Packing notes now available for Dispatched and Custom Orders
When an order contains multiple cartons or is packed across one or more pallets, knowing exactly what went where can be important long after it has left the warehouse.
That's why we've introduced downloadable packing notes for Dispatched Orders and Custom Orders.
Packing notes provide a clear record of the packing structure of an order, showing:
- The individual items contained within each carton
- Which cartons have been packed onto each pallet, where applicable
It's a relatively simple addition, but one that provides you with greater visibility once an order has been packed.
This can help with shipment verification, goods-in processes and customer queries, while providing improved carton and pallet traceability throughout the fulfilment journey.
Where can I find packing notes?
Packing notes can be downloaded directly from the relevant Dispatched Order or Custom Order within the fulfilmentcrowd platform.
The functionality is live and available now.
Enhanced batch selection now live
We've also completed the rollout of our enhanced batch selection functionality for Custom Orders.
Previously, batch selection was largely automatic. That's fine for most orders, but doesn't always provide enough flexibility when a retailer or customer has a specific requirement.
You can now determine how batches should be selected when creating a Custom Order, with three options available.
Oldest available batch
This remains the standard FIFO (First In, First Out) approach, prioritising the oldest available inventory.
For products with expiry dates or where stock rotation matters, this helps keep inventory moving in the appropriate order without requiring you to manually identify a batch.
Minimum shelf life
Sometimes FIFO isn't enough. A retailer might require products to arrive with a minimum amount of shelf life remaining, for example. You can now specify that requirement when creating an order.
The platform will look for eligible inventory with an expiry date beyond the minimum shelf-life requirement and select the closest matching available batch.
This gives you greater control over retailer requirements without needing to manually work out which batch meets the criteria.
Specific batch
Finally, you can select the exact batch you want to fulfil the Custom Order from.
This can be useful when particular inventory has been reserved for a customer or when you need tighter control over exactly which stock is being sent.
Together, the three options make batch-controlled fulfilment much more flexible, particularly for brands operating across B2B and retail channels where requirements can differ significantly from one order to the next.
Batch control at scale
The functionality isn't limited to orders created manually within the platform.
Enhanced batch selection is also supported through the Public API and Custom Order Upload, allowing the same rules to form part of higher-volume and automated order workflows.
If you use the Custom Order Upload process, you'll need to download the latest template, which contains the new Batch Type fields.
We've made a related improvement to Product Uploads, too.
Products can now be configured as Batch Controlled or Serial Controlled during upload, rather than requiring that information to be configured separately afterwards.
For businesses managing large product catalogues, that means less manual setup and a more consistent way of applying the correct inventory controls from the beginning.
Again, you'll need the latest Product Upload template to use the new functionality.
What's coming next?
Alongside recent releases, we're continuing to work on exciting developments to DTC and B2B fulfilment workflows.
Continuing to progress with pre-consignment
Last month, we introduced some of the work we're doing around pre-consignment – moving carrier consignment earlier in the fulfilment journey so we can identify potential order issues before picking begins.
Since then, we've made good progress.
The functionality is now in the final stages of testing, with our next step being to introduce it within a live fulfilment environment. That will allow us to see how the process performs against real orders and warehouse workflows before we consider a wider rollout.
This is an important stage of the project. Pre-consignment changes more than when we communicate with a carrier; it changes how information is used at the beginning of the warehouse journey.
By establishing things like carrier requirements and expected packing structure earlier, we can give our warehouse teams more information before they start working on an order, and give ourselves more time to address anything that could prevent it from being dispatched successfully.
We'll use the initial live rollout to test, learn and refine how pre-consignment works in a real fulfilment environment. A broader rollout is currently more likely after peak, when we can introduce the new process without adding unnecessary change during the busiest trading period of the year.
We'll keep you posted as and when developments in this area are made.
Getting your product data ready
As we've previously mentioned, one thing you can do to help with pre-consignment is ensuring good data health.
As we've progressed from development towards live testing, one requirement has become increasingly important: accurate product weights and dimensions.
Pre-consignment relies on this information to understand how an order can be packed and whether it can successfully move through the carrier process before picking begins. If the data isn't there – or isn't accurate – we can't reliably use the more automated route.
That's why we're continuing to encourage customers to check Product Data Health within the fulfilmentcrowd platform.
If you haven't reviewed yours recently, we'd recommend checking for missing or inaccurate weights and dimensions and updating any gaps you find.
Over time, good Product Data Health will become about more than simply keeping your product catalogue complete. The better the data we have to work with, the more of the fulfilment journey our technology can intelligently plan and automate.
Rethinking the warehouse journey for B2B orders
Imagine a retailer orders 5,000 units that are already stored appropriately in cartons or on pallets.
Breaking those products down simply to move them through a workflow designed around individual-unit picking doesn't make sense.
Instead, we're exploring workflows that can better accommodate picking in cartons and pallets, allowing suitable inventory to move more directly from bulk storage through to dispatch.
It's part of a wider ambition to make the technology recognise the type of fulfilment journey an order actually needs.
For DTC, that might mean individual-unit picking and packing.
For a wholesale or retail order, it could mean carton-level picking, pallet preparation and a much more direct route to dispatch.
There's more development to come before we have further details to share, but it's an important part of how we're evolving the platform as the B2B requirements of our customers become increasingly sophisticated.
Author - Austin Waddecar
Inventory Control / Workflow Automation / AI / Support
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