This article is relevant if you are seeking to create a simplified delivery system in NetSuite using electronic signatures.
Background
Our general implementation philosophy is to listen to business requirements and address them with built-in, ready-to-use, trustworthy software to speed up implementation and lower risk. However, some clients prefer to avoid recurring charges for packaged software when possible. This was the case with a recent client who delivers goods daily to a commercial community using their small delivery fleet of vans. Given the number of daily deliveries, it made more sense to select the items ready for delivery, load them onto the vans, and deliver them to the customers. While I plan to write another article on the benefits of automatically sending address information to a logistics automation platform, this article focuses on simplifying and optimizing the process using electronic signature technologies to confirm shipments and invoicing.
NetSuite Simplified Goods Delivery Management Considerations
For many local delivery situations, the key task is to determine which orders are ready to be packed into a delivery van and assigned to a driver. In high-volume scenarios, optimizing the van’s capacity, transport time, and route is the challenge solved with a logistics automation platform. I will write a subsequent article on how we integrate with these tools to eliminate guesswork and provide optimized, efficient delivery routes that respect capacity limits and anticipate traffic conditions.
In this article, we will keep it simple because the number of delivery vehicles is small, and routing concerns are not the primary focus. The important considerations are to address the following requirements:
- Select Packed Orders: For each warehouse, when we mark item fulfillments as packed, they are ready to load in the van to ship. We need a tool to help us quickly select these orders so they can be instructed to be loaded on the respective delivery van.
- Delivery Management Record: Delivery selections are marked against a custom delivery batch record, indicating the driver, vehicle, date, and all picked orders. This helps us maintain control and provide an accounting of what is in the van.
- Work on Tablet Computers: The orders need to be easy to view on tablet computers because our drivers will be on the road in more challenging environmental situations.
- Electronic Signature on Customer Receipt: When the goods are delivered, we want the customer to sign electronically to indicate receipt acceptance. In this case, we plan to leverage the Adobe Acrobat (eSignature) Sign platform.
- Drive Formatted Content: We can craft the signature placeholders to easily make Adobe Sign perform by leveraging our license-free Content Renderer Engine to drive the creation and integration of high-performance Advanced PDF documents.
- Signature Indicates Acceptance and Earned Revenue: Once the customer electronically signs for the goods as received, we can automatically mark the item fulfillment record as shipped and generate an invoice using the best practice model outlined in my 2019 article, Best Practices for Automating NetSuite Invoice Generation.
Thus, the simplified model can be straightforward without adopting an idealized model that treats each delivery vehicle as a unique location and uses transfer orders to move goods from the warehouse to the delivery van, marking the goods as in transit, before returning to conventional item fulfillment records to indicate the goods moved from the delivery van to the customer.
Extending Adobe Sign NetSuite Integration to Drive Optimized Usage Patterns
The publisher’s Adobe Sign NetSuite integration assumes salesperson-related activities, and its licensing model is designed for those scenarios. However, by leveraging the well-defined Adobe Acrobat Sign API, we can customize the integration to create a more efficient software/service license model while tailoring the end-user experience to meet our specific needs.
Click on the images to view them full-screen for a better understanding of the model.
Watch a Short NetSuite Delivery Management with Adobe Sign eSignature Video (2:26)
Our Operations Practice, in collaboration with our Technology Practice, guided our client to a simplified solution. Below is a short demonstration video (2:26) by Boban D., Senior Technology Analyst, illustrating the use case and implementation model.
Click here to watch the video.
Solving NetSuite Driven Electronic Signature Ambitions
Sometimes, we need to keep it simple while ensuring smooth operation without incurring the avoidable recurring charges of traditional software service solutions. By carefully understanding the business ambitions and designing a solution that leverages the power of published application programming interfaces (APIs), we can implement components that keep costs low and make them easy for our clients’ staff and customers to use.
If you found this article relevant, feel free to sign up for notifications to new articles as I post them. If you see a solution that demands a straightforward logistics solution that can leverage eSignatures, let’s have a conversation.
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.
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