MetaPack

What is METAPACK?

MetaPack is a leading provider of eCommerce delivery management technology to enterprise retailers and brands. The MetaPack platform integrates over 470 carriers and 5,500 delivery services to ensure that retailers and brands can offer delivery options and convenience for their customers.

What does this integration include?

Manhattan Active Warehouse Management solutions provides clients with direct integration with one of the leading eCommerce delivery management systems, MetaPack. This integration enables communication with MetaPack Manager 5.x from Manhattan Active Warehouse Management “MAWM” for:

• Rate Shop – Sends necessary data to MetaPack to rate shop amongst carriers and shipping methods in order to determine the most optimal shipping service. Rate shopping at package generation compares carriers and services that meet the expected commitment date and selects the lowest cost shipping method.
• Shipping – Creates the consignment in MetaPack for shipping visibility. Ship request at package completion creates the consignment visibility to the carrier’s open manifest
• Print – Request to print the shipping label from MetaPack for the consignment previously created using the Shipping call. Print requests are sent automatically as packing is complete to obtain the corresponding shipping documents
• Void – Request to void a package with MetaPack in case a user needs to unpack the order or change the shipping method.
• EOD Manifesting – Request to manifest the package(s) created with MetaPack for each location. Automatic End of Day manifest processes are performed without any user intervention
• Direct API communications between MAWM and MetaPack do not require use of middleware

RATE SHOP

Rate Shopping allows MetaPack to compare carriers and service levels that meet the expected commitment date and ultimately choose the lowest-cost method to ship the package or order based on the business rules set up in MetaPack. If enabled - a rateshop group is sent to MetaPack that corresponds to a Service Group on the MetaPack Side, which allows MetaPack to perform rate shopping amongst similar shipping methods.

SHIPPING

When a user completes a package, a ship request is generated that communicates the service level, ship from, ship to address and other relevant package information to MetaPack. The base ship request from the Parcel API is updated to allow integration with MetaPack. A shipment call is sent in MetaPack’s required format, where MetaPack creates the consignment for visibility to the carrier’s open manifest, and a shipping label is returned from this call.

PRINT

After the packing process is completed and the consignment is created in MetaPack, the MAO/MAWM MetaPack App sends a request to MetaPack to provide the additional customs documentation (if required).

VOID

A user may wish to change the shipping method or undo the packing due to reasons such as damage to the package or order cancelation. If a consignment was created in MetaPack and now the tracking number will not be used, MetaPack requires a Void request to remove or invalidate the package from a carrier’s open manifest.

• Note: The user can only void the package if the package has not been manifested.

EOD MANIFESTING

The MAO/MAWM MetaPack App runs a scheduled job to send a manifest request to MetaPack to mark the open consignments as ready to manifest. Alternatively, the base End of Day UI can be utilized to generate the EOD request per carrier. The actual manifesting is handled by Metapack through Delivery Manager and is not communicated back to MAO/MAWM.

• Note: It is up to the Manhattan project team & customer to define the preferred approach (scheduler or End of Day UI) as part of the project. It is advised to only use one of these methods.