I was wondering how those of you using real time shipping calculations deal with the UPS dimensional weight issues.
We have many products that ship in different size boxes, completely based on what the customer orders.
How do you get accurate real time shipping calculations?
Thanks in advance for your input.
:)
Cyndi
logan
3 Apr 2017 2:28 PM
Box Packing Largest Area First or better known as LAF. Basically it's a peace of software that will pack a known set of boxes (The boxes you use to ship) with the items ordered by the customer. The software tries and packs as many items into the smallest box possible with out going over the boxes maximum weight. You then send the packed box or boxes dimensions and weight to the live calculator were you get very accurate shipping cost. There are several other algorithms besides LAF. I found one online that uses the GPL license which allows me to use the code for free. I then build a custom plugin to do exactly what I just described. It works great and the shipping is perfect almost all the time.
Metz
20 Apr 2017 9:43 PM
Thanks logan!
You are obviously WAAAYY more knowledgeable than I am - building a custom plugin and all - but I appreciate this information as it gives me some direction.