13. TMS Reference & Integration

Open Nexus allows your organization to maintain TMS References (Transportation Management System References) for both your own organization and the partners you work with.

These references allow Open Nexus to identify the corresponding organization and location records in your Transportation Management System (TMS) when working with Booking Files.

There are therefore two important types of TMS References to maintain:

• Your Organization's TMS References – References for your own Headquarters and other locations.
• Partner TMS References – References your TMS uses to identify Freight Forwarding Partners, Shippers, and Consignees.

Your Organization's TMS References

Your organization can manage its own TMS References under Organization Settings → Profile.

The TMS References field on the main Profile represents the TMS Reference for your organization's Headquarters location.

If your organization has additional locations, each location can have its own TMS Reference:

1. Go to Organization Settings → Profile.
2. Scroll to Locations.
3. Add a location or edit an existing location.
4. Enter the TMS Reference for that location.
5. Save the changes.

When a Booking File is created for one of your organization locations, Open Nexus automatically uses the TMS Reference associated with that location.

The TMS Reference for your own organization is automatically selected in the background and is not displayed as a TMS Reference field when creating the Booking File.

TMS References for Your Partners

You can also maintain the TMS References that your TMS uses to identify the organizations you work with.

These can include:

• Freight Forwarding Partners
• Shippers
• Consignees

Partner TMS References are managed from the Private Directory.

Open the relevant organization to add its Headquarters TMS Reference or manage TMS References for its individual locations.

As with your own organization:

• The TMS Reference entered on the organization's main details represents its Headquarters location.
• Additional organization locations can have their own location-specific TMS References.

These TMS References are private to your organization. They represent how these partners are identified in your TMS and are not shared globally through the Public Directory.

Using Partner TMS References on a Booking File

When a partner, shipper, or consignee is selected on a Booking File, the corresponding TMS Reference can be selected within:

• Partner Details → Agent TMS Reference
• Shipper Details → Shipper TMS Reference
• Consignee Details → Consignee TMS Reference

The appropriate TMS Reference is automatically selected based on the selected organization and location when a matching TMS Reference has been configured.

This means a Booking File can contain the references needed by your TMS for both sides of the integration: your own organization's location reference and the references your TMS uses for the partners involved in the shipment.

External Systems & TMS Integration

Your organization's configured TMS integrations can be viewed under Organization Settings → External Systems.

After a TMS integration has been successfully set up, an entry for the configured TMS API appears under External Systems.

Your organization can configure multiple integrations, with each configured TMS appearing as a separate entry in the External Systems table.

Why It Matters

TMS References and integrations help:

• Match Open Nexus organizations and locations with the corresponding records in your TMS.
• Support different TMS References for Headquarters and other organization locations.
• Automatically use the appropriate reference based on the selected Booking File location.
• Maintain separate references for freight forwarding partners, shippers, and consignees.
• Connect Open Nexus with one or multiple TMS platforms.
• Reduce manual data matching when exchanging shipment information between Open Nexus and a TMS.

Hint:
Think of TMS References from two sides: maintain references for your own organization and locations under Organization Settings, and maintain references for your partners, shippers, and consignees in the Private Directory. Open Nexus then uses these references when preparing Booking File information for your TMS.