Users - Shipping, packaging, rate calculation...
Locked
 
|
First off, let me say that I'm highly impressed with ofbiz. I
discovered it about ten days ago, and immediately felt very much at home with the architecture; I know just how productive this can be! Also, I could see that you were _years_ ahead, and that you've already tackled several of the thorny business issues that my customers are facing these days. So, I'm testing the waters, hoping to be baptized as a convert! So far, my hat is off to the ofbiz community :-) One thing that I need to figure out in order to serve a current client is how the shipping estimate is obtained... in the five-year- old system we're porting to Ofbiz, we had built a packaging calculator and a place for our client to add package dimensions and weight capacities. We then applied a relatively trivial optimization process by trying to fit all items in an order into one box, and moved up a box size if it didn't fit. We kept this up until we had to start a new box. Pretty basic, but it obviously allowed the end user to be quoted significantly less expensive prices from UPS than would have been possible just shipping one "item" per box, etc. By the way - items are units of measure of a wholesale cloth. One tricky element, therefore, is that the product can be rolled up, so 20 square feet comes in one 4 foot piece rolled up, rather than 20 stacked 1x1 pieces or a 4x5 sheet. I've found the portion of the admin section where a shipment can be made for the order, and packages created and filled by an employee, but this is all long after the rate estimate and payment processing. How does the rate estimate correlate to the packaging process? Is it already performing any kind of packaging calculation when obtaining shipping quotes? If so, where is the code for this located? Otherwise, where exactly does the hand-off from products to what I've been calling "shipment items" take place? Would it make sense to inject something to convert products to packages at that point? I appreciate any guidance you can offer, Ben _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users |
Re: Users - Shipping, packaging, rate calculation...
|
|
Hi Ben
Welcome! I sent out a proposal a while back... repeated here for an improvement to the shipping scheme that sounds like an exact fit. There is an open issue in Jira where you can add your thoughts on how the scheme might be improved. http://jira.undersunconsulting.com/browse/OFBIZ-669 Unfortunately, its beyond my time and resources to implement, however with your help that might change. --- I've got an idea for an improved shipping scheme I wanted to run by other OFBiz users and see what everyone thought... Although we have the USPS rate estimator working, I'm discovering that it's very difficult to charge competitive shipping rates because the packing material weights vary so much... The idea I have is to add a new table of box sizes, recording both the overall size, and the usable inner size. Then OFBiz will simply figure out the box that's large enough for the largest item(s) and that has enough shipping volume to handle the combined products. The weight of this box can then be used when calculating the postage weight for the order. ---- Can anyone help fund the development of this feature? I've created a jira issue for this with a few more details of the proposed algorithm, which would be a good place to add your thoughts. Thanks Daniel On Thu, 2006-03-16 at 23:29 -0800, Benjamin Cox wrote: > First off, let me say that I'm highly impressed with ofbiz. I > discovered it about ten days ago, and immediately felt very much at > home with the architecture; I know just how productive this can be! > Also, I could see that you were _years_ ahead, and that you've > already tackled several of the thorny business issues that my > customers are facing these days. So, I'm testing the waters, hoping > to be baptized as a convert! So far, my hat is off to the ofbiz > community :-) > > One thing that I need to figure out in order to serve a current > client is how the shipping estimate is obtained... in the five-year- > old system we're porting to Ofbiz, we had built a packaging > calculator and a place for our client to add package dimensions and > weight capacities. We then applied a relatively trivial optimization > process by trying to fit all items in an order into one box, and > moved up a box size if it didn't fit. We kept this up until we had > to start a new box. > > Pretty basic, but it obviously allowed the end user to be quoted > significantly less expensive prices from UPS than would have been > possible just shipping one "item" per box, etc. By the way - items > are units of measure of a wholesale cloth. One tricky element, > therefore, is that the product can be rolled up, so 20 square feet > comes in one 4 foot piece rolled up, rather than 20 stacked 1x1 > pieces or a 4x5 sheet. > > I've found the portion of the admin section where a shipment can be > made for the order, and packages created and filled by an employee, > but this is all long after the rate estimate and payment processing. > How does the rate estimate correlate to the packaging process? Is it > already performing any kind of packaging calculation when obtaining > shipping quotes? If so, where is the code for this located? > Otherwise, where exactly does the hand-off from products to what I've > been calling "shipment items" take place? Would it make sense to > inject something to convert products to packages at that point? > > I appreciate any guidance you can offer, > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users Daniel *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- Have a GREAT Day! Daniel Kunkel [hidden email] BioWaves, LLC http://www.BioWaves.com 14150 NE 20th St. Suite F1 Bellevue, WA 98007 800-734-3588 425-895-0050 http://www.Apartment-Pets.com http://www.Focus-Illusion.com http://www.Brain-Fun.com http://www.ColorGlasses.com *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users |
Re: Users - Shipping, packaging, rate calculation...
Administrator
|
From: "Daniel Kunkel" <[hidden email]> > Hi Ben > > Welcome! > > I sent out a proposal a while back... repeated here for an improvement > to the shipping scheme that sounds like an exact fit. There is an open > issue in Jira where you can add your thoughts on how the scheme might be > improved. > > http://jira.undersunconsulting.com/browse/OFBIZ-669 > > Unfortunately, its beyond my time and resources to implement, however > with your help that might change. > > --- > > I've got an idea for an improved shipping scheme I wanted to run by > other OFBiz users and see what everyone thought... > > Although we have the USPS rate estimator working, I'm discovering that > it's very difficult to charge competitive shipping rates because the > packing material weights vary so much... > > The idea I have is to add a new table of box sizes, recording both the > overall size, and the usable inner size. Usable inner size isn't difficult to know ? For example for hardware you have to stuff the box with polystyrene, paper or such, but for shirt you don't need it... Jacques Then OFBiz will simply figure > out the box that's large enough for the largest item(s) and that has > enough shipping volume to handle the combined products. > The weight of this box can then be used when calculating the postage > weight for the order. > > ---- > > Can anyone help fund the development of this feature? I've created a > jira issue for this with a few more details of the proposed algorithm, > which would be a good place to add your thoughts. > > Thanks > > Daniel > > > On Thu, 2006-03-16 at 23:29 -0800, Benjamin Cox wrote: > > First off, let me say that I'm highly impressed with ofbiz. I > > discovered it about ten days ago, and immediately felt very much at > > home with the architecture; I know just how productive this can be! > > Also, I could see that you were _years_ ahead, and that you've > > already tackled several of the thorny business issues that my > > customers are facing these days. So, I'm testing the waters, hoping > > to be baptized as a convert! So far, my hat is off to the ofbiz > > community :-) > > > > One thing that I need to figure out in order to serve a current > > client is how the shipping estimate is obtained... in the five-year- > > old system we're porting to Ofbiz, we had built a packaging > > calculator and a place for our client to add package dimensions and > > weight capacities. We then applied a relatively trivial optimization > > process by trying to fit all items in an order into one box, and > > moved up a box size if it didn't fit. We kept this up until we had > > to start a new box. > > > > Pretty basic, but it obviously allowed the end user to be quoted > > significantly less expensive prices from UPS than would have been > > possible just shipping one "item" per box, etc. By the way - items > > are units of measure of a wholesale cloth. One tricky element, > > therefore, is that the product can be rolled up, so 20 square feet > > comes in one 4 foot piece rolled up, rather than 20 stacked 1x1 > > pieces or a 4x5 sheet. > > > > I've found the portion of the admin section where a shipment can be > > made for the order, and packages created and filled by an employee, > > but this is all long after the rate estimate and payment processing. > > How does the rate estimate correlate to the packaging process? Is it > > already performing any kind of packaging calculation when obtaining > > shipping quotes? If so, where is the code for this located? > > Otherwise, where exactly does the hand-off from products to what I've > > been calling "shipment items" take place? Would it make sense to > > inject something to convert products to packages at that point? > > > > I appreciate any guidance you can offer, > > > > Ben > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Users mailing list > > [hidden email] > > http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users > -- > Daniel > > *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- > Have a GREAT Day! > > Daniel Kunkel [hidden email] > BioWaves, LLC http://www.BioWaves.com > 14150 NE 20th St. Suite F1 > Bellevue, WA 98007 > 800-734-3588 425-895-0050 > http://www.Apartment-Pets.com http://www.Focus-Illusion.com > http://www.Brain-Fun.com http://www.ColorGlasses.com > *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- > > > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users |
|
|
I've been thinking about this somewhat over the last couple of days.
As a few participating in the Jira discussion (http:// jira.undersunconsulting.com/browse/OFBIZ-669) seem to imply, a one- size-fits-all algorithm may actually fit none! [As an aside, should I be posting this over there - either instead of or as well as over here?] I also think that the degree to which each business cares is likely to vary... at least it has in my experience. For instance, I have a high-end clothing retailer who simply wants to define a flat shipping price per item based on the same packaging by type and not try to save their clients a dime. I doubt he'll stick to that once he gets a $50 shipping cost for 10 pair of socks, but since the socks would probably cost $500, I could be wrong ;-) I also have a guy who's selling many pounds per order of sometimes-rollable wire mesh. That pair alone is a pretty broad spectrum of requirements. What I would love to see a means of associating little bundles of rules with various levels of the entity model, and a "cascading style sheets" approach to applying these plugins. If I could plug in my rules at various levels (i.e. store, catalog, facility, product group, product types, product, product variant, product component, ...?) and have them override the higher-level rules, I think that may provide the least duplication of rule sets and their application. It may be confusing to ask an end-user to do this, however, so perhaps we define several of the simpler configurations as out-of-the-box options. Regardless, as David pointed out, the optimization problem is not a trivial one, even in an individual case. As others have indicated, there are several parameters. While certain verticals may share optimal packaging processes, I suspect that most who have optimized these at estimate time have done so on their own nickel. Otherwise, there are simply too many variables. It can be useful to get a handle on what many of these are, however, in order to learn how to allow customizers to add their logic... I'm not sure where to start collecting them so we can grow the list (the Wiki? the Jira thread?), but, some of them that I've thought of include: * Split shipment okay? * Packaging materials * Volume * Weight * In-container padding and/or wrapped product and/or shape- maintaining packaging (i.e. an expensive new suit)? * Packages * Sizes * Weight capacities * Construction materials/costs (i.e. to build a custom crate) * Quantity available at each facility... do we even want to go there? * Carrier * Package size tiers (when is 2" deeper an oversize package?) * Weight limits * Other carrier-specific variables (UPS charges more for Residential addresses, some charge more for large shipments that require a Lift Gate, etc.) * Product * Sold/Packaged By * Unit * Weight * Volume * Area * Is it stackable? * Is it warpable (rollable)? * Are pieces individually packaged? * Temperature requirements (i.e. refrigerated) * HazMat I will most likely be devoting some time to a solution in the near future, but don't have time or energy to solve every variation. I'm not yet familiar enough with the ofbiz architecture to know just how or where to plug in such plugins, or introduce that mechanism. I'd be happy to build up a little more infrastructure to support this more flexible future if I can collaborate with one of you more- experienced developers. Otherwise, it's probably not in my short- term budget to tackle the broader problem... Thanks, Ben On Mar 17, 2006, at 9:45 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote: > > From: "Daniel Kunkel" <[hidden email]> >> Hi Ben >> >> Welcome! >> >> I sent out a proposal a while back... repeated here for an >> improvement >> to the shipping scheme that sounds like an exact fit. There is an >> open >> issue in Jira where you can add your thoughts on how the scheme >> might be >> improved. >> >> http://jira.undersunconsulting.com/browse/OFBIZ-669 >> >> Unfortunately, its beyond my time and resources to implement, however >> with your help that might change. >> >> --- >> >> I've got an idea for an improved shipping scheme I wanted to run by >> other OFBiz users and see what everyone thought... >> >> Although we have the USPS rate estimator working, I'm discovering >> that >> it's very difficult to charge competitive shipping rates because the >> packing material weights vary so much... >> >> The idea I have is to add a new table of box sizes, recording both >> the >> overall size, and the usable inner size. > > Usable inner size isn't difficult to know ? For example for > hardware you have to > stuff the box with polystyrene, paper or such, but for shirt you > don't need > it... > > Jacques > > Then OFBiz will simply figure >> out the box that's large enough for the largest item(s) and that has >> enough shipping volume to handle the combined products. > >> The weight of this box can then be used when calculating the postage >> weight for the order. >> >> ---- >> >> Can anyone help fund the development of this feature? I've created a >> jira issue for this with a few more details of the proposed >> algorithm, >> which would be a good place to add your thoughts. >> >> Thanks >> >> Daniel >> >> >> On Thu, 2006-03-16 at 23:29 -0800, Benjamin Cox wrote: >>> First off, let me say that I'm highly impressed with ofbiz. I >>> discovered it about ten days ago, and immediately felt very much at >>> home with the architecture; I know just how productive this can be! >>> Also, I could see that you were _years_ ahead, and that you've >>> already tackled several of the thorny business issues that my >>> customers are facing these days. So, I'm testing the waters, hoping >>> to be baptized as a convert! So far, my hat is off to the ofbiz >>> community :-) >>> >>> One thing that I need to figure out in order to serve a current >>> client is how the shipping estimate is obtained... in the five- >>> year- >>> old system we're porting to Ofbiz, we had built a packaging >>> calculator and a place for our client to add package dimensions and >>> weight capacities. We then applied a relatively trivial >>> optimization >>> process by trying to fit all items in an order into one box, and >>> moved up a box size if it didn't fit. We kept this up until we had >>> to start a new box. >>> >>> Pretty basic, but it obviously allowed the end user to be quoted >>> significantly less expensive prices from UPS than would have been >>> possible just shipping one "item" per box, etc. By the way - items >>> are units of measure of a wholesale cloth. One tricky element, >>> therefore, is that the product can be rolled up, so 20 square feet >>> comes in one 4 foot piece rolled up, rather than 20 stacked 1x1 >>> pieces or a 4x5 sheet. >>> >>> I've found the portion of the admin section where a shipment can be >>> made for the order, and packages created and filled by an employee, >>> but this is all long after the rate estimate and payment processing. >>> How does the rate estimate correlate to the packaging process? >>> Is it >>> already performing any kind of packaging calculation when obtaining >>> shipping quotes? If so, where is the code for this located? >>> Otherwise, where exactly does the hand-off from products to what >>> I've >>> been calling "shipment items" take place? Would it make sense to >>> inject something to convert products to packages at that point? >>> >>> I appreciate any guidance you can offer, >>> >>> Ben >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Users mailing list >>> [hidden email] >>> http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users >> -- >> Daniel >> >> *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- >> Have a GREAT Day! >> >> Daniel Kunkel [hidden email] >> BioWaves, LLC http://www.BioWaves.com >> 14150 NE 20th St. Suite F1 >> Bellevue, WA 98007 >> 800-734-3588 425-895-0050 >> http://www.Apartment-Pets.com http://www.Focus-Illusion.com >> http://www.Brain-Fun.com http://www.ColorGlasses.com >> *-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*- >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Users mailing list >> [hidden email] >> http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users > > > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.ofbiz.org/mailman/listinfo/users |
«
Return to OFBiz - User
|
1 view|%1 views
| Free forum by Nabble | Edit this page |