I know the question was about UPS WorldShip. However, suffer the some of the same problems no matter what carrier package we implemented. Finally, we went with a third party package (http://www.bestwaytech.com/proship/). It allows us to ship package UPS/FEDEX/USPS thru the same xml interface. Their black box implementation only requires us to open a socket and stream the xml. They reply with xml and can including ZPL/EPL/PNG formatted manifest label. We actually imbed the image on our packing slip. They take care of the carrier rules updates, so in the three years we have used them we have not had to make a single code change for a carrier updates. Our largest customer ships well over 7000 package a week with no problems.
The ProShip cost is very reasonable compare to some package out there and when you compare it to the cost of setup/supporting in-house the carrier supplied options it's a net savings. They cut our cost over 80% on doing it our self using the "FREE" software supplied by the carriers. Not to mention the better rate you can get from the carriers when you can ship FEDEX as easy as UPS. James F Thompson Senior Systems Analyst Cypress Business Solutions 678.494.9353 x1410 supp...@cypressesolutions.com www.cypressesolutions.com -----Original Message----- From: u2-users-boun...@listserver.u2ug.org [mailto:u2-users-boun...@listserver.u2ug.org] On Behalf Of Glen B Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 10:10 AM To: U2 Users List Subject: Re: [U2] ODBC to UPS WorldShip Tony G wrote: > I concur with Glen's assessment that some of these services can > be unstable. Not long after writing NebulaShip > (nospamNebula-RnD.com/products/ship.htm) I realized that even > though the product was stable that we might be getting emergency > calls when services were down. I stopped advertising the > product, we're not currently selling it, and unless there is > significant demand for some of the less critical functions > (lookups, confirmations) I may withdraw it entirely. Make sure > you have backup providers for critical services. > > That's a nice spin on my comments. I was actually promoting the API web intergration. WorldShip and Cafe' change too often to be long-term stable automated shipping components IMO. If you have someone standing at the terminal running batches, then OK have fun. I'd rather not waste employee time doing that. If you're only shipping a handful of packages then the desktop tools are fine. We ship way more than that and our shipment processing efficiency was suffering with WorldShip integration. WorldShip used to change once every 3 or 4 years (it seemed like) but now every year a new version comes out with some core change that affects a piece of software plugged into it. Plus, I never could get the post-shipping export to work with D3 ODBC and from what I've read it's not fun to do with U2 either. We use RF terminals to capture tracking barcodes and prompt for other box info. Of course, that is only when the order is hazardous or the rare instance that we can't process packages through the API. It really is a rare thing, so I wouldn't discount your NebulaShip. Anyone who specifically integrates web services must have an understanding of the cloud and the fact that stuff will get lost in the ether just like your ODBC lookup will fail at some point. Either way, a plan needs to be in place to handle the problem. No service is perfect. It won't happen daily, quarterly, or even semi-annually if you implement the proper infrastructure and failover plan. If you don't plan the cloud-operating infrastructure to support web services during processing hours then your "disaster recovery" is just as bad as sticking the backup tapes to the filing cabinet with magnets. GlenB > Tony Gravagno > Nebula Research and Development > TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com > remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com/blog > Visit PickWiki.com! Contribute! > > >> From: Glen Batchelor >> > > >> 3) You're tied to a web service that can (and will) go >> down at some point. Have a backup processing plan with >> WorldShip. UPS has been good, for the most part. FedEx >> has gotten better, but there are still times when the >> FedEx Ground back-end disappears and we get goofy >> 'unavailable' errors. >> > > _______________________________________________ > U2-Users mailing list > U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org > http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users > > _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
