This article is relevant if you are using NetSuite and you need a method to look up the rates for shipping based on box dimensions, not weight.
Background
During a recent NetSuite implementation, our client used sales orders to help plan their shipments of parts to customers in the United States. Their shipping policy is to pass through shipping based on the rates supplied by United Parcel Service (UPS). NetSuite has a built-in UPS service to lookup estimated shipment rates. NetSuite’s built-in algorithm is based on item weight.
Since our client’s items are lightweight by nature, shipping based on weight does not work. Using the power of the NetSuite platform, we helped our client solve this concern.
NetSuite Shipping Rates Based on Box Dimension
In our client’s situation, it was reasonable to anticipate the box/container requirements in advanced of the warehouse packing operation. By standardizing the box dimensions for height, width, and depth, we were able to work with UPS’s API service to perform our own price lookups.
In most simple terms, three information elements are required:
- Origination Address: lookup NetSuite’s location record to provide us the source address.
- Destination Address: adopt a sales order policy to restrict all line items to be fulfilled complete (no partials) to only one ship-to destination address.
- Box Dimensions: specifying the box requirements in advance of fulfillment helps plan the shipment and provides all the important height, width, and depth information.
Mimicking NetSuite’s built-in sales order behavior, we implemented a button that calls a custom SuiteLet that takes the parameters needed to call out to UPS’s rating API and obtain a price. Once the call is complete, we update the native Shipping Cost field. All the connectivity information for the API is held in secure configuration information.
Click on the image to better understand the application.
Getting Control Over NetSuite Shipping Cost
In our client’s specific solution, the process was relatively easy because of key order fulfillment assumptions. The good news is that once you have taken control over the NetSuite shipment rating service and produced the connectivity to UPS, you can easily shape the outcome to meet more complex requirements. For example, box packout demands can be calculated based on which items are contained within the sales order. The box size and the quantity can be algorithmically determined. Once box information is calculated, warehouse pick and pack instructions are more scalable and less error-prone. Should markups on the shipping cost be desired, it would be straightforward to include additional calculations. Performing background calculations for orders that are imported via EDI or other third-party remote order-level integrations (where there is no need for hands-on order entry) is a cinch.
Like all of the algorithms (sample bundle references here) we have created in the 10+ years of work in the NetSuite community, our intellectual property is available to our clients license-free. If you found this article valuable, feel free to receive notifications of future articles. If you have requirements to calculate shipping or other price lookups, let’s have a conversation.
See Related Articles
Marty Zigman
Holding all three official certifications, Marty is regarded as the top NetSuite expert and leads a team of senior professionals at Prolecto Resources, Inc. He is a former Deloitte & Touche CPA and has held CTO roles. For over 30 years, Marty has produced leadership in ERP, CRM and eCommerce business systems. Contact Marty to set up a conversation.
More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - YouTube
