Third-party logistics providers (so called 3PL’s) are specialized in warehousing, transportation and integrated operations as for example Value Added Logistics (VAL).
As of Q4 2016 these 3PL’s can participate on the Ariba Network in the logistic process flow between buyers and sellers. This participation is enabled for both domestic and international transactions. The 3PL providers can have contracts either with the buyer or the supplier. Transactions to support shipment organization, collection and transportation of the ordered items by the buyer were not available before Q4 2016 on the Ariba Network.
Ariba has created a new relationship called ‘Logistics’ to support this logistic process. Next to this also two cXML transactions have been created for the communication with the 3PL’s. These transactions are:
- Transport Request
- Transport Confirmation
With the Transport Request buyers can request all kinds of transportation services. The 3PL can return information to the Ariba Network using the Transport Confirmation
Third-party Logistics Provider configuration
To enable 3PL’s to the Ariba Network the Logistics Provider should be configured. The buyer with an admin account can create a ‘logistics relationship request’.
When the relationship is created, the ‘supplier’ can act as a logistics provider. This Logistics relation allows exchanging transport documents on the Ariba Network between customers and logistics providers.
The next step in the 3PL enablement is the configuration of the Transport Documents by the supplier. Suppliers which are created with Relation Type ‘Logistics’ are extended with the option ‘Electronic Order Routing’. Here the URL’s have to be maintained by the supplier, where to send the cXML messages for both the documents Transport Request and Transport Confirmation.
The only prerequisite to use this feature and gain the profits of this new collaborative Supply Chain is both the buyer and the logistics provider should be able to consume the cXML transport documents on their side
Would you like to know more about this topic? Please contact Compera for more information.[:]