Problems

A problem is a ticket that Boxture creates automatically when something blocks the normal flow of an order, shipment or container. Problems are tickets of kind automated; you find them in the sidebar under Tickets › Problems.

What makes problems special is that their tasks carry an activity: an action that Boxture performs for you to solve the problem, such as releasing a hold, re-allocating an order or cancelling it. You do not have to know which screens to visit to undo a hold: open the problem, open the task and let Boxture do the work.

How a problem is created

When Boxture detects a problem it:

1. puts the affected records on hold (the order, shipment, container, pick lists, order line items and/or inventory items, depending on the problem);
2. creates a ticket of kind automated, with a subject that names the problem and a first comment Ticket created to resolve …;
3. sets the requester to the contact of the user whose action caused the problem (or a system contact when it was caused by an integration or background job);
4. links the ticket to the organization owned by the account of the affected order, container or shipment (for picking problems: the account that owns the location), if such an organization exists (see Organizations);
5. adds one task per possible solution, each linked to the affected record. The task description is the name of the activity, for example Release manual hold.

The ticket then appears in Problems, on the dashboard counters and on the Tickets tab of the affected order, shipment or container.

Make problems visible to the right people

Create an organization for each client account, with that account as its owner. Problems of that account are then linked to the organization automatically, so you can filter the problems list per client and, if wanted, share them with the client's contacts.

Activities

Each task on a problem has an activity. The task row shows a briefcase button as long as the task is not completed. To carry out the activity:

1. Open the problem ticket.
2. Click the briefcase button on the task you want to perform. The task page opens with the name of the activity and, if the activity needs input, a form.
3. Fill in the form if there is one and submit the task, or click Cancel to go back.

Boxture then performs the activity and reports the outcome:

Outcome	What happens
Activity successfully completed	The activity solved what it was meant to solve. The task becomes completed. Other open tasks on the same ticket whose goal has now also been reached are completed automatically
Activity successfully processed	The activity ran, but its goal has not been fully reached yet (for example only part of the items could be handled). The task becomes processing; you can run it again
Activity was not successful: …	Nothing was changed. The message explains why, for example no items on hold or no inventory allocated

When all tasks are completed, click Resolve on the ticket to mark it Solved. Tasks with an activity cannot be deleted, and their related object cannot be changed.

Choose one solution

Several problems offer alternative solutions as separate tasks, for example Reallocate order and Cancel order. You only perform the one you want. When a task is completed, Boxture checks the other open tasks of the ticket and completes those whose goal has been reached as well: once an order is no longer on hold, its alternative task is completed too.

Overview of problems

Problem	Created when	Put on hold	Tasks (activities)
Manual hold on an order	A user chooses Hold on an order	Order and its shipments	Release manual hold
Invalid order details	An integration creates an order that fails validation	Order and its shipments	Validate order
Manual hold on a container	A user chooses Hold on a container	Container and its inventory items	Release manual hold
Hazardous goods (UN number)	A parcel item with a UN number is added to a shipment	Shipment	Release manual hold
No inventory during picking	A picker reports missing stock	Pick lists, order line items, inventory items	Reallocate all orders, Undo no inventory picking problem, and per order: Reallocate order, Cancel order
Inventory to pick has expired	A picker reports expired stock	Pick lists, order line items, expired inventory items	Reallocate all orders, and per order: Reallocate order, Cancel order
Damaged goods on receipt	Goods are received with hold reason Damaged	Received order line items and inventory items	Inspect order-line-item

Manual hold on an order

When. A user chooses Hold in the menu of an order. This is possible in every state except hold, cancelled and completed, for admins, warehouse associates and the account owner of the order's account. See Holds.

What happens. The order goes to state hold; Boxture remembers the state it was in. All shipments of the order that can be held are put on hold too, so nothing is shipped. A problem is created with the subject Manual hold for order … and one task: Release manual hold.

How to solve it. When the reason for the hold is gone, open the problem, click the briefcase on Release manual hold and submit. Boxture:

• returns the order to the state it had before the hold;
• releases its shipments;
• returns any of the order's inventory items that were on hold to their previous state;
• runs automatic allocation for pending and backordered orders of the products involved, so freed stock is used straight away.

Releasing an order hold

An order that was put on hold manually is released through its problem ticket. Use the Tickets tab on the order to find it.

Invalid order details

When. An order arrives from an integration (Shopify, WooCommerce, NetSuite, Le New Black) but does not pass Boxture's validation: for example an invalid phone number, a missing required delivery field (Required delivery contact fields) or an unknown country. Rather than rejecting the order, Boxture stores it and puts it on hold.

What happens. The order and its shipments are put on hold. A problem is created with the subject Invalid details on order … and one task: Validate order.

How to solve it.

1. Open the problem and click the briefcase on Validate order. The task page tells you whether the order is valid now. If it is not, it says Order … is not valid with an Edit link.
2. Click Edit, correct the order (for example the delivery contact) and save.
3. Return to the task and submit it. Boxture checks the order again; when it is valid the hold is released exactly as with Release manual hold. If it is still invalid the activity fails with Order … is not valid and nothing changes.

Manual hold on a container

When. A user chooses Hold in the menu of a container. This is only possible when all inventory items in the container are available; otherwise Boxture reports Container … cannot be put on hold. See Containers.

What happens. The container and all its inventory items go on hold (their previous states are remembered), so the stock cannot be allocated. A problem is created with the subject Manual hold for container … and one task: Release manual hold.

How to solve it. Perform Release manual hold: the container and its inventory items return to their previous states and automatic allocation runs for pending and backordered orders of the products in the container.

Hazardous goods (UN number)

When. An item with a UN number (an identification number for dangerous goods) is added to a parcel of a shipment. Hazardous goods often need special handling and paperwork, so a person has to check the shipment first.

What happens. The shipment is put on hold, if it is still pending. A problem is created with the subject Manual hold for shipment … and one task: Release manual hold. Only one such problem is created per shipment while its release task is still pending.

How to solve it. Check that the shipment meets the requirements for dangerous goods (packaging, labels, carrier service), then perform Release manual hold to release the shipment.

No inventory during picking

When. A picker reports a problem on a pick list line in the picking app and chooses the reason No inventory during picking: the bin location does not hold (enough of) the product. See Picking problems and Picking on the mobile app.

What happens. Boxture assumes the stock in that bin location cannot be trusted and blocks it:

• all open pick lists with lines for this product in this bin location, plus the picker's own pick list, are put on hold;
• all inventory items of the product in that bin location that are available, allocated or being picked go on hold, so they cannot be allocated again;
• the order line items allocated to those items go on hold;
• a problem is created for the bin location and all affected orders, remembering the product and bin location.

The picker continues with the next pick list.

Tasks.

Task	Linked to	What it does
Reallocate all orders	The bin location	Performs Reallocate order for every affected order that still has items on hold. Orders that cannot be re-allocated are skipped
Undo no inventory picking problem	The bin location	Use this when the stock turns out to be there after all. Returns the held order line items, inventory items and pick lists to the state they had before the problem was reported
Reallocate order	Each affected order	Releases the order's held items, un-allocates the order and allocates it again. The suspicious inventory stays on hold, so other stock is used. Fails with no inventory allocated when no more could be allocated than before (for example when there is no other stock)
Cancel order	Each affected order	Un-allocates and cancels the order. The suspicious inventory stays on hold

How to solve it.

1. Check the bin location. Count the stock (see Adjusting inventory).
2. If the stock was there after all, perform Undo no inventory picking problem. Picking continues as planned.
3. If the stock is missing, correct the inventory, then perform Reallocate all orders (or Reallocate order per order) so the orders are fulfilled from other stock. Orders that cannot be fulfilled can be cancelled with Cancel order, or wait as backorders.
4. Release any inventory that is still on hold once it is sorted out (see Holds and releases).
5. Resolve the ticket.

Inventory to pick has expired

When. A picker reports the reason Inventory to pick has expired on a pick list line.

What happens. As with No inventory during picking, but only the inventory items in that bin location that are expiring (according to the date in the location's time zone) are put on hold, together with the order line items allocated to them and the affected pick lists.

Tasks. Reallocate all orders for the bin location and, per affected order, Reallocate order and Cancel order. There is no undo task: expired stock must not be shipped. Re-allocation uses other stock that has not expired. Deal with the expired stock itself through Serial numbers, lots and expiry or a scrap order.

Damaged goods on receipt

When. While receiving an inbound order, the receiver selects the Hold reason Damaged for received goods. See Receiving.

What happens. The goods are received, but the order line items get state hold instead of received and the inventory items get state hold instead of available, so the goods cannot be allocated. A problem is created for the order with one task: Inspect order-line-item.

How to solve it. Inspect the goods, then open the task and enter, per inspected batch:

Field	Description
Container	The container the goods are in, if any
Product	The product inspected
Quantity	The number of units (1 when you enter a serial number)
Actual status	New if the goods are fine, Defective if they are damaged
Serial number, Lot, Expires on	Required when the product is serial-tracked, lot-tracked or expirable

Submitting releases the matching held units: the inventory items become available with the status you chose and the order line items become received. A container is made available once nothing in it is on hold. If fewer held units match than the quantity you entered, the activity reports insufficient quantity to inspect …. The task is completed when no order line items of the order are on hold any more.

Defective goods

Goods inspected as Defective become available inventory with status Defective. Move them to a bin location with purpose Defective and handle them according to your process (for example with a scrap order).

Monitoring problems

• Keep the Problems list or the dashboard Open ticket counter in view during the day; problems block orders until somebody acts.
• Filter the problems list on Organization to see the problems of one client, or on Group to see the problems assigned to a team.
• Assign problems to a person (Assignee) or team (Group) on the ticket so everyone knows who is working on it, and use comments to record what was found.