Outbound shipments
An outbound shipment is how you track assets and parts leaving your facilities for delivery to customers or other locations. Outbound shipments enable you to manage the logistics of finished goods, track in-transit inventory, and maintain visibility throughout the delivery process.
IMPORTANT: Difference between inbound and outbound shipments
Hardfin supports two types of shipments for different logistics needs:
Outbound shipments are for finished goods leaving your facilities:
Ship assets and parts to customers or other locations
Track in-transit inventory
Support the fulfillment workflow for delivering to customers
Inbound shipments (see relevant documentation) are for parts arriving at your facilities:
Track parts from suppliers or vendors
Receive parts into inventory
Support the parts workflow for building assets
Both shipment types provide tracking, status management, and inventory visibility, but serve different stages of your operations.
Outbound shipments are part of the fulfillment workflow as assets move from your facilities to customer locations:
Understand outbound shipment relationships
An outbound shipment includes assets and parts being sent from your facility to a destination. Each shipment is tracked with a unique shipment number (such as SHP-2024-0001) and can include tracking information for visibility throughout the delivery process. A shipment can also be associated with a fulfillment order (FO) in order to fulfill it.
Note: outbound shipments are for finished goods and assets leaving your facilities. For tracking parts arriving at your facilities, see inbound shipments.
List all outbound shipments
To see a list of all outbound shipments, navigate to the outbound shipments page. Here you will see a table with each shipment, along with the following information:
Reference numbers. Shipment reference number (assigned by Hardfin), FO number (entered when creating a shipment), and tracking number (optionally provided when recording a shipment)
From/to location. The from location and to location of this shipment
Items. The assets and parts included in the shipment with their quantities
Dates. The dates associated with this shipment: ship date (the date that the shipment left your facility), expected delivery date (the date you expect the shipment to arrive at its destination), actual delivery date (the date the shipment was actually delivered)
Status. Whether the shipment is pending, shipped, in transit, delivered, or cancelled
Actions. For each shipment status, different actions are available. Pending shipments can be Marked shipped or Cancelled; Shipped shipments can be Marked delivered; In transit shipments can be Marked delivered; Delivered shipments are complete and can only be viewed; Cancelled shipments are no longer active
Use the tabs to filter outbound shipments by status (Pending, Shipped, In transit, Delivered, or Cancelled). Use the search to find specific shipments by FO number, tracking number, or destination.
Create an outbound shipment
To create a new outbound shipment, click the "Add outbound shipment" button and a window will appear. Enter the appropriate detail for the shipment that you have available, being sure to enter the appropriate unit quantities of assets and parts in the shipment.
Only the "From location" and "To" location and a list of items are required to create a shipment. The expected dates and notes are optional. You can add tracking information and other details later as they become available.
Once all required information is entered, click "Create shipment" to confirm. The shipment will be created in pending status.
Fulfillment order numbers
Each outbound shipment can be optionally associated with a fulfillment order (FO). When associated, the FO number will appear on the shipment record and in the shipment details screen. You can select an FO from the dropdown when creating a shipment, or you can later add an FO from the dropdown when editing a shipment.
When you select an FO relevant details, such as the "From" and "To" locations, are populated automatically.
Ship an outbound shipment
When a pending outbound shipment is ready to leave your facility, mark it as shipped. This action:
Records the actual ship date
Moves assets and parts into "in-transit" status
Updates inventory to reflect items that have left your facility
Makes the shipment visible in transit tracking
To mark a shipment as shipped, click the "Mark as shipped" action for the pending shipment. You can update the ship date such as shipment notes. If there are serialized assets on the shipment, the serials must be entered at this time.
When a shipment is shipped, its status updates to Shipped automatically.
Shipped shipments can only get partial updates: tracking information, "To" location, expected dates, and shipment notes.
Track in-transit inventory
Once an outbound shipment is marked as shipped, the items in that shipment are tracked as in-transit inventory. This means:
Assets and parts are no longer at your facility but haven't arrived at the destination yet
You maintain visibility into what's currently being transported
The items are not available for other shipments or projects until delivered
You can track the location and status of items throughout the delivery process
In-transit inventory appears in your inventory views with a special status indicator showing the items are currently being shipped.
Deliver an outbound shipment
When a shipped outbound shipment arrives at its destination, mark it as delivered. This action:
Records the actual delivery date and location
Completes the shipment lifecycle
Updates asset locations to reflect their new destination
Removes items from in-transit status
To mark a shipment as delivered, click the "Mark as delivered" action for the shipped shipment. You can confirm the delivery date and location, and add any notes about the delivery.
When a shipment is delivered, its status updates to Delivered automatically.
Once a shipment is marked as delivered, the assets and parts are considered to be at the destination location and the shipment record is complete.
Cancel an outbound shipment
If an outbound shipment is no longer needed, you can cancel it. Cancelling a shipment is useful when orders change, customers cancel, or logistics plans need to be adjusted.
To cancel a shipment, click the "Cancel" action for a pending shipment. You will be prompted to provide a reason for the cancellation. This reason is recorded for audit purposes and helps maintain clear records of why shipments were cancelled.
When a shipment is cancelled:
The shipment status updates to Cancelled
The items remain at their current location (no inventory changes occur)
The shipment is no longer active but remains in the system for record-keeping
Any associated fulfillment order is updated to reflect the cancellation
Only Draft shipments can be cancelled. Once a shipment has been marked as shipped, it cannot be cancelled because items are already in transit. If you need to handle a shipment that has already been shipped, you should mark it as delivered and then process a return if needed.
Cancelled shipments appear in the Cancelled tab on the outbound shipments list and can be viewed for historical reference.
Last updated