How do I track Job Shipments?

In this article, learn how to use the shipping functionality in Jobs to schedule and track Job Shipments.

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Overview

Using the Shipping functionality in Jobs, you can schedule and track each of the shipments required for a given Job. Job shipments track the Shipment Date, the Item Types to be included in the shipment, and the quantity of each Item Type. Job shipments do not track the actual serial numbers shipped. When using the Job Shipments feature, you'll be able to track both the production and shipping progress for each Job, but you will not be able to tell which individual serial numbers were shipped.

See Tracking Shipments article for more information on how to track the actual serial numbers shipped.

In this article:

Schedule Job Shipments

Create a Single Shipment

Add Item Types to a Shipment

Create a Series of Shipments

Mark a Shipment as Shipped

Ship Now

Record a Past Shipment

Schedule Job Shipments

Job shipments are created in two steps. First you create the shipment details (name the shipment, tentative shipping date, etc.). Then you select the Item Types to be included in the shipment. Additional Item Types can be added later if needed.

Create a Shipment

Add Item Types to the Shipment

Create a Single Shipment

From the left-hand navigation bar, select Jobs. The Jobs list will be displayed.
From the Jobs list, click on the job for which you want to schedule a shipment. The Jobs screen will be displayed.
Under the Job details, click on the Shipments tab. Existing shipment information will be displayed (example below).
Click the "New Shipment" button to schedule a new shipment. The Create New Shipment screen will be displayed.
Complete the shipment details:

Number: The shipment number. If existing, numbered shipments already exist for this job, the shipment number will default to the next consecutive number. This can be changed.
Name: The shipment name. The shipment name can be the same as the shipment number, but does not have to be.
Scheduled Date: The tentative shipment date for this scheduled shipment. In order to allow for the recording of emergency or otherwise unscheduled shipments, this date can be in the past.
Shipped Date: The date the shipment was shipped. NOTE: This date is not usually set in this screen unless you are recording a shipment that has already been shipped. To make this date available, check the "Shipped" checkbox below. Once the "Shipped" checkbox is checked, this date will default to the current date, but can be updated.
Notes: Notes about this shipment.
Shipped: Check this box only if the shipment has been shipped.
Click Save. The Shipment Details screen is displayed.

In the example above, note that in addition to the information provided in the Create New Shipment screen, an Item Type Custom Property called "Total Weight" is also displayed (see the What are Custom Properties? article to learn how you can select Item Type properties to be totaled and displayed while adding Item Types to the shipment).

Add Item Types to Shipment

Once the shipment has been created, you're ready to add the Item Types that should be included in the shipment.

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Click "Add to Shipment". The Add Custom Item Type to Shipment screen is displayed.
Select an Item Type that will be included in the shipment from the Custom Item Types drop down list.

Only Custom Item Types that currently exist in the job will be displayed in the list.
Enter the Quantity of the Item Type that should be included in the shipment.

The quantity to be included in this shipment cannot exceed the total quantity available for the Item Type. The quantity available is the Item Type's required quantity, minus the quantity included in already scheduled shipments.

In the example below, there are 5 items of type "12345" required to be produced, one has been produced, and none have been shipped.

Shipment 1 includes 4 of item type "12345".

That means Item Type "12345" only has a quantity of 1 available to include in additional shipments (5 required minus 4 already scheduled in shipment 1 = 1 available).
Click Save.

If your quantity exceeds the available quantity, the message "Quantity exceeds number of items available" will be displayed.

If you have not exceeded the available quantity, your input will be saved and the Shipment Details screen will be displayed.
Repeat steps 7 - 10 for any additional Item Types that should be included in the shipment.

Below is an example of a shipment containing 5 of Item Type "987" and 1 of Item Type "12345". Note that the "Total Weight" field in the Shipment Details has been incremented to reflect the total weight of all 6 items scheduled in the shipment. This information can be used to make sure your shipment does not exceed the delivery weight limits (see the What are Custom Properties? article for more information on selecting Item Type Custom Properties that should be totaled in shipments).

Create a Series of Shipments

For large jobs, shipments are often scheduled in regular increments and include the same products in each shipment. A series of 6 weekly shipments, for example, can be scheduled all at once.

Complete steps 1 - 11 for the first shipment in the series.
In the Shipment Details screen for the first shipment, click the Duplicate button

The Duplicate Shipments screen will appear.
Complete the duplicate shipment details

Number of Copies to Make: Enter the number of copies of the shipment that should be created. If you're creating a total of 6 weekly shipments, for example, this number should be 5 (five additional shipments + the one you're duplicating = 6 total shipments).
Starting Shipment Number: Enter the starting shipment number. If the shipment you're duplicating was shipment number 1, for example, this value would be 2. Shipment numbers will be incremented by 1 starting with the value entered in this field. Starting shipment number 2 will result in shipment numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Starting shipment number 77 will result in shipment numbers 77, 78, 79, 80, etc.
Starting Schedule Date: The date of the first shipment in the series (not including the date of the shipment being duplicated).
Number of Days to Increment Schedule Date: If your shipments are weekly, enter 7. If you ship every two weeks, enter 14.
Click Save.

If there is enough available quantity to cover the shipments being created, and the shipment numbers have not been duplicated, the series of shipments will be created.

Possible Errors:

Not enough available quantity exists for one or more Item Types to cover the requested shipments.
One or more of the shipment numbers in the series being requested already exists.

Mark a Shipment as Shipped

There are two ways to mark as shipment as "shipped" and record the shipment date. If you're recording a shipment that went out today, use the Ship Now feature. If you're recording a past shipment, edit the shipment in the Shipment Details screen.

Ship Now

1. From the Shipments tab in the Job Details screen, click "Ship Now" next to the shipment that you want to mark as shipped.
  
  If enough of each Item Type included in the shipment have been produced, and not already shipped, the "Ship Now" button will be replaced by a check mark in the Shipped column and the Shipment Date will be set to the current date.
  
  If not enough of an Item Type have been produced, or the number produced minus the number contained in shipments that have already been shipped is not enough to fulfill the current shipment, the message "Not enough available items for shipment." will be displayed.

Record a Past Shipment

If a shipment took place in the past, using the "Ship Now" button will set the Shipment Date to the current date, but that won't be correct. To record a past shipment:

1. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) next to the shipment you want to mark as shipped.
2. Check the "Shipped" checkbox. The "Shipped Date" field will be updated to the current date.
3. Change the Shipment Date to the appropriate date.
4. Click Save.