Choosing the delivery address on a PO
Decide whether a factory ships a PO to your warehouse or direct to your customer, and how that choice affects dates and shipments.
Every purchase order says where the factory should send the goods. By default they come to your warehouse, where you check them and send them on. For some jobs it makes sense for the factory to ship straight to your customer.
#The two options
Set this in the PO's Shipment & delivery details under Deliver to.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Your warehouse ("We receive it first, then send it on") | The default. Goods come to you; you check them and arrange local delivery to the customer. |
| Direct to the customer | The factory ships to the customer's delivery address. The local delivery leg is skipped. |
Your warehouse address is set in Settings → General. If it is missing, the PO says so.
#When direct to the customer is available
A carton cannot go to several customers at once, so Direct to the customer is only offered when the goods can genuinely go to one place:
- a PO with one order can go direct if that order has a delivery address,
- a PO with several orders can go direct only when every order is for the same customer at the same address.
Otherwise the option is greyed out and a note explains why, for example that the PO must be delivered to the warehouse or split. An order with no delivery address yet is also named.
Tip
If one order on a mixed PO needs to go direct, use Shipment split to move it onto its own PO. See Holds and splitting a PO.
#How the choice affects dates
Flyte works out the earliest standard delivery date as the longest product lead time, plus the freight method's transit buffer, plus local delivery days. The local delivery days are added only when the goods come through your warehouse. A PO set to Direct to the customer skips them, so the customer's dates and the factory ETD suggestions reflect the shorter trip.
#What the factory sees
On the factory's copy of the PO, the Shipment & delivery card shows Deliver to as your warehouse or Direct to the customer with the address. If it is not set, they see "Not set — ask the merchant", and they are asked to check with you before shipping.
#How it affects shipments
When you create a shipment from POs that ship to different addresses, Flyte offers Deliver all to the warehouse. A direct-to-customer PO should ship on its own shipment. See Creating a shipment.
#Common questions
Why is Direct to the customer greyed out? The PO carries orders for different customers or different addresses, or the order has no delivery address yet.
Where do I set my warehouse address? Settings → General.
The factory asked where to send the goods. Check Deliver to on the PO. If it says not set, choose an option and tell them in the PO's messages.