Save on dispatcher work hours, simplify exception management, and include custom advanced logic in your fulfillment process by using Bringg's automations to set up workflows that Bringg puts into action under specific conditions.
To create automations, build sentences that describe triggers (when X happens), conditions (and only if Y is true), and actions (then do Z), or choose from a collection of templates.
Bringg presents the relevant options in each step according to your selections and data architecture.
For example, you can create an automation to notify dispatchers when the weight of an order that is already assigned changes, with this statement: When an order weight is changed, and only if the order is assigned to a driver, notify via Bringg platform.
Note
Automations create immediate and significant changes to your order flow, therefore contact your Bringg customer service representative to discuss and implement any automations.
Manage order flows and exceptions using automations
Before You Begin
Confirm you have a Bringg user of type Admin.
Define the steps in the order flow that you want to automate.
Tip
Get started with automations by considering an alert you currently use and how dispatchers respond to these alerts. Then, implement these responses as automations and save your dispatchers some time.
For example, if when a dispatcher receives an alert that an unassigned order is due to leave your fulfillment center soon, they respond by changing the order rank, create an automation to change the rank automatically instead.
Procedure
Step 1: To set up a new in Bringg, go to Settings > Automations, then select New Automation.
Update an existing automation by selecting it in the Automations Board.
Create or edit an automation
Tip
To choose from a collection of popular automations and adjust them to suit your needs, select Templates and then Add on a particular template.
Create an automation from a template
Step 2: Make your automation easy to find by selecting the edit icon and entering a name.
For example, for an automation that requires drivers to submit a particular type of proof of delivery after completing an installation, enter the name Bookshelf Installation POD.
Name the automation
Step 3: Define the scope of the automation by selecting the teams it applies to.
By default, automations apply to all teams. To apply this rule to only certain teams, remove the All teams label and select specific team names.
Search the list by entering a team's name.
Apply the automation to specific teams
Step 4: Define the trigger that sets your automation in motion by selecting When this happens and selecting the relevant prompt.
Find a trigger by searching or select a category, then select each component of the trigger from a list.
For example, select Event happened > Order created to trigger an automation when an order is created in Bringg.
Set up a trigger that sets your automation in motion
The trigger categories include:
Field
Description
Field changed
Trigger automations when details in the order change. For example, set up an automation to reassign an order to the next available carrier if the delivery address changes.
Trigger automations when an order details changes
Event happened
Trigger automations in response to events that occur while a dispatcher is planning the fulfillment schedule or while a driver is on the road, such as when a driver ends their shift with open orders.
Trigger automations in response to an event
Time related
Trigger automations according to an amount of time (in minutes, hours, or days) before or after an event in the order flow. For example, trigger an alert if an order is unassigned 30 minutes before it is scheduled to reach its destination.
Trigger automations at a certain time relative to an event
Recurring
Trigger automations on a set schedule. For example, create an automation that sends consumers their updated time window via SMS each work day at 9AM.
Trigger automations on a recurring schedule
Step 5: (Optional) To further customize when to trigger the automation, set up one or more conditions to define additional circumstances that must occur.
To do this, select the underlined text in the phrase and only if something, then select the condition details.
For example, to trigger an automation only for orders with a specific service plan, select and only if something > Service Plan and select the service plan from the list.
Add a condition to your automation
You can also select conditions from among items you set as custom attributes. Learn more.
Add multiple conditions by selecting the plus icon. Then define the relationship between the conditions by selecting and only if or or.
Add additional conditions to your automation
Field
Description
And only if
Select to trigger the automation if multiple conditions are True. For example, trigger an automation only if the service level is VIP and the order is unassigned.
Or
Select to trigger the automation if at least one of the conditions are True. For example, trigger an automation if the order is either unassigned or not ready for delivery.
Step 6: To choose the result of your automation, select Then do this and select an action.
Add multiple actions by selecting the plus icon and define the relationship between the actions as detailed in this article.
For example, in response to the triggers you set up, move an order to another step in the order flow and alert dispatchers of the change.
Certain actions correspond to specific trigger categories, if you do not see the action you need try using a different trigger.
Set up the result of your automation
Note
You can set up any self service actions, Contact your Bringg customer service representative to safely implement other actions that may have significant effects on your fulfillment flow.
Field
Description
Move orders to planning
(planned orders only) Use to postpone orders by moving them to planning, to dispatcher at another time.
For example, if you do not currently have the requested goods available.
Move orders to next available delivery slot
(Planned orders only) Use to ensure orders that you are not able to deliver in the current delivery slot are added to the next one.
We recommend using this for middle mile only to avoid missing commitments to your consumers. For example, if you resupply a warehouse twice a day, any goods you are not able to fit in the vehicles in the morning are added to the evening run.
Run route optimization
Use to trigger route optimization. You can choose to create entirely new routes or add orders to existing routes. Select the time windows of the orders that should be included in the optimization.
Assign to next fleet
Use to add advanced logic to the carrier selector. Learn more.
Send to drivers
(Planned orders only) Use to dispatch orders. Once dispatched, the orders appear in the Dispatch views in the Bringg Platform and are sent to drivers and carriers.
Update order
Use to change any field in the order's payload.
For example, if an order's time window is approaching and Bringg has not added the order to a route yet, upgrade the order's rank to guarantee it is included in the next route.
Tip
You can also use this action to update any of the order's custom attributes. For example, update custom attributes of an order like membership status, inventory sizes, or whatever specifics apply to your business needs. Learn more.
Send customer the delivery time window
Use to let the consumer know when to expect the delivery by sending them an SMS.
Personalize the SMS by customizing the Schedule SMS notification. Learn more.
Tip
This is an older method, we recommend setting up all your SMS via automations instead. See the Send consumer notification action.
(Self service) Send notification to customer
Use to create custom consumer SMS notifications. Learn more.
For example, to remove fulfilled orders from your work plan even if the driver forgot to mark them as completed.
Cancel order / Cancel all orders with the same external ID
Use to cancel an order or a group of related orders that have the same ID in your system.
Tip
We recommend setting up an alert to notify your dispatchers whenever an order is canceled by an automation. Learn more.
Step 7: Select Create Automation to activate this automation.
Save your automation
Step 8: To disable or enable an automation, select the toggle .
For example, pause an automation for a service plan for rush deliveries during the holidays when there are too many orders to guarantee same day delivery.
Activate or deactivate an automation
Step 9: (Optional) View a log of your activated automations using the Automated Workflows system report. Learn more.
An order is a request for the fulfillment of goods and services at a specific address. It includes all information needed to complete it, such as the requested service or goods, the customer’s contact information, required services (such as fragile care), and the time window.
An alert is Bringg's way to tell you there is a problem with the fulfillment process, enabling you to trust Bringg's automated processes for most cases, and focus instead on managing by exception. You can check alerts about the order itself, about the driver, or relating to the automatic route creation process (route optimization).
A fulfillment center is your home base and where you prepare orders for dispatch. It might be a store, warehouse, factory, garage, or restaurant.
You can configure Bringg to automatically perform actions when drivers approach your fulfillment center. For example, you can make a driver available for AutoDispatch, or take them on and off shift, without requiring them to manually check in. These actions are called home events.
Each team has at least one fulfillment center, and each fulfillment center can have one or more service areas.
A delivery provider (DP) offers their fleet of vehicles to fulfill orders on behalf of the shipper. carriers promise different levels of service, cover specific territories, and may specialize in different types of goods and services, such as parcel retail, restaurant, and grocery delivery. You can add more carriers to expand your service coverage by finding the best fit for your business in our carrier catalog.
There are two types of carriers:
Carriers are often the more established carriers with their own branded fleet of vehicles and drivers, which they offer to shippers to fulfill their orders. Carriers can typically deliver higher volumes and a wider variety of goods around the world, and can therefore batch planned orders together, sometimes several days in advance, to offer shippers cheaper rates.
A crowd-sourced last mile carrier uses independently contracted drivers to populate its fleet. Since the drivers usually use their own vehicles, this type of carrier often fulfills hyper local orders that require more immediate fulfillment (on demand, same day, or next day orders). Their wide pool of local drivers enables them to offer cheaper rates for these deliveries.
An order flow defines all the stages of fulfillment from when an order enters Bringg to when the order is completed or cancelled.
You can define order flows for different types of goods and consumers to fit your company's policy. These flows can determine who prepares the order, its time window, and the driver actions to complete fulfillment.
If you mark a step as mandatory, the flow cannot proceed until the driver starts and completes this step. For example, you may define a separate flow for prescription medicines to require a signature at handoff.
Building order flows includes all eventualities, including defining the steps for drivers if goods are damaged. Or, if you work mostly with Own Fleet, you may need a spillover plan to assign orders to carriers during high volume periods.
The Bringg Driver App can prompt drivers to perform driver actions for any order, or only those which have certain types of goods. It can suggest to perform these actions at the start of a shift, at the end, or during handoff (after check-in or before checkout).
You can add variations to your order flows using service plans in order to offer consumers different levels of service. For example, a basic plan may assign default delivery slots, while over the threshold plans may offer consumers faster fulfillment, or the option to choose a specific arrival date or time.
A destination is the exact geolocated address associated with an order. The order may also have notes attached to help drivers access the correct destination. For example, arriving at an office complex, you need the building name, entrance number, access codes to enter, the floor number, room number, whether there are stairs or an elevator, the best place to park and so on. This information is often used to estimate the time on site.
A time window is the time range when you intend to fulfill an order. Therefore, an order is considered fulfilled on time if it arrives within the time window. The time window is set when you schedule an order in Bringg and is usually defined by the no_earlier_than and no_later_than fields. Narrower time windows are seen as better service, like 9 to 10 am, while longer windows are more typical of larger carriers.
You can share the time window with your consumers for an improved experience. For example, if a consumer places an order for the 8:00-12:00 the following day, in the morning notify them that you intend to arrive between 8:00-9:00.
If you allow consumers to select their preferred delivery slot, the time window is scheduled accordingly.
A service plan is a type of service that you provide to consumers like express, basic, or over the threshold. Service plans enable you to fulfill service level agreements by letting the Bringg Platform, dispatchers, and drivers know when you have committed to providing a specific service, such as delivery at the consumer's home or workplace, or a specific handoff procedure like requiring the consumer's signature as proof of delivery.
For a dispatcher, the Bringg Platform makes your workload lighter by automating most typical dispatch and fulfillment processes, helping you deliver on time with great customer experience scores. Save hours by automatically preparing routes, finding available drivers, vehicles, and delivery providers.
You can manage by exception and let Bringg do the work, allowing you to make fast, accurate decisions by checking alerts on potential problems before they become larger issues. Bringg presents the information and functionality you need to react.
Delivery slots define your availability to accept carrier or consumer pickups, perform deliveries or services. Bringg can calculate relevant slots for a particular order, taking into account the order's destination, your resource availability, SLAs, and more.
You can present delivery slots to your consumer, to allow them to choose when they would like to receive their order.
Inside the Bringg database and payloads a delivery slot is referred to as a planned delivery window (PDW).
You can use Bringg to coordinate the middle mile, which is the path that goods take from a large distribution hub to a local fulfillment center. Bringg's middle mile features enable you to stay in control of your goods as they travel between destinations and drivers, and reduce the amount of time inventory stays on your shelves before delivery to the consumer.
Payloads are data packages containing a predefined set of parameters (fields and values) which Bringg sends and receives from other systems via webhooks, APIs, or websockets.
Payloads arrive at a designated URL in another systems in standard JSON format. For example, see the payload format for an API call to assign a new driver to an order:
A route is a sequence of destinations from one or more orders. Bringg can automatically create routes by calculating the fastest and most efficient route which fulfills the orders. Bringg can also help you assign the most appropriate vehicle and the driver with the correct skills to complete the order.
There are two types of routes:
A planned route is a route containing planned orders that you create in advance, either manually or using route optimization. For example, you can run route optimization every day at 10pm so that drivers can start their routes when they start their shifts the next morning.
An on demand route is a route which contains on demand orders that you create on the fly by using Autodispatch (AD), which continuously and automatically assigns orders to a team's drivers, vehicles, and routes. Common examples are deliveries for restaurants, grocery and pharmacy stores, or roadside assistance.
After you dispatch the orders in a route, drivers receive their route in their Driver App as a series of destinations, each with their associated order which they pick up or hand off to the consumer.
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