A wave of parcels when production returns
In wholesale fashion B2B, goods from production often return to the warehouse in a cluster: many boutique orders for the same collection become ready at almost the same time. Most brands then have to pack and ship a large number of parcels in a short window. When it is unclear what is ready and where each unit is, pick & pack and shipping turn into chaos.
- a pile-up of parcels to ship in a short window
- unclear where each unit is
- packing and shipping run slowly
Many boutique orders ready at the same moment
Pick & pack — gathering units from the warehouse to match an order and placing them into cartons ready to ship. Example: 12 units of MERU pants Navy from three shelves go into two cartons for one boutique.
Partial shipment — shipping part of an order when some lines are ready and the rest is still in production.
A wholesale fashion order is a size × colour matrix, often dozens of variants in one collection. Sales and operations often run in separate tools — spreadsheets, email, PDFs — so every retyping of data at packing and shipping opens room for error. In a pre-order model, production returns in waves; the warehouse then faces a wave of parcels to send at the same moment. There is no single source of truth: who ordered, what is ready, where it is, and which carton it should go into.
Order first, then pack and ship fast
We solve the parcel pile-up with order first, then packing speed.
- we keep production and the warehouse in order: quantities, stages, and the physical place of each unit are visible
- the pick list leads through locations; packing records which carton gets what
- a courier is booked from the order card when the address, carton types and weights are complete
After production returns, packing and shipping then run from a list and known locations.
Steps
- 1Inventory shows quantities by state (on the shelf, reserved, with us in process, at makers) and production stages — what is ready to pack is clear.
- 2In Inventory each unit has a warehouse location (storage place).
- 3A packing session builds the pick list (style, colour, size, quantity, location). Units go into cartons on a computer or on a phone (QR link); "Auto-pack" proposes a layout and keeps colours together.
- 4"Finish packing" creates a shipment with cartons; the contents of each carton and a weight estimate are visible.
- 5From the order card: "Ship with…" (e.g. UPS) — labels per carton and a tracking number; status "Shipped" is set by the courier's first scan.
Example: order 0112_ARD, 48 units of MERU pants in three colours, goods on bins B3-4-A and B3-7-C.
| Line | Units |
|---|---|
| To pack | 48 |
| Cartons after Auto-pack (20 units/carton) | 3 |
| Packed in Shipment #1 | 48 |
On your side
- When receiving goods from production, set storage places (warehouse and bin address) — the pick list uses those locations.
- Fill in the delivery address, carton types and weights before shipping — then courier booking goes through without gaps.
- You decide when to send a partial shipment and how many cartons go; Go4 runs the list and records the contents.