Once Packing Workflows has been enabled for your account by ShipHawk, your admin users can configure the workflows and the workstations that meet your business requirements and warehouse layout. Warehouse workers at workstations can then follow the workflows to pack items into boxes or pack boxes onto pallets efficiently and accurately. This page describes how to configure workflows and workstations.

Configuring Workflows and Workstations

In ShipHawk, a Workflow is a configurable set of steps to be done in one flow, and a Workstation is the physical location where the Workflow takes place.

A Workflow can be associated with more than one Workstation,  but you can have only one Workflow per Workstation today.

As an admin user, follow these steps to configure Workflows and Workstations.

Enabling Workstations

Contact ShipHawk to enable Workstations and specify a subdomain for your account.  Specifying a subdomain for your account  is needed so that ShipHawk can provide the full URL for a workstation’s purpose-built page. While this account setting is configured by ShipHawk, please work with your ShipHawk account manager to identify a suitable subdomain name for your account.

Once enabled, your admin users can then configure the Workflows and Workstations in ShipHawk.

Configuring Workflows

A Workflow for a Workstation must be configured before you can set up a Workstation.

You can configure a custom workflow for box packing or pallet packing, or you can select a simple parcel shipping workflow.

As an admin user, you can configure a new Workflow to be assigned to one or more Workstations:

1. From the Settings gear icon drop-down, choose Settings.

2. In the left navigation panel, scroll down to the Workstations settings: Workflows and Workstations.

3. Select Workflows to open the Workflows page.

4. Select ADD NEW WORKFLOW. The Add new workflow screen is displayed:
   
   

5. In General Settings, in Workflow Name, enter a descriptive name for your new workflow.

6. In Workflow Configuration, you can configure a Custom Workflow, use a premade workflow for Simple Parcel Shipping, or use Auto Ship.
   
   

   Open

   

    

Custom Workflow

1. Select Custom Workflow.

2. In Workflow Steps, you configure the steps you want to be done in a single workflow session.

3. Choose Box Packing to pack SKUs into a box to ship parcel or pack onto a pallet, or Pallet Packing to pack SKUs or packed boxes onto a pallet.
   
   

Box Packing Configuration

For Box Packing, click the CONFIGURATION toggle to view and set the workflow options when packing SKUs into a box to ship parcel or pack onto a pallet:In AFTER PACKING, select Open proposed shipment details so that the Order Details page opens automatically for doing the shipping tasks. In Allow user to Print, select Carton Labels or Container Labels. If selected, you can then select Auto Print for automatically printing labels.

Pallet Packing Configuration

For Pallet Packing, click the CONFIGURATION toggle to view and set the workflow options to pack SKUs or packed boxes onto a pallet:In AFTER PACKING, select Open proposed shipment details so that the Order Details page opens automatically for doing the shipping tasks. In Allow user to Print, select Carton Labels or Container Labels. If selected, you can then select Auto Print to automatically print labels.

NOTE: You can pack items on pallets without first having to pack those items into boxes. In some cases, you might want to simply put items on pallets without needing to pack them into boxes first. In this way, the workflow can support simpler use cases that do not require carton labels.

When done, in the upper right corner of the page, click  ADD NEW WORKFLOW.

Simple Parcel Shipping Workflow

Simple parcel shipping workflows are a good fit if the warehouse workers only need to enter the dimensions and weights of the boxes being shipped, and the carrier and service are automatically selected by rules defined in ShipHawk.

Simple parcel shipping workflows are not a good fit if workers need to:

• State which items go in which boxes

• Change any routing related information

• Add hazmat, dry ice, carrier accessorials, and so on

• Provide SSCC carton labels

• Rerate the shipment with the packing configuration and pick the cheapest rate

Important: in a simple parcel shipping workflow:

• A scanned order must have a single proposed shipment

• A proposed shipment must have ‘Picked’ status

• A proposed shipment must have the ‘Source System ID’ specified (typically specified in ERPs such as NetSuite).

To define a simple parcel shipping workflow:

1. Select Simple Parcel Shipping.

2. Specify the Workflow Type as either Single package shipping or Multi package shipping.

3. When done, in the upper right corner of the page, click  ADD NEW WORKFLOW.

Auto Ship

The Auto Ship workflow is for NetSuite-connected merchants who have orders that need to be booked immediately upon syncing the Item Fulfillment (IF) record to ShipHawk, without User Interface (UI) interaction.

A common example is when you have parcel orders that include only prepackaged boxes, and you have a mobile printer. After picking an order, you will receive a shipping label automatically and can immediately apply the label to the prepackaged box.

For the Auto Ship workflow, two fields must be mapped from the NetSuite IF record to the Order in ShipHawk:

• Whether an IF is to be auto shipped.

• Which workstation to print the shipping label from – this tells ShipHawk which printer to use because workstations include a printer configuration.

Unlike the other workflows, this workflow has no UI, so you cannot login to it. By assigning a workstation to this workflow, and syncing IF records with the correct fields mapped, ShipHawk will know whether to Auto Ship an IF, and which printer to use. 

Configuring Workstations

When you have one or more Workflows configured, you can apply them to one or more  Workstations. 

A Workflow can be associated with more than one Workstation,  but you can have only one Workflow per Workstation today.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites for configuring a Workstation:

• A Workflow must already be available for the Workstation (see Configuring Workflows).

• A Workstation must be assigned to a Warehouse already configured in ShipHawk (see https://shiphawk.force.com/success/s/article/How-to-set-up-your-Warehouse-Locations ).

• A Workstation can be assigned Scales and Dimensioners that have already been configured in ShipHawk (see https://shiphawk.force.com/success/s/article/Connecting-a-Scale).

Adding a New Workstation

As an admin user, you can configure a new Workstation as follows:

1. From the Settings gear icon drop-down, choose Settings.

2. In the left navigation panel, scroll down to the Workstations settings: Workflows and Workstations.

3. Select Workstations to open the Workstations page.

4. Select ADD NEW WORKSTATION.

5. On the Add new workstation page, specify General Settings, Printers, Scales and Dimensioners, and Label Format, as described in the following sections:

Open

General Settings

Workstation Name: enter a brief, descriptive name for the workstation.

Workflow: select the workflow you want to assign to this workstation. The workflows available on the drop-down are previously configured as described in Configuring Workflows.

Warehouse: select the warehouse where this workstation is located. (Warehouses are defined in ShipHawk from Settings (gear) icon > Warehouses.)

Printers

Download the PrintNode application from https://printnode.com/download/ , install it, and then use credentials displayed on the screen to sign into the PrintNode application.

Once PrintNode is installed, your printers will be available for selection from the drop-downs for Laser Printer and Thermal Printer.

If needed for your setup, you have the option to Print labels upside down.

NOTE: The printer assignments only apply to printing carton labels or container labels in the workflow. If you open the Order Details page to ship, you will be using the current user's printers.

Scales and Dimensioners

Scales and dimensioners are connected to ShipHawk using PrintNode.

Select the computer and scales for this workstation from the Computers and Scales drop-down menus.

Label Format

In THERMAL LABEL FORMAT, select one of the following:

• 4x6

• 4x6.75 (with Doc Tab)

• 4x8 (with Doc Tab)

• 4x8 (with Doc Tab with Items)

• 4x8 (with FedEx SEL-169)

Save the New Workstation

Finally, cnce you have completed the Add new workstation fields, click ADD NEW WORKSTATION in the upper right corner to save the workstation and add it to ShipHawk.

Workstation Page

The user interface page for a Workstation is made available on a distinct URL so that a computer screen can show only just what’s needed by warehouse workers to complete a Workflow.

To open a Workstation page, on Settings > Workstations, simply click on the name of Workstation. The page will open in a new browser tab window.

For your reference, the Workstation page URL format is:

https://www.shiphawk.com/workstation/ <workstation_name>?subdomain=<account_subdomain>

Where:

•  <workstation_name> is the name of a Workstation configured by an admin user.

• <account_subdomain> is the subdomain configured for your account by ShipHawk.

Updating Workflows and Workstations

As an admin user, you can update Workflows and Workstations following the same steps you used to configure them. Keep in mind that when you update a Workflow, the changes to that Workflow will apply to all Workstations that are using the Workflow.

Current Limitations

Please note the following current limitations as of the 2023.5.0 release: 

• You can create a workflow that involves shipping directly from the workstation after packing a box/pallet (without needing to go to the Order Details page). However, you will need to use the Order Details page for the following situations:

  • To book with initially selected carrier/service, that is, with rules.

  • To re-rate the shipment and book with the cheapest carrier.

  • To manually compare rates and manually select the carrier and service.

• Alcohol, Hazmat, Limited Quantity, Excepted Quantity, and Lithium Batteries are not supported.

• Proposed shipment consolidation is not possible through workflows at this time.

• Carton or Pallet labels printed out upon packing a box/pallet will only have information available to them in the packing stage of the fulfillment process. If you want ShipHawk to print out carton labels with the carrier and service when a box is packed, you must wait until the shipment is booked before printing the carton label. There is also not  a way to manually input what the carrier and service will be at this time. 

• Serial Numbers and Lot Numbers are not included.