Warehouse operations

This section explains the physical flow of goods through a Boxture warehouse location, as it is handled in the web application: receiving inbound orders, putting orders on pick lists, picking, packing into parcels, shipping, printing labels and documents, and keeping pick locations replenished.

The actual scanning work on the warehouse floor is usually done with the mobile scanner app. That app is described in its own section, Mobile. The pages here explain what the web application does, which screens supervisors and planners use, and what happens automatically in the background.

The outbound flow at a glance

An outbound order (for example a sales order) moves through these warehouse steps after it has been allocated:

Step	What happens	Where
1. Put on a pick list	The allocated items of one or more orders are grouped on a pick list, per bin location.	Order › Pick, Orders table batch action, or a pick list plan release
2. Pick	A picker walks the route, takes the items from their bins and puts them in totes or containers.	Mobile picking
3. Pack	Picked items are packed into parcels. Packing creates (or adds to) a shipment.	Order › Pack, mobile packing, auto pack or bulk pack and ship
4. Label	For carriers with an integration, a waybill/label is requested from the carrier.	Shipment › Label, or automatically
5. Ship	The shipment is shipped: the order is completed and the inventory leaves the location.	Shipment › Ship, or auto ship
6. Deliver	Optionally, delivery and proof of delivery (POD) are registered.	Shipment › Deliver / POD

The inbound flow is shorter: an inbound order (purchase order, return order, transfer order) is received into a receiving bin location, after which the inventory becomes available and backorders are automatically allocated.

Where to find things

The sidebar contains these warehouse-related items:

• Pick orders opens the browser version of the picking app for the current user.
• Pick lists shows all open pick lists. Under it you find Plans (pick list plans) and Waves (pick list waves).
• Shipments shows all open shipments.
• Orders has the order actions Pick, Unpick, Pack, Unpack and Receive, and the menu entry Bulk pack and ship.

Everything you see is filtered by the location you have selected in the location switcher. Pick list plans, for example, always belong to one location.

Roles

Warehouse work is divided over a number of roles. A user can have several. See Users and roles for how roles are assigned.

Role	Can do (warehouse)
Admin	Everything.
Warehouse associate	Everything on this page: receive, pick, unpick, pack, unpack, ship, manage pick lists and plans, edit shipments.
Pick list planner	Put orders on pick lists, create, activate and release pick list plans, assign pick lists.
Picker	See pick lists and pick them.
Packer	Pack orders. Also needed for pickers when auto pack is used.
Shipper	Ship, label and deliver shipments, register proof of delivery.
Receiver	Receive inbound orders.
Replenisher	Move stock to pick locations for replenishment.
Bulk pack and ship	Use the Bulk pack and ship screen.

Pages in this section

• Receiving: receiving purchase, return and transfer orders.
• Pick lists: what a pick list is, its states, assignment and the pick route.
• Pick list plans: rules that select orders, and releasing them as bulk, batch or wave pick lists.
• Pick list waves: following up on released waves.
• Picking problems: what happens when a picker reports missing or expired stock, and how to resolve it.
• Packing: packing into parcels, add to open shipment, auto pack and auto ship.
• Shipments: shipment states, shipping, delivery, proof of delivery, holds and anonymization.
• Labels and documents: carrier labels, SSCC labels, packing lists and other papers.
• Bulk pack and ship: packing and shipping many single-line orders from one container.
• Replenishment: moving stock from bulk storage to pick locations.
• Cutoff time and SLA: how the "ship at" moment is calculated.