Consignment labels (also called shipping labels or tracking labels) are documents attached to parcels that enable your carrier to track and deliver goods to the correct recipient. Each label includes the consignment (tracking) number, a barcode, the recipient's name and address, and the sender's name and address.
A single consignment may contain multiple articles (individual packages). When this is the case, each label displays the article number within the consignment, such as 1 of 3.
A manifest is a complete list of all consignments assigned to a single shipping carrier. Manifests are generated automatically when a consignment is created for an order. You must only submit a manifest after the carrier has physically accepted the goods. Submitting a manifest does not notify the carrier to arrange a pickup. You must continue to book pickups through your usual process.
Create Consignments
Once an order has been picked, packed, and is ready for dispatch, you can generate a consignment label for the shipping carrier.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > Pack.
Note:If you process orders individually through each step or in bulk, you may access this from a different sub-menu. - Open the relevant order by clicking the order ID.
- Scroll down to the shipping section.
- Select either Auto Generate a Shipping Consignment or Manually Add a Shipping Consignment.
Note:An automatically generated consignment applies your predefined settings to create a consignment and articles based on the products ordered and the customer's selected shipping option. A manually added consignment allows you to select the shipping option and define articles as required. - After adding a consignment, review and edit the shipping articles that form the consignment.
Note:If you are using a package-based shipping service, select the applicable package size. Verify that the package size maximum weight is not below the total weight of the order. Edit the dimensions and weight of each article. Each article will generate its own label as part of the consignment. You can also change the selected shipping option using the drop-down list at the top left of the consignment, combine selected articles using the "Combine Selected Articles" button to indicate items packed together, or create a second consignment by clicking "Manually Add Shipping Consignment" again and removing articles already assigned to a previous consignment. - Click Create Consignments & Dispatch to generate consignment labels and mark the order as dispatched, or click Save Changes to create consignments without updating the order status.
- Consignments are now created and added to the relevant manifest. Apply the printed labels to the corresponding packages.
Print Consignment Labels
When a consignment has been created for a sales order, you must print the labels and attach them to the articles.
- Open the sales order with the created consignment.
- Click the Print Shipping Consignment button to generate labels for the articles.
- On your browser's print page, click Print.
Note:Thermal label printers may cut off labels due to size constraints. If this occurs, set the print scale to 80% in the browser print settings before printing.
Edit a Shipping Consignment
You can edit a shipping consignment from the related shipping manifest. Alternatively, you can delete the consignment and create a new one.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > Manifests & Consignments.
- Select the shipping manifest that contains the consignment in Pending status that you want to edit.
- Click on the Consignment Number to open the order details.
- Update the length, width, height, and weight for any articles within the consignment.
- Click Save Changes.
- To reprint the updated labels, click Print Shipping Consignments.
Manually Add Tracking Numbers to Sales Orders
You can manually add tracking numbers to sales orders for shipments that do not use an integrated carrier, such as prepaid satchels.
Important: You must have a service and rates table configured for each service you use when manually adding tracking information. This prevents conflicts during order processing and ensures the correct tracking URL is sent to the customer.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > View Orders.
- Locate and open the order you want to update. The order status must be Pack or Dispatch.
- Scroll down to the consignment section and click Manually Add Shipping Consignment.
- Select a Shipping Service from the drop-down menu. This communicates to the customer which service was used to ship their order.
- Enter the relevant information, including articles and package sizes, dimensions (optional), and the tracking number (mandatory).
Note:Completing the optional fields allows you to track internal shipping costs, which are accessible via "Reports > Profit By Order." - Once saved, click the email icon to manually send the tracking number to the customer.
Print and Submit a Shipping Manifest to Your Carrier
In addition to submitting your manifest electronically, most shipping carriers require a printed copy to be provided at the time of pickup.
Warning: Do not submit the electronic manifest until the freight has been collected by the carrier. Once submitted, you cannot edit or delete consignments. Most carriers charge based on manifest content, so verify all data before submission.
Note: eParcel 2017 manifests cannot be printed until after submission.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > Manifests & Consignments.
- Select the manifest you want to submit.
- Click Submit manifest to carrier to submit the manifest electronically.
- Click Print manifest to produce a printed copy for the carrier or your own records.
Delete a Shipping Consignment
You can delete a shipping consignment at any point before the related manifest has been submitted to the freight carrier. Deletion is available from either the sales order or the manifest.
Delete a Consignment from the Sales Order Screen
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > Pack or Dispatched.
- Locate the order containing the consignment you want to delete.
- Scroll down to the shipping consignment section.
- Select the Delete tick box on the right side of the consignment.
- Click Save Changes. The consignment is removed.
Delete a Consignment from the Manifest
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > Manifests & Consignments.
- Open the Pending Manifest that contains the consignment. Check the date and carrier to confirm you have opened the correct manifest. Confirm the manifest status is Pending.
- Select the consignment by clicking the checkbox on the left.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Delete Selected Consignments.
The consignment is now deleted.
Scan to Submit Manifest
The Scan to Submit Manifest setting allows you to verify that all consignments on a manifest have been packaged and are ready for carrier collection before submission. When this setting is enabled, each consignment must be individually scanned on the manifest page before the manifest can be submitted.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Settings > Tools & All Settings & Tools.
- Click Advanced Configuration.
- In the name field, search for the SCAN_BARCODE_BEFORE_MANIFEST setting and click on it to edit.
- Change the value drop-down to Yes and click Save Changes.
The Submit Manifest button is replaced by a Scan Shipping Label Barcode field. Use this field to scan each consignment on the manifest. Once all consignments have been scanned, the Submit manifest button becomes available.
You can view which consignments have not yet been scanned directly from the consignment list on the manifest page.
Create Multiple Consignments for a Sales Order
Products on a single order can be split across two or more consignments to allow shipment via different methods.
- In your Neto control panel, go to Sales Orders > View Orders.
- Click on the order for which you want to create multiple consignments.
- Scroll down to the order lines. In the Ship fields, enter the quantities to be included in the first consignment.
- Click Manually Add Shipping Consignment.
- Select the shipping option to use for the first consignment. The order lines and quantities are added to the consignment.
- In the order lines, update the Ship field values for the second consignment.
- Repeat steps 4 to 6 until all order lines have been assigned to consignments.
The order can now be dispatched with multiple consignments.