Cargo tracking
Track & Trace and ERP integration · 1C, WMS, API, EDI
Cargo tracking integrated with your ERP is needed when a logistics coordinator spends half a day calling carriers and purchasing learns about a delay from an empty warehouse. We set up milestone events across every leg and send statuses with planned and actual dates straight into 1C, ERP or WMS.
Track and trace is built on the data that is actually available: ocean carrier and aggregator APIs, rail dislocation data, customs and warehouse events. Where no automatic source exists, the responsible person enters the status according to the procedure.
Specification
Specification · Track & Trace and integration. Standard terms · exchange format and scope are agreed with your IT team
Service
- Type
- Track & Trace and accounting system integration
- Modes
- sea, rail, road, air, multimodal
- Options
- deviation alerts, ASN for the warehouse
Terms
- Timing
- about 4–8 weeks including pilot
- Format
- API, EDI, XML / JSON, Excel
- Currency
- USD / RUB
Stages
- Stage 1
- requirements and event sources
- Stage 2
- exchange format and pilot
- Stage 3
- go-live and procedure
Price
- Base
- by number of sources and systems
- Extras
- ERP-side development — on request
Service flow
- 01
Requirements
We work out which statuses and dates purchasing, the warehouse and finance need and in which system they should see them. We list the milestone events for your routes.
2–3 days - 02
Event sources
We define the source of each event: ocean carrier tracking by container or B/L number, rail dislocation data, customs clearance data, warehouse and carrier updates.
3–5 days - 03
Exchange format
We agree the format and method with your IT team: REST API, EDI messages, scheduled XML or JSON, or an Excel export to start with. We fix the status dictionary and the keys that link events to orders.
1 week - 04
Pilot
We run the exchange on several live shipments, check the statuses in the system against reality and refine the mappings and update timing.
2–4 weeks - 05
Go-live
We move all shipments to the exchange and hand over the procedure: who owns each status, what to do when the plan slips, how to handle exchange failures.
1 week
Problems
Statuses arrive as free-form emails and messenger notes, the coordinator copies them into a spreadsheet by hand, and it always lags behind.
A single event dictionary and automatic transfer to your system; manual input remains only where there is no other source.
The status is in the system, but it is unclear which order it belongs to: one container carries goods from several suppliers.
We link events to orders and invoices via keys — container, B/L and invoice numbers — and keep the mappings.
The delay becomes known on the planned receiving day, when it is too late to change sales plans.
Each event recalculates the expected arrival date, and any deviation from plan is visible in the system immediately.
Documents
What the integration needs. The Incoterms rule decides from which event you can demand statuses from your own forwarder and from which you depend on the seller.
Incoterms
- EXW / FCA
- tracking starts from cargo readiness at the supplier
- FOB
- the first milestone is loading on board
- CIF / DAP
- data for the seller's leg is requested from the seller — agree this in the contract
Documents
- Status dictionary
- event codes mapped to statuses in your system
- Matching keys
- order, invoice, container, B/L or waybill number
- Interface specification
- format (JSON, XML, EDIFACT), method and frequency of exchange
- Operating procedure
- who updates the status and when, what to do on deviation
FAQ
It is tracking cargo along the whole route through milestone events — departure, arrival, release, delivery — with planned and actual dates. You see where the shipment is and whether it is on plan without calling the carrier.
Usually via an HTTP service or REST API on the 1C side, or by scheduled import of XML or JSON files. The status is linked to the purchase order or goods receipt by order, invoice or container number. A scheduled Excel import is enough to start with.
Yes. Major ocean carriers and aggregators provide events by container or B/L number via API, many following the DCSA standard. For rail, dislocation data is used; for customs and warehouse steps, events come from the broker and the warehouse.
It depends on the system and available interfaces. We start with key statuses and dates and, if needed, extend the exchange to documents and warehouse notifications. A typical timeline including pilot is 4–8 weeks.
At minimum: cargo ready at the supplier, loaded on board or on rail, arrival at port or border crossing, declaration filed, release, pick-up and delivery to the warehouse. For D&D control it helps to add discharge from the vessel and empty container return.
Less manual work and fewer errors, a single view of supply for logistics, purchasing and finance, and the ability to react to delays earlier and plan receiving and sales on the real expected date.