Is anyone using the navisphere integration offered by Epicor?
I am still waiting to hear back from Epicor if it is compatible with 10.2.500 or anything 10.2+.
Thanks,
Utah
Can I bring this back up? Have you made any progress? We are considering using the CH Robinson integration with QuickShip, but I’m running into roadblocks. Epicor is calling it Navisphere and CH Robinson is calling FreightQuote. Any new information would be helpful.
I spoke with them a month or so ago because the old Agile system we’re using is failing more often. I’m not if this will help, but it seems that Quickship works directly with the carriers for Parcel stuff (UPS/Fedex/DHL/USPS), but you need a 3rd party TMS system for LTL/FTL and Quickship is currently pointed at CH Robinson. The name Navisphere is CHR’s big platform on which they run multiple modules depending on what you need (eg FreightQuote) - at least that is they way we understand it. I’m told that Quick Ship 5.x works if you are on v11+, but not really with v10.x, and that LTL/FTL quote and rate shopping is actually funneled to your SEPARATE account with CHR on the Navisphere platform. Here’s the email I recieved after talkign to a new guy over at CHR who knew nothing about the relationship with Epicor:
It was nice meeting with you last week. I have reached out to my team to learn more about CH Robinsons connection with Epicor. Epicor connects with CH Robinson via API through the quickship module only. The API connectivity between quickship and CH Robinson is for rating of shipments (specific for your company) and Order tenders. As we discussed last week Navisphere is CH Robinsons home grown TMS platform. Our customers get access to Navisphere for all freight we facilitate. Access is either through API connection of a customers ERP like the quickship module, a variety of off the shelf TMS’s or direct through Navisphere Online our web portal (happy to demo).
How we approach solutions with our customers is dependent on a unique business requirements and characteristics. As we discussed data drives how we interact with our customers. Attached is CH Robinsons full data Template. On data requirements by Mode tab is shows the fields based on what is required and requested. Don’t get hung up on getting the data in our template… If you get a data dump from your incumbent we will take it, ugly can still be actionable.
Let me know if you have additional questions regarding the Epicor connection or data request.
Talk soon
JONATHAN SHAYE
M: 312.613.4066
jonathan.shaye@chrobinson.com
www.chrobinson.com
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We went with freightview!
Thank you for the information.
That isn’t integrated with QuickShip is it?
No, freightquote is, not freightview.
@Della when we get it finished next month we can do a demo of it, we are really close to being done with it.
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Doesn’t look like Freightview does international/multi-model shipping - is all your shipping domestic?
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GREAT point Mike. Only domestic, we use freight forwarders to ship the international.
So you have to have a separate relationship with them, and do their part of the shipment separately. That’s why we’re looking at someone like CH Robinson - arrange to pick it up at our place and get it to somewhere else on the planet with one interface. Not sure it can be done yet, but that’s why we’ve started the conversation.
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Yeah I think that it can be done, but you’d have to find the right TMS system.
Here is the BIG catch with all of the TMS systems I spoke to and vetted… They won’t let you use your own carrier rates with their TMS system. They want you to use their brokered rates or some kind of contract with them…
Well, that’s exciting! I am in purchasing and normally just deal with imports, but we don’t have an IT team and the Warehouse Manager wants to get QuickShip set up. I am interested in the IT side, so I don’t mind helping. It’s just much more complicated because it’s not part of my workflow. I’m more involved with receiving as a purchaser. We didn’t know there was any other option. We are currently using Worldwide Express for getting quotes and it’s not integrated. They have/had something they want to sell us, but it doesn’t work properly as far as closing the orders, I’m told.
Rates - yeah I got that too - however, we want the customer to arrange their own freight so we really don’t’ care what the rates are as long as WE get the discounted rate of some sort and make a little money when we arrange the freight.
That makes things much easier for us to shop for a new system, compared to others who struggle with rates and competition. We don’t have routes or lanes - all of our stuff is the same code/product and it’s all LTL/FTL (well maybe 10% is parcel). I just need it to be automatic b/c right now we’re still doing some silly manual stuff that drives me nuts.
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Mike I am with you. It was a monumental task to even approach this. I know that we need one interface to be able to do the international paperwork and requirements and handle all that stuff for us AND they need to have a nice API haha!
If you can find something like that please let me know. We went forward with freightview (which is owned by C.H. Robinson BTW), because it checked the box for everything we do domestic. I know it is lacking in some areas like you said the optimization of lanes etc… But it’s the best thing on the market for us right now from everything I could find.
I think in your case Mike you could approach Navisphere with your needs.
One HUGE downside is that customer routed shipments (collect) are not available in the API, but I am sure it’s coming.
Yeah - that’s why we’re even looking at Navisphere. Now we just need to provide enough data to get them to tell us how much it’s going to cost us.
Will do - we’ll compare notes in a few months when we’re both farther along!
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It was the using our rates thing that stopped us from being able to use navisphere, but I think that product probably knocks it out of the park in terms of a complete TMS from the most simple operation to the most complex.