Dispatch Science

Enter Orders in Import File

Download the import file. It is very important to keep the column header name as is, they should not be renamed and the file should remain as a CSV. An Excel file cannot be imported.

Required Columns

The following columns should always be filled in:

Dropoff Contact Name, Address Line 1, City, Province and Postal Code.

Service Level

Vehicle Type Id

Ready At

Optional Pickup Columns

If the pickup columns are not in the import file or are left blank, the Account User default contact, if setup will be used to fill in the pickup information. If the Account User does not have a default contact, the Account default contact will be used if the columns are not in the import file or are left blank.
Pickup Contact Name, Address Line 1, City, Province and Postal Code.

Please note that if no default contact is found on the Account User or Account, an error will be generated for the order.

Reference Fields

The first 3 columns will be used to import values in the Reference fields:

Reference Number 1, Reference Number 2, Reference Number 3
Those fields represent up to 3 reference fields that are available on the Order Details in the Additional Info tab and may have different names or be a drop-down field.

Service Level

The service level should be entered as the ID and this should be supplied by your Delivery Company.

Ready At and Delivery window

There are 2 different ways to enter the Pickup and Delivery time:

Using Ready At and Service Level:

Delete columns Del Date, Del no earlier than, Del no later than (columns D, E, F).

Enter a Ready At date-time and a service level. These will be used to automatically calculate the order drop off window.
The Ready At should be entered as : YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm

Using the a Delivery window

Enter the date of delivery in the Del Date column.

Enter a time in the Del no earlier than to indicate when the delivery can start in 24 hour format. 

Enter a time in the Del no later than to indicate when the delivery should be completed in 24 hour format. The time should be equal to or later than the Del no earlier than.

Enter a Ready At that is  NOT EARLIER THAN the Del date and Del no earlier than time

Enter a service level.
Note: The service level will be used to calculate pricing. The delivery window will be used as entered.

Vehicle Type Id

Vehicle Type Id refers to the ID on the vehicle and this should be supplied by your Delivery Company.

Pickup and Delivery Latitude and Longitude

These 4 fields can be left blank or even removed from the import file if they are not used. 

If these are blank or not present in the file, the geolocation of the pickup and delivery address will be done by Dispatch Science.

If you enter a latitude and longitude, the address will be used to display and the latitude and longitude will be used as the geolocation. 

Number Of Pieces and Weight vs Parcels

Depending on which file you are using, Standard Order or the Standard Order with Items, different fields will be available.

Standard Import File without items

Number Of Pieces

Enter here the number of pieces in the order. The default parcel type will be used for all items.

If you enter 0 piece, no parcel will be created on the order. 

Weight

If weight is omitted, it will default to 0. If a weight is entered, it will be split in between each of the parcel as entered in Number of pieces. 

Standard Import File with Items

This file will be used if you want to enter the items or parcels for each order. 

On the first row of an order, fill in the information for the order and the first parcel.

On the subsequent rows of the order, only fill in the information for the parcels. 

See Filled in Standard with items to be used as an example.csv file at the bottom of this article. 

Item_Parcel Type Id

This will be the ID on the parcel type and this should be supplied by your Delivery Company.

Item_Description

This will be added in the description field on the parcel

Item_Weight

This is the weight of the item. If a minimum weight was entered in the parcel type, the weight will be displayed in the order but the minimum weight will be used for the calculation of the weight extra fee.

Item_Length, Item_Width, Item_Height

These field will contain the length, width and height in the unit of measure associated with the parcel type as entered in Item_Parcel Type Id if the parcel type was set as customizable. If entries are added in those columns and the parcel type is not set to be customizable, the order will not be created and an error will be added in the log file. 

Item_Barcode Template

This will contain the barcode for the item. If there are no barcodes entered, the barcode will be left blank.

If some of the barcodes are entered and others are left blank, the ones that are blank will be blank.

If no barcodes are entered for any of the items in the order and there is a custom barcode template setup on the account, the barcodes will be created upon import. 

Extra Fee Columns

If extra fees should be added to the orders, you can add columns with the following header:

Extra extrafeeID

This should be supplied by your Delivery Company.

In that column, you will enter the quantity for the extra fee and it will be calculated according to the Extra Fee Schedule associated to the Account. 

Please note there is also a file named Filled in Standard with Items to be used as an example.csv which does not contain the above 3 fields but give an example on how to fill in the file when there are items.

Import orders 

On the left hand side menu, click on the Import Menu:

Click on Import File

Click on Choose File, navigate where the file was saved, select it and click Open. The filename will show in the box.

Click on Import to start the importing process. 

You will be returned to the list of Import with the status as Requested:

You can refresh the page using the browser refresh or the refresh at the bottom right of the list to see the updated status or you can leave this page and you will receive an email when the import is done. 

In the import list, on the right hand side of each row, you have a download menu. When clicking on the download menu, you can either open the Log File or download the original import file.