Order Planning Workflows

Order Planning workflows turn open orders into booked shipments. A workflow finds the orders to ship, groups them into loads, gets rates, and tenders them to your carriers or brokers. You decide how hands-off it is. A workflow can run on its own from start to finish, or pause for your team to approve before anything is booked. Every run is logged, so you can see which orders it found, the rates it got, and what it tendered.

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How a Workflow Starts

A workflow starts automatically or manually:

• Automatically: the workflow picks up new orders that match its filters on its own. Nobody needs to start it.
• Manually: someone on your team picks a batch of orders and starts the run, for example once production is complete or before a weekly pickup.

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The Four Steps

Every workflow runs the same four steps in order. You set up each step once, and the workflow reuses those settings on every run.

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Find Orders

The workflow selects the orders to plan, using filters such as order type or status, or a batch you pick by hand. It skips orders that already have a quote, so nothing is planned twice.

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Consolidate

This step is optional. The workflow combines compatible orders into shared loads, including multi-stop loads, to cut cost. With consolidation off, each order ships on its own.

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Get Rates

The workflow gets rates for each shipment from the carriers, brokers, and contract rates you choose. To add carriers and brokers, see Add a Carrier or Broker.

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Tender

The workflow picks a rate and sends the shipment to the carrier or broker. You choose how it picks the rate and what it sends:

• Tender: a full booking request.
• Direct tender: sends straight to your dedicated carrier without comparing rates.
• BOL only: creates the bill of lading and PRO number without requesting a pickup.

Which documents go out with a tender follows your Tender Release Settings. Once the carrier or broker accepts, the shipment becomes a load you can track on the Loads page.

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Choosing How Much to Automate

You choose which steps pause for review. At a review, your team checks the results, makes changes, and approves before the workflow moves on. No review points means the workflow runs straight through. More review points give your team more control. At each review, you can:

• Orders: confirm which orders are included.
• Consolidation: move orders between loads or reorder stops.
• Rates: compare rates side by side and change the selection for any shipment. This works like reviewing responses on a quote.
• Tender: confirm the final selection and cost before tenders go out.

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Common Use Cases

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Compare Shipping Options Across a Batch of Orders

A planner selects a week’s finished orders and starts the workflow by hand. With consolidation off, the workflow gets rates for each order on its own across several routes, such as direct LTL and a truckload to a cross-dock. It pauses after rates and picks the cheapest option for each order. The planner can change any selection before approving the tenders.

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Tender Every Order Automatically

A shipper sends all its freight through one broker and doesn’t need to compare rates. The workflow starts automatically, picks up new orders without a quote, and direct tenders each one to that broker with no review. Orders go from received to tendered without anyone clicking through, and every run is still logged.

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Create Shipping Paperwork Only

A shipper books pickups with its carrier separately but wants Owlery to prepare the documents. The workflow uses the BOL only tender option to create the bill of lading and PRO number for each shipment without requesting a pickup.