Starshipit WMS inbound operations

Inbound operations in Starshipit WMS cover the flow of stock entering your warehouse: from purchase orders, to receiving, staging and putaway. Correctly using inbound workflows ensures that inventory is accurate and available for allocation as soon as possible.

The core inbound steps in WMS are:

• Setting up Suppliers
• Creating and managing Purchase Orders (POs)
• Receiving stock against POs
• Choosing between direct put-away and staging
• Completing putaway from staging to final locations

Suppliers

Suppliers represent the vendors or manufacturers you purchase stock from. Setting them up first makes it easier to create purchase orders and track who supplied each delivery.

To set up suppliers in Starshipit WMS:

1. Go to the Suppliers section.
2. Click Create supplier.
3. Enter supplier details (just name for now)
4. Save the supplier.

You can edit suppliers later if details change. Each purchase order will be linked to a supplier record so you can report on inbound stock by supplier.

Purchase orders

A Purchase Order (PO) represents an incoming order of stock you expect to receive. In WMS, POs are used to:

• Record what has been ordered from a supplier
• Drive the receiving process when stock arrives
• Update Incoming inventory visibility for each product

Creating a purchase order

1. Go to the Purchase Orders section.
2. Click Create purchase order.
3. Select a Supplier.
4. Enter a PO number.
5. Add line items:
   • Select each product (SKU) you are ordering
   • Enter the ordered quantity
   • (Optional) Add cost/price details for reference
6. Save the PO as DRAFT if you are still editing, or mark as CREATED when confirmed.

PO statuses

Purchase orders move through the following typical statuses:

• DRAFT – PO is being prepared and not yet issued.
• CREATED – PO has been issued and is awaiting receipt.
• PARTIALLY_RECEIVED – some lines or quantities have been received; more are still due.
• RECEIVED – all lines and quantities have been fully received.

The PO status updates automatically as you receive stock against it.

Marking lines as missing and force-completing a PO

You can:

• Mark individual PO lines as missing — recording that expected stock did not arrive.
• Mark a PO as fully received — even if not all lines have been received, using the action button. This closes the PO and stops it from appearing as outstanding.

These actions are useful when a supplier short-ships or when you decide not to follow up on remaining lines.

Importing purchase orders via CSV

Purchase orders can be imported in bulk via CSV upload. This allows you to create POs from external systems or spreadsheets rather than entering them one at a time in WMS.

Receiving stock

The Receiving process records what arrives from your suppliers and places it into inventory. This is where quantities, batch details and serial numbers (if required) are captured and matched against POs.

Starting a receiving session

1. Open the Receive goods screen via the dashboard or the Purchase Orders section.
2. Select a PO with status CREATED or PARTIALLY_RECEIVED.
3. Review the list of PO lines and expected quantities.

The receiving interface closely resembles the pack screen layout, providing a consistent experience across receiving and packing workflows. Default receiving location buttons are displayed directly on the receipt form for quick selection.

Entering received quantities

For each line on the PO:

• Enter the actual received quantity (you can adjust up or down from the ordered quantity).
• If the product is Batch-tracked:
  • Enter the batch or lot number.
  • Optionally record an expiry date.
• If the product is Serial-tracked:
  • Enter one serial number per unit received.
  • Receiving a quantity greater than the number of serials entered will raise a warning.

WMS validates that all required tracking information is provided before you can complete receiving.

Recording inbound cartons

When receiving a purchase order, you can record the number of inbound cartons received. This data is captured per receipt and is included in the PO Receipt Report CSV export.

Selecting a destination

For each line, you must choose where the received stock should go:

• A final storage location (for direct put-away), or
• A staging dock (for staged workflows)

The choice you make here determines whether WMS creates a separate putaway job or treats the receipt as complete in one step.

Direct put-away vs staging workflows

Starshipit WMS supports two main inbound workflows:

Direct put-away

Use direct put-away when you know the final storage locations and want to complete inbound in a single step.

• Receive stock directly into a specific pick face or bulk location.
• Once confirmed, the inventory is immediately added to that location.
• No separate putaway job is created.

Direct put-away is ideal for:

• Small deliveries
• Fast-moving SKUs with well-defined locations
• Warehouses where receivers also put stock away immediately

Staging then putaway

Use the staging workflow when you want to receive quickly and decide final locations later.

• Receive stock into a Staging Dock location.
• WMS automatically creates one or more putaway jobs for that PO.
• Inventory is visible as being in staging and not yet in final storage.

Staging is useful for:

• Large or mixed deliveries
• Operations where receiving and putaway are handled by different teams
• Situations where final locations depend on later decisions (for example, new products)

Putaway jobs

Putaway jobs move stock from staging areas to final storage locations such as bulk and pick faces.

A dedicated Putaway section is available in the navigation, with its own dashboard showing all putaway jobs (pending, in-progress and completed). You can assign, delete and refresh jobs from the dashboard.

Working a putaway job

1. Go to the Putaway section in WMS.
2. Select a job linked to a staging location or PO.
3. Review the list of items and quantities currently in staging.
4. For each item:
   • Confirm or choose the target location(s)
   • Optionally split quantities across multiple locations (e.g. some to bulk, some to pick face)
5. Complete the job to move stock out of staging and into the final locations.

When a putaway job is completed, WMS:

• Reduces the quantity in the staging location to zero (for the items moved)
• Increases on-hand stock at the destination location(s)
• Records stock movement entries for full traceability

Creating a putaway job from a location

A Create Putaway Job action is available from the location detail view. This shows all inventory currently at the selected location and allows you to create a putaway job to move those items to their designated storage locations. This is useful for clearing staging areas or receiving docks.

Putaway for orphaned inventory

The system can create putaway jobs for inventory that exists at locations but has no associated job (orphaned inventory). This helps ensure all stock is properly put away even if it was manually moved or arrived through non-standard processes.

Verifying inbound stock

After receiving (and any putaway) is completed, you can verify inbound stock using:

• The Inventory dashboard – to check updated on hand and incoming counts
• Location view – to see which products and quantities are at each location
• Stock movement logs – to confirm the receipt and putaway events

For direct put-away workflows, you should see stock already in its final location. For staging workflows, stock will first appear in staging, then move to bulk or pick faces when the putaway job is completed.

Best-practice inbound setup

• Always receive against a PO where possible.
  This gives clear visibility of what was ordered versus delivered and keeps Incoming inventory accurate.
• Use batch and serial tracking only where needed.
  For regulated, perishable or high-value items, tracking at batch or serial level gives better traceability but requires more data entry.
• Standardise destination rules.
  Decide which products usually go to bulk, which to pick faces, and document this for your team.
• Use staging for big or complex receipts.
  Let receivers log stock quickly, then have a separate putaway run to tidy and distribute it.
• Monitor PARTIALLY_RECEIVED POs.
  Regularly review partially received purchase orders to follow up on short deliveries or backorders.
• Audit inbound movements.
  Use stock movement logs to investigate variances or disputes with suppliers.

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