Incoming shipments and delivery orders¶
There are several ways to handle how a warehouse receives products (receipts) and ships products (deliveries). Depending on several factors, such as the type of products stocked and sold, warehouse size, and the amount of daily confirmed receipts and delivery orders, the way products are handled when coming in and out of the warehouse can vary a lot. Different settings can be configured for receipts and deliveries; they do not have to be configured to have the same number of steps.
Choosing the right inventory flow to handle receipts and deliveries¶
By default, Odoo handles shipping and receiving in three different ways: in one, two, or three steps. The simplest configuration is one step, which is the default. Each additional step required for a warehouse for either the receiving or shipping process will add an additional layer of operations to perform before a product is either received or shipped. These configurations depend entirely on the requirements for the products stored, such as performing quality checks on received products, or using special packaging on shipped products.
One-step flow¶
The receiving and shipping rules for a one-step configuration are as follows:
Receipt: Receive products directly into stock. No intermediate steps between receipt and stock occur, such as a transfer to a quality control location.
Shipping: Ship products directly from stock. No intermediate steps between stock and shipping occur, such as a transfer to a packing location.
Can only be used if not using FIFO, LIFO, or FEFO removal strategies.
Receipts and/or deliveries are handled quickly.
Recommended for small warehouses with low stock levels, and for non-perishable items.
Items are received or shipped directly into/from stock.
Two-step flow¶
The receiving and shipping rules for a two-step configuration are as follows:
Input + stock: Bring products to an input location before moving into stock. Products can be organized by different internal storage locations, such as various shelves, freezers, and locked areas, before being stocked in the warehouse.
Pick + ship: Bring products to an output location before shipping. Packages can be organized by different carriers or shipping docks before being shipped.
Minimum requirement to use lot numbers or serial numbers to track products with a FIFO, LIFO or FEFO removal strategy.
Recommended for larger warehouses with high stock levels, or when stocking large items (such as mattresses, large furniture, heavy machinery, etc.).
Products received will not be available for manufacturing, shipping, etc., until they are transferred into stock.
Three-step flow¶
The receiving and shipping rules for a three-step configuration are as follows:
Input + quality + stock: Receive products at the input location, transfer them to a quality control area, and move the ones that pass inspection into stock.
Pick + pack + ship: Pick products according to their removal strategy, pack them in a dedicated packing area, and bring them to an output location for shipping.
Can be used when tracking products by lot or serial numbers when using a FIFO, LIFO, or FEFO removal strategy.
Recommended for very large warehouses with very high stock levels.
Required for any warehouse needing to perform quality control inspections before receiving items into stock.
Products received will not be available for manufacturing, shipping, etc., until they are transferred into stock.