Shipment Management Data Structure

A shipment in OTM consists of one or more Equipment records (containers or trailers), Shipment Ship Units loaded into each equipment, and Shipment Ship Unit Lines that link back to the original Order Release lines. Understanding this structure is essential for troubleshooting planning results, writing integration queries, and working with carrier tracking events.

Shipment Structure:

When OTM plans an Order Release to a shipment, it creates Shipment Ship Units and assigns them to equipment. If a Bulk Plan splits an order across two containers — say 60 units in one and 40 in another — that split is recorded at the Shipment Ship Unit Line level. This line is the critical link between the shipment and the originating order: it ties back to a specific item, Order Release Line, Order Release, and Order Base.

Domain, Items, Locations, and Equipment

This is the first in a series of eight posts that walk through a complete OTM end-to-end transaction flow — from initial setup through planning, tendering, invoicing, and cost allocation. Each post builds on the previous one. Use this series as a starting point and refer to OTM Help documentation to explore each topic in depth.

Recommendation for new OTM consultants: If you are early in your OTM career, the single most effective way to build confidence is to complete this entire series hands-on in a non-production environment. Step through each post in order, create every object yourself, and verify the results — rather than just reading through them. You will make mistakes, and that is exactly the point: troubleshooting your own configuration teaches you far more than any documentation can.

You do not need to create a new Domain. Skip the Domain creation step and work inside your existing business domain instead. Everything else — Items, Locations, Equipment, Service Providers, Rates, Itineraries, Bulk Plan, Tender, Invoice, and Voucher Allocation — can be built and tested within your current domain without affecting production data.

Business Scenario: