Introduction to the CERM Consignor integration

CERM is a solution provider in Business Management and Automation Solutions for the narrow web printing industry. They offer a complete solution for this niche market, including estimating, job processing, products catalogue, shipping and invoicing, works schedule, raw material management, job costing and shop floor data collection.

CERM have developed an integration to Consignor Shipment Server API which makes it possible for their customers to integrate Consignor with their CERM software and take advantage of Consignor's extensive carrier library, track and trace and easy transfer of data to carriers.

Contents of this article:

• Requirements
• Workflows
• Documentation and related articles
  
  

Requirements

CERM is able to integrate to Consignor Shipment Server. To set up this integration, you need a Shipment Server account and a Consignor Portal user with Ticket access. Printing is done using Consignor Drop Zone.

The Consignor Shipment Server setup is done by a technical consultant from Consignor while the integration setup in CERM is done on their side. If you would like to set up a Shipment Server account to use with CERM, please contact Consignor Customer Service. 

Workflows

This section will explain the overall workflow in the CERM Consignor integration. For more detailed information on how sales orders are created in CERM, we refer to CERM's documentation and Help pages.

Auto print flow

1. Sales order is created in CERM.
2. Transport requirements for the sales order are exported from CERM to Consignor.
3. Data are validated in Consignor and a label is printed using Consignor Drop Zone.
4. A shipment is placed in the Outbox in Consignor Ticket.
5. The tracking URL is returned to CERM and the shipment can be found in Consignor Portal.
6. Data is transmitted to the carrier from Consignor Ticket.
7. Return data is available in Consignor Portal and CERM (if supported by the carrier).

Manual flow

1. Sales order is created in CERM.
2. Transport requirements for the sales order are exported from CERM to Consignor.
3. A shipment is placed in the Inbox in Consignor Ticket, awaiting manual processing.
4. Missing data are added to the shipment using Consignor Ticket. 
5. Label is printed using Consignor Drop Zone.
6. The tracking URL is returned to CERM and the shipment can be found in Consignor Portal.
7. Data is transmitted to the carrier from Consignor Ticket.
8. Return data available in Consignor Portal and CERM (if supported by the carrier).

Documentation and related articles

Read the documentation written by CERM: http://www.cerm.be/hd/onlinehelp/Modules/Transport/Consignor_transport_EDI.htm 

Sign up for CERM's free online course about the Consignor integration:

https://academy.cerm.net/courses/take/whats-new-in-version-v723/lessons/14149239-consignor-intergration

Relevant articles about Consignor Ticket, Consignor Portal and Drop Zone:

• Getting started with Consignor Ticket (web based solution)
• Transmitting EDI files to carriers in Consignor Ticket
• Printer setup in Consignor Ticket (configuration of Drop Zone)
• Getting started with Consignor Portal