Consolidation: master consignments

A master consignment groups in one file the consignments of several shippers that travel together: it is the booking or the consolidation of the freight forwarder, the consolidator or the shipping agent. It keeps the booking, the master document —the bill of lading or the master air waybill—, the ports or airports, the nominated transport movement, the parties and the references, and it links the house consignments and the transport units that carry them.

Each house consignment still belongs to the shipper that declared it: attaching it does not copy its data, it links it, so the consolidation documents print exactly what was declared. The master consignment also follows an approval circuit —draft, submitted, information requested, pre-approved, final documentation and approved— that is recorded in its history.

There are four types, which set the regulation: road consolidation (ADR), sea less than container load (LCL) or full container load (FCL) (IMDG), and air consolidation (IATA).

The consolidation manifest lists the house consignments of a master consignment with their shippers, consignees, packages and dangerous goods indication. It is the document that the shipping line or the airline expects with the consolidation.

1. Open Consolidation and Master consignments, and press New.
2. On the General Data tab, choose the Consolidation type, which cannot be changed later, and the Consolidator, and check the Date and the Workplace. If you have them, record the Booking, the Master document, the ports or airports of loading and discharge and the Nominated transport movement.
3. Press Save Changes: the application assigns the number and opens the Consignments tab.
4. Press Attach, tick in the Selection of consignments window the consignments that travel in the consolidation, and press Attach.
5. Go to the Documents tab.
6. Tick Consolidation manifest, choose the format and the language, and press Generate.

The selection window offers the consignments of the same regulation that do not yet belong to another master consignment. The consignments that your customers send you arrive at Consolidation and Received requests, where they are accepted and attached with Accept and attach. By air, the manifest carries the house and master documents and the indication of dangerous goods that IATA DGR 8.1.2.4 requires for a consolidation.

The container list gathers the transport units of the master consignment with their identification, their seals, their masses and their loading state, and says which ones are shared with another master consignment.

1. Open Consolidation and Master consignments, and edit the master consignment.
2. Check in the Units tab that every unit of the master consignment is attached.
3. Go to the Documents tab.
4. Tick Container list and press Generate.

The list only exists for sea consolidations: in a road or air consolidation the box is shown but it cannot be ticked.

The packing list says what went into each unit: which house consignment, how many packages of each line and in what position, so that the receiver knows what to expect when the doors are opened.

1. Open Consolidation and Master consignments, and edit the master consignment.
2. Go to the Documents tab.
3. Tick Packing list and press Generate.

The application issues one list for each unit assigned to the master consignment. If a consignment travels split between several units, the list shows each part with the packages that correspond to it, and the totals of the line are kept.

The load sheet groups the load by consignor, with the packages, the gross mass and the volume of each consignment and the totals. It is what the terminal uses to know what is arriving and in what order.

1. Open Consolidation and Master consignments, and edit the master consignment.
2. Check in the General Data tab that the Nominated transport movement is recorded, and that this transport movement has its declarant, with company and name.
3. Go to the Documents tab.
4. Tick Consolidation load sheet by consignor and press Generate.

The sheet is the one of the nominated transport movement: it covers everything that travels in it, whatever master consignment each consignment comes from. The same sheet can be issued from the Documents tab of the trip.

The data sheet gathers what has to be typed into the master document —the bill of lading by sea or the master air waybill by air—, grouped under the headings of that document: shipper, consignee, carrier, ports or airports, nature and quantity of the goods, and handling information.

1. Open Consolidation and Master consignments, and edit the master consignment.
2. Check in the General Data tab that the Master document number is recorded.
3. Go to the Documents tab.
4. Tick Master document data sheet and press Generate.

The sheet does not replace the master document: it is the summary that lets you fill it in without going back over every house consignment.