Does it use our own DPD account and rates?

Yes. Bookings are made on your existing DPD account, so your contracted rates, collection arrangements and invoicing from DPD stay exactly as they are. Your account needs web or API access enabled for this to work, which is something DPD arranges with you. We also take your current rate card so the delivery price check reflects what you actually pay.

What happens if a DPD booking fails?

The order is marked as failed on the shipments page, with the reason DPD gave, such as an invalid postcode. Someone in the office corrects the detail and retries the booking. The order isn’t completed in Unleashed until a booking succeeds, so a failed one can’t slip through looking finished, and the attempt is recorded in the order’s history.

Can other carriers be used alongside DPD?

Yes. The platform isn’t limited to one carrier. We’ve worked with TPN for pallets and with Royal Mail and Parcelforce, and the right carrier can be chosen from the delivery method on the order. A business sending parcels by DPD and pallets by TPN would see both on the same shipments page, each booked on its own account.

Do warehouse staff need their own Unleashed logins?

No. Packers sign in to the shared handhelds by tapping their name and entering a four-digit PIN. The platform reads from and writes to Unleashed on their behalf, and every pick, pack, photo and booking is still recorded against the person who did it. Office staff who already use Unleashed carry on as they do.

How are collection orders handled?

Collections skip DPD altogether. They have their own screen on the handhelds showing how many days each has been waiting. When an order is packed, the customer is emailed to say it’s ready, and when someone collects it the packer records their name, which is saved to the order before it is completed in Unleashed.

Approved in Unleashed, booked with DPD, label on the box

Approved Unleashed orders picked and packed on rugged handhelds, priced and booked with DPD on your own account, labels printed without a click, and tracking written back to Unleashed.

Book a discovery call How pricing works

Unleashed
DPD
PrintNode

Zestcode Automation builds the step between an approved Unleashed order and a DPD van: packers work from rugged handhelds, the platform prices the consignment with DPD, books it on your own account, prints the label and ship note by itself, then saves the tracking number to Unleashed and completes the order. The office only steps in when something needs a decision, such as a delivery that costs more than the customer was charged.

It is built for UK distributors already running Unleashed whose dispatch still involves typing addresses into the DPD website and copying tracking numbers back by hand.

Ten minutes at the packing bench

Here’s one hypothetical order, from the moment it is approved to the moment the label is on the box.

14:02. An order is approved in the review queue and created in Unleashed as a placed sales order with the customer’s PO reference.
14:03. It appears on the warehouse handhelds, near the top because it’s due tomorrow and must be packed before the 3pm cutoff.
14:05. A picker opens it. The order is refreshed from Unleashed first, so an extra line added by the office at 14:04 is on the list. Opening it marks the order as theirs, so nobody else starts it.
14:09. All lines ticked, sorted by product group as they walked the aisles. The packer enters two parcels with weights and dimensions and takes a photo.
14:10. They tap complete. The platform prices both parcels with DPD and compares the result with the delivery charge on the order.
14:10. The charge matches, so the booking goes in. The 4x6 label prints at the bench and the A4 ship note at the office printer, both through PrintNode and a small print PC.
14:11. Tracking, parcel count and weight are saved to the order in Unleashed and it is completed, so invoicing carries on as normal.

When the DPD price and the PO disagree

Step six doesn’t always go that way. If the live DPD price differs from what the customer’s PO says they’ll pay for carriage, the order is held on the shipments page instead of booked. Someone in the office can accept the difference, amend the charge, or call the customer, before the order is completed and invoiced, so an underpriced delivery is dealt with while the order can still be changed.

What ends up back in Unleashed

the DPD tracking number against the order
parcel count and total weight
photos of the packed order, attached to the sales order
the delivery charge, updated to the agreed figure
completion, so the order moves on to invoicing as it always has

Do we need this if Unleashed already connects to shipping apps?

Possibly not. Unleashed connects to several shipping and fulfilment apps through its own integrations, and if one covers your carriers and your process, it will be cheaper than a bespoke build. A tailored setup earns its keep when you want handhelds driving the packing rather than a desk, a price check against the customer’s PO before booking, labels printing without anyone pressing print, a mix of parcel and pallet carriers on one screen, or the whole thing joined up with emailed order capture upstream. The shipping page shows the screens.

What you need from DPD and on the bench

a DPD account with API or web integration access enabled
your current rate card
a 4x6 label printer at packing and an A4 printer for ship notes
reliable Wi-Fi across the warehouse floor, or SIM cards
rugged Android handhelds, which we specify, configure and lock to the platform

Phases, price and ownership

Warehouse and shipping form the second phase of an order-to-dispatch project. Together with capture, review and Unleashed sync, the total typically falls between £20k and £30k excluding VAT, over around 14 weeks. PrintNode adds $9 a month. Quotes are fixed after a free written specification and stay valid for 90 days.

Once it’s running, the system belongs to your business: hosted in accounts in your company name, no charges per packer or per device licence from us, and a maintenance plan only if you want one.

Common questions

Straight answers to what people ask us about this before a call.

Does it use our own DPD account and rates?
Yes. Bookings are made on your existing DPD account, so your contracted rates, collection arrangements and invoicing from DPD stay exactly as they are. Your account needs web or API access enabled for this to work, which is something DPD arranges with you. We also take your current rate card so the delivery price check reflects what you actually pay.
What happens if a DPD booking fails?
The order is marked as failed on the shipments page, with the reason DPD gave, such as an invalid postcode. Someone in the office corrects the detail and retries the booking. The order isn’t completed in Unleashed until a booking succeeds, so a failed one can’t slip through looking finished, and the attempt is recorded in the order’s history.
Can other carriers be used alongside DPD?
Yes. The platform isn’t limited to one carrier. We’ve worked with TPN for pallets and with Royal Mail and Parcelforce, and the right carrier can be chosen from the delivery method on the order. A business sending parcels by DPD and pallets by TPN would see both on the same shipments page, each booked on its own account.
Do warehouse staff need their own Unleashed logins?
No. Packers sign in to the shared handhelds by tapping their name and entering a four-digit PIN. The platform reads from and writes to Unleashed on their behalf, and every pick, pack, photo and booking is still recorded against the person who did it. Office staff who already use Unleashed carry on as they do.
How are collection orders handled?
Collections skip DPD altogether. They have their own screen on the handhelds showing how many days each has been waiting. When an order is packed, the customer is emailed to say it’s ready, and when someone collects it the packer records their name, which is saved to the order before it is completed in Unleashed.