International Postal System (IPS) — Overview

Alongside freight and logistics, the Freight Management module includes a complete system for running International Postal System (IPS) operations. If you're a postal operator or a courier company dealing with an international exchange office, this section manages a mail item's journey from the moment receptacles arrive from abroad until the parcel is delivered to the customer's door.

Who is this section for?

The postal system is a specialized part of the freight module. If your business is only ocean freight and clearance, you may not need it. Postal and parcel operators, on the other hand, will find a complete workflow here. Both sections live in the same Freight Management System menu, but they are licensed separately: the freight and clearance documents under frm, and everything postal under frm-ips.

Core concepts

Before getting into the documents, let's learn the vocabulary the whole system revolves around.

Mail Item

The smallest unit: an individual parcel or letter. A mail item carries a unique identifier (Mail Item ID), a description, a mail class, category, and subclass, an HS code for customs, a weight (declared and actual), a country of origin, recipient data, and its value. It's what ultimately gets delivered to the customer.

Receptacle

A container that gathers several mail items for transport between offices — a sealed bag or box with a seal number. The system treats receptacles as a transport unit, and the items inside them as a delivery unit.

Delivery & Receipt Areas

The postal offices and areas the items move between: Received From, Received In, and Next Office. Tracking these fields on every document traces the item's path across the office network.

A mail item's journey

A mail item passes through stages, each with its own document:

1. Receiving receptacles — receptacles arrive from abroad and are recorded with a Receptacles Receipt.
2. Manifesting/opening items — receptacles are opened and the items inside recorded via the Mail Item Manifest.
3. Customs clearance — items subject to customs are gathered in a Manifest for Custody.
4. Transfer between offices — items move to the office responsible for delivery via the Mail Item Transfer.
5. Sorting — items are sorted for delivery, and missing ones and non-delivery reasons are recorded in the Postal Parcels Sort.
6. Delivery and collection — a Delivery Request is created for the customer, then a Delivery Invoice for the service value and customs fees.

And throughout the journey, the adjustment, stock-taking, and retention documents let you correct discrepancies and handle held items.

Postal master files

Defined once under Freight Management System → Master Files:

• Mail Class / Category / Subclass — classification of mail items per postal-union standards.
• Mail Condition and Parcel Status — describe the item's situation.
• Delivery & Receipt Area — offices and areas.
• Delivery Service Item and Delivery Service Price — delivery pricing.
• Retention Reason and Non-Delivery Reason / Measure — handling exceptions.
• Event — item-tracking events.

The following pages detail each group of documents.