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What is an ASN?
ASN stands for Advanced Ship Notice. For manufacturers and distributors who use
“pick and pack” shipping or have “vendor cross-dock” requirements this is the
EDI document that usually causes the most problems. “Pick and pack” shipping
means that each shipping unit (carton will be used for this discussion, but it
can be rolls, pallets, crates, etc.) is not packed in a standard manner, but
rather in response to the particular purchase order it is fulfilling. “Vendor
cross-dock” means that vendor orders are shipped directly to a distribution
center but are packed for each final destination. Cross-docking is efficient
for the vendor since cartons do not have to be re-packaged upon receipt.
Normally, when ASNs are used, each carton being shipped has a label with a
unique bar-code. The ASN is usually transmitted to the receiver when the
shipment leaves the sender’s warehouse. The ASN references each carton by its
bar-code and provides its exact contents. It also typically provides such
information as the ultimate destination of the carton, the weight, what
purchase order it is fulfilling, and tracking numbers (for UPS or FedEx
shipments, for example). Also information for the entire shipment is generally
provided, such as the date it left the warehouse, the expected delivery date,
the carrier, the shipment weight and volume, and Bill of Lading (BOL) or
authorization numbers.
ASN information is extremely valuable to the receiver, since it allows
pre-planning for the shipment receipt, makes it easy to get the cartons to
their final destination, and makes it easy to determine if associated invoices
should be honored. Most importantly, the contents of the carton do not have to
be inventoried or even opened (until they reach their final destination).
However, for this to work profitably for the receiver, the contents of the ASN
document must be extremely accurate. Usually a small percentage of the cartons
are opened and compared to the associated ASN on a periodic basis. If ASN
errors are found, fines of several hundreds or even thousands of dollars can be
levied for shipments as small as one or two cartons.
Because of the great variety of information that must be provided and the
requirement for accuracy, it is not feasible to manually create an ASN document
unless the shipment is quite simple. This is particularly true for pick and
pack or vendor cross-dock shipments. In these circumstances, a computer program
is generally used that captures the required information as the shipment is
being created and also creates the bar-coded labels required for each carton.
In the best circumstance, the program will also create an invoice for the
shipment, since most or all of the information necessary for invoicing is
already used in creating the ASN. ASN programs can be quite complex if many
different types of shipping scenarios must be addressed.
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