Orders — Pick Location Override

Pick Location Override is an admin/operator exception tool for cases where a specific order line needs to be picked from a specific location instead of following the normal automatic suggestion.

It is not part of the normal picking flow. In normal use, ParcelPilot keeps automatic planning in place and warehouse staff follow the suggested locations shown on the mobile picking screen and packing slip.

What Pick Location Override is for

Use Pick Location Override when you need to tell ParcelPilot:

this specific picking line must come from this specific location
keep the rest of the order on normal planning rules
show the chosen location on the picking paperwork and mobile picking flow for that affected line only

It can also be used when operations deliberately want to pick from a specific location for stock-handling reasons, for example choosing older stock from a particular pick face or shelf after checking that the effective availability is still sufficient.

This is especially useful for serialised items and items using an on-pick allocation strategy, because those products are often split into one logical picking line per unit.

Important: overrides apply per split picking line

For serialised / on-pick items, ParcelPilot can split one order line into many logical picking lines.

Example:

original order line quantity = 24
ParcelPilot may show 24 separate picking lines internally so each unit/serial can be scanned separately

Pick Location Override applies to the specific split picking line you choose, not automatically to the whole original order line or all units of the SKU.

If you override only split lines 0–5, only those affected split lines should show the override on:

the mobile picking screen
the packing slip / picking note

The remaining split lines continue to use their own planned/automatic locations.

Before using it

You must remove/reset any existing hard allocation first.

If a line already has stock allocated to it, change the allocation/reset the picking state before changing the override. The override action is designed to choose a location for planning and scanning; it does not rewrite an existing picked/allocated unit underneath that line.

What the toggles mean

Allow non-pickable locations

This allows you to override to a location that is marked non-pickable.

Use this only as an exception when operations deliberately want to pick from a non-pickable location.

Important:

this does not change normal auto-planning
this does not bypass stock pressure / effective availability checks
scan-time validation still applies

Allow excluded location purposes/types

This allows you to override to locations that are normally excluded from picking logic, such as RETURNS or QUARANTINE style types.

Use this only when operations intentionally want to pick from one of those excluded-purpose locations.

Important:

this does not change normal auto-planning
this does not bypass stock pressure / effective availability checks
scan-time validation still applies

Clear existing override instead

This removes the saved override for the selected picking line and returns that line to its normal planning rules.

It does not change other split lines on the order unless you clear those separately.

Soft holds and effective availability

The override location list shows stock pressure information so you can see whether a location is already effectively spoken for.

Each location can show:

Raw available qty: current available stock in that location
Reserved qty: stock already reserved there
Serial count: available serialised units counted in that location
Soft-held / planned qty: demand already implied by open pick plans
Effective available qty: raw available minus soft-held/planned qty

The soft-held/planned figure includes:

other open pick plans for the same item/location
sibling overrides on other split lines in the same order for the same item/location

This helps stop operators accidentally pointing too many split lines at the same location.

Normal auto-planning is unchanged

Pick Location Override does not rewrite the normal planner.

Normal auto-planning still:

follows the existing location suggestion rules
respects pickable vs excluded-purpose rules unless an explicit override is set
uses the existing cross-order soft-hold behaviour

The override tool is an exception on top of that normal behaviour, not a replacement for it.

Serialised / on-pick reservation behaviour stays the same

For serialised items and on-pick items, stock is still only allocated/reserved when the operator scans or allocates the serial during picking.

Practical implications:

setting an override does not reserve the serial in advance
changing an override does not pre-allocate stock
the chosen serial/unit is still validated when scanned

Scan-time validation still applies

Even with an override saved, scan-time validation still checks the actual unit being scanned.

Examples of checks that still matter:

the scanned serial must exist
the scanned serial must belong to the expected SKU
the scanned serial must be in the planned/overridden location for that split line
non-pickable or excluded-purpose exceptions only apply if the override explicitly allowed them

If the real stock/unit no longer matches the saved plan, ParcelPilot will still block the scan/allocation.

Packing slips and mobile picking

Packing slips and the mobile picking screen should only show the override on the specific split lines affected.

That means:

overridden split lines show the override location/source
unaffected split lines continue to show their own planned/automatic location
the override should not fan out across the whole original quantity line unless every split line was explicitly overridden

When to use this