When a picker reaches a location and finds fewer units than directed, they mark the location as Hospital (ShipHero's flag for a pick that came up short). Normally the recovery work that follows, finding the missing units elsewhere or adjusting the order to what was actually picked, falls to a second operator at a desktop. A Wholesale Automation Rule can run that recovery automatically the moment the location is flagged, so the picker keeps moving and no one has to step in.
The A location is marked as hospital trigger pairs with one or more recovery actions that ShipHero runs automatically. Chain several actions together and the order is left ready to keep picking, with no manual cleanup.
For more on the Hospital flag itself, see Using the Hospital Flag While Picking Wholesale Orders.
Before You Begin
- You need the Wholesale:Manager: Create permission to build a rule and Wholesale:Manager: Edit to change one.
- Actions run in the order they are listed on the rule. The order matters here (see the example under Common Examples below).
Activation Required
The Wholesale Automation Rules feature is currently in BETA and needs to be enabled before it shows in your account. Please contact ShipHero support to have Wholesale Automation Rules enabled.
Table of Contents
- How the Wholesale Automation Hospital Flag Trigger Works
- Available Wholesale Automation Recovery Actions for Hospital Flags
- How to Create a Wholesale Automation Rule for Hospital Flags
- Common Examples for Handling Hospital Flags with Wholesale Automation Rules
How the Wholesale Automation Hospital Flag Trigger Works
The A location is marked as hospital trigger fires when a picker flags a location as Hospital during an active wholesale pick. By default the rule runs the first time a location is flagged on an order. Turn on Multiple runs per order for the rule to run again if another location on the same order is later flagged.
When the trigger fires, ShipHero runs the rule's actions in sequence. You choose which actions to include based on how you want shortfalls handled.
For the full list of triggers, conditions, and actions, and the steps to view, edit, enable, or delete rules, see How to Create and Manage Wholesale Automation Rules in ShipHero.
Available Wholesale Automation Recovery Actions for Hospital Flags
| Action | What it does | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-assign Locations | Searches for the remaining units at other locations and assigns them, using the same priority rules as the Auto-assign Allocation modal. With Preserve existing allocations checked, it keeps what was already picked and only reallocates the shortfall. | Reallocate the missing units so the picker can retrieve them from another location. |
| Remove "not allocated" products from the order | Changes the order line to the quantity actually picked, removing the units that could not be allocated. Resolves the location's Hospital state with no desktop operator intervention. | Ship what was picked when the missing units cannot be found anywhere. |
| Prepare for Picking | Leaves the order ready to be picked or to continue picking after the recovery actions have run. | Hand the order back to the picking flow once recovery is done. |
How Auto-Assign Locations Handles a Wholesale Order Shortfall
When Auto-assign Locations runs with Preserve existing allocations checked, ShipHero searches for available stock of the same product. ShipHero checks the same lot first, then falls back to the account's allocation rule if no same-lot stock is found, and sends the picker a new pick instruction for the remaining units. If no stock is found anywhere, the action finds nothing and control passes to the next action listed on the rule.
How to Create a Wholesale Automation Rule for Hospital Flags
- Go to Settings > Wholesale Settings, then open the Wholesale Automation tab.
- Click Create Automation and enter a unique Name.
- Set Multiple runs per order based on whether the rule should run again for additional Hospital flags on the same order.
- Under Trigger, select A location is marked as hospital.
- Add Conditions if you want to scope the rule, for example to a specific client or retailer. Leave this empty to apply the rule to every wholesale order.
- Under Action, click Add Action for each action you want, in the order you want them to run. Configure each action's parameters.
- Click Save.
Common Examples for Handling Hospital Flags with Wholesale Automation Rules
Reallocate Missing Units on the Spot for a Hospital Flag
The picker finds fewer units than directed and marks the location as Hospital. You want ShipHero to reallocate the shortfall to another location automatically, so the picker is sent to pick the remaining units.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Trigger | A location is marked as hospital |
| Action | Auto-assign Locations, with Preserve existing allocations checked |
Full Recovery Sequence for a Hospital Flag: Reallocate, Clean Up, Resume Picking
This is the complete handling for a shortfall, using all three actions in order. It covers both outcomes: units found elsewhere, and units that cannot be found at all.
| Order | Action | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auto-assign Locations (Preserve existing allocations checked) | Reallocates any units still pending to another location. If stock is found, the picker gets a new pick instruction. If none is found, control passes to the next action. |
| 2 | Remove "not allocated" products from the order | Changes the order line to the quantity actually picked, removing whatever action 1 could not reallocate. |
| 3 | Prepare for Picking | Leaves the order ready to be picked or to continue picking. |
Action 2 only has something to remove when action 1 could not find the stock, so the same rule handles both outcomes, units that exist elsewhere and units that are gone, without any manual decision.
Pro-Tip
The order of actions is what makes this work. Auto-assign Locations first gives ShipHero the chance to recover the units. Remove "not allocated" products second cleans up only what is left over. Prepare for Picking last hands the order back to the floor. If you reverse the first two actions, ShipHero strips the shortfall off the order before trying to recover it.