FileMaker Shipping

NRGship is Compatible with FileMaker Pro v17

NRG Software is excited to announced that the current release of all NRGship products are compatible with the FileMaker Pro v17 platform. Internal pre-release testing has not uncovered any issues. As with any upgrade, we suggest customers test their integration before upgrading production systems. Customers using NRG Ship Connect should email sales@nrgsoft.com for upgrade information.

More information on upgrading NRGship for FileMaker can be found here.

2023-05-20T03:08:21+00:00May 15th, 2018|FileMaker Shipping, General|
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Shipping is Hard

With the release of FileMaker Pro v16, new web service capabilities could be utilized to integrate shipping directly with UPS, FedEx and USPS APIs into your FileMaker apps. However, doing so isn’t always the most cost-effective option.

Utilizing Carrier APIs

In order to use the carrier APIs you must first obtain credentials for their test environment and review the documentation. FileMaker v16 makes it easy to integrate with JSON services however the carriers are not buzzword compliant and still utilize XML and SOAP for communcations. Creating basic shipments is a fairly straight-forward process but complex shipments like multiple packages, third-party shipping and ancillary services require additional logic. Providing the full suite of carrier functionality also requires implmentation of various APIs – rating, address validation, shipping, tracking and pickup requests. Building out these requests could take a week of development effort, you will need to be well-versed in building XML requests and parsing responses. Ongoing maintenance is also required – several times a year the carriers will post updates for new services or additional offerings. Label output to thermal printers and capturing weights off digital scales will also be an issue which require special coding.

NRGShip Makes it Easier

NRGship is built in FileMaker Pro and is Carrier Certified. We have gone thru extensive testing to make sure that data is properly passed to the carriers. If you can set a field via FileMaker Scripting then you can integrate shipping into your database in no time at all. Our apps are also compatible for use with WebDirect and FileMaker Go. Thermal printers and digital scales are directly supported. While we recommend using FileMaker v15 or above with our apps, we still support older FileMaker Pro versions with legacy offerings. NRG provides full support and updates to it’s customers. FileMaker shipping is our core business.

Ready to Go

NRGship is proven by thousands of installs. Depending on volume, some shippers can even qualify for carrier subsidies which will provide up to three years of support and maintenance. Spend less time troubleshooting and get shipping today!

2018-08-07T18:54:16+00:00May 11th, 2018|FileMaker Shipping, General|
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Print branded shipping labels with NRGship Pro

NRGship Pro for UPS and NRGship Pro for FedEx both include the ability to place an image on the extended area of shopping labels printed to Zebra thermal printers. To take advantage of this feature simply choose the Logo option for the Doc Tab content in printing preferences. You will need to use 4×8 or DocTab labels for this option.

 

2018-08-07T16:44:41+00:00March 7th, 2018|FileMaker Shipping, General, Mac Shipping, Press Releases, Tools & Tips|
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How easy is it to integrate my database with NRGship?

This is a common question we get from other FileMaker developers. Recently we were contacted by a customer who wanted help integrating their mailing database with NRGship FedEx for FileMaker. This customer had a fairly simple use case – on a weekly or monthly basis they are sending out printed materials to one of a few hundred locations. Each shipment could be one or more boxes of a varied weight via FedEx Ground. They’d also like to see shipment history and tracking for previous shipments. In under two hours we were able to modify their database so they could perform the following functions:

  • Add a shipment with one or more more packages to a CRM record
  • Capture weight off a USB-connected scale
  • Select pre-defined box sizes or enter dimensions manually
  • Print shipping labels to a networked Zebra printer
  • Allow users with certain permisions to void or delete shipments
  • Show a history of shipments with links to track at FedEx.com
  • Produce FedEx Ground End Of Day reports
  • Validate delivery addresses on data entry screens (and batch validate existing addresses)

All of this development was done using standard FileMaker scripting with no need to understand XML, JSON, Web Services or CURL. NRG solutions are available for all current versions of FileMaker Pro and can be used on the desktop, thru FileMaker Go or with Web Direct.

NRGship FedEx for FileMaker is a Certified FedEx Compatible solution.

CRM Shipping

 

FedEx Address Validation at Time of Entry

 

2018-08-07T18:56:13+00:00March 7th, 2018|Address Validation, Case Studies, FileMaker Shipping|
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2018 Development Roadmap

In the spirit of transparency, we’d like to share some of the things we are working on this year. If your’re curious about what we did last year you can check out our updated 2017 Roadmap post. What other features would you like to see added? Please let us know!

NRGship Pro for UPS

  • Update UI with modern themes
  • Add UPS Freight
  • Add Dangerous Goods
  • Add cloud sync capabilities for multi-user history
  • Update backend licensing
  • Standardize function calls
  • More iOS functions

NRGship Pro for FedEx

  • Update UI with modern themes
  • Standardize ecommerce integrations
  • Standardize function calls
  • More iOS functions

NRGship for Endicia

  • Add support for logos on labels
  • Standardize function calls
  • More iOS functions

Ship Connect

  • Update UI with modern themes
  • Standardize ecommerce integrations
  • Add UPS Freight
  • Add support for logos on labels
  • Standardize function calls
  • More iOS functions

NRGship

  • Add support for return shipments
  • Add cloud sync capabilities for multi-user history
2023-07-19T05:10:21+00:00February 1st, 2018|FileMaker Shipping, Mac Shipping|
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NRGship Goes Gold for 2018

For the second year in a row, NRGship has received Gold status thru the FedEx Compatible program. Only a subset of certified solutions receive such status which is achieved thru an extensive annual review process. Certified solutions provide core FedEx functionality, so it’s easy to access the shipping and delivery services you need, from the software you use every day. NRG Software focuses on shipping solutions for businesses that run on macOS and in FileMaker Pro database solutions. NRGship is a parcel and freight shipping solution that allows you to tightly integrate rating, shipping and tracking directly into your FileMaker based business solutions, or it can be run as a standalone application. This provides order entry with estimated ship costs, completely integrated shipping and visibility to shipment status across your entire organization. Many customers utilize this solution because it also supports direct integration with many macOS applications and e-commerce systems.

2018-08-07T18:59:32+00:00January 9th, 2018|FileMaker Shipping, Mac Shipping, Press Releases|
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NRG Software to provide limited updates for older version of FileMaker Pro

Up until earlier this year all of our shipping solutions were built using FileMaker Pro v11. After reviewing our user base, we determined that we could migrate our core development to FileMaker Pro v15. Starting in 2018 we will provide limited maintenance updates to customers who are using FileMaker Pro v15 or below. New features of NRGship will only be available to customers who are using more recent versions of FileMaker.

If you are using FileMaker 11 or below please review the Filemaker Conversion Checklist. Overall the upgrade process should be relatively straightforward.

If you are using FileMaker 12-14 then the file format is still .fmp12 so it’s just a matter of upgrading your workstation and/or server installation.

Please contact NRG sales if you would like assistance in upgrading as we can provide both conversion assistance and software licenses.

2018-08-07T19:02:41+00:00October 18th, 2017|FileMaker Shipping, General|
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2017 Development Roadmap

In the spirit of transparency, we’d like to share some of the things we are working on this year. What other features would you like to see added? Please let us know!

NRGship Pro for UPS

  • Convert to UPS Web services for improved rating and shipping performance (done)
  • Add support for QuickBooks Online and LightSpeed Cloud (done)
  • Add Ground Freight Pricing (done)
  • Add Dangerous Goods
  • Add cloud sync capabilities for multi-user history
  • Add script calls to perform script on server for iOS and WebDirect (done)
  • Add support for logos on labels (done)
  • Move core development to FileMaker Pro v15 (done)

NRGship Pro for FedEx

  • EU certification (done)
  • Standardize ecommerce integrations (done)
  • Add script calls to perform script on server for iOS and WebDirect (done)
  • Add support for logos on labels (done)
  • Move core development to FileMaker Pro v15 (done)

NRGship for Endicia

  • Add script calls to perform script on server for iOS and WebDirect (done)
  • Add support for logos on labels
  • Move core development to FileMaker Pro v15 (done)

Ship Connect

  • Add script calls to perform script on server for iOS and WebDirect (done)
  • Add support for logos on labels
  • Move core development to FileMaker Pro v15 (done)

NRGship

  • Add support for return shipments
  • Add cloud sync capabilities for multi-user history
2018-08-07T19:06:40+00:00May 22nd, 2017|FileMaker Shipping, Mac Shipping|
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Choose NRG for Carrier-Certified Solutions

We’ve heard it in the past – why should I use your solution when I could write my own.  With the recent release of FileMaker Pro v16 which offers some new web service capabilities, we thought it was a good time to address why you should use a carrier-certified solution over creating a one-off solution. Let’s start with some history. NRGship for UPS started over 10 years ago as that one-off solution with hundreds of hours of development time – our client couldn’t possibly have justified the cost of development. Working with UPS, we became the first UPS Ready provider to offer a solution for shipping on the Mac. Over the years and thousands of hours later, we’re a UPS Strategic Partner and are their go-to offering for the Mac. We are also FedEx Compatible and have additional solutions for USPS and various freight carriers.

NRG is Shipping

We still do custom development, but our core business is shipping. We work with all of the major carriers and go thru a lengthy certification process which insures that our software is able to interface without error. In addition, we have written our own connectivity to hardware like digital scales and thermal printers. While shipping is often and afterthought in most businesses, it’s often the most critical as shipping means you can send out invoices, and invoices means money! When the shipping department has issues, NRG becomes your customers point of support to assist with any questions.

Seamless Integration

NRGship is not a plugin, it is a set of FileMaker Pro databases which mirror the functionality of carrier desktop software. Some FileMaker plugins provide limited rating and shipping capabilities whereas NRG solutions support all available carrier service options. A “build your own” solution may get you simple labels with a day or two of effort, but many shippers require functionality like discounted rates, third-party billing, COD and international forms which add significant complexity. We provide multiple options for integration depending on your level of developer savviness. There is no need to worry about the internals of the NRGship files.  You can ship direct from your interface or thru ours. NRGship support can work with you to determine what makes the most sense for you or your customer.

Works With All Versions of FileMaker

NRG has provided shipping solutions since the release of FileMaker Pro v7. While our current offerings work best with FileMaker Pro v15 and above, we do support older FileMaker Pro versions with legacy offerings.

Ready to Go

NRGship is proven by thousands of installs. Depending on volume, some shippers can even qualify for carrier subsidies which will provide up to three years of support and maintenance. Spend less time troubleshooting and get shipping today!

2018-08-07T19:07:36+00:00May 22nd, 2017|FileMaker Shipping|
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