Consignment notes and their numbering are revised at the beginning of 2012

Transport sector service providers are switching to electronic data transmission. The aim is that in the future transport orders are transmitted electronically in the logistics chain and manual information transmission such as orders by phone, fax or e-mail are no longer used by 2013. Finland would thus adopt the same procedure used by other Nordic countries.

The reform progresses in stages: in the first stage the consignment note standards change and consignment notes are assigned unique numbers.

The domestic freight consignment note (SFS 5865) was revised at the end of 2010 to enable electronic data transmission. The new consignment note brings better usability and clarity. The past year has been a transitional period and the aim is to use the consignment note conforming in full to the new standard at the beginning of 2012.

Another major change is the unique numbering of the consignment note. At the moment companies may use unique numbering (number received from The Finnish Association of Purchasing and Logistics LOGY) or determine the numbers themselves. The latter method has resulted in cases where several consignment notes may have the same number. In these cases the consignment can be found only by examining the consignors and consignee's information.

The numbers can at the moment be received electronically from LOGY's website. It is likely that adopting the unique consignment numbering system will require that some changes be made to the enterprise resource planning system.

The introduction of electronic modes of operation is voluntary but it brings many benefits. The aim of the changes to the consignment notes and the introduction of completely electronic ordering data is to improve the quality and delivery reliability of logistics services. The aim is to reduce the work load of the transport service orderer and provider. In addition, electronic ordering enables the use of a wide range of value-added services.

Additional information:
Expert Kyösti Orre, tel. +358 9 4202 2565, kyosti.orre@ek.fi

Source: Newsletter of The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) 22 November 2011