Carton 47 of 112
The shipment is due to leave tomorrow. The packing team has filled 112 cartons, some solid size, some ratio packed, a few mixed. The shipping clerk is building the packing list in Excel from handwritten carton sheets: carton number, style, colour, size breakdown, quantity, gross and net weight, dimensions. Carton labels have been printed from a template. Halfway through, the clerk finds carton 47 is written as 24 pieces on the sheet but the size breakdown adds up to 22.
The brand's warehouse will find it too, and send a discrepancy report.
Why the packing list goes wrong
Packing lists are built after the fact, from paper, by one person with a deadline. Each brand wants a different layout, and some want the data sent electronically before the goods arrive.
- Carton contents are written by hand as cartons are packed.
- Ratio packs and solid packs are counted differently and easily confused.
- Each brand has its own packing list template and carton mark layout.
- Weights and dimensions are measured and typed separately.
- Advance shipping notices are keyed into a brand portal by hand, from the same spreadsheet.
What it costs when the list is wrong
Brands' warehouses check what arrives against what you said you sent. Discrepancies lead to queries, delayed payment and sometimes chargebacks. Carton labels that do not follow the brand's layout can mean cartons are rejected or relabelled at your cost. Internally, shipping days become late nights for the clerk and anyone they can borrow.
The mistakes are rarely dramatic. A carton labelled as size 10 that contains size 12, a total that is off by two, a weight typed in the wrong column. But a brand's warehouse processes thousands of cartons from many suppliers, and the ones that do not match slow them down. Suppliers who cause that friction get noticed for it.
A packing tool that records as you pack
- The order's size and colour breakdown and each brand's packing rules (solid, ratio, assortment, maximum pieces per carton) are set up from the purchase order.
- The packing tool suggests how the order should be packed into cartons, which the packing supervisor can adjust.
- As each carton is packed, the packer scans or taps the garments in, and the tool checks the contents match the carton's plan.
- Weight is recorded from a connected scale or entered, and dimensions come from the standard carton size.
- Carton labels are printed on the spot in the brand's layout, with the barcode they require.
- The packing list, and any advance shipping notice the brand needs, is generated from the carton records in their format, for the shipping clerk to check.
| Document | Built by hand | Generated from carton records |
|---|---|---|
| Carton label | Template, filled later | Printed as the carton is closed |
| Packing list | Excel from handwritten sheets | Brand's layout, from what was packed |
| Weights | Measured and typed | Recorded per carton |
| Advance shipping notice | Keyed into a portal | File or upload from the same data |
Shipping day, without the late night
The clerk checks a finished packing list rather than building one. A carton packed wrong is caught at the packing table, when fixing it takes a minute, not by the brand's warehouse. Every brand gets their own layout without anyone keeping a folder of templates. And when a brand queries a carton, you have exactly what went in it.
Tick any of these?
- Packing lists are typed from handwritten carton sheets.
- Brands send discrepancy reports after shipments arrive.
- Each brand has its own template kept in someone's folder.
- Advance shipping notices are keyed in by hand.
- Shipping days run late into the evening.