Blog from October, 2024

We are very excited to announce the Beta release of Pick to Tote!

A key component of e-commerce fulfilment is the ability to pick large numbers of small orders quickly and efficiently. Pick to Tote is designed to do just that, streamlining the picking process for warehouses handling multiple small orders at once.

Pick to Tote is a workflow in which warehouse pickers push trolleys fitted with multiple totes (buckets) through the warehouse. Each tote corresponds to an individual order, allowing workers to pick items for several orders simultaneously. This method is ideal for small orders (typically fewer than 5 items), enabling the picking of 10 to 30 orders in one trip, dramatically saving on walking distance and time.

Here’s why Pick to Tote is a game changer:

• Accuracy: By assigning items directly to their respective totes as soon as they are picked, Pick to Tote reduces the risk of mixing products between orders. This ensures that each tote contains only the items for its designated order, improving overall pick accuracy.

• Speed: The ability to pick multiple orders in one trip significantly reduces walking time through the warehouse, eliminating the need for retracing steps or making multiple trips. This streamlined process increases the speed of order fulfilment and optimises warehouse operations.

Once picking is complete, the trolley is wheeled to the packing station, where the Pack Screen is used to finalise and pack each order into its respective shipper. This combination of Pick to Tote and our new Pack Screen [coming soon] offers an efficient, end-to-end solution for e-commerce fulfilment, allowing warehouses to handle high order volumes with greater speed and accuracy.

Note: Pick to Tote is currently in Beta and needs to be enabled within your CartonCloud account by one of our team. If you would like to begin using Pick to Tote in Beta, you can request access here.

We’ve put together a (rough) video showing how to use Pick to Tote for Picking. And we’ve also put together a Beta User Guide detailing how to setup and configure pick to tote, and the known limitations of the Beta release.

We’re thrilled to announce that Wave Pick Auto Generation is now available in Beta, just in time for the busiest period of the year!

Two weeks ago we released Wave Pick Templates, which allow you to create and reuse templates for your wave picks. With Auto Generation, the templating functionality has been taken to another level as schedules can be setup to create wave picks in the background, automatically!

Currently, Auto Generation must be setup by one of our team (we’re hoping to have the User Interface released within the next couple of weeks so you can DIY) - so, if you would like Auto Generation configured, simply send an email to: support@cartoncloud.com and we’ll be happy to help get you setup and going.

Please note: Wave Pick Auto Generation (and soon, Replenishment Auto Generation) are features within our Advanced Automation add-on within Warehouse Premium.

We’re excited to announce two fantastic updates on the Photos & Documents on Purchase Orders web interface that will make viewing photos in CartonCloud even easier!

First up, we’ve introduced a brand-new Lightbox Feature for Photos & Documents on Purchase Orders. Now, users can effortlessly view, scroll, and download photos directly from the Document Edit screen with our sleek, newly released lightbox interface. This improvement enhances visibility and allows you to quickly review all relevant images without leaving the page.

In addition, we’ve rolled out a Photos & Documents on Purchase Orders Layout Update. Users now have the ability to set their preferred view on the list screen. Whether you prefer a more compact display (List View) or a detailed layout (Grid View), you can now customize your experience to suit your needs.

These updates are designed to streamline your workflow and give you greater control over how you manage photos. We’re sure they’ll make your day-to-day tasks even easier!

We’re excited to announce a new feature that simplifies document creation directly from the product view, streamlining workflows and reducing manual input.

Key Highlights:

• Document Creation from Product View: Workers can now create documents while viewing a product, with product information automatically pre-filled to minimize manual data entry.

• Photo Capture at the Product Level: In addition to order-level photos, workers can now capture photos or videos at the product level to document the product condition or any relevant details.

• Auto-populated Information: When creating a document, essential product information like the product code and name is automatically populated, ensuring accuracy and speeding up the process.

• Damage Handling: If a product is marked as "Damaged," the document will automatically be labeled as "Receival (Damages)," allowing for quick and clear tracking.

• Improved Navigation: After saving or returning from the document, users will seamlessly navigate back to the product’s edit screen, with all previous input retained for convenience.
  
  

  

This update empowers workers to manage inbound product documentation more efficiently and enhances the overall inbound process.

For more information, visit our Knowledge Base here!

This release introduces several powerful improvements to how you manage warehouse locations within CartonCloud. Here’s what you can now do:

• Edit Product Types Directly: You can now edit the product types assigned to a warehouse location straight from the Warehouse Location Edit page, providing more flexibility and control without needing to navigate away.

• Change Warehouse Location Capacity: Whether you're handling single or multiple pallets, you can now update a location’s capacity directly from the Edit Warehouse Location page. Previously, this was only available via bulk editing, so this will streamline adjustments on the fly.

• Modify Location Capacity Without Emptying: Need to change the capacity of a location that’s currently in use? No problem! You can now adjust a location's capacity even if it isn’t empty, giving you more operational flexibility without the need for downtime.

These improvements are designed to simplify your workflow and give you more control over your warehouse setup, making location management more efficient than ever. Be sure to check out the new features and let us know how they work for you!

For more information, visit our Knowledge Base article here.

We are excited to announce the launch of Wave Pick Templates – a powerful new feature designed to save you time and streamline your warehouse operations. With Wave Pick Templates, you can now create and reuse templates for your Wave Picks, significantly reducing the time and effort needed to create waves for your picking operations.

By using these templates, you can set up predefined configurations for common Wave Pick setups, making it easier than ever to launch a new wave with just a few clicks. This enhancement will help teams cut down on repetitive tasks and increase productivity.

But that’s not all! This update lays the groundwork for an even more powerful feature that’s already in the works. Soon, users with our Advanced Automation add-on (part of the WMS Premium package) will be able to schedule and automatically generate waves in the background. This upcoming feature will allow you to set up wave schedules to run autonomously, further streamlining operations and giving your team more time to focus on what matters most.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Advanced Automation capabilities, and start taking advantage of Wave Pick Templates today to optimize your workflow!

For more information on how to set up your Wave Pick Templates, visit our Knowledge Base.

Mobile Apps v 6.5.0 have been released which add support for videos.

If a picture says 1,000 words then a video must be capable of even more. To that end, we’ve made sound-recording optional because we know warehouses can be noisy environments. By default the microphone is muted, recording a silent video. You can change this by tapping on the microphone icon.

We would love to hear how you’re finding this and our other new features, please let us know via our 1 minute: CartonCloud New Feature Feedback form.

We’re excited to announce a new feature that gives users more control over how contact information is handled when importing Sale Orders or Consignments with matching address data. This update is designed to meet the varying needs of our users by introducing customizable settings for how email and telephone information is managed when importing addresses.

Key Changes:

When a Sale Order or Consignment is imported with address data that matches an existing address but has different contact information (such as email or telephone), you can now choose from three options on how the system should handle it:

1. Don’t Import the Email and Telephone Field Changes (Default):
   This is the default behavior, where the system retains the existing email and telephone information in the address record, even if the imported data contains different values.

2. Import the Email and Telephone Field Changes:
   When this option is selected, the system will update the existing address record with the new email and telephone data from the imported Sale Order or Consignment, ensuring the latest contact information is used.

3. Create a New Address:
   This option allows the system to create a completely new address record if the contact information (email or telephone) does not match the existing address data.

Flexible Configuration

To provide greater flexibility, these settings are available at both the Organizational Level and the Customer Level:

• Organizational Level: Set the default behavior for all imported consignments and sales orders.

• Customer-Level Override: You can override the organizational default on a per-customer basis, giving you more granular control over how contact information is managed for different clients.

How to Get Started

You can configure these settings from the admin panel under the organization settings. For customer-specific overrides, simply navigate to the customer profile and select the preferred behavior.

For more information, visit our Knowledge Base on how to set up and manage this feature.

We’re excited to announce recent enhancements to the consignment label PDF document template, providing greater flexibility in barcode generation. This update allows you to generate barcodes based on a combination of multiple placeholders and fixed values, as required.

Key Features:

• Custom Barcodes with Placeholders & Fixed Values: You can now create barcodes using placeholders alongside fixed values to tailor your label format.

• Consistent Length for $PAGE$ and $PAGES$ Placeholders: This update also introduces formatting options for the $PAGE$ and $PAGES$ placeholders, enabling left or right padding. This ensures these placeholders maintain a consistent length and can be incorporated into barcodes.

An example of this type of barcode includes: 

CI2015CTNCLD0000000057001004

• C1 is a fixed value

• 2015 is the delivery post code

• CTNCLD0000000057 is the barcode 

• 001 is the PAGE number left padded with 0 to 3 characters

• 004 is the total PAGES left padded with 0 to 3 characters

This is achieved in the Document Template with the following:

${CI}TO_CODE|BARCODE|PAGE0L3|PAGES0L3:BC128$

• The whole barcode value is enclosed in $$

• Fixed values enclosed in {}

• and Placeholder names are separated by |

Please note: These enhancements currently apply only to consignment PDF labels.

For any questions or further assistance, take a look at our Knowledge Base article for Template Placeholders.