The shipper and the forwarding agent have a simple tracking system for monitoring the shipment status. The tracking function makes it possible for data to be exchanged between the shipper and the forwarding agent through the Internet. The shipper and the forwarding agent have an input and display function for time and location of planned or unplanned events concerning a shipment. The customer can also display this shipment data through the Internet. Typical tracking information includes data as to whether a shipment has been picked up, reloaded, unloaded, delivered, or delayed. These are either predefined events (that is, planned by the transportation planner) or freely-definable events that result from the circumstances surrounding the transportation process and are defined later during the transportation process.

The tracking display enables cooperation with business partners through the Business-to-Business or Business-to-Customer mySAP.com initiative.

Both the shipper and the forwarding agent can display and process a list with tracking information on a shipment. The customer can only display the list.

Business relations between SAP users and other partners can exist. Only the shipper must have an SAP System available.

The tracking information is entered manually by the forwarding agent or the shipper, or loaded as an SML file from the forwarding agent’s database into the database of the shipper.

Forwarding agents and shippers must log on to the system and be checked for information input. Each customer has an official user who enables the display of the event chain. Security at this level is ensured by knowledge of the required inputs (for example, order number).

• Tracking Display for Transportation Planner

The SAP System offers the display of tracking information and the shipment status in two ways:

• Display of forwarding agent’s Web site in an SAP user interface window
• Displaying and changing tracking data from the shipper’s database

• Tracking Display for Customer

Using the tracking display, customers can access the web site of the shipper and there they can monitor the status of order processing.

Using appropriate search criteria, the customer can call up information on the shipment status. A fixed search template serves as input (for example, order number, customer number, and so on).l

• Status Input of Forwarding Agent

Through a Web application, the forwarding agent confirms the status of shipment processing in the shipper’s system. The forwarding agent and the shipper work together closely; the shipper, however, always has control over the shipment itself.

The event information, with the exception of shipments whose forwarding agents support the express delivery company interface, is dependent upon manual verification of the forwarding agents.