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Parcel administration

The parcel administration model distinguishes between three separate business concepts: Product, Parcel, and Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). Although a Parcel may in some situations correspond to a single SKU, these concepts are fundamentally different and can not be treated as interchangeable within the system.

The three layers are defined as follows:

  • Product – The physical commodity handled at the terminal, such as gas oil, gasoline, or naphtha.
  • Parcel – The administrative representation of a physical product. A Parcel records characteristics such as commodity code, customs status, origin, cargo documents and, where applicable, consignor or consignee information.
  • Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) – An administrative unit used for inventory management and record-keeping purposes. SKUs support stock administration but do not define the legal or logistical identity of a Parcel.


Parcel creation for incoming products

For incoming products, the User registers the received physical product by creating one or more Parcels. Each Parcel serves as an administrative reflection of the product and captures attributes such as the commodity code, customs status, and origin.

These attributes alone do not determine the number of Parcels that must be created. Even where multiple quantities of product share identical administrative characteristics, the User may decide to register them as separate Parcels. Consequently, the creation and granularity of Parcels for incoming receipts are driven by the User's administrative requirements rather than solely by the product characteristics.


Parcel creation for outgoing products

The same principle applies to the dispatch of goods. When product is loaded for shipment, the User creates one or more Parcels to represent the administrative distribution of the physical product.

For example, 15,000 MT of gasoline with a T1 (non-Union) customs status may be loaded, with 5,000 MT destined for one terminal and 10,000 MT destined for another. Although both quantities have the same commodity code, customs status, and origin, separate Parcels are created because they are intended for different consignees or destinations and are accompanied by different transport or customs documentation. The User determines the required Parcel structure based on the operational and documentary requirements of the shipment.


Parcel Administration During Internal Product Movements

For internal product handling, the creation and movement of Parcels is driven by the physical product being processed and its customs status. In these scenarios, the IT system determines the Parcels based on the administrative composition of the stock being moved.

For example, a tank containing 10,000 MT of gasoline may consist of 5,000 MT with T1 customs status and 5,000 MT with T2 customs status. When the full 10,000 MT is moved, the operation results in the movement of two separate Parcels, reflecting the two different customs statuses.

Where a Parcel contains multiple underlying SKUs, such as SKUs with different origins, the associated SKUs follow the Parcel movement according to the First In, First Out (FIFO) allocation methodology. As a result, the Parcel defines the administrative movement of the product, while the SKUs are allocated within that Parcel in FIFO order to maintain accurate inventory records and traceability.

The administration of Parcels for liquid bulk operations requires a dynamic approach because the physical quantity moved during an operation is not known until the operation has been completed. At the same time, customs legislation requires that goods are declared and presented before the operation takes place, as subsequent blending or commingling may make it impossible to distinguish the originally declared goods.


Initial Parcel determination

Prior to the start of a movement, the IT system determines the Product and the corresponding Parcel or Parcels based on the planned quantity. The determination is performed using the inventory position as it exists immediately before the operation commences.

At this point, the system queries the record keeping to identify all relevant Parcels and their administrative characteristics, including customs status. Based on this assessment, the required customs declarations can be prepared and lodged before the physical movement starts.

The quantity used during this initial assessment is an estimated or planned quantity. The actual transferred quantity cannot yet be established.


Determination of the actual quantity

In liquid bulk operations, the actual moved quantity is established only after completion of the physical operation. The quantity may be determined through:

  • Tank measurements before and after the operation;
  • Flow meter readings; or
  • Weighbridge measurements.

Only after these measurements have been completed can the definitive quantity of Product and the corresponding Parcel allocation be determined.


Retrospective Parcel validation

Once the actual moved quantity is known, the IT system performs a retrospective validation of the Parcel administration. This validation reassesses which Parcels should have been moved based on the inventory situation that existed immediately before the operation started, rather than the inventory situation at the time the reassessment is executed.

This temporal consistency is essential because customs declarations are based on the goods that were presented immediately prior to the operation. Consequently, the reassessment must use the same point-in-time inventory snapshot as the initial determination.

In practice, the Product already present in the receiving tank is treated as a fixed condition that existed before the movement and therefore remains unchanged for purposes of the reassessment.


Parcel identity and corrections

Each Parcel must have a unique reference that identifies the represented Product and its associated customs status. This unique reference should remain unchanged between the initial assessment before the operation and the retrospective validation after completion.

In most cases, the retrospective validation will confirm the initial Parcel determination, with only the moved quantity requiring adjustment. In exceptional circumstances, however, the final measured quantity may lead to a different Parcel composition than originally anticipated. For example, an operation initially expected to involve a single Parcel may ultimately require two Parcels because the final quantity spans different customs status boundaries, or vice versa.

In such cases, the IT system must correct the Parcel administration and any associated customs declarations while preserving the original assessment timestamp representing the moment immediately before the operation commenced. This ensures both an accurate inventory administration and a legally consistent customs audit trail.

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