Entering Your Contacts into the Shipping Solutions Export Software

Beginning with this week's blog post, I will explore the various data-entry screens in the Shipping Solutions export documentation and compliance software. By entering data into these screens, exporters can quickly and accurately complete more than two dozen standard export forms.

Today I'll take a look at the Contacts screen.

Rather than requiring users to reenter the contact information for a shipment directly on each of the export documents, Shipping Solutions allows you to enter the information once on the Contacts screen on the EZ Start tab. These contacts then automatically appear in the correct format on each of the appropriate forms. By eliminating redundant data entry, Shipping Solutions allows you to more quickly create your export documents while also ensuring the information is consistent from one form to the next.

For a quick overview of the Shipping Solutions software including the Contact screen,
watch the eight-minute Getting Started video.

To allow you to save even more time, you can store your contact information on the Contacts screen on the Databases tab. By entering or importing your contact information into the various contact databases, you can simply choose your contacts from a drop-down list and quickly populate the contacts for each shipment. These time-saving features allow Shipping Solutions customers to create their export forms up to five-times faster than using standard Word or Excel templates.

Since most new Shipping Solutions software users start by populating the various contacts databases, let's start by taking a closer look at the Contacts screen on the Databases tab.

Databases Tab—Contacts Screen

The Databases tab includes six different types of contacts: Exporter, Ultimate Consignee, Bill To, Freight Forwarder, Intermediate Consignee, and Miscellaneous. There are several ways to populate these databases.

You can select the Contact Type, click the Add New Contact button, and manually type in your contact. This is a simple way to get started using Shipping Solutions and doesn't involve any IT support. For example, when you start a new shipment, simply add the customer to the Databases Tab-Contacts screen under the Ultimate Consignee contact type first. That way it will be there for you the next time you need it.

You can also copy a contact from one type to another. For example, if you have entered your customer with the Ultimate Consignee contact type and you have a slightly different Bill To address for that customer, you can click the Copy Contact button and choose Bill To contact type. Click OK. Then, in the Select Contacts Type drop-down list, choose Bill To, and you will see your new entry. Make any changes needed to the address and it will be ready to go!

The third way to enter your contacts is by importing them from a text file. If you have your customer names and addresses in an Excel spreadsheet, for example, you can save it as a tab-delimited text file and then upload it into Shipping Solutions.

When entering your data in the Contacts screen, enter as much information as you have. Not all the fields appear on all the documents and no particular data fields are required. A grid at the bottom of the screen lets you search through the contacts entered.

EZ Start Tab—Contacts Screen

Whenever you are ready to create a new shipment record in Shipping Solutions for a new set of export documents, you should almost always start with the Contacts screen on the EZ Start tab. This where you enter all the parties for the shipment including your company, customer,  freight forwarder, and other company information.

The white box on the left of the screen lists the main contacts that are created with each shipment and are required on the most common export forms. Depending on which documents you need for a particular shipment, you may need to add additional contact types.

For example, if you are preparing a Certificate of Origin for USMCA or one of the other free trade agreements, you may need to include the producer of the goods if it's someone other than your company. Because that contact is specific to this group of forms, you would typically enter the Producer contact information on the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) screen in EZ Start. However, Shipping Solutions also gives you the option to add this and other types of contacts for this shipment by right-clicking in the white box on the Contacts screen and choosing Add Contact.

All the contact types have the same fields except the Ultimate Consignee, which has one additional field called UC Type.  It is the last box in the first column of fields and is required for filing your Electronic Export Information (EEI) with AESDirect. It is easy to overlook as I often get calls from users wondering where to enter that information.

There are several ways to enter the contacts on a shipment. You can click the Contact Type in the white box on the left and then manually enter the names and addresses. Then, click Add Contact To Database to save this contact in the Shipping Solutions database so it will be there the next time you need it.

The second way to enter the contacts is to click the contact type in the white box on the left and then click Add Contact from Database. The database associated with that contact type will pop up. You can search for the appropriate contact and click Add Contact. If for some reason the contact you want is listed in the database of a different contact type, just click the Select Database drop-down list and choose a different database.

Another way to pull in the contacts for a specific shipment is by using the Shipping Solutions Data Exchange Manager (DXM). The DXM pulls in shipment records from your ERP system so that all the contact and product information for a particular shipment is automatically loaded. To learn more about the DXM, watch our five-part video series.