How to Receive Inbound Shipments Using LPNs in ShipHero Mobile

The use of LPNs is required when using the mobile receiving flow. Please reach out to ShipHero support to have LPNs and Mobile Receiving enabled for your account.

The ShipHero mobile app is used to receive inventory as it arrives at the warehouse. Warehouse staff can create an inbound directly on mobile or open an existing inbound shipment to begin receiving items, record quantities, handle rejections or damages, and upload images.

Inbound shipments can also be created and scheduled in advance from ShipHero's Inbound Shipment dashboard, which is useful for planning arrivals, attaching purchase orders ahead of time, and monitoring inbound activity.

Mobile Receiving Best Practices

• Always finish one pallet at a time to keep LPNs organized.
• Use non-pickable locations for receiving.
• If multiple users are receiving, use “My Work” vs “All Inbound” to view your own progress.
• Receive multiple POs on the same inbound. For 3PLs, the selected purchase orders must be from the same client.
• Pre-print LPNs so they are ready to be scanned and placed on your containers

Table of Contents

• Create/Select an Inbound Shipment from Mobile
• How to Receive Inbound Shipments from the Mobile
• Helpful Tools while Receiving Inbound Shipments
• Other Supported Features when Receiving via ShipHero Mobile

Create/Select an Inbound Shipment from Mobile

Before getting started with the receiving process you must first select an already created inbound shipment, created in the Inbound Shipment dashboard or you can create a new inbound shipment. There are two options on how to create a new Inbound Shipment; receive from existing purchase orders or receive "on the fly," without an existing purchase order.

Inbound receiving page	Create inbound shipment page	Scan an exisiting PO	Receive without a PO

How to Create an Inbound Shipment from Existing Purchase Orders

A purchase order can have multiple inbounds. You can receive what has arrived now and create another inbound later for remaining items.

1. Open Inbound Receiving on the mobile app.
2. Tap Create Inbound.
3. You can perform one of the following actions:
   • Scan a PO barcode (generated from the client portal).
   • Scan the tracking number.
   • Manually enter the PO number.
4. Select the Purchase Order(s) you want to receive. For 3PLs, multiple POs can be included if they belong to the same client.
5. Tap Create.

How to Create an Inbound Shipment Without a Purchase Order (on the fly)

Receiving "on the fly" does not link back to products that are on existing POs. Instead, a new PO is created for the items that are processed.

1. Open Inbound Receiving on the mobile app.
2. Tap Create Inbound.
3. Enable Receive without PO.
4. Select the Client (required for 3PL), Vendor (optional), Carrier (optional), and Tracking Number (optional).
5. Tap Create.

How to Receive Inbound Shipments from the Mobile

Once you have selected or created the Inbound Shipment you can start processing the inventory. There are several steps to follow when starting your receiving process.

Step 1: Assign a Receiving Location

1. Scan the Receiving Location. This can be a staging area, receiving zone, or dock door.
2. Confirm the location.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• All items received will be assigned to LPNs tied to this location unless the location is updated.
• You can update the location at any time by tapping the location indicator and scanning a new location.

Step 2: Start Receiving Items

On the inbound screen, you will see the PO number, Client name, and the quantity to receive vs. received.

1. Scan the product barcode or tap the item manually, each scan counts as one unit.
2. Once the items are all scanned, scan an LPN (carton, box, or pallet). The system assigns the scanned quantity to that LPN.
3. Repeat the product and LPN scans until you are complete.

Step 3: Mark the Inbound as Complete

1. Review the summary.
2. Tap Mark as Complete.
3. Confirm the closure.

Scan receiving location	Scan items	Scan LPN	Complete Receiving

Helpful Tools while Receiving Inbound Shipments

ShipHero has made it easy to streamline the receiving process even further by creating "short-cuts" into your process including:

• Receiving Summary View
• Duplicate LPNs (Same SKU, Multiple Boxes or Pallets)
• Palletize Cartons (Nesting LPNs)
• Receiving Pre-Built Pallets

Receiving Summary View

Tap the Receiving Summary on the mobile to confirm the following data points:

• SKU
• Quantity
• LPN number
• Location

Duplicate LPNs (Same SKU, Multiple Boxes or Pallets)

If you are receiving the same SKU across multiple boxes or pallets:

1. Open the Received Summary.
2. Tap Duplicate. The system copies the SKU and quantity.
3. Scan a new LPN for the next box or pallet.

Example: For 6 boxes of 5 units each, scan once, tap duplicate, and scan the remaining 5 new LPNs.

Received Summary	Select Duplicate	Scan new LPN

Palletize Cartons (Nesting LPNs)

When cartons are ready to be palletized:

1. Open the Received Summary and scan a Pallet LPN.
2. All loose cartons will be nested under that pallet and show in the Received Summary accordingly.

Loose cartons in Received Summary	Nested view in Received Summary

Receiving Pre-Built Pallets

1. Scan one of the SKUs on the pallet.
2. Enter the full quantity (e.g., 50 units).
3. Scan the pallet LPN. The pallet is now received and ready for putaway.

Scan Item	Increase Quantity then Scan Pallet LPN	Palletized items in Received Summary

Editing and Moving Cartons

Editing how cartons are palletized or the quantities received is easy to do from the Receiving Summary.

How to Update a Carton's Quantity

1. Open the Receiving Summary page and tap Edit.
2. Scan the Carton LPN.
3. Update the quantity and tap Save.

Tap Edit	Scan the Carton LPN	Update quantity and Save

How to Move a Carton to a New Pallet LPN

If a carton was placed on the wrong pallet you can remove it and then re-add it to a new pallet after. Removing a carton from a pallet does not un-receive the carton — it just detaches it from the pallet. 

1. Open the Receiving Summary and tap Edit
2. Scan the Pallet LPN needing to be edited. 
3. Tap the “x” button to unnest the carton from the pallet; this adds the carton back to the Loose cartons list. 
4. Scan a new pallet LPN to repalletize it. 

Tap Edit	Scan Pallet LPN	Click "x" on carton	LPN moved back to Loose Carton List	Scan new LPN to re-nest carton

Rejecting Items During Receiving

During receiving, you may need to reject items that are damaged, incorrect, or otherwise not acceptable.

IMPORTANT: Rejected items should be tracked separately and placed into a designated non-sellable location location to ensure the rejected quantities are not added to available inventory on the store platforms.

1. Tap the Rejected counter button.
2. Scan the location where rejected items will be placed (for example, a damages or rejection bin).
3. Select or scan the item to reject.
4. Enter the rejected quantity and select a rejection reason (for example: damaged, dirty, incorrect item).
5. Upload photos (optional but recommended). Add photos to document the condition of the rejected items. These images will be saved on the inbound shipment dashboard to be used for audits and vendor communication.
6. Scan an LPN to complete the rejection. All rejected items in this flow will be placed under this LPN.

Once completed, the rejected quantity will be reflected separately from received inventory and not added to available inventory.

Tap the Rejected counter	Scan Location	Scan Item	Enter Quantity and Reason	Scan LPN

Viewing Rejected Items

There are several areas in the system where you can track the items that were rejected during the receiving process.

• In the mobile: View the Rejected counter at the top of the Inbound Shipment.
• Inbound Shipment Dashboard: Use the Images tab to view photos and details captured during the receiving process.
• Rejected Line Items Report: Go to the Purchase Orders > Rejected Line Items page to see a full list of items that were rejected during the receiving process.

Handling Lot Codes

Enter lot and expiration information for quality controlled items that have Needs Lot Tracking enabled. Visit our article for more information on Getting Started with Lots and Expiration Tracking.

1. Scan the product barcode.
2. Select an existing lot or create a new one by entering the lot number and expiration date.
3. (Optional) Select Apply to all units if all items share the same lot.
4. Continue scanning.

If using GS1 barcodes, ShipHero automatically parses the lot code and expiration date, removing the need for manual entry.

First Article Inspection (FAI)

If first article inspection is enabled for your account and a SKU is missing dimensions (length, width, height, or weight), a prompt will appear when it is initially scanned during the receiving process. Visit our help article for more information on the benefits of using First Article Inspection (FAI).

1. Input the missing dimensions.
2. Tap Save. This updates the SKU record permanently.

Lot Code example	First Article Inspection Example