Outbound & Logistics

Outbound is the final stage of the EMS warehouse workflow. Once production is complete and verified, product needs to get to your consignees. The Outbound module manages everything from order creation through dispatch — grouping product by consignee, enforcing truck capacity limits, generating professional shipping documents, and running a loading checklist that ensures nothing leaves the warehouse without being accounted for.

Every outbound order tracks which skids are assigned, which documents have been generated, and whether the loading checklist has been completed. The module connects upstream to production (where orders originate) and downstream to the customer portal (where consignees track their deliveries). It is the bridge between your warehouse floor and your customer's dock.

Auto-creation from production

You do not create outbound orders manually. When a production order (PO) completes its run and passes verification, EMS automatically generates outbound orders from the finished product. This happens without any operator intervention — the system reads the PO, identifies which consignees the product belongs to, and creates one outbound order per consignee.

Here is how the auto-creation logic works:

1. PO completes and is verified. The production team finishes the stamping run and the verifier confirms the box counts, stamp counts, and product totals.
2. EMS groups product by consignee. A single PO can contain product for multiple consignees. EMS separates the finished skids by consignee ownership.
3. One outbound order per consignee. Each consignee gets a single outbound order containing all of their product from that PO.
4. Consolidation across POs. If a consignee already has an unshipped outbound order from a previous PO, EMS consolidates the new product into the existing order instead of creating a duplicate. This means the consignee receives one shipment rather than several small ones.

The auto-creation approach eliminates a common source of warehouse errors: forgetting to create a shipment, misassigning product to the wrong customer, or double-entering orders. Because outbound orders flow directly from verified production data, the chain of custody is unbroken from receiving through dispatch.

The 12-pallet limit

A standard truck dispatch in EMS is capped at 12 pallets per load. This reflects the practical capacity of a standard 53-foot trailer and keeps your dispatch operations predictable and safe.

When an outbound order contains more than 12 skids, EMS automatically splits it into multiple loads. Each load gets its own tracking and its own set of shipping documents. The system assigns skids to loads in the order they were produced, but you can reassign skids between loads if you need to prioritize certain product.

Each load is independently dispatchable. You do not need to wait for all loads to be ready before sending the first one. This is especially useful when truck availability is limited or when the consignee has receiving capacity constraints at their end.

Scheduling dispatch

Once outbound orders exist, you need to decide when they ship. EMS provides a calendar-based scheduling view that lets you plan dispatches across days and weeks.

To schedule a dispatch:

1. Open the Outbound module from the main navigation.
2. Switch to the Calendar tab. You will see a weekly or monthly view with existing scheduled dispatches shown as coloured blocks.
3. Find the outbound order you want to schedule in the unscheduled list on the left side of the screen.
4. Drag the order onto the desired date. Drop it on the day you want the truck to leave your warehouse.
5. EMS confirms the scheduling and updates the order status to Scheduled.

The calendar view shows daily load capacity at a glance. Each day displays the total number of pallets scheduled versus the number of truck slots available. If a day is already at capacity, the date cell turns yellow to warn you before you overbook.

You can reschedule a dispatch at any time before it is marked as dispatched. Simply drag the order to a new date on the calendar. The consignee is not notified of schedule changes unless you have enabled automatic notifications in Settings.

Generating documents

Before product leaves your warehouse, you need shipping documents. EMS generates three types of document for every outbound order, each serving a different purpose during transit and at the receiving dock.

Bill of Lading (BOL)

The Bill of Lading is the primary shipping document. It is a professional PDF that contains:

• Sender details — your warehouse name, address, and contact information
• Receiver details — the consignee's name, delivery address, and contact
• Skid breakdown — how many skids are on this load, with a summary count of boxes per skid
• Product summary — total units by product name, broken out by excise region if applicable
• Dual sign-off lines — spaces for the warehouse operator's signature (confirming dispatch) and the consignee's signature (confirming receipt)

The BOL is the document that travels with the truck. Print two copies — one stays with the driver, and one is signed by the consignee and returned to your office for filing.

Packing List

The packing list is a per-skid manifest. It shows each skid on the load with its contents broken down to the box level: product names, quantities per box, and box identifiers. This document is useful for the consignee's receiving team when they are checking product against what was expected.

Skid Breakdown

The skid breakdown provides the most detailed view of what is on each pallet. It shows the physical arrangement of boxes on the skid, product details for each box, unit counts, and any notes attached during production. This document is typically used internally for quality checks rather than sent to the customer.

All three documents are generated using the EMS PdfViewer. This means you get a preview-first experience — the document opens in a preview pane where you can review it before printing or downloading. If something looks wrong (incorrect address, missing skid), you can correct the underlying data and regenerate the document without wasting paper.

Loading checklist

The loading checklist is a safeguard that sits between scheduling and dispatch. Its purpose is simple: confirm that every skid assigned to a load has actually been placed on the truck before you clear it to leave.

Here is how it works:

1. Open the outbound order and click Start Loading.
2. EMS displays a list of all skids assigned to this load, each with a checkbox.
3. As each skid is physically loaded onto the truck, check it off in the system. You can scan the skid's QR code or manually check the box.
4. The progress indicator at the top shows how many skids have been confirmed versus how many are expected (for example, "8 of 12 loaded").
5. The Dispatch button remains greyed out and inactive until every skid is checked off.

This design is intentional. The Dispatch button is the final gate, and it only opens when all skids are accounted for. This prevents a common warehouse mistake: dispatching a truck that is missing a pallet because someone forgot to load it or loaded it onto the wrong vehicle.

Dispatching

Once every skid on the loading checklist has been confirmed, the Dispatch button activates. Clicking it triggers the final step in the outbound workflow.

When you dispatch a load:

1. Status update. The outbound order's status changes to Dispatched. This is a permanent state change — you cannot undo a dispatch.
2. Timestamp recorded. EMS logs the exact date and time of dispatch.
3. Operator logged. The system records which user clicked the Dispatch button, creating an audit trail.
4. Customer portal notification. If the consignee has a portal account, they receive an automatic notification that their shipment has been dispatched. The notification includes the load summary and the expected delivery window.
5. Storage update. All dispatched skids are removed from their storage slots. Those slots become available for new inventory immediately.

Partial delivery

Sometimes not everything fits on the truck. A forklift breaks down mid-loading, the driver has a weight restriction, or the consignee's dock can only accept a certain number of pallets at a time. EMS handles these situations through partial delivery.

To dispatch a partial load:

1. During the loading checklist, check off only the skids that have actually been loaded onto the truck.
2. Click Dispatch Partial (this button appears when some but not all skids are checked).
3. EMS asks you to confirm the partial dispatch and shows which skids will ship and which will stay behind.
4. Confirm the partial dispatch.

Here is what happens next:

• Loaded skids are dispatched normally. They leave the warehouse, the consignee is notified, and storage slots are freed.
• Remaining skids receive a return-to-origin status. They go back into their storage locations and are available for the next dispatch.
• Follow-up outbound order. EMS automatically creates a new outbound order containing the remaining skids. This follow-up order starts in a Created state and needs to be scheduled for the next available truck.

Alternative delivery addresses

By default, every outbound order ships to the consignee's primary address — the one on file in their consignee profile. But consignees sometimes need product delivered to a different location: a secondary warehouse, a retail store, an event venue, or a temporary staging facility.

EMS supports two types of alternative addresses:

Registered locations

Each consignee can have multiple registered delivery addresses on file. These are set up in the Consignee detail page under the Locations tab. To use a registered location for an outbound order:

1. Open the outbound order.
2. Click the Delivery Address field.
3. A dropdown shows all of the consignee's registered locations. Select the one you want.
4. The address updates on the order and will print on the BOL.

One-time addresses

If the delivery is going to a location that is not on file — for example, a pop-up event or a one-off transfer — you can enter a one-time address directly on the outbound order. Click Enter custom address and type the full street address, city, province, and postal code. This address is used only for this order and is not saved to the consignee's profile.

Best practices

• Generate the BOL before loading begins. Review it on screen to confirm the consignee address, skid count, and product summary are correct. This is your last chance to catch data problems before product goes on the truck.
• Use the loading checklist honestly. Check each skid as it physically goes on the truck. Do not pre-check boxes. The checklist is there to protect you from short-shipping, which costs time and money to fix after the fact.
• Schedule outbound after confirming with the consignee. A dispatch date that works for your warehouse but not for the consignee's receiving dock creates problems on both ends. Coordinate before you drag orders onto the calendar.
• Consolidate multiple POs before dispatching. If a consignee has product coming off two or three POs in the same week, let EMS consolidate those into a single outbound order. One truck with 10 pallets is more efficient than three trucks with 3 or 4 each.
• Print two copies of the BOL. One travels with the driver. The other is signed by the consignee at the receiving dock and returned to you. This signed copy is your proof of delivery and is essential for resolving disputes.
• Review the calendar weekly. At the start of each week, check the dispatch calendar for the days ahead. Confirm truck availability, check for scheduling conflicts, and make sure the warehouse team knows what is going out and when.