How to Create External Releases
cieTrade's External Release feature helps Suppliers track Mill customer fulfilment. Below are the steps necessary to use this feature.
Setup:
1. Enable the feature under Settings > Preferences > System Options > check 'Use Release Management'
2. Further down the same page, select Mill (External Releases) from the Release Management Mode drop down
3. You will now see a 'Release Management' tab on the main left hand menu
Create Release(s):
1. Click on Release Management tab from the left hand menu. This will bring you to the release management inquiry, where all open and fulfilled releases will be displayed
2. The filters along the top are helpful to look for specific releases or information
The Status drop down shows if a release is open or if it has been assigned to a supplier.
The Warehouse denotes which warehouse you are packing the trucks from. If you are just brokering the load from the supplier to the Mill, then disregard this filter.
The Mill/Receiver allows you to filter by the Customer. This populates from all counterparties set to the customer role. The Supplier drop down lets you filter by the Vendor. This can only be filtered on once the Release has been assigned.
The Product drop down is pulled from the Order level detail or manually entered on the Generate Release form. You can filter the inquiry by specific products and grades.
The User filter lets you look for all the releases created by a cieTrade User. The Date range allows you to select which calendar range you want to search by or if all is checked, it will look at any release for any date.
3. Click Generate at the top of the screen. This will pop up a form to enter the details about the block of releases.
The Mill/Receiver is the Customer you are delivering to. The Location is the location the material is being shipped/delivered to. If you have a Sales Order in the system, you can select it here and it will populate the grade, packaging, price, delivery terms, department and trade type.
The bottom row allows you to enter a Prefix or a Suffix. The From and To is the sequence block. For instance 1 to 500 or 5678 to 5689.
4. Once you have all of the correct information entered, click Generate.
5. Under the Status, you can see ALL releases, or filter by Open (unassigned releases) or Assigned releases which have been tied to Suppliers.
6. Once you have a Supplier to ship to the Mill, check off the releases. This will make a create Shipment button appear at the top.
7. On the Create Shipment pop up, enter the details of the Supplier, and if applicable, the Purchase Order.
- Logistics details can be entered at this point if you have them.
- A freight expense can be entered as well. This will be applied to all the shipments created from these releases.
8. Once you click Create, these releases will be moved from OPEN to ASSIGNED in the Status drop down, indicating that they have been fulfilled.
9. You will now see a Load number on your release line. This is the brokerage worksheet where you will complete the logistics for the shipment.
If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team via email to support@cietrade.net.