1. Business Case: The Value of Auto-Notifications
Providing real-time shipping updates is no longer a luxury; it is a standard expectation in modern supply chain management. Enabling automated email notifications offers several strategic advantages:
Enhanced Customer Experience: Customers receive immediate confirmation and documentation (PDFs) the moment a shipment is processed, reducing uncertainty.
Reduced Administrative Overhead: Automating this process eliminates the need for manual follow-up emails or phone calls from customer service teams to provide tracking and paperwork.
Improved Accuracy: By pulling directly from the Customer Ship-To record, you ensure that sensitive shipping documents are sent to the correct, verified contact every time.
2. Configuration Requirements
To enable this feature, specific system settings must be activated within the Customer Shipping module.
Step 1: System Settings
Ensure the following three settings are toggled to Enabled:
Auto Email Shipper Use: Activates the core automated emailing functionality.
Auto Email Shipper Use v2: Enables the latest version of the shipping notification engine.
Auto Email PDF Attachments Use: Ensures that all relevant shipping paperwork (e.g., Packing Slips, BOLs) is automatically attached to the email as a PDF.
Step 2: Data Setup (Customer Level)
The system triggers the email based on the contact information stored at the Ship-To address level.
Navigate to the specific Customer Record.
Go to the Ship-To Address tab.
Populate the Email field with the customer’s preferred contact for shipping alerts.
[!IMPORTANT] This email address must be populated at the Address Level to ensure it copies over correctly to the Customer Purchase Order lines. If this field is blank, the automated trigger will have no destination and the email will not be sent.
3. Workflow Summary
Once configured, the workflow follows this logic:
Shipment Created: The warehouse team processes the shipment.
System Check: The system verifies that the "Auto Email" settings are active.
Contact Retrieval: The system pulls the email address from the Ship-To record on the Purchase Order.
Distribution: An email is dispatched immediately containing the shipment details and the generated PDF attachments.
4. Troubleshooting Tip
If a customer reports they are not receiving notifications:
Verify the email address is present on the specific Ship-To address used for that order, not just the primary customer record.
Check that the Auto Email PDF Attachments Use setting is on; otherwise, the email may be blocked by some firewalls for being "empty" or lacking expected documentation.