Routing Logic Directives (RLD) built into EPISHIP control shipments through the rate and label manifest processes of the supply chain.
The purpose of this article is to detail the Afferent Sender Rule, a specific RLD Rule type, that targets the transformation and control of sender (origin) information before a rate or label request is processed.
A rate or label request relies on origin data to determine shipping costs, transit times, and routing. Sometimes, the default sender information submitted in a request does not align with the actual fulfillment origin or business requirements for a specific order. This is where the Afferent Sender Rule comes in. Unlike Efferent rules that post-process carrier responses, the Afferent Sender Rule pre-processes the request to explicitly modify the sender details (e.g., dynamically changing the origin warehouse or return address) before the request is ever submitted to the carrier network. The Afferent Sender Rule is one rule type within an RLD Template.
Any number of Afferent Sender Rules can be built within an RLD Template to match business objectives. Each Afferent Sender Rule includes the following components.
Match conditions of criteria operators include the following types: All (AND), Any (OR), None (Not).
Sender fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Receiver fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Package fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Line Items fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Options fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
References fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Rate fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Time fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
The match criteria types listed above are used within individual rules or can be combined into a single rule to target specific conditions that include several match criteria.
The shipment request is modified according to the rules defined within the Afferent Sender Rule matched within the RLD Template. The transformation functionality available to be included within the RLD template is as follows.
This configuration dictates exactly how the sender properties are altered in the outgoing request payload. Once the match criteria are met, the request is transformed to override specific sender fields—such as Sender Company, Sender Address 1, Sender City, Sender State, or Sender Postal Code—with explicitly defined replacement values before the carrier processes the rate or label generation.
Usual use cases for Afferent Sender Rules within an RLD Template are numerous. Some common use cases include the following:
Override the default origin address to route the shipment request from a specific drop-shipper or vendor when particular line item SKUs are detected in the cart.
Modify the printed sender address to reflect a centralized returns processing facility or corporate headquarters rather than the physical 3PL warehouse fulfilling the order.
Dynamically change the sender origin location to the closest regional distribution center based on the receiver’s destination zone to accurately rate-shop multi-warehouse inventory.
