Packing with the NEW Wholesale Flow – ShipHero

Once all the inventory has been picked, the order will move to the Packing status and the Packing Layout window will appear. Regardless of the method the items were picked the same process will be followed in the Packing Layout.

Getting Started with the Packing Layout

Packer Notes: If an order has packer notes saved, the following icon will be visible. Clicking it will open a modal with the instructions, which can then be printed.
Items Unpacked List: This list shows the quantities and different UOMs (Units of Measure) of products that are not yet packed from the staging location and the LPNs (License Plate Numbers) they are associated with.

Packing an Order from Start to Finish

If you used the Manual picking flow or the Picking mobile flow, you will need to configure all of the boxes/pallets in the packing layout. If you used the Picking and packing flow in the mobile, the configuration of products will already be listed in the packing layout screen once picking is complete. If you need to re-pack or make adjustments to how things were processed in the Picking and packing flow please reference the information in the Available Actions for Containers section.

This section of the article covers:

All About Containers
Packing a Courier Order
Packing a Freight Order
Configuring Inner Boxes and Adding Additional SKUs to a Container
Edit the Quantity of an SKU in a Container
Packing a Case or Pallet UOM (Unit of Measure)
Printing Packing Slips and Generating BOLs

All About Containers

When creating or adding containers in the Packing Layout, an ID and LPN will be assigned automatically. We recommend printing these LPNs and placing them on the box/pallet container created.

The type of wholesale order determines the type of containers the order will be packed into:

Courier Orders: Everything must be packed into a Box container. When starting your packout process you will see the Create a box button. You will be instructed to select the SKUs you want to pack and how they will be packed into the boxes. You can configure all of your boxes at once or add boxes and configure each SKU separately giving you flexibility on how to manage your packout flow. See the section below for more instructions on how to add products to boxes.
Freight Orders: Everything must be packed into a Pallet container. When starting your packout process you will see the Create a pallet button. You will be directed to choose how many pallets to add and what type of pallets they will be. See the section below for instructions on how to add products to pallets.

Container Dimensions and Weights

Container dimensions and weight updates automatically based on the selected package type dimensions and weight plus the weight of the products inside the containers. These values must be set in the products and boxes for them to be properly calculated.
Editing a container's dimensions manually changes the package type to Custom.
Container weight is updated by the system every time a new product/box is added to the container using the weights in the system. Always double check the final weights of the containers before completing the order.

Available Actions for Containers

Adding Containers: To add additional containers to a wholesale order select the Add container button located at the top right of the Packing Layout. The same practice applies here as with the start of the packing process: courier orders will have the option to configure a box container and freight orders will have to configure a pallet container.
Deleting Containers: Empty containers (both pallets and boxes) can be deleted and removed from the packing layout. If the container (pallet or box) contains packed products, the delete action will be replaced by Unpack.
Unpacking Containers: Remove products from the container and return them to the staging location. After confirming the unpack, you will see the instructions to perform a correct unpacking, indicating where the unpacked products should be taken.

Duplicating Containers: When duplicating a container (box/pallet), you can specify the number of copies you want to create. The system will indicate the maximum number of duplicates possible based on your currently unpacked inventory, and you won't be able to exceed this limit.

Moving Containers: Boxes can be moved to another box, or you can move boxes to another pallet (always keeping in mind the restriction that the packing layout accepts up to 2 layers of boxes (Outer and Inner).
Lot Controlled SKUs: Different lots of the same product cannot be combined within the same container. They must be split between inner boxes for a courier order and divided into separate boxes on a pallet for freight orders.

Available Bulk Actions for Containers

You can perform bulk actions like Move, Unpack, Delete, Print LPNs, Change weight, Change dimensions, and Change package.

To make bulk edits:

Select the containers you want to update by checking the box next to them
Choose the action you want to complete.

The system only shows the actions allowed for the selected containers. If you pick different container types (like boxes and pallets) or empty containers alongside packed ones, any incompatible actions will be grayed out, with a tooltip explaining why.

Packing a Courier Order

This is the flow to use when starting the packing process for a courier wholesale order or using the Add container button on a courier wholesale order. This step creates the outer boxes that will be shipped by the carrier for a Courier wholesale order.

Step 1: Select SKUs

Select the SKUs you want to pack, you can select a single SKU or multiple SKUs. For these instructions we will select multiple SKUs to be able to view all the available options and configuration steps.

Step 2: Configure the boxes

Once you select your SKU(s) you will be prompted to select how you want to pack them into the boxes there are two options, One SKU per container or Multiple SKUs in one container.

Option 1: One SKU per container

With this option, you can create multiple box configurations at once but you will only be able to add one SKU per box.

The top banner shows a SKU and the quantity left to pack. If you selected multiple SKUs in the first step you will be navigated to pack the next SKU once you are completed with configuring the first SKU using the Next button (see step 3 below).

Select the box, how many units of the displayed SKU to pack in the box and the number of boxes with this configuration to create.
To add different box configuration for the same SKU, click Add box configuration; select the type of box, quantities to pack and the number of box with this configuration to create.
To move to the next SKU selected in step one click Next and repeat the box configuration steps as necessary.
Hit Save when the box configuration is complete. Then, the following occurs:
- The packer will be instructed where to pull the product from (Staging and LPN) and in which box to pack the products. We recommend printing the LPNs and applying them to the boxes for correct identification and tracking. These instructions can be printed to have them at hand during packing.
- The box configurations are added to the Packing Layout with auto generated LPNs.
Move from staging instructions Box configurations in the Packing layout
After all the products are packed the item status pill will update to All items packed. At this point, you can manually change the order status to Packed by pressing Set as packing Complete.

Option 2: Multiple SKUs in the same container

With this option you can create multiple identical boxes but can only create one type of configuration at time.

Click the Multiple SKUs in same container option. Then select the type of box to use and the number of identical containers to create.
Add how many of Each SKU to pack into the box. Next to each SKU, you will see the UOM and how many units are available to pack.
Hit Save when the box configuration is complete. Then, the following occurs:
- The packer will be instructed where to pull the product from (Staging and LPN) and in which box to pack the products. We recommend printing the LPNs and applying them to the boxes for correct identification and tracking. These instructions can be printed to have them at hand when packing.
- The box configurations are added to the Packing Layout with auto generated LPNs.
Move from staging instructions Box configurations in the packing layout
After all the products are packed the item status pill will update to All items packed. At this point, you can manually change the order status to Packed by pressing Set as packing Complete.

Packing a Freight Order

When starting the packing process of a Freight wholesale order or when using the Add container button you will always be instructed on the types of pallets you want to create first. After the pallet containers are created use the (+) icon to add products. There are 3 options when adding products to a pallet.

One SKU per container: this nests a box onto the pallet in the packing layout. (See configuration instructions above)
Multiple SKUs per containers: this nests a box onto the pallet in the packing layout. (See configuration instruction above)
In the current package: this packs the product directly onto the pallet instead of nesting the products in a box on the pallet.
- Choose how many units to pack of each SKU selected. You will also see how many units are available to pack and press Save. After pressing Save, you will see the instructions to carry out the correct packing.
After all the products are packed the item status pill will update to All items packed. At this point, you can manually change the order status to Packed by pressing Set as packing Complete.

Configuring Inner Boxes and Adding Additional SKUs to a Container

If you need to configure a box within a box or add additional SKUs to an existing container use the (+) icon next to the container. You will be provided with 3 options:

One SKU per container: this action nests a box into the selected container (See configuration instructions above)
Multiple SKUs per containers: this action nests a box into the selected container. (See configuration instructions above)
In the current package: this packs the the product directly into the selected container. (See configuration instructions above)

IMPORTANT: Only 2 levels of boxes are allowed (Outer Box with Inner Boxes). When the limit is reached and you want to add more products, the logic will take you directly to the “In the current container” option.

Edit the quantity of an SKU in a Container

You can add or remove the qty of a SKU in a container directly from the packing layout. Hover over the quantity and increase/decrease the amount as needed.

Removing the quantity of units will trigger the Unpack action, and adding units will trigger the Pack action. Whatever the action, you always receive the necessary instructions to perform a correct packing.

Packing a Case or Pallet UOM (Unit of Measure)

In the event that products have been picked in case or pallet units of measure, they will always be considered as closed boxes and for the packing layout they will be considered just as a product.

An available option may be that you want to use the picked UOMs (Cases or Pallets for Freight) as the outer containers that will be sent directly to the Carrier / Retailer. At the time of adding a new container, you can indicate that you are going to add a Case / Pallet UOM to the packing layout as an external container.

Once this option is chosen, you can choose how many units we want to add directly and then we will see the instructions to identify the products properly.

As a result, the UOMs will be added directly to the packing layout. When added as UOMs, they have certain restrictions, such as not being able to add other products to them. The only available action will be to unpack them.

Printing Packing Slips and Generating BOLs

When a wholesale order reaches the Packed status you can print the packing Slips and Generate BOLs.

Need to edit the packing layout after a wholesale order is Packed?

You can change the packing configuration by pressing the Edit Packing Layout button, which will return the order status to Packing and enable all packing operations. Make the necessary changes and select the Set as packing Complete button. Changing the packing layout requires a reprint of Packing slips and BOLs.

Printing Packing Slips

When you select the Print packing list button, a PDF is generated with the packing layout details which is automatically attached to the corresponding order.

Generating a BOL (Bill of Lading)

Once an order reaches Packed status, users can generate a native Bill of Lading (BOL) PDF that complies with VICS BOL Creation standards.

The GS1 Company Prefix field must be populated in Order Details for the Generate BOL button to be selected

Non-EDI/API orders: This field must be entered for each order. To do this open the wholesale order and open the Order Details tab. Click the Edit button and enter the required information.

EDI/API orders: the field may be auto-populated.

Click the Generate BOL button.
The BOL PDF opens in a new browser tab and the PDF is automatically attached to the order’s Documents section.

The PDF will include:

Packing layout details (boxes, pallets, content description)
Origin and destination information
Carrier and transportation mode
Total weight, volume, and unit counts

Courier Order: Starts with a Box	Freight Order: Starts with a Pallet

Delete Option for empty container	Unpack Option for container with items packed

Select Duplicate Option	Confirm Quantity to Duplicate

Move from staging instructions	Box configurations in the Packing layout

Reducing the quantity of an SKU	Adding the quantity of an SKU

UOM as container	Select SKUs

Example Packing Slip	Example Attachments section