When processing orders, you might need to print references in your labels. 

These references could be of different types:

  • Dynamic References: Pick, Customer, Purchase Order numbers, etc
  • Fixed References: Any fixed value you might require, for internal or external usage
  • Dynamic and Fixed combination: Concatenate dynamic and/or fixed references whenever needed


NOTE: The use or availability of references is determined by the Carriers' limitations. Not all carriers support all the references made available through techShip.


The usage of each type is explained below.


Feel free to follow the step-by-step guide written below or the video guide, as you prefer:




To set any type of references you will have to:

1. Access Clients under the Maintenance menu



2. Click on the client related to the order

3. Edit the Billing Account (Carrier) related to the order and error


4. Select or complete the References in the References 1-4 fields (note that not all carriers support using all of them - refer to the table below)


5. Press Save to apply the changes

Below you will find how to use each reference type, and how they work:


DYNAMIC REFERENCES


The most used option is selecting references from the dropdown

When you select an option from the dropdown, techShip will grab the reference dynamically from the order it's processing.


Note that some references are supported by only some WMS.


FIXED REFERENCES


Fixed references can be used by typing the value into the Reference field, using it as a Free Text field.


Whichever value you write in the field, will be used on every single label.


This example will print CLT007 in every single label.


COMBINE DYNAMIC AND FIXED REFERENCES


Combining (concatenating) dynamic and fixed references is a resource that can be used when a Carrier does not support using the amount of references you need to use.

For example, UPS supports 2 references, but you need to use 3: Pick order, Customer Order number, and Customer Purchase Order number.


You can resort to use Pick order number in Reference 1 as a Dynamic reference, while combining Customer Order number and Customer PO in Reference 2.


For this, you will have to make direct usage of the variables for each reference, and for organizational purposes, use a separator, such as a dash, or a slash:



This example will print "AA01 - 99613004" as Reference 2, where AA01 is the Customer Order number and 99613004 is the Customer PO.


The variables to be used in these scenarios are the following (brackets should be used, case sensitive):


Reference
Variable
Pick Order #{PickOrder}
Customer Order #{CustomerOrder}
Customer PO{CustomerPO}
Warehouse SKU (limited support){WarehouseSKU}
Customer SKU (limited support){CustomerSKU}
Container No{ContainerSerialNumber}
First SKU
{SingleSKU}
Furst SKU Description{SingleSKUDescription}
Custom field XXX
Where XXX is the custom SKU
{customfields:XXX}


CARRIER SUPPORTED REFERENCES TABLE


Each carrier supports different amounts of printed references, limited by their API capabilities:


Carrier
Max amount of references
Length Limit
FedEx2 (Reference 1 with any value or concatenated value, Reference 2 exclusively using Customer PO from the dropdown)30
UPS2 for regular services, 3 for some Mail Innovations services35
USPS2Unlimited
Canada Post235
DHL Global Mail2TBD
DHL Express1TBD
Purolator
135
Canpar
1Unlimited
Loomis
2Unlimited
TForce2 (needs at least one, cannot be empty)7 to 10 (compulsory)


You can review more field limitations in the following article: https://www.serviceobjects.com/blog/character-limits-in-address-lines-for-usps-ups-and-fedex/