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Order types
Boxture has eight order types. Six of them you create yourself (by hand, by import, through the API or an integration). The other two, add inventory and remove inventory orders, are created by the system when inventory is adjusted.
Overview
| Type | Purpose | Direction | Main flow | Created by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales order | Ship products to a customer | Outbound | allocate → pick → pack → ship | User, import, API, integrations |
| Transfer order | Move stock from one location to another | Outbound, then inbound | allocate → pick → pack → ship → receive at destination | User, import, API, integrations |
| Scrap order | Remove (scrap) stock by shipping it to a vendor | Outbound | allocate → pick → pack → ship | User, import, API, integrations |
| Kit order | Build kit products from their components | Internal | allocate components → pick → build | User, import |
| Purchase order | Receive goods from a vendor | Inbound | expect → receive | User, import, API, integrations |
| Return order | Receive goods back from a customer | Inbound | expect → receive | User, import, API, integrations |
| Add inventory order | Record stock added by an inventory adjustment | Inbound | expect → receive (immediately) | System |
| Remove inventory order | Record stock removed by an inventory adjustment | Outbound | allocate → retire (immediately) | System |
Outbound and inbound orders
Order types fall in two families, and that determines how their items behave.
Outbound ("ship first") orders take existing inventory out of a location: sales, transfer, scrap and remove inventory orders. When they are confirmed, every unit becomes a pending order line item. Allocation then links each item to a physical inventory item, after which it is picked, packed and shipped. Each line has an origin location, the warehouse the goods leave from.
Inbound ("receive first") orders bring new inventory in: purchase, return and add inventory orders. When they are confirmed, every unit becomes an expected item, and Boxture creates a matching expected inventory item at the order's destination location. Receiving turns those into real, available stock. Inbound orders are never allocated.
Kit orders are a special case: they allocate and pick component products at the destination location, and then build the kits there instead of shipping them.
A transfer order is outbound at the origin and becomes inbound at the destination: once shipped, its items become expected at the destination location and are received there.
What each type allows
| Sales | Transfer | Scrap | Kit | Purchase | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer | Optional | – | – | – | – | Optional |
| Vendor | – | – | Required | – | Optional | – |
| Destination location | – | Required | – | Required | Required | Required |
| Origin location per line | Yes | Required | Required | – | – | – |
| Shipping method | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | – | Yes |
| Contacts | Delivery, Billing | – | – | – | – | Pickup, Billing |
| Line status (new/defective) | New only | Choose | Choose | – | New only | Choose |
| Serial number on line | Yes | Import, API | Yes | – | Import, API | Yes |
| Lot and expiry date on line | Yes | – | Yes | – | – | – |
| Prices, tax, discount | Yes | – | – | – | – | – |
| Delivery terms | Yes | – | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Related order | Yes (import, API) | – | – | – | – | Yes |
| Auto allocation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Never | Never |
| Anonymization | Yes | – | – | – | – | Yes |
Which bins each type picks from
When allocating, Boxture first looks for stock in bin locations with a purpose that suits the order type:
| Order type | Bin purposes used for allocation |
|---|---|
| Sales order | Picking, Bulk |
| Kit order | Picking, Bulk |
| Scrap order | Picking, Bulk |
| Transfer order | Picking, Replenishment, Defective, Bulk |
| Remove inventory order | Any bin |
Stock in other bins (for example still in a receiving bin) is not allocated to these orders. See Allocation and Bin locations.
Where order types are used in settings
Many settings can be set per order type, for example Shipping › Default shipping method, Shipping › Default delivery terms, Shipping › Default business model, Shipping › Shipping method required, Receiving › Over receive, Packing › Default packing material, Data protection › Order anonymize period and the purging periods. This lets you, for example, use a different default shipping method for transfer orders than for sales orders. See the settings reference.
Related orders
An order can point to another order as its related order. The main use is a return order that refers to the sales order it returns. Related orders appear on each other's order page under Other › Related orders, and a sales order with a return order gets a red "Return" badge next to its state. The customer reference number of the related order is stored on the order as well, and the uniqueness check on customer reference numbers ignores related orders, so a return can carry the same reference as its sales order. See Return orders.