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Managing Collections and Pickup Bookings

Use this guide when your team is arranging the pickup as well as receiving the goods later.

What this workflow does

Collections handle the pickup side of the job.

The linked receipt handles the goods-in side of the job.

Changing the collection status does not add stock to inventory by itself.

Typical workflow

  1. Create the collection and add the expected items if you know them.
  2. Use External Reference for the supplier or booking number your team already knows.
  3. Warehouse or admin users book the pickup through Create Pickup Shipment, Book pickup, or Manual shipment.
  4. When the goods arrive, open the linked receipt from the collection.
  5. Enter what actually arrived, including quantities, serials, and locations.
  6. Finish the receipt so stock is added to inventory.
  7. Mark the collection complete when the pickup and receiving work are finished.

Who does what?

Client users can usually:

  • create the collection request
  • edit notes and expected items
  • follow progress

Warehouse and admin users can:

  • book the pickup shipment
  • open the linked receipt
  • receive the stock
  • complete the operational collection workflow

What happens next?

After the collection is created:

  • ParcelPilot generates the Collection Reference
  • the pickup shipment can be booked and tracked
  • the warehouse can later receive the stock through the linked receipt

Stock is only added when the linked receipt is completed or posted.

If the collection only says "1 pallet"

That is enough to arrange the pickup, but not enough to add stock accurately.

Before the receipt is finished:

  1. open the linked receipt
  2. add the real SKU lines
  3. enter the actual quantities and locations
  4. then complete or post the receipt

Container-only lines can still help with tracking or billing, but they do not replace the actual item lines needed for stock.

Common questions

Does booking the pickup change inventory?

No. Booking the transport does not add stock.

Can a collection exist without a linked receipt yet?

Yes. The receipt is usually created or opened later when the warehouse is ready to receive the goods.

What if a pickup attempt failed?

The collection can still stay on record while your team books another attempt.

Common reasons a collection cannot proceed

Use the collection AI prompts such as Can this collection proceed?, What is blocking this collection?, and What should happen next? when an operator needs the saved workflow explanation.

The most common blocker states are:

  • No pickup shipment has been recorded yet: the collection is still waiting for its first pickup booking or manual pickup record.
  • Only failed or cancelled pickup shipments exist: the old pickup attempt is still in history, but there is no current active pickup coverage.
  • The pickup has reached the warehouse side of the workflow, but no linked receipt exists yet: the warehouse cannot receive stock into inventory until the receipt-side workflow exists.
  • Quantity is still outstanding on the linked receipt: some expected stock has not been received yet.
  • Serial capture is incomplete on the linked receipt: serialised items still need their serials captured before the receipt can finish safely.
  • The linked receipt is not yet posted or completed: the goods may have been counted, but ParcelPilot does not yet have inventory posting evidence.

What each blocker means in practice

No pickup shipment recorded yet

The collection exists, but it has not yet moved into transport handling.

Operator action:

  1. check the pickup address, window, warehouse, and any carrier-specific details
  2. create the pickup shipment or record the manual pickup booking

Failed or cancelled pickup attempts only

ParcelPilot can see historical pickup attempts, but there is no successful current pickup shipment.

Operator action:

  1. review the latest pickup shipment history
  2. confirm whether the collection should be retried, cancelled, or repaired as historical evidence only
  3. if the pickup already happened historically and only the evidence is missing, use the existing repair flow instead of creating duplicate live pickup history

No linked receipt yet

This means the collection has reached the point where goods-in should take over, but the receipt workflow is not linked yet.

Operator action:

  1. create or open the linked receipt from the collection
  2. if your tenant uses the linked Inventory Inbound path, continue receiving there instead of expecting the collection itself to add stock

Outstanding quantity or incomplete serial capture

This is a warehouse receiving blocker, not a pickup booking blocker.

Operator action:

  1. compare the expected collection lines with the linked receipt lines
  2. record the remaining quantities
  3. capture any missing serials before posting

Receipt not posted yet

The collection can look operationally far along, but inventory still will not update until the linked receipt is posted or completed.

Operator action:

  1. verify the linked receipt quantities, locations, and serials
  2. post or complete the receipt only after those saved facts are correct

When admin or support intervention is needed

  • The collection should stay on record, but the pickup happened historically and only the pickup-shipment evidence is missing.
  • Carrier-side booking failed repeatedly and the saved transport evidence does not explain a safe next retry.
  • The workflow looks complete, but there is still no receipt or no inventory posting evidence after the normal receipt process was followed.
  • The warehouse, carrier, or receipt state looks wrong in ParcelPilot compared with the real-world handling and an operator cannot correct it from the normal collection or receipt workflow.

Related guides

If you need to stop a collection that has already been acted on, consider setting the status to Cancelled instead of deleting.

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