What are Products, Content and Inventory
With Core, IDS is introducing a whole new level of shipping detail. Here is how it works.
In IDS you have a shipment that contains the following:
Billing details.
Shipper details aka Pick Up Address.
Receiver details aka Delivery Address
But here is where things can be different, if you choose.
Say you have a shipment that contains multiple package types. You would simply add the other package type to the shipment. (Please see the article on how to use the Shipment Entry tab for details).
Or say you have a shipment that contains multiples of the same package type, but you wish to account for each package. You would simply add another package with the same package type. (Please see the article on how to use the Shipment Entry tab for details).
Now lets say, you want to track the contents of what is inside one of those packages. You would simply edit the contents of that package so that it would look like the image below. ( Please see the article on how to add contents to a package type).
Please note, in the image above, the 5 “Acme Flat Screen LCD 24” are found inside the top “Skid” highlighted in the red box.
The lower “skid” contains 3 “Acme 15 inch Laptop” as is seen in the image below.
That means each package will contain its own unique inventory of products.
Furthermore, you can assign a unique barcode to a product. The barcode could be the product's SKU, UPC, etc. (Please see the article on how to manage products )
This allows you to do a few things:
Know what's inside your packages.
Track how much product is in transit.
Audit packages by scanning their contents, ensuring product doesn't go missing.
Facilitate Chain of Custody for Returns (Reverse Logistics) by tracking, from the point of pick up, what product was shipped.
Create shipments in the field by scanning products' barcodes.
Ensure the correct product and amount of product is delivered to a location.
Ensure the correct product and amount of product is picked up at a location.
