBER="IO04" ORDERLINENUMBER="1" ITEMNUMBER="A0001" QUANTITY="2" UNITSYMBOL="pcs"/>
            </WHSInboundLoadPackingStructureEntity>
        </WHSInboundShipmentHeaderEntity>
    </WHSInboundLoadHeaderEntity>
</Document>

Inspect the results of importing an ASN file

Follow these steps to inspect the results of importing an ASN file.

Go to Warehouse management > Loads > All loads.
Find and open a load that was created as part of an ASN import.
On the Load FastTab, you should see values that are based on the XML file.
On the Load lines FastTab, you should see purchase order numbers and item details that are based on the XML file.
On the Action Pane, on the Ship and receive tab, in the Receive group, select Packing structure to review the packing structure of the load.
On the Pallets FastTab, you should see license plates that are based on the XML file.
On the Cases FastTab, you should see cases that are based on the XML file.
On the Items FastTab, you should see items and quantities that are based on the XML file.