Overview

The Auto Fulfillment setting determines whether a Sales Order (SO) should automatically generate a Fulfillment Order (FO) when it is created.

This setting is intentionally configured at the Sales Channel (order source) level — not at the Fulfillment Channel (warehouse) level.

This article explains why.

What Is Auto Fulfillment?

Auto Fulfillment controls this decision:

When a sales order is created, should the system automatically create a fulfillment order?

If:

  • Enabled → A Fulfillment Order (FO) is automatically created.
  • Disabled → No FO is created automatically.
  • Default → Follows account-level configuration.

Why It Is Not Available on Fulfillment Channels

The reason is based on system flow and order of operations.

1. Fulfillment Channel Is Not Known Yet

When a Sales Order is first created:

  • No Fulfillment Channel (warehouse) has been selected.
  • The system has not yet applied routing rules or warehouse priority logic.

Because of this, the system cannot look to a Fulfillment Channel to decide whether to create an FO — the FC does not exist in the flow yet.

2. The FO Must Exist Before an FC Can Be Assigned

The sequence works like this:

  1. Sales Order is created
  2. System checks the Sales Channel’s Auto Fulfillment setting
  3. If enabled → Fulfillment Order is created
  4. Routing logic assigns a Fulfillment Channel

If Auto Fulfillment were placed on the Fulfillment Channel:

  • The system would need to know the FC before creating the FO.
  • But the FC is only assigned after the FO exists.
  • This would create a circular dependency.

3. The Setting Becomes Irrelevant After FO Creation

Once a Fulfillment Order is created and assigned:

  • The decision to auto-create has already happened.
  • The Fulfillment Channel cannot retroactively determine whether the FO should exist.

At that point, only fulfillment execution remains.

Why This Matters for Multi-Warehouse Accounts

For accounts using:

  • Multiple Fulfillment Channels
  • Warehouse groups
  • Priority routing rules

The system must:

  1. Decide whether a Fulfillment Order should exist at all.
  2. Then determine which Fulfillment Channel should handle it.

Separating these responsibilities ensures:

  • Clean system logic
  • Flexible routing
  • No circular dependencies

Design Principle

Creation decision belongs to the order source.
Assignment decision belongs to fulfillment routing logic.

  • Sales Channel → Controls whether FOs are created.
  • Fulfillment Channel → Handles fulfillment once FOs exist.

Summary

Auto Fulfillment is configured at the Sales Channel level because the system must decide whether to create a Fulfillment Order before a Fulfillment Channel is selected.

For this reason, the setting is intentionally not available under the Fulfillment Channel configuration.