ERP-to-freight automation: define the order feed before discussing integrations

Key Takeaways

ERP-to-freight automation depends less on the connection method than on what the order feed contains and how it behaves.
Define six things first: fields, the release trigger, timing, how changes arrive, how cancellations arrive, and who owns the feed.
The trigger is the most consequential choice. Release too early and freight works on orders that still change; release too late and there is no time to quote.
A cancellation must be an explicit record. An order that silently disappears from tomorrow's file is not a cancellation anyone can act on.
Wilson, by Cartage, works from the order flow a company already has, so a written feed definition usually turns the integration question into a short one.

What should be settled about the order feed before anyone talks about integration?

Six things: which fields each order carries, which ERP event releases it to freight, when it arrives relative to pickup, how a change is sent, how a cancellation is sent, and who owns the feed when it breaks. Once those are written down, choosing the connection is usually the smaller decision.

Many ERP-to-freight projects start with "API or file?" and stall when IT asks what data is needed and logistics answers "the order." The connection method is a transport question. The feed definition is a content and behavior question, answered by the people who know when an order is really ready to ship.

Consider what "the order" means across a typical day. Sales enters it, credit releases it, and the warehouse picks it the next morning one line short. Each moment produces a version, and freight automation needs to know which one to act on.

Field-level quote needs are covered in the order data checklist before a freight quote. The feed definition sits one level up: whether those fields arrive at the right moment, in a predictable shape, with changes and cancellations distinguishable from new orders.

The six parts of an order-feed definition

Write each part as a plain answer that someone outside the ERP team can check.

Content. List the fields per order and per line: order number, revision or last-changed timestamp, ship-from, ship-to as a full address rather than a customer code, ready date, requested delivery date, pieces, packaging, weight with its unit, dimensions where they exist, hazardous material flags, and delivery requirements such as liftgate or appointment. Add the customer reference and freight terms.
Trigger. Name the ERP event that makes an order freight-ready: order entry, credit release, pick confirmation or pack confirmation. One event, written down.
Timing. Say whether orders arrive as they are released or in batches, at what times, and how far ahead of pickup.
Changes. Decide whether a changed order is resent in full under the same order number with a new revision, or sent as only the changed fields. Full resends are easier to process reliably.
Cancellations. Define the record that says an order is canceled, including partial cancellations of one line.
Ownership. Name who maintains the export, who fixes bad data at the source, who is alerted when the feed is late or empty, and who approves changes to the feed's format.

Where vague feeds break in practice

Most feed problems are not missing fields; they are fields that mean something slightly different from what freight assumes.

Units. Weight arrives as a number with no unit, and some item masters store kilograms while others store pounds.
Codes instead of addresses. The ship-to field holds a customer master code. Freight cannot quote a code, so either the export resolves it to an address or someone looks it up by hand on every order.
Orders versus shipments. Two orders for the same customer ship together, or one order ships in two parts. The feed definition should say whether the unit of work is the order, the delivery or the shipment, and how the grouping is shown.
Deleted rows. A canceled order simply stops appearing. Nothing tells freight to release the booked carrier.

An illustrative example: a distributor exports released orders at 6 p.m. each weekday for next-day pickup. Changes made after 6 p.m. appear only in the following night's file, by which time the truck may already be at the dock. Writing that down exposes the gap: either changes after the cutoff go through a second channel, such as an email to the freight team, or the export runs again in the morning. How a change is handled once it arrives is covered in what freight software should do when an ERP order changes; the feed definition makes sure the change arrives at all.

How to choose the trigger, the method and the write-back

Choose the trigger by lead time, choose the method by what the ERP already produces, and decide write-back as a separate question.

Release at the latest event that still leaves time to book. If pick confirmation leaves too little time, credit release is often the compromise, with a rule that short picks are sent as changes.
Never infer a cancellation from absence. If the ERP cannot emit a cancellation record, agree on an interim channel, such as a cancellation email to a named address, and write it into the definition.
Key every record on order number plus revision. Without a revision marker, a resend looks like a duplicate order.
Pick the method the ERP can already produce. An existing scheduled report, a file drop, an order email or an API where one is available. The choice of connection for ERP orders becomes simpler once the content is fixed.
Treat write-back as optional and scoped. Decide which freight events, if any, return to the ERP after intake is working.
One owner per feed. When the export fails, one named person should know first.

An order-feed definition template

Complete one copy per order source before the first integration call. The example answers are illustrative.

Feed element	Question to answer	Example answer	Owner
Unit of work	Order, delivery or shipment?	Delivery document	Logistics
Record key	What makes each record unique?	Order number plus revision	ERP lead
Release trigger	Which ERP event sends the order?	Credit release	Logistics and sales ops
Delivery method	How does the record arrive?	Scheduled file drop to one folder	IT
Timing	When does it run, and how far before pickup?	Hourly on weekdays, at least one day before pickup	IT
Required fields	Which fields must be present to act?	Full ship-to, ready date, weight with unit, pieces	Logistics
Units and formats	Weight units, date format, time zone	Pounds, ISO dates, plant local time	ERP lead
Changes	Full resend or changed fields only?	Full resend, new revision	ERP lead
Cancellations	What record says canceled?	Status field set to canceled, line-level allowed	Sales ops
Feed failure	Who is alerted when nothing arrives?	IT on-call and freight lead	IT
Write-back	Which events return, if any?	Carrier and pickup date, after intake is stable	IT and logistics

How Wilson, by Cartage, works from a defined order feed

Wilson replaces the TMS for freight execution and connects to the company's ERP or existing order data flow, so a written feed definition maps directly onto how Wilson receives work. Wilson works with SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle, Infor, Epicor, Sage, Acumatica, and other ERP environments, with the exact connection depending on the customer’s data flow and scope. Orders can arrive through an ERP feed, a scheduled file drop, a spreadsheet, email or API, and a full integration project is not required to start.

From the feed, Wilson quotes and books with the company's approved carriers, negotiating against its rate targets under configured rules and approval limits, then tracks each load through delivery. A revised order is matched to the existing shipment, and a cancellation is sent to the booked carrier. Orders missing required information, or changes outside the configured rules, go to the person the company names. Write-back is optional and scoped: an updated file, a shared table, or an API connection where available.

Wilson starts with assisted execution, and the scope can expand step by step. Messages, confirmations and changes are recorded in the shipment history. Cartage helps map the first workflow, including the order feed, during discovery.

Bring last week's order export, one order that changed and one that was canceled, and see in a demo how Wilson turns each record into freight work.