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Key concepts
This page introduces the building blocks of Boxture and how they relate to each other. Each concept links to the page where it is explained in full. For short definitions see the Glossary.
Accounts and sub-accounts
An account is a company that uses Boxture: the logistics provider that runs the warehouse, and each client (brand, webshop, merchant) whose goods are stored there. Almost everything in Boxture belongs to an account: products, orders, customers, vendors, shipments, pick list plans, packing materials, holidays and reasons.
Accounts form a hierarchy. When an account is created it gets a parent account, and so becomes a sub-account of it. A typical setup:
text
Logistics Co (root account)
├── Brand A
├── Brand B
│ ├── Brand B – Benelux
│ └── Brand B – Germany
└── Brand CThe hierarchy can be as deep as needed. Accounts are managed by administrators under Admin › Users & Accounts › Accounts; see Accounts.
How data flows through the hierarchy
- Downwards visibility. A user sees the data of the account they work in and of all its sub-accounts. Working in Logistics Co you see the orders of Brand A, B and C; working in Brand B you see Brand B and its two country accounts, but not Brand A or C.
- No upward or sideways visibility. Working in a sub-account you never see the data of its parent or of sibling accounts.
- Your user's account limits you. You can only switch to your own account and accounts below it. A user of Brand B can never switch to Logistics Co. See Account switch.
- Records keep their account. An order, product or customer always stays with the account it was created in; the account cannot be changed afterwards.
How settings work across accounts
Settings are stored per account and read from the account the record belongs to: an order of Brand A uses the settings of Brand A. Most settings can be refined further with conditions (per location, customer, channel, order type, business model and so on), and fall back to their default when nothing has been configured.
A number of settings are looked up through the account hierarchy: Boxture starts at the top-level account, works down to the account itself and uses the first account that has a value. A value configured higher up therefore takes precedence over one on the sub-account (see Which account's settings are used). These are:
- the module switches (Shopify, native picking, asynchronous picking), which are only visible to super users;
- Ignore container levels, Multiple products per container and Allow kit to inventory;
- Default packing material and Create label on pack complete;
- the carrier Integration method;
- all purging settings.
Two settings combine values over the hierarchy: Contact kinds adds the contact kinds of the account to those of all its parents, and Billing contact required on a parent makes a billing contact mandatory for its sub-accounts.
Setting up a new client
For a new sub-account, check its settings explicitly: allocation, shipping and receiving settings are not inherited from the parent, so the sub-account starts with the defaults.
Account states
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Concept | Just created, not yet in use |
| Active | In normal use |
| Inactive | Still accessible and its users can log in, but not offered where only active accounts are listed |
| Disabled | Switched off: its users cannot log in and you cannot switch to it |
You cannot deactivate or disable the account you are currently working in.
Users and roles
A user is a person who logs in. Each user belongs to one account and has one or more roles, such as Picker, Packer, Receiver, Shipper, Kitter, Pick list planner, Warehouse associate, Account owner or Admin. Roles decide which menu items and actions are available. A user also has a main location and, optionally, a restricted list of locations they may access. See Users and roles.
Locations
A location is a physical site where inventory is kept and handled: a warehouse, a store, a returns centre. Each location belongs to an account and has its own time zone; working days, holidays and cutoff times can be configured per location.
A location can be shared: the owner of the location chooses which of its sub-accounts may use it (Accessible by accounts). A client account can only store inventory and ship orders from locations that are accessible to it. Users can additionally be limited to specific locations.
You always work in one location at a time, chosen with the location switch. See Locations.
Bin locations
A bin location is a specific place inside a location where inventory is stored: a shelf, a pallet place, a floor area, a packing table. Every inventory item in a location is in a bin location. Bin location names are usually codes printed as barcodes on the racks, and they can be described by zone, aisle, rack, shelf, section and bin, which Boxture uses to calculate efficient walking routes for picking.
Each bin location has a purpose:
| Purpose | Used for |
|---|---|
| Picking | Normal storage that orders are picked from. Allocation takes stock from picking bin locations |
| Bulk | Overflow or pallet storage. Stock here can also be allocated, and is used to replenish picking locations |
| Receiving | Where goods are put when they are received, before they are put away |
| Packing | Packing stations |
| Shipping | Where packed parcels wait for the carrier |
| Replenishment | Staging for stock that is being moved to picking locations |
| Returns | Returned goods awaiting processing |
| Defective | Damaged or defective goods |
| Problem | Where stock with a problem is put aside |
| Hold | Stock that is on hold |
| Kitting | Where kits are assembled |
When a location is created, Boxture automatically creates a picking, a problem, a receiving and a kitting bin location for it, with the names from the Warehousing settings. See Bin locations.
Containers
A container is a physical carrier of inventory: a pallet, a carton, a crate. Containers make it possible to move, receive, pick or ship many items at once by scanning one barcode. Containers can be nested (cartons on a pallet), always have a packing material that describes their type and size, and are in a location and usually a bin location. Containers have states such as available, expected, picked, packed, hold and retired. See Containers.
Totes
A tote is a reusable crate used in the warehouse during picking and packing. A tote belongs to one location, has a unique name (its barcode) and can hold the items of only one order at a time; an order can use several totes. When the order is packed, the tote becomes available again. See Totes.
Products and inventory
A product is an item that can be ordered and stocked: it has a number (SKU), name, EAN/UPC, dimensions, weight, prices and customs details. A product belongs to an account. Products can be kits, made of other products. See Products.
Inventory is the stock of products in locations. Boxture tracks every single unit as an inventory item: ten pens in stock are ten inventory items. This makes it possible to track serial numbers, lots and expiry dates, and to know for every unit exactly where it is and what is happening to it. See Inventory and Inventory items.
Inventory item states
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Expected | Announced on an inbound order (purchase, return, transfer) but not yet received |
| Available | On stock and free to be allocated to an order |
| Allocated | Reserved for an order line |
| Picking | On a pick list that is being picked |
| Picked | Picked from its bin location, in a tote or container |
| Packed | Packed in a parcel |
| Hold | Blocked, for example after a picking problem or a hold on its container; cannot be allocated |
| Expired | Past its expiry date; cannot be allocated |
| Retired | No longer in stock: shipped, scrapped or removed by an adjustment |
Next to the state, each item has a status that describes its condition: New or Defective.
Typical flows: Expected → Available when receiving; Available → Allocated → Picking → Picked → Packed → Retired when an order is fulfilled. See Inventory items and Holds and releases.
Customers and vendors
A customer is someone an account sells to; a vendor is someone an account buys from. Both belong to an account and have contact details. Sales orders can refer to a customer and purchase orders to a vendor, and some settings (for example allocation and partial shipping) can be set per customer. See Customers and vendors.
Channels
A channel is a sales channel through which orders reach Boxture, such as a specific webshop or marketplace. Channels are defined by administrators (Admin › Carriers & Services › Channels) and an order can refer to the channel it came from. Several settings can be configured per channel, for example the default business model, the default delivery terms, the default shipping method and the inventory reporting percentage. See Channels.
Business models
Every order has a business model that describes who the receiver is:
| Business model | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Business to consumer (b2c) | Shipping to private persons, typically webshop orders. This is the default |
| Business to business (b2b) | Shipping to companies, often larger quantities or pallets |
| Business to government (b2g) | Shipping to government organisations |
| Buy online, pickup in shop (bopis) | The customer collects the order in a store |
When an order does not specify one, the Default business model setting decides. The business model can steer the cutoff time, SLA days, default and backorder shipping methods, whether a shipping method is required, and which orders are taken by a pick list plan.
Orders and order types
An order is the main transaction in Boxture: a request to move goods. Every order has one or more order lines (one product and a quantity each), and every order line has order line items, one per unit, which link to the actual inventory items. See Order lines.
| Order type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Sales order | Ship goods to a customer |
| Purchase order | Receive goods from a vendor |
| Return order | Receive goods back from a customer |
| Transfer order | Move goods from one location to another |
| Scrap order | Remove goods from inventory to be destroyed |
| Kit order | Assemble kits from their components |
| Add inventory order and Remove inventory order | Correct inventory up or down; created by inventory adjustments. See Inventory orders |
All order types share the same main states:
text
Concept → Confirming → Pending → Processing → Completedwith Hold and Cancelled as exits. Concept orders can still be changed freely; once confirmed, Boxture starts allocating (outbound) or expecting goods (inbound). Each order also counts how many of its items are pending, allocated, picked, packed, shipped, on hold and so on. See Order types and the Order lifecycle.
Pick lists, shipments and parcels
- A pick list groups the items to pick for one or more orders in one location, sorted in walking order. See Pick lists.
- A shipment is what leaves the warehouse for one order and one address, with a carrier and shipping method. A shipment has one or more parcels, each with its own tracking number. See Shipments.
Tickets
When work needs follow-up by a person, Boxture uses tickets. Work orders are tickets created by users for manual tasks; problems are created automatically, for example when a picker reports missing stock or an imported order has invalid details. See Tickets.