In this section we'll go into more detail on the critical requirements for North America and the solutions that SAP TM offers to handle these requirements.

1. SMC3 CzarLite & CarrierConnect XL 

SCM3 offers support for integration of SAP TM with SMC3 platform (please see service offering attachment in See Also). SAP provides a prepared configuration guide on how to set up integration from SAP TM to SMC3 platform.

When transportation charges are to be calculated SAP calls the SMC3 platform and it receives the calculated charges, including duration information. When and for which carriers this call needs to happen is part of the Freight Agreement setup.  The Freight Agreement has a Charge Calculation Sheet. Inside this calculation sheet a charge line can be assigned with calculation method "External" (CALL_SMC3).

This calculation method utilises web services that encapsulate functionality that are called over the internet. For these charge types the system will call SMC3 to collect the transportation charges.

Some comments:

• Configuration guide is attached (see section See Also).
• SAP code has been last updated in 2023 (class /SCMTMS/CL_TCC_GET_RATE_SMC3), latest SAP note is from 2024 (3439301). This indicates that code has been maintained and is being used.
• SMC3 has support for integration with SAP TM.
  

When North America is going to be scoped, this is the technology that is going to be used to support SMC3 CzarLite & CarrierConnect XL processes.

 2. Fuel Price and other index tables

Introduction

A fuel surcharge is an extra fee that is charged by trucking companies to help cover the constantly fluctuating cost of diesel fuel. As fuel prices increase or decrease, fuel surcharge rates can increase or decrease along with them. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that fuel charges change about $0.10 per week on average, meaning fuel surcharges are always fluctuating with them. There is no single method to calculate fuel surcharge. Each carrier typically has their own formula for calculating fuel surcharge.

Solution

Fuel surcharges can be custom build using web services (similar as SMC3 integration), however most often this is solved by using Rate Tables. Rate Tables can be embedded in the Freight Agreement, but it is also possible to maintain a rate table outside of the agreement and reference it in multiple agreements.

Note: This rate table can also be setup with a dimension of carrier id, so that one rate table can cater for multiple carriers.

It can be decided if this requires automation, or that manual maintenance of the rate table is sufficient.

3. Accessorial Charges

Introduction

Carrier accessorial charges occur for many different reasons. Generally, these fees fall into three different categories: administrative, in-transit, and equipment.

• Administrative: Errors with a bill of lading or other documentation discovered after a shipment’s pick-up.
• Equipment: Shipments that require additional equipment for loading, delivery, or transport. Additional accessorial fees may be charged if those requirements aren’t stated in advance of pick-up.
• In-transit: Charges incurred after shipment pick-up, during transport, or at the time of delivery, such as layover, out-of-route miles, limited access, or redelivery.

Some accessorial charges in transportation are anticipated as part of the transportation needs of a shipment. These carrier accessorial charges are applied at the time of shipment booking. Fees incurred later often result from errors during planning or poor visibility of transportation movements.

Solution

Accessorial charges is a broad category. How these charges are determined and calculated requires multiple solutions. Here an overview of solutions that can be utilised in the solution design.

a. Calculation Base in Charge Calculation Sheet

Calculation bases specify the base that the system uses to calculate charges for the scale. Calculation bases always correspond to an underlying scale base. There are 131 standard calculation bases available in the system. Some bases to highlight, together with accessorial type it can be used for:

• Dangerous Goods Indicator (Hazmat Surcharge)
• Days (Layover)
• Goods Value / Insurable Value (Excess Cargo Insurance)
• Number of intermediate stops (Additional Stops)
• Delivery location holiday / Weekday (Weekend Surcharge)

For complete list of calculation bases, click here.

b. Event Driven Charge Calculation

In SAP TM, there is Event Driven Charge Calculation functionality. An event profile can be defined that is added to Freight Order type customisation. The events in the profile can be linked to a charge type. Hence during FO charge calculation, if the the charge type is present in the Freight Agreement and the respective event is reported, the charges associated become active and are calculated accordingly.

Common scenarios:

1. Specific event and flat charges: In this scenario, the carrier charges an additional amount if a specific event occurs. For example, carrier may charge for cleaning, destination charges, fumigation etc… A flat rate is usually charged and the same can be maintained against the charge type in the freight agreement. Above screen shots detail a working model for cleaning event scenario.
   
   
2. Charges based on expected and actual events: In this scenario, based on planning, an event (for example departure) is expected to happen on a certain date/time. If the actual event happens after a specified grace period, then the penalty amount is charged by the carrier for the additional waiting time. TM can automatically detect the charge applicability based on the timing of the actual event posted. Based on the expected event date, reported event date and the grace period, the charge is applied on freight order. SAP has provided a standard calculation bases - DELAY_TOT & GRACE_DAYS. The charge type, created using these calculation bases, can use rate table with the delay duration for various combinations. Currently the delay is calculated in days and in case we require hours or minutes in the rate tables, then the helper assignment in these calculation bases (/SCMTMS/CL_TCC_CB_DELAY & SCMTMS/CL_TCC_CB_REL_CBASE) have to be modified. This scenario/requirement is predominantly for delay/demurrage charges.
   
   

c. Dispute Management for Freight Settlement

A freight settlement dispute case is an individual business document that captures differences in logistics item quantities or charge amounts in a freight order or carrier invoice. As a requester of transportation services, such as a shipper, you own the information in the freight order. Your provider of transportation services, such as your carrier, checks the accuracy of the charge and logistics details in your freight order.

In the self-billing process, the service provider uses the SAP Business Network for Logistics to create a dispute case against a freight order.

In the invoice submission process, the process of settlement between you and your service provider is based on an invoice that your service provider submits to you for a freight order. Your service provider can use the SAP BNL portal to submit such an invoice. For example, your service provider can submit an invoice that contains changes to logistics details such as gross weight or gross volume, or changes to charge details such as rate or an additional charge line for an unplanned charge. In these situations, the system captures the changes in a dispute case and links the dispute case to the invoice your service provider submits.

If the dispute case fails the tolerance limits you specify in Customising, you must manually review the dispute case on the Freight Settlement Dispute Cases app.

Assumptions for replacing BluJay

• SAP Transportation Management license will be Advanced TM
• SCM3 can support on the integrating CzarLite & CarrierConnect XL.
• Not all possible accessorial charges need to be supported.
• Accessorial charges that are not supported can be handled by Dispute Management.
• Most accessorial charges that are part of normal charge calculation can be handled with standard TM calculation bases. Some enhancements might be required, but scope are expected to be limited.
• Events are integrated back to SAP TM.
• Events with a fixed rate are covered by standard SAP. There where calculations are involved for e.g. duration or number of occurrences, enhancements might be required.
• Carriers start using SAP Business Network for Logistics.

To have a better understanding of what the process will look like when SAP S/4 HANA system is integrated with BluJay it is probably easiest to describe it by following a (complex) transportation scenario. Below describes a scenario with two Sales Orders for one customer, consolidation in one container and it is a CIF shipment to port of discharge.

Note: Steps described are based on full manual planning. For automation see paragraph "Automation and Shortcuts".

1. Two Sales Orders are created (CIF incoterms in this scenario).
2. With early transportation planning setup, two Freight Units are created.
3. The Freight Units are captured in the Transportation Cockpit for consolidation planning. User will create a Container Unit for the consolidation.
4. On the Container Unit a Default Route is applied, creating several stages for transportation.
5. A Freight Order is created for Pre-Carriage from plant to port.
6. A Freight Booking is created for ocean freight stage (port to port) (Ocean Freight Booking follows standard process - no BluJay integration).
7. The TM Road Freight Order is interfaced to BluJay to create a TMS Order.
8. In BluJay, through a carrier selection process, a carrier is assigned.
9. TMS Order is communicated with carrier.
10. Updates from TMS Orders are updated back to Freight Order, including carrier, planned departure date, planned arrival date, transportation charges, order status.
11. When the delivery is created the Freight Unit is updated with linkage to the delivery (the Freight Unit is consumed by the delivery).
12. The deliveries are prepared and loaded into the container.
13. Once the truck departs the deliveries are PGI-ed (goods are stock in transit).
14. Events as reported in TMS order are updated back to Freight Order.
15. The Freight Order charges are posted to ERP.
16. The Freight Booking charges are posted to ERP.
17. Once vessel has arrived at port of discharge, the POD is posted (goods are out of stock).

Automation and Shortcuts

The presented scenario is a complex scenario. However, for scenarios where the process is more straightforward there are options to have automation or apply shortcuts. Where and how this is applied in the process will be part of detail design. Some options that can be considered are;

• Based on Shipping Conditions e.g. "Sea FCL 40ft", where the full delivery will be loaded into one container, instead of Freight Unit creation the system can create the Container Unit directly.
• Based on Shipping Conditions e.g. "Road FTL", where the full delivery will be loaded into one truck, instead of Freight Unit creation the system can create one Road Freight Order directly.
• In case from Freight Unit or Container Unit, Freight Orders and Freight Bookings can automatically be created there are ways to automate this process.
• For consolidation planning it can be investigated if optimiser planning can be utilised to automate this process.

Decisions to be taken during detail design

• (Pre-)carrier selection could also be done in SAP TM.
• How and where automation and shortcuts need to be applied.
• Solution on making sure that Road Freight Order dates are aligned with the Ocean Freight Booking.

Assumptions for integrating with BluJay

• Consolidation planning will be done in SAP TM (instead of BluJay). Considering the process it easier to execute in SAP.
• Tendering of TMS Orders will be handled in BluJay.
• With BluJay, SAP Business Network for Logistics will be out of scope for North America.
• Standard SAP interfaces can be used to cater for TMS Order integration. When there are gaps in the existing interface these will be enhanced.
• With the use of interface mapping software (like SAP PI) existing BluJay interfaces can be re-used.