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Carrier integration is a vitally important part of the despatch process, streamlining the business for both B2B and B2C operations, especially when a scalable solution is required to match seasonal order volumes, whether that is in the 100s or 1,000s of orders. With the trend towards internet shopping firmly established, carrier integration has become prevalent in e-commerce as operators do all they can to optimise the use of labour and provide the accuracy their end users demand.
Carrier integration links warehouse management systems with the chosen transport. The delivery details are entered by the customer at the point when the order is created, avoiding any re-keying and helping to ensure accuracy. Once goods have been picked and are ready for despatch, the delivery label is generated automatically thereby alleviating the possibility of errors or bottlenecks. Problems with delivery details can be highlighted and corrected at this stage.
Integrating warehouse and carrier systems in this way reduces the potential for mistakes that can be expensive to rectify and damaging to brands, enables the use of multiple carriers to meet demanding delivery schedules and reduces costs.
Recognising this ever-growing trend, MACS has recently expanded its team of programmers to provide warehouse operators with a fast and inexpensive way to integrate their existing MACSwms system with those of their carriers, large or small, and to provide on-going support as needs change.
“As long as we have the correct Application Programming Interface (API) for your chosen carrier(s), we can integrate MACSwms to provide you with all the benefits of carrier integration, future-proofing your business and providing your customers with a much more accurate and reliable delivery” explained Esther. “We pride ourselves in offering a quick and effective service so that our customers can react to their working environment.”
In addition, MACS Software is a partner with Metapack, one of the leading providers of e-commerce delivery management technology. As a partner, MACS has integrated its software with Metapack, enabling MACSwms to ‘talk’ to any of the 400 carriers on the Metapack platform.
Carrier integration can boost production for warehouses by eliminating the need to double-key order information, receiving orders electronically and automatically populating the carrier information to print accurate labels and tracking information. It provides improved accuracy, thereby reducing the frequency of potential returns, lowering costs, achieving better use of time and providing greater flexibility.