SAPTM 中的各个角色

Typically, customer order management in a shipper organization is performed in SAP ECC or CRM. This results in a delivery to the customer that creates a transport request in Transportation Management. Transportation Management can also receive transport request from purchase or inbound processes if there is no integration with an SAP ECC  or legacy back end. Transport requests an also be created manually in Transportation Management. You must therefore ensure that information is updated accurately and timely to support the visibility and speed that global supply chains require.  Within the order management system, the shipper is responsible for signaling SAP TM to deliver a shipment to a customer or other supply chain location. Additionally, it may be necessary to pick up material from a supplier and combine it with customer deliveries.

Freight forwarders operate as organizers of transportation or storage. They can often provide additional services like packaging, order management, customs clearance, and many other value added services. Freight forwarders are also referred to as third party logistics providers. Many freight forwarders have their own fleet and operate on certain routes for specific customers. These kind of companies are referred to as forwarders acting as carriers. In comparison to 3PLs, carriers render the actual movement or transportation of the goods. All companies operating as carriers try to generate a profit by making optimal use of operating resources like tractors or trailers. Depending upon the mode of transportation, different activities may be required for situations like ocean freight, where containers need to be acquired and shipping schedules for ships need to be considered. Additional target groups can include embedded logistics service providers. These are large transportation departments in companies whose shipping requirements are so vast that they essentially have their own transportation companies.

Finally, the material has to be shipped or issued to the customer. In a system like SAP ECC, the transaction is logistically complete when the freight order is retrieved by the carrier. Depending on certain Incoterms, however, the shipper may still be responsible and visibility is necessary.  This is where business visibility and monitoring is key to identifying service issues before they impact customer service.

Once the customer has taken legal possession of the goods, the freight settlement process can begin. This is where the freight forwarder and the carrier must be paid for services rendered. Once payment is made, the cycle or process is complete, but is triggered by the next freight order.