In IFS Cloud it is possible to work with single stage picking or two-stage picking. Single-stage picking means that the picking process is handled in just one stage: parts are picked from inventory and then delivered. Two-stage picking means that first the goods are picked from an inventory location and moved to a packing station where they are picked again (packed) before being delivered.
In business environments which process large volumes of customer order lines, where inventory parts are small in size, it is optimal to follow this procedure: let the operator first pick a large picking list, make him transfer the parts to a shipment location (or packing station), and pick again (pack) from that packing station, the parts according to what was defined on the customer order (address, ship via, route, etc.). Smaller products are picked from shelves and placed, e.g., into bins, which circulate through the picking area warehouse before being sorted to the required packing lane for consolidation with other products for the same order.
This implies that the goods shall pass a shipment location (i.e. packing station), where they will be packed. A delivery note is used to pack them, the so called pre-ship delivery note. This document is used for packing and also as a delivery document. The pre-ship delivery note is printed while the goods are still in a shipment location, i.e., before delivering the customer order, as opposed to printing the delivery note after the customer order has been delivered (single-stage picking).
When using the pre-ship delivery note, the delivery can be reported by scanning the barcode on the document, which is normally attached to the goods. Since the customer orders are handled in a shipment location, the discrepancies that might occur (picked parts are broken, wrong parts picked, etc.) are handled with the standard shipment location functionality.
The delivery will always correspond to exactly what is picked in the shipment location. This means that there is no need of delivering with differences; those differences are treated as scrapping or returns in shipment location.
The use of two-stage picking is set as a site parameter and works only in combination with the use of shipment location, defined on the order type. If this parameter is not selected, the order will be processed with single-stage picking. Connecting a customer order to a shipment or a load list overrides the use of two-stage picking (pre-ship delivery notes).