Notice

In logistics, an advance shipping notice (ASN, also called advice) is advance information and only serves to announce a warehouse or goods delivery to the receiver. The respective appointment is made by the forwarder either by phone or in written or electronic form. It is used to prepare the receiver of the ASN for the time of pick-up or delivery. The ASN is not comparable to delivery documents that are delivered at the same time as the goods.

The contents of the ASN are, for example, article number, order number, article quantity, article weight, volume and the time of the delivery at the incoming goods area or the appointment for the pick-up (delivery appointment). Generally, an ASN comes with additional costs depending on the scope, forwarder and location.

The term advice also exists in the area of payment transactions. Here, it refers to the advance information about the delivery of a payment, in the form of payment advice or invoice advice.

What are the advantages of an ASN?

Usually, the ASN is used in complex delivery chains in which it is very important for the receiver of the goods to receive the exact delivery time. One such example are just-in-time production orders. The incoming goods can be monitored and planned quickly because of the electronic ASN and notifications in ERP systems. When delays occur, the receiver can react directly.

Different versions of notices

Different versions of supply notices are provided. Among them are:

Delivery notice: Here, the delivery day and the time window are set by the receiver after the forwarder has contacted them. This is usually done one day before the delivery via text message, phone or e-mail.

Pick-up notice: Here, analogously to the delivery notice, the forwarder and the sender set an appointment one day before the pick-up date.

Driver notice: In the case of a driver notice, the driver of the forwarder contacts the receiver shortly before the goods arrive. Thus, the employees responsible for accepting goods can prepare for the delivery.