Creating a split shipment on a purchase order

A purchase order (PO) can have more than one shipment. Each shipment is a separate leg or split of the PO. It has its own tracking number, estimated arrival date and freight details. To split a PO's delivery, create one shipment for each part.

  1. Go to Inventory → Purchase Orders and open the PO.
  2. Choose Actions → Create Shipment. On a drop-ship PO, this action is labeled Record Shipment.
  3. In the shipment form, the line items are pre-filled with the quantity that is still remaining to ship on the PO. For the first part of a split, reduce each line's quantity to what is actually in this shipment.
  4. Fill in the shipment details:
    • Reference Number
    • Tracking Number
    • Shipped By (Freight or Supplier)
    • Shipment Type (Air, Sea, Road, Rail or Express)
    • Estimated Arrival
    • Notes
    • Freight planning columns such as Carton Qty, Carton Dimensions and CBM, if you use them
  5. Click Save.
  6. Repeat Create Shipment for the next part. The form pre-fills the quantity still unshipped, which now excludes what you already put on earlier shipments.

A line that is already fully covered by existing shipments has no remaining quantity. Luminous does not seed it onto a new shipment.

To see all of a PO's shipments, open the PO and select the Shipments tab. Each shipment is listed there, and you can click into one to see its detail.

How tracking numbers work

  • Each PO shipment has one Tracking Number field. For a split shipment, enter each part's own carrier tracking number on its own shipment. This is how split deliveries get separate tracking numbers.
  • If one shipment goes out in several packages, the shipment form has a single Tracking Number field. Enter the master or primary number there, and use Notes to record the individual package numbers. Don't rely on a separate per-package field on a PO shipment. I didn't find one.
  • Closing a shipment (Closed) only marks that shipment as finished. It does not receive inventory and does not close the PO. You still receive inventory through a Receiving Report.

Sales-order shipments are different

Multiple tracking numbers for outbound orders work differently. When a sales order is split into several fulfillment orders, each one ships and is tracked separately. See the related articles below.

  • Tracking Shipment Details on a Purchase Order
  • Viewing Linked Shipments in the Purchase Order Detail View
  • How are multiple tracking numbers handled for split shipments or multi-package orders in Luminous? (outbound sales orders)