Importing shipments and recipients

  1. Importing shipments and recipients

    DPD Shipper enables you to import shipments, collection requests and receivers.

    This allows you to process a whole lot of data in a fast way.
    For example, you can load the address file from other software into DPD Shipper, or you can create hundreds of shipments at once.

    You can import from an excel file, a csv file or a txt file.
    Fields in csv or txt files must be separated with pipe (|) or semicolon (;) and the encoding must be UTF-8, Windows 1252 or Windows 1250 and a header line is recommended.

    To successfully import you must:

    1- Create a valid import file
    The import file contains all information about the shipments; where should be sent, with which product, how many packages and how heavy they are, …

    2- Create import profile
    With an import profile you can “map” the columns in your file with the fields in DPD Shipper.

    3- Create transformation (optional)
    With a transformation you can transform data from your file into data that Shipper can interpret.
    For example: Countries need to be in ISO format (country code). If the countries in your file are indicated as Belgium, the Netherlands, …, you can convert them to BE, NL, … by making a transformation.
    This step is only needed if there are details that need transforming.

    Once you have done that, you can import your CSV file by using the Import Shipment function:

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    Browse to your file and select your Import profile:

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    And click on the Import button.

  2. Create a valid import file for shipments

    To be able to import you need an import file with all the details of your shipments.

    DPD Shipper can import CSV, TXT or XLSX files, but CSV or TXT are strongly recommended.
    The fields must be separated by a semicolon (;) or a pipe (|) and a header line is strongly recommended. The order of the columns doesn’t matter.

    The following fields can be used when creating the import file for shipments.

    • Mandatory means the field must always contain a value. Criteria means it’s only mandatory in certain cases, Optional means it’s never mandatory.
    • The system can also be assigned fixed values for certain fields if you can’t inlude them in your CSV, TXT of XLSX file. These fixed values will then be used for each shipment.
    • Header is strongly recommended
    • The order of the columns doesn’t matter.
    Field Length Type Field Type* Description
    *Field types: M = Mandatory, C = Criteria, O = Optional
    id_address_sender 6 number O To identify sender address assignment of import shipment orders. If not set in the file, default sender address is used. Identifier allocated from DPD Shipper admin in configuration file.
    delisid 10 string O To identify correct configuration for shipment orders assignment
    recipient type 1 string O Type of recipient (B for B2B, C for B2C), default:C
    recipient_name 35 string M Recipient name
    recipient_name2 35 string O An eventual second name of the receiver (specific department for example)
    recipient_street 35 string M Recipient street. May also contain the house number.
    recipient_house_no 8 string C House number of the recipient. Only mandatory if not included in recipient_street
    recipient_street2 35 string O Extra address info (such as building number)
    recipient_zip 9 string M Recipient ZIP code
    recipient_city 35 string M Recipient city
    recipient_state 2 string O State within the recipient country (applicable for USA and Canada), e.g. CA for California
    recipient_country 3 number M Recipient country (ISO 3166)
    recipient_language 2 string O Language of notifications for recipient (EN, NL, FR, DE). Be careful: it has to be an actual language code and not a country code. BE of GB are not valid languages. NL, FR or EN are.
    recipient_phone 30 string C Recipient telephone number in international format. Example:
    +32#4771234567. Mandatory for Express shipments. Also mandatory for B2C if no email is given.
    recipient_fax 30 string O Recipient fax number in international format
    recipient_email 50 string C Recipient e-mail address. Mandatory for B2C if no phone is given.
    recipient_note 70 string O Recipient note (extra instructions for the recipient)
    recipient_reference 35 string O Recipient reference number
    recipient_information 150 string O Information/instruction for delivery to courier device (POD) to displayed
    product 10 String M Internal product ID (B2B, B2C, PSD,…)
    services 255 string O Internal IDs of all Services (COD, SWAP, SMS, 6, TYRE, IDC…)
    nops 255 string O Not used. You can ignore this.
    parcel_count 3 number O How many parcels in your shipment, default:1
    parcel_SWP_count 2 number C Number of parcels for return (if different than parcels number heading of recipient) default: same as parcel count, of 1
    parcel_volume 9 number C Parcel volume (length/width/height) in cm without separators; In case of different volume per parcel, separate vaIues by comma (,). Only mandatory for shipments outside the EU.
    parcel_weight 8 number M Parcel weight in decagrams rounded in 10 without decimal delimiter (e.g. 300 equa Is 3 kg); In case of different weight per parcel, separate values by comma (,)
    parcel_note 100 string O Not used. You can ignore this.
    parcel_note_back 100 string O Not used. You can ignore this.
    parcel_reference1 35 string O Parcel reference number 1
    parcel_reference2 35 string O Parcel reference number 2
    parcel_reference3 35 string O Parcel reference number 1
    parcel_reference4 35 string O Parcel reference number 2
    id_check_name 35 string C Not used. You can ignore this.
    id_check_number 35 string C Not used. You can ignore this.
    pickup_id 6 number O Delivery to PICKUP point, global reference number of place.
    pickup date 6 or 8 string O Date in two supported formats yymmdd or yyyymmdd

    You can download our example files here.

    Attention! If you open the files in a spreadsheet application such as MS Excel, numerical values that start with 0 (e.g. telephone number) are usually converted so that the 0 falls off. You can prevent this by importing the values as text instead of numbers.

  3. Create import profile for shipments

    With the help of an import profile you can assign the columns in your import file to the fields that Shipper uses.

    To create an import profile, go to “Import Profiles” on the left, choose between Shipments, Collection Requests or Recipients, and then click “Add”.

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    In the next screen you can enter the parameters of your file.
    Profile Name: a free name you can give to your import profile. It doesn’t matter what you fill in but it can’t be blank.
    Code: a free code you can give to your profile. As above, it doesn’t matter what, but it can’t be blank.

    If your file does not contain a header line you must check this before you go to the next step!
    You can leave most of the fields here automatically.

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    Once you have entered the parameters, click on assignment at the top. Here you can assign the columns to a field value.
    To start, choose an example file by clicking on “Select file …”

    There are 3 options for assigning fields:

    • Field name – Link a column from your file with the correct field in Shipper.
    • Transformation – Transform a value from your file into a value that Shipper can use. Look at transformations for detailed explanation
    • Constant – Put a fixed value in your import profile, if your packages are always 5 kilos you can give that here as a fixed value.

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    When you’re done, don’t forget to save.

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    Back up your import profile(s)

    Once you are finished, It’s strongly recommended to make a backup of your import profile just in case. To do so, go back to

    Import Profiles –> Shipments and click on the Export button:

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    And save the resulting CSV file.

    You can do the same with your transformations if you have any.

    Important notes

    • Mandatory fields can be recognized by the asterisk (*)
    • Weights must always be given in decagram (5 kg = 500)
    • Countries must be included in ISO-2 format (BE, LU, NL, …), they are in your file otherwise you can use a transformation
    • If you do not use a header, you must assign the columns with the column number that starts from 0
    • If you want to use the same import profile again in the future to import another Excel or CSV file, this is possible but only if your Excel or CSV file has the same structure as set up in the profile.
  4. Create transformation

    With the help of transformations you can convert values that are in your import file to values that DPD Shipper can use.

    To create a transformation, choose “Import profiles”, “Transformations” and “Add” in the left menu.
    In the screen that appears you give your transformation a name and a code, a description is optional.
    With the button “Allow unknown source values” you allow that values can also be imported that have not been converted.

    At “Value mappings” you click on add to add values.

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    Afterwards you go back to your created import profile to assign the transformation to the correct field.

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    Sample files

    You can import these sample files into Shipper and then adjust them to your needs.

  5. Recover your recipients (Addressbook) from Delisprint 6

    If you used Delisprint 6 in the past, it’s possible to transfer it’s address book to DPD Shipper Online. You must first export the address book from Delisprint 6 and the resulting CSV file must be sent to DPD ITCS which can then be injected back into Shipper. To do so, follow these steps:

    – Click on the DPD Logo in the top left corner, then on Export Data and then Export address book (CSV format)

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    – The system will now ask where to save the address book. You can save it anywhere you want, like for example, your Documents folder:

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    – If you address book was big, it can take a while before it’s finished. The system will tell you it’s done with this message:

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    – This will result in the CSV file which you can send to DPD ITCS.

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  6. Shipment import to UK post-Brexit

    Last change log: 18 Dec 2020

    • Added a sample import file
    • Added info about how to include multiple items.

    Note: this guide will assume you already understand the other sections about making a correct import file and making a correct import profile.

    You will need a to describe each different item you have in your parcel. An object that has it’s own HS code, constitutes a separate item. Keep in mind that it’s not possible to send multi-colli shipments to the UK. You can only send single-parcel shipments. Your parcel can however contain multiple items.

    It’s also only possible to send DPD Business and DPD Home shipments (regular B2B and regular B2C). Saturday, Collection Request, Express, Parcelshop, etc are not possible.

    Other changes

    • Sender phone is mandatory, but you will typically not need to include it in your import file since it’s fixed in your DPD Shipper profile.
      Note: phone number must be format +<country code><rest of the number> in all fields. For example: +3215124578 or +442012345678.
    • Sender email is mandatory. As with the phone number, you will typically not need to include it in your import file since it’s fixed in your DPD Shipper profile.
      Note: the email must be on an existing domain.
    • Receiver phone is mandatory. Must be format +<country code><rest of the number> in all fields. For example: +3215124578 or +442012345678.
    • Receiver email is mandatory. The email must be on an existing domain.
    • Receiver street and house number must be in their separate fields.
    • Your total parcel weight needs to be the sum of the weight of each one of your items in that shipment.

    Notes about EORI, HMRC and VAT number

    • The Sender VAT and EORI number are always mandatory.
    • The Receiver VAT and EORI number are also mandatory. However, these values can vary depending whether or not your shipment is B2B or B2C:
      For B2B Shipments: these fields must contain the Receiver EORI and VAT number.
      For B2C Shipments: these fields must contain the Sender EORI and VAT number, since B2C receivers don’t have a VAT or EORI.
    • The HMRC number must be included

    In addition to the fields that are already needed for a proper import file, you will need to add several extra fields that are necessary for shipments to the UK post-Brexit. Here you will find an overview of these extra fields.

    You’ll notice that you can give the details of your items too. If you have multiple different items in your parcel, you will have to separate the item details with a separator. Usually, a pipe is used ( | symbol).
    Please note that for clarification, the fields starting with ITEM in the overview below are fields in which multiple values can be given with separator. These are the fields that describe each one of your different items.

    Field Field Type* Description
    *Field types: M = Mandatory, C = Criteria, O = Optional
    sender_eori_number M Sender EORI number
    receiver_eori_number M Receiver EORI number. Please keep the points mentioned ealier on this page in mind.
    sender_vat_number M Sender VAT number
    receiver_vat_number M Receiver VAT number. Please keep the points mentioned ealier on this page in mind.
    customs_terms M DPD only allows DAP so please set this value fixed to 06
    prealert_status M Please set this to fixed value 03
    exportreason M Please set this to fixed value 01
    parceltype M Please set this to fixed value P
    invoice_number M Your invoice number
    clearance_cleared M Please set this to fixed value F
    invoice_currency M Currency of the invoice (ISO 4217, example: EUR or GBP)
    ITEM_content M This item’s description
    ITEM_weight M This item’s total weight. This is the weight of all of those items.
    ITEM_hs_code M This item’s HS code
    ITEM_value M This item’s total value. This is the value of all of those items.
    Value is two decimals, without komma. Ex: value 1450 = €14.5
    ITEM_count M How many of this item the parcel contains
    ITEM_origin M This item’s country of origin (ISO 3166, example BE

    You can find an example here. This file contains one shipment B2B with a single item, one B2C with a single item and a B2B with two different items.

    Extra info about import of multi-item shipments

    Let’s assume you’re sending Paper Clips and Pencils. You’ll see in the 3rd parcel of the sample import file that each ITEM field has a pipe-separator:

    image-20201217151644-1

    This means that you have two sets of items in this parcel:

    • 100 Paper clips that come from BE, have HS code 22446688, weigh 1.2 kilo and have a total value of €5.2
    • 500 Pencils that also come from BE, have HS code 18888881, weigh 1 kilo and have a total value of 2

    Please also note that the combined weight of these two items is 2.2 kilo (1.2 + 1) which is also properly reflected in the total parcel weight field:

    image-20201217152404-1

    Concerning the separator: while this example uses a pipe as a separator ( | symbol), you can use a different one. The separator is determined in the Import Profile. We recommend using a pipe like in the example.

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