This document discusses SAP XSI (Express Delivery Interface) and how it can be used to integrate carrier systems with SAP. Key points: 1) XSI allows delivery orders, picking, packing, and goods issue to occur in SAP before interfacing with carriers, minimizing customization. 2) Configuration includes output determination, master data setup, and XSI-specific steps. Output is proposed based on shipping point, pack status, and vendor. 3) Tracking numbers can be stored in SAP and generated using carrier-provided algorithms. Packages can then be tracked directly through SAP. 4) XSI provides flexibility to integrate various carrier technologies like flat files, XML, and

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Case Study: SAP XSI (Express Delivery Interface)
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December / January 2007-08 Volume V Issue 6
By Bruce Rishel, Perot Systems
Editor’s Note: Delivery options, you have a few. And • Delivery created in SAP using the delivery due list
now it’s time to integrate them. Interfacing can be (transaction VL10BATCH)
tough, but XSI can make it easier. You’ll save time, and
yes a dime, when you go this way for carrier integra- • Transfer Order (TO) created using the Outbound
tion. What’s more, in SAP, you’ll do it your way. Bruce Delivery Monitor (transaction VL060 - for picking
Rishel shows you how. button)
• Materials are picked and TO confirmed using RF
Introduction (transaction LM00)
A company can save integration costs and greatly
reduce the time required to implement a carrier integra- • Output sent to carrier using Outbound Delivery Moni-
tion with SAP by using a carrier-defined express deliv- tor (transaction VL06O - for goods issue button)
ery interface with minimal client customizations. While
XSI is considered non-standard customization, it offers • Carrier’s system created documentation and labels
a number of features that allow it to serve as a reposi-
tory of information for carrier integrations. • Labels attached to goods
Background and Process Flow • Material shipped to customers and goods issue posted
The carrier my client used is one of the major parcel (transaction VL06O - for goods issue button)
carriers in Europe. Their documented interface included
Note: A great discussion of the master data required to
a number of different processing options, and we
decided on an option where SAP performs the pick- support the XSI integration is found in Jocelyn Hayes’
ing and packing process and then, before goods issue, SAPtips article “Latte or Express-o: Interface SAP Ship-
the packages (handing units) are sent to the carrier for ping with Express Delivery Service,’ which appeared
labeling and documentation. in the August/September 2007 issue. In addition to the
master data aspects of XSI, Jocelyn’s article also goes
SAP WM was the warehouse management system in into detail on the SAP configuration required to support
most of my client’s warehouses, but XSI can also be XSI including the enterprise structure, output determi-
used in IM-managed warehouses or in warehouses man- nation, RFC, and XSI.
aged by a third-party logistics provider.
Further discussion of the process flow begins with the
The chosen process flows as seen in Figure 1. delivery document creation. When creating the delivery,
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Figure 1: Carrier Integration Process Flow
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the carrier’s forwarding agent number was used
as the forwarding agent partner function on the
outbound delivery.
One of the requirements of the project was to
remain as independent of interfaces as possible,
while still communicating enough information
to the carrier to allow for effective parcel track-
ing. To this end, a decision was made to store the
carrier’s tracking numbers (PRO numbers) in SAP.
The carrier provided the number range and also
supplied code for generating a check digit, which
was appended to the end of the number range. In
addition to the check digit code, additional code
was supplied by the carrier that enabled my client
to know when the number range was nearing its
end. When this occurred, an SAP Office mail was
generated and sent to the appropriate parties.
After delivery order creation, transfer orders are
created using the Outbound Delivery Monitor,
SAP transaction VL06O. Once in the Outbound
Delivery Monitor, deliveries for picking are avail-
able by pressing the “For Picking” button shown
in Figure 2.
After the materials are picked and transfer orders
Figure 2: VL06O – Outbound Delivery Monitor
confirmed on the material handler’s RF (radio
frequency) devices, a packing function takes place
in the warehouse. This packing function is the using VL02N, we decided to wait to send the interface
last step before the interface to the carrier’s system. to the carrier until after packing was confirmed to be
An alternative to sending the carrier integration (after correct. Using the Outbound Delivery Monitor allowed
packing) is to send the integration to the carrier before my client the ability to perform a mass interface of
picking. Doing so will allow labeling to be performed delivery documents as required throughout the day.
during the picking process buts limits the ability to send This interface took place by entering transaction VL060
the details of multiple packages. and clicking on the “For Goods Issue” button (also seen
in Figure 2).
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Once picking and packing are complete, the integration
to the carrier’s system takes place using the Outbound After clicking on the “For Goods Issue” button, the
Delivery Monitor. At this point you may be asking why standard list of selection options is available to help
we decided to add another step to the process and use limit the number of deliveries selected. Of particular
the Outbound Delivery Monitor to send the interface importance to the carrier integration is filling in the
to the carrier. Our project team tackled the same issue; field “Output Type” under the Output proposal section
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because we wanted the ability to automatically pack on of the selection options, as shown in Figure 3.
the RF, with an occasional re-packing required at a PC
Figure 3: VL06O Selection Options Showing Output Proposal
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Figure 4: VL06O Goods Issue for Outbound Deliveries
Click on Execute; a list of deliver-
ies waiting for carrier output and
subsequent goods issue will appear,
as shown in Figure 4.
Following menu path Subsequent
Functions ‡ Outbound delivery
output, then select the “1 First pro-
cessing” processing mode for output
(see Figures 5 and 6). This presents
us with a list of outbound deliveries
waiting for carrier integration.
Click on the Execute button to
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generate the output to the carrier, as
shown in Figure 7.
After the carrier integration is sent
from SAP to the carrier, tracking
Figure 5: Outbound Delivery Output
is performed either through the
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outbound delivery using transaction
VL03N or through the parcel track-
ing transaction VTRK. The Parcel
Tracking tab on the delivery header
is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 6: Processing Mode for Output
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Figure 7: Output from Deliveries
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Figure 8: Parcel Tracking Through VL03N
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Right-click in the Parcel Tracking screen; this brings
up the option to either track the pack status through an
SAP window or through an Internet browser. Choosing
the Display (#) in browser option shown in Figure 9
takes us directly to the carrier’s website, where the ship-
ment details are available. The details of this are shown
in Figure 10. Clicking the option to Track the package
in SAP will also take us to the carrier’s Website, but
often the formatting looks better in the browser.
Figure 9: Parcel Tracking Options
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Figure 10: Carrier Website Tracking
Configuration Supporting XSI
The configuration required to support
XSI can be broken down into three
general areas:
• Output Determination
• Master Data Setup
• XSI Configuration
Output determination consists of the fol-
lowing steps:
• Condition Table Creation – The
condition table tells SAP under which
circumstances an output should be
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proposed. This configuration is avail-
able in the IMG or by using transac-
tion V/60, as shown in Figure 11. My
client decided to use shipping point,
pack status, and vendor (the carrier)
to propose output.
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• Access Sequence – A new access
sequence needs to be created and
linked to the new condition table. This
configuration is available under the
IMG by following menu path: Logis-
tics Execution ‡ Shipping ‡ Basic
Shipping Functions ‡ Output Control Figure 11: V/60 Display Condition Table
‡ Output Determination ‡ Maintain
Output Determination for Outbound Deliveries ‡
Maintain Access Sequences.
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Figure 12: Express Delivery Company
• Output Type – A new output type was created fol- The XSI configuration was the most extensive and
lowing the carrier’s specifications. The new access included the following steps, which are performed in
sequence was then assigned to the output type. Trans- transaction VTRC, as shown in Figure 12.
action V/34 is used to configure the output type.
• Create Express Delivery Company – In this step,
• Maintain Output Determination Procedure – My the account number of the express service company is
client’s existing output determination procedure was entered into the “Account w/ExpDlvCo.” field along
leveraged and the new output type was assigned as with a description of the company.
a step in the procedure. This configuration is avail-
• Activated XSI Integration For Ship Points – Either
able under the IMG by following menu path: Logistics
Execution ‡ Shipping ‡ Basic Shipping Functions ‡ all ship points or individual ship points can be acti-
Output Control ‡ Output Determination ‡ Main- vated by clicking on the buttons “Activate all shipping
tain Output Determination for Outbound Deliveries points” and “Set up meta data”, respectively.
‡Maintain Output Determination Procedure.
• Assign Service Agent to Express Delivery Com-
• Assign Output Determination Procedure – No pany – Click on the “Assign service agent” button
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change was required here as the existing output to bring up a screen that allows one or many car-
determination procedure was already assigned to the riers to be associated with a given express delivery
appropriate delivery types. company. An example of using different carriers in
a single express delivery company is when a single
Master data configuration includes the following steps: carrier offers different service levels, or if the carrier
for exports is different from domestic but the overall
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• Carrier Definition – This step takes place using express delivery company remains the same.
transaction XK01. Account group 0005 was used for
• Configure XSI Master Data – Click on the “Master
carriers (forwarding agents) as this is the SAP default.
data” button shown in Figure 12 to open the configu-
• Condition Records – Condition records are config- ration to assign master data to the express delivery
ured using transaction VV21. Here we assigned the company. Master data can include the service codes,
vendor, ship points, and pack status (set to complete) URLs, weight codes, product codes, and tracking sta-
to trigger the integration. tus. Under the URLs section, it is possible to include
metadata identifiers that link the package being
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December / January 2007-08 Volume V Issue 6
tracked to the carrier’s
Website. This configu-
ration allows a user to
track a package directly
through SAP using
VTRK or the parcel
Tracking tab in VL03N
(display outbound deliv-
ery).
• Maintain Meta Data–
Click on the “Metadata”
tab shown in Figure 12
and then click on the
“Edit meta data” button
to bring up configura-
tion shown in Figure
13. Here data about the
express delivery com-
pany such as the number
range, whether addi-
tional code is required
to create the tracking
number, and whether
tracking is performed at
the delivery, handling
unit, or shipment level.
• Service Code
Determination– Click
on the “Service codes”
tab in Figure 12 and
then click on the “Srvc
codes determination”
button to bring up con- Figure 13: XSI Metadata
figuration related to the
service codes allowed for
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a given express deliv-
ery company. Service
codes can be determined
either by special process-
ing indicator, shipping
condition, delivery
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priority, or route. Figure
14 shows an example of
how the carrier’s service
codes can be mapped to
the shipping conditions
in SAP.
Figure 14: Service Code Determination
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Conclusion
While we have reviewed many of the options available
in XSI to support carrier integration, we should bear in
mind that there is also considerable effort required to
ensure the development of a solution that can be used
across carriers. Every carrier seems to have its own
take on how interfaces should flow, what data should
transact, and what technology should be used (remote
function calls, XML, flat files, etc.). XSI provides the
flexibility to manage a number of different technologies
in a single repository within SAP.
Bruce Rishel, Perot Systems (Dallas, TX), is an APICS
certified supply chain professional (CSCP) with ten
years of SAP systems consulting experience, during
which time he has served as both functional and techni-
cal leads and as a project manager. Bruce specializes
in logistics and supply chain solutions and has experi-
ence implementing the Materials Management (MM),
Sales and Distribution (SD), Production Planning (PP),
and Logistics Execution System (LES). He also has
significant experience integrating external logistics
systems with SAP. Bruce helps companies implement
and grow their supply chains across the globe. He con-
tinues to work hands on, helping his clients realize
their potential. You may contact the author at
SAPtips.Authors@ERPtips.com. Be sure to mention the
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