Commercial and in Confidence
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Contents
1 Document Controls
2 Table of Figures
3 Introduction
4 Create a Bulk Mailing Template
4.1 Add Bulk Mailing Template
4.2 Selecting fields for the Bulk Mailing Template
4.2.1 Adding a default value to a selected field
4.2.2 Bulk Mailing Templates
5 Uploading Bulk Mailing Shipments
5.1 Upload New Data File
5.2 Data File does match the Upload Template
5.3 Bulk Mailing File with Errors
5.4 Processed to Bulk Mailing
5.5 Bulk Mailing Multi-Piece Shipments
5.6 Bulk Mailing File Uploaded to Bulk Mailing - File with Errors
5.7 Bulk Mailing File Uploaded to Unprocessed
6 Appendix 1 – Glossary
7 Appendix 2 – Quick Reference Guides
7.1 Add a Bulk Mailing Template
7.2 Upload New Data File
7.3 Setting Default Values in Bulk Mailing Templates
Create Bulk Mailing Template
Add Default Values to Fields
Using Default Values in Bulk Mailing Files
8 Appendix 3 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
9 Appendix 4 – Enhancement Group and Description
10 Appendix 5 – List of Common Errors and Resolution
11 Appendix 6 – Creating Multiple Items Within a Single Shipment
Figure 1- Bulk Mailing Templates
Figure 2- Add Bulk Mailing Template
Figure 3- Conditional Field Error
Figure 4- Field Selection for the Bulk Mailing Template
Figure 5- Default Values
Figure 6- Default Value for the Shipment Service Field
Figure 7- Bulk Mailing Templates
Figure 8- Example CSV (opened with notepad)
Figure 9- Example MPS File
Figure 10- Shipment Processing Screen
Figure 11- Upload New Data File Button
Figure 12- Upload New Data File Screen
Figure 13- Upload file does not match error
Figure 14- Errors on Data File
Figure 15- Error Column on Data file
Figure 16 - Print Labels from Bulk Mailing Screen
Figure 17- Multi-Piece Shipment Integrated Label
Figure 18- Print Labels/Download Errors from Bulk Mailing Screen
Figure 19- Bulk Mailing file Uploaded to Unprocessed
Bulk Mailing is a feature in the Intelligent Shipper System that enables Customer User role to create shipments by uploading a shipment data file. You can either create a single piece shipment or a multi-piece shipment using this functionality. This guide instructs Customer users how to use the "Bulk Upload Shipment" process within Intelligent Shipper.
Figure 1- Bulk Mailing Templates
Before uploading bulk shipments, you will need to setup a bulk mailing template in Intelligent Shipper to match the format of the shipment data file you will be uploading.
To create a bulk mailing template, complete the steps below:
This will then take you to the Add Bulk Mailing Template screen.
Figure 2- Add Bulk Mailing Template
In the Add Bulk Mailing Template screen:
Figure 3- Conditional Field Error
Figure 4- Field Selection for the Bulk Mailing Template
Figure 5- Default Values
Figure 6- Default Value for the Shipment Service Field
You can enter the default value in the field provided.
On clicking the "Save" button, if the given value is not within the range an error is returned, "Number of pieces must range between 1 and 9". In this scenario, you can correct the number of pieces entered and re-try the "Save" button.
On clicking the "Save" button, if the given service code is invalid an error is returned,
"The shipment service code is not valid". In this scenario, you can correct the shipment service entered and re-try the "Save" button.
NOTE: Valid services mean the service codes assigned in the Intelligent Shipper to your account. The assigned service codes can be found in the "Maintenance->services" section of the Intelligent Shipper.
Figure 7- Bulk Mailing Templates
The recently created template will be displayed on the Bulk Mailing Templates screen. You can download a sample file for the template, to compare this to your shipment data file and ensure the template matches the file you will be uploading.
To download a sample file:
Figure 8- Example CSV (opened with notepad)
Intelligent Shipper allows you to create multi-piece shipments. These are shipments that contain more than one piece (package) that are all shipped to the same destination address. E.g. If one order is split across multiple packages. If the upload file contains the same shipper reference number and has the number of pieces greater than 1, then it identifies as a multi-piece shipment.
Figure 9- Example MPS File
In the above example multi-piece shipment file
Figure 10- Shipment Processing Screen
Figure 11- Upload New Data File Button
Click on Upload New Data File to open the screen.
Figure 12- Upload New Data File Screen
In the Upload New Data File screen:
Figure 13- Upload file does not match error
On clicking upload file, if the file chosen does not match the Upload template, an error is returned, "The uploaded file does not match the bulk mailing template selected." In this scenario, you can:
Figure 14- Errors on Data File
If the file contains errors the following message will be displayed: "Your file has some errors. You can download errors and abort uploading or continue processing successful records" will be displayed.
Figure 15- Error Column on Data file
The file made available provides the data originally entered but includes a column at the end that to error descriptions that allows you to correct any errors.
Figure 16 - Print Labels from Bulk Mailing Screen
If the bulk mailing file had no errors, on upload, you can simply print/download the labels generated by clicking the printer/agent icon.
NOTE: If silent printing is configured, the label will print as soon as these are generated.
Figure 17- Multi-Piece Shipment Integrated Label
Figure 18- Print Labels/Download Errors from Bulk Mailing Screen
If the file contained errors and the option to process successful records was chosen, you can:
Based on the download errors, the original upload file can be corrected and re-uploaded for the shipments that failed to upload.
Figure 19- Bulk Mailing file Uploaded to Unprocessed
If the upload type Unprocessed was chosen, the record will feature in the Bulk Mailing list with a status of complete.
To understand how labels can be generated for unprocessed shipments please refer to the "Shipment Scanning User Guide".
Term | Definition |
Bulk Mailing (Upload Type) | Shipments will be processed, and labels will be produced on upload. |
Unprocessed (Upload Type) | Shipments will be uploaded; however, labels will not be generated. These shipments can be scanned later to produce labels. |
Multi-Piece Shipment | A Shipment that contains more than one package/piece which is sent to the same destination. |
Customer User | The core users of the system who will be creating, processing and closing out shipments. This user role will be assigned to a customer account. Please check the user roles manual for further reference. |
Please see the quick reference list for bulk mailing.
To create a new template, in the Add Bulk Mailing Template screen:
To upload a Bulk Mailing file, in the Upload New Data File screen:
When creating a Bulk Mailing Template in Intelligent Shipper, it is possible to set default values for some fields. If a default value is set, then when a Bulk Mailing file is imported and the field is left blank in the file then Intelligent Shipper will automatically populate the shipment record with the default value set for the field. This allows you to set commonly used values as default values in the template, reducing the manual editing needed to prepare a Bulk Mailing template.
This guide instructs Customer role users how to set default values when creating Bulk Mailing Templates, so that these can be used when importing Bulk Mailing files.
To add a new Bulk Mailing Template, navigate to Maintenance > Bulk Mailing Templates and select the 'Add Template' button.
Complete the following steps to create the new template:
NOTE: If you want to upload a file containing both domestic and international shipments then use the International template. All required fields will need to be populated for both domestic and international shipments.
For fields where a default value can be set, an Edit icon is displayed in the Selected Fields list as shown in the image above. To add a default value to a field, complete the following steps:
When preparing a Bulk Mailing file for upload, if a field has a default value set then this can be left blank in the upload file, even if it is a required field. The column header must still be included in the file, else an error will be generated when you try and upload the file.
When the Bulk Mailing file is uploaded, if a field that has been left blank in the template has a default value set then the shipment record will be populated with this default value.
NOTE: If a required field does not have a default value set and is left blank in the Bulk Mailing file, then an error will be generated when the file is uploaded.
The table below contains responses to some questions that users frequently ask relating to the Bulk Mailing functionality.
No | Question | Answer |
1 | What if customer is shipping domestic and international destinations? | You should create two templates; one for domestic and one for international. If you cannot split the data, you must create an international template and include both domestic and international shipments in it. Be aware that if you choose this option you must provide item information for domestic shipments, as it is required in International template. |
2 | What if I am using Royal Mail Tracked Services but customer does not get SMS or Email notification? / What if I want to use SMS or Email notifications with Royal Mail Tracked Services? | You must add a column in your file with the correct enhancement code and map the template file with the correct phone number/ Email address. Please see enhancements codes in the Appendix 4 section. |
3 | What if I am shipping multiple items in an order and getting an error message similar to "Value of Goods cannot be less than Item Value" and "Total Weight cannot be less than Item Net weight"? | Total weight must be equal to the sum of the item weight of all items in the order, or greater than the sum of the item weight; if you are also including packaging weight in the total weight. |
The table below lists the Royal Mail enhancement codes that can be used in the Service Enhancement Code fields in the bulk mailing template.
Code | Description | Enhancement Group | Comments |
1 | Consequential Loss £1000 | Consequential Loss Insurance | A maximum of 4 enhancements are allowed by Royal Mail. |
2 | Consequential Loss £2500 | Consequential Loss Insurance | |
3 | Consequential Loss £5000 | Consequential Loss Insurance | |
4 | Consequential Loss £7500 | Consequential Loss Insurance | |
5 | Consequential Loss £10000 | Consequential Loss Insurance | |
6 | Recorded | Recorded Signed for Mail | |
11 | Consequential Loss £750 | Consequential Loss Insurance | |
13 | SMS Notification | Tracking Notifications | |
14 | E-Mail Notification | Tracking Notifications | |
16 | SMS & E-Mail Notification | Tracking Notifications | |
22 | Local Collect | Local Collect | |
24 | Saturday Guaranteed | Saturday Guaranteed |
When a bulk mailing file appears to become stuck in the 'Processing' state for a longer duration of time, it is most likely due to international shipments being created within a domestic type Bulk Mailing Template (or vice versa). An example of the screenshot is given below.
If this occurs, please contact techsupport@intersoft.co.uk for assistance.
The following message occurs when you have errors in the file.
This is due to the option "Has the header row" has not been ticked while uploading the bulk mailing file and your file contains a header row. An example of the header row is given below.
To resolve this error, please ensure that this setting is enabled before attempting to process a bulk mailing file.
The following error in the screenshot can occur for numerous reasons, a possible scenario is Your bulk mailing upload file doesn't match the column headers and layout compared to your upload template that was setup initially.
In this case check your bulk mailing template and see if the upload file matches the setup template.
There are also other common errors when
You can find the bulk mailing template under Shipment Processing->Bulk Mailing->Click on View Templates. Alternatively, you can also view this under Maintenance-> Bulk Mailing Template. An example screenshot is given below. Click on "Example (CSV)" to generate an example of your desired upload template.
Note: It is advisable to paste your shipment data into an example template CSV file in order to ensure no errors occur due to template mismatches.
To resolve this error, please check the following.
To create multiple items within a single shipment, ensure that the items listed in your bulk mailing file have the same "Shipper's reference"
The created shipment can be viewed in the "Shipment Items" section of Intelligent Shipper. You can see from below that multiple items are created in a single shipment reference.