The Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) : key to receiving goods 

ASN stands for the Advanced Shipping Notice (or Advance Ship Notice) is a digital document that contains detailed information about the contents of the shipment to automate the transfer of information between supplier and customer.

What the document contains  

• Tracking number, 
• Date of delivery, 
• Delivery conditions, 
• Information about the goods, 
• Transport note, serial number or batch number of the product, etc, 
• Handling unit used.

The document is automatically sent by the supplier's software to the company or warehouse where the goods are to arrive after shipment so that receipt is facilitated.

Some WMS tools create buffer zones in which products are pre-registered before they are actually received. Similarly, labels are printed in advance and ready to be attached to the package once received.

• Once the order is shipped, the customer is already ready to receive it.

When goods arrive at their destination, data is already available and viewed: everyone anticipates. There is no need to wait for the merchandise to analyze the information, so there are fewer errors.

The Advanced Shipping Notice is sent from an EDI device (Electronic Data Interchange, for structured data transmission). Thus, the information is digitized and sent in compliance with international standards (accepted in retail, e-commerce, etc.), for automatic reading by other software.

What is in it for us ? 

• Time, 
• Money, 
• Precision. 

Because with full visibility of receipts, everyone knows when, and in what condition, to expect the goods. Customers are prepared in advance and the receiving warehouse is optimized for optimal storage.

Manual documentation is also avoided. In this way, accuracy is increased, and the possibility of error is reduced.

Thanks to the digitization of information regarding management of stocks and flows, it is now possible to achieve total traceability on products and equipment to know who has what and where.