TRACTOR SUPPLY Co The Shipment Delay Application Vendor User Guide

TRACTOR SUPPLY Co The Shipment Delay Application Vendor

Shipment Delay Application

The Shipment Delay Application allows our trading partners to communicate shipment delays for customer orders to TSC. Open Purchase Orders that are not in cancelled or shipped status in the TSC Order Management System (OMS) are sent to the Shipment Delay Application each day. An SLA window is established for your contract which indicates the number of business days after the PO is created that the order is expected to ship to the customer. If the SLA window has been exceeded and the order status in OMS is not updated to Shipped or Cancelled, a past SLA alert email is sent.

In response to the past SLA alert email our trading partners are encouraged to use this application to update the order with a delay reason and an estimated ship date. This information allows the DTC Team to assist with mitigating issues and is available for TSC Call Center staff if the customer contacts the TSC call center regarding their order. Once a delay reason has been added an alert email is no longer triggered for that PO even if the status of the PO has not been reconciled in OMS. Once the PO status has been updated in OMS via an EDI 856 ASN document, the PO will drop from view in the application.

After logging into the vendor transaction portal, your home application is automatically launched.

• In the red box at the top and to the right you will see the application name (Shipment Delay or Transaction Portal) and the name of the currently logged in user.
• If you have access to other applications, selecting the caret to the right of the application name allows you to switch between applications.
• The Dashboard tab is the default tab opened when you first login or open the Shipment Delay Application.
• Use the Search Function to find content such as a PO Number, Sales Order Number, or Item ID.
• Hovering the cursor over the user’s name opens a dialog box from which you can select to log out of the portal. After 15 minutes of inactivity your account is logged out automatically.
• The options listed under My Settings in the dialog box are covered in the Portal Login and Password Management User Guide.

DASHBOARD TAB

Once the Shipment Delay Application is opened in the Vendor Transaction Portal the DASHBOARD Tab is first visible tab on the page. This tab contains links to Tractor Supply Company vendor information and documentation.

• The Vendor Center Navigation has links to other portals and vendor information sites at TSC.
• The EDI Guidelines contain mapping guidelines for all EDI documents used at TSC.
• This User Guide can be found on this page along with Useful Information links to find additional documentation regarding the Shipment Delay Application.

SHIPMENT DELAY TAB
Use this tab to view, print, or export a list of Purchase Orders and manage each Purchase Order individually.

Shipment Delay Views
There are three views on this tab listed in the column on the right. Each view lists the same data elements and allows viewing, printing, or exporting of a specific subset of the data.

that do not have a delay reason assigned. This is your area of focus while in the application to inform the DTC team of the shipping status of an order.
Orders Past SLA with Reason| All orders past SLA that have a delay reason assigned. Use this view to change or confirm orders than were previously updated with a delay reason.
Orders Not Past SLA| All open orders that are not in “cancelled” or “shipped” status and are not yet past SLA. Use this list to add any anticipated delays for orders.

Export from Shipment Delay Views

To export select a view and click on the caret to the right of the view name.

• You may also use this dialog to make the view your default view you see anytime you open the SHIPMENT DELAY Tab. It is recommended that Orders Past SLA with no Reason be your default view as this is the list of orders TSC is most interested in receiving a shipping status.
• Export supports CSV format.

Shipment Delay Data

• Each view is sorted automatically by Days Late (the number of Business Days Past standard SLA) in descending order. Clicking on a column name, activates a caret next to the column name and sorts the data by that column in ascending order.
• Clicking on the caret reverses the sort in descending order. After navigating away from this page any sorting, you have chosen, is lost and returns to the default sort of Days Late in descending order.
• Clicking on any of the views listed on the right side of the page filters the list by the view filter criteria.
• Clicking on a row opens the Record Edit Screen allowing you to enter a delay reason and an estimated ship date for the PO. As you add Delay Reasons and return to the list views the data may disappear from the current view as the order may no
• longer fit the list criteria for the view. Navigate to the appropriate view to confirm or view your changes.

Record Edit Screen

Clicking on the PO from the list view opens the record edit screen.

• The PO Number is pinned to the top of the screen and remains pinned until you exit the portal, select another record, or unpin the order. Selecting the pinned PO allows you to return to the record from any screen.
• The delay reason is selected from a drop-down list of standard delay reasons. If no delay reason listed applies to your situation, please select Please contact me from the list.
• Please enter an Estimated Ship Date if you can anticipate when the delay reason will be mitigated.
• Saving your changes sends an update to the TSC Order Management System that attaches a note to order with your delay information. The Delay Reason and Estimated Ship Date is used to inform TSC customers the shipping status of their order when making inquiries to our call center.
• Use Return to List to return to the list view after saving changes. If you leave this page without saving you will be alerted to return to the page to save your changes.
• The Refresh Date indicates the date and time the PO status was last updated on the portal. If you submitted a cancellation or an 856 after this time, then that information is not yet available on the portal. Please choose the appropriate cancellation or shipment delay reason so that the DTC Team can confirm the status in OMS.

BATCH SHIPMENT DELAY Tab

Use this tab as an alternate to the Shipment Delay Tab when you have multiple orders that need to be assigned the same Delay Reason and Estimated Ship Date.

• The Batch Shipment Delay tab includes all orders that are past SLA.
• The default sort when opening the tab is Orders without a Delay Reason are sorted to the top, then sorted by Business Days Past SLA, and by PO#.
• The Item ID column is the only column that allows sorting on the tab. Clicking on the column header sorts the list by Item ID in ascending order. Clicking on the tab header refreshes the screen and returns the list to the default sort.
• Select the appropriate Delay Reason from the drop-down list provided.
• Enter an Estimated Ship Date if known.
• Use the check box next to each PO to indicate which PO the Delay Reason and Estimated Ship Date should apply. If it should apply to all in the list, use the Select All Shipment Delay Orders checkbox. You may also select all and then individually uncheck the orders for which the change should not apply.
• Selecting SUBMIT applies the Delay Reason and the Estimated Ship Date to all the orders selected and sends this information to the TSC Order Management System.
• The Delay Reason and Estimated Ship Date is used to inform the customer concerning shipment delays to their order if they make inquiries to our call center.
• You are not allowed to enter an Estimate Ship Date without also selecting a Delay Reason. If you wish to change the Estimated Ship Date, you must select a delay reason even if it is the same Delay Reason previously chosen to enter the new date.

Reducing Delayed Orders on the Portal

TSC implemented this application to improve communications regarding delays so that we are aligned with your shipping status. This will help TSC to assist as required and provide more up to date information to those who need it.

We realize that some orders on the portal are not actually delayed but are assumed to be delayed due to processing issues with the EDI 856 ASN. In the list of delay reasons there are 6 selections that are all related to not receiving an ASN in Tractor’s Order Management Systems (OMS). Reducing ASN issues will reduce the number of orders identified as delayed. ASNs can fail in EDI or while posting to OMS (see the ASN Processing diagram on the next page). Knowing where your ASN is failing will allow you to know who to contact for assistance for a faster response and allow you to understand where to make corrections to reduce the chance that future orders will fail for the same issue.

An [email protected] can assist with errors returned on an unsuccessful EDI 997.

The [email protected] team can assist with ASN failures posting to OMS. These are orders on the portal that had a successful 997 returned, meaning you shipped the order and sent an ASN to TSC, but the OMS status is not updated. See the Refresh Date on the Shipment Delay tab detail edit screen to identify when the data was last sent to the portal from OMS. If you sent your ASN after this date and time that would be why the order is still displaying on the portal. Letting us know the item has been shipped and an 856 sent in the delay reason allows us to confirm in OMS.

1. The Vendor EDI sends the ASN (EDI 856) document to TSC EDI.
2. TSC EDI checks the syntax of the ASN. The syntax check is limited to checks for EDI standards defined in the TSC EDI Guidelines.
   • If the ASN fails the EDI syntax check, a 997 is returned to the Vendor EDI listing errors that must be corrected. TSC expects that the 997 is monitored, the ASN corrected, and resubmitted.
   • If the ASN is successful, a 997 is returned with a success status to the Vendor EDI.
3. TSC EDI sends the successful ASN to OMS.
   • If there are no data errors while posting to OMS, the ASN is used to update the Order Status. After overnight processing, the order is removed from the Shipment Delay Application. This is the only way to update the order status in OMS via automation.
   • If there are data errors while posting to OMS, then the order status remains in open, but not in cancelled or shipped status. The TSC EDI team has limited visibility in these failures. The [email protected] team can assist with reconciling these issues.
4. In an overnight process, all open orders that are not in cancelled or shipped status are sent to the Shipment Delay Application. If an order is past SLA and does not have a delay reason, an email is sent to the vendor to update the delay reason in the portal.
5. The vendor updates the portal with delay reasons and estimated ship dates for each order. Once updated this order will no longer trigger a past SLA email.
6. The Delay Reason and Estimated Ship Dates are sent real time to OMS where this information is added to notes on the order. This does not change the status of the order in OMS. This can only be done with a successful ASN. If no successful ASN is received, the order will remain on the portal.

Who to Contact
Please choose the appropriate contact to ensure a faster response time.

For issues regarding purchase orders or data you see on the portal
[email protected]

To replace a contact or change a contact name, phone number, or email
Your TSC Merchant Representative or [email protected]

For issues regarding logging in, passwords, or navigation within the portal
[email protected] and [email protected]

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I print or export a list of purchase orders?
   While on the SHIPMENT DELAY tab, select the view in the righthand column that displays the records you wish to print (Orders Not Past SLA, Orders Past SLA with No Reason, or Orders Past SLA with Reason). A caret appears to the right of the highlighted view. Selecting the caret opens a dialog to PRINT or EXPORT.

2. What should I do if none of the delay reasons apply?
   Choose the Please Contact Me delay reason.

3. Can I change a delay reason previously submitted for a PO?
   From the SHIPMENT DELAY tab, select the Orders Past SLA with Reason view. Select the record you wish to update and change the delay reason from the edit screen.

4. Can I change the Expected Ship Date?
   From the SHIPMENT DELAY tab, select the Orders Past SLA with Reason view. Select the record you wish to update and change the Expected Ship Date from the edit screen.

5. Why is my PO listed when I have shipped the item and submitted the ASN (EDI 856) to TSC?
   The information in the Shipment Delay Application is only updated Monday through Friday before 8AM.

   • If you sent the ASN after the data was updated in the Shipment Delay Application, it would not be reflected in the portal data.
   • If the ASN failed in EDI or while posting to the Order Management System (OMS), the Shipping Status would not be reflected on the order.
     Please select Item is Shipped – 856 ASN was already submitted from the drop- down list as this will alert the DTC Team to confirm the OMS status, or, if not updated in OMS, identify ASN issues. This also allows TSC to inform our customers that the items have shipped if the customer should contact our call center regarding their order.

6. Why does my PO continue to display even after I added a delay reason?
   POs are not dropped from the portal until the shipping status is updated via an EDI 856 ASN or has been cancelled. The delay reason you enter is informational only to alert the DTC Team to assist with mitigating issues and provide shipping information to the TSC call center.

7. Why are orders that are not past their expected shipping date on the portal?
   The portal includes all open orders not cancelled or do not have a shipping status in OMS. The orders that are not past their shipping date are available for you to add delay reasons if you anticipate that any of those orders will be shipping late. These orders are only viewable on the Orders Not Past SLA view on the SHIPMENT DELAY tab.

8. Should I always add a delay reason for an order that is past SLA even if none apply or I know the item has shipped?
   You should always add a delay reason regardless of circumstance as that will inform the DTC Team of your status so they can check to make sure we are aligned. If we are not aligned, then that will trigger the DTC Team to investigate.

   • If you do not believe a delay reason applies, then select Please Contact Me as a default.
   • If you know the item has shipped, then please select Item is Shipped – 856 ASN was already submitted.

9. If we got a successful acknowledgement from TSC for the 856 ASN, why would the shipment status not be updated with TSC?
   The EDI 856 is only checked for standard EDI syntax while passing through EDI. It does not check for expected values in the data. This can only be evaluated while posting to OMS.

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