Using the Shipment｜Sales Management Manual

📖 Overview: See the Sales Management business-flow overview as well.

The Shipment records the delivery of goods to a customer. On completion, warehouse stock is reduced and the Sales Order reservation is released.

A completed Sales Order is required before creating a Shipment. Shipments are created per warehouse, and picking/shipping can be recorded on confirmation documents.

What you can do

• Record shipments based on Sales Orders
• Automatically deduct inventory (on completion)
• Manage shipping confirmation (picking / packing / shipping)
• Record package information and tracking numbers
• Handle partial shipments (ship only part of the ordered quantity)
• Manage drop shipments

Window layout

🖥️ Interactive layout: View the full tab/field layout of the Shipment window (HTML), auto-generated from AD metadata. Note: on a Japanese iDempiere instance the on-screen field labels are in Japanese.

graph TD
    T1["Shipment (M_InOut) - 60 fields"]
    T2["Shipment Line (M_InOutLine) - 29 fields"]
    T3["Confirmation (M_InOutLineConfirm)"]
    T4["Package (M_Package)"]
    T1 --> T2
    T2 --> T3
    T1 --> T4

Shipment (M_InOut) - 60 fields Shipment Line (M_InOutLine) - 29 fields Confirmation (M_InOutLineConfirm) Package (M_Package)

Tab	Table	Role	Key fields
Shipment	M_InOut	Header (customer, warehouse, date, etc.)	Order, Business Partner, Warehouse, Movement Date
Shipment Line	M_InOutLine	Product / quantity lines	Product, Movement Qty, Locator
Confirmation Line	M_InOutLineConfirm	Picking / shipping confirmation	Confirmed Qty, Difference Qty
Package	M_Package	Shipping package info	Tracking No, Weight

Basic procedure

graph TD
    S1["1. Create shipment (from order or manual)"] --> S2["2. Enter header: order, warehouse, date"]
    S2 --> S3["3. Save"]
    S3 --> S4["4. Lines tab: product, movement qty, locator"]
    S4 --> S5["5. Save line"]
    S5 --> S6{All lines entered?}
    S6 -->|No| S4
    S6 -->|Yes| S7["6. Back to header"]
    S7 --> S8["7. Complete (Document Action - Complete)"]
    S8 --> S9["Stock deducted, order updated"]

1. Create shipment (from order or manual) 2. Enter header: order, warehouse, date 3. Save 4. Lines tab: product, movement qty, locator 5. Save line 6. Back to header 7. Complete (Document Action - Complete) Stock deducted, order updated All lines entered?

How to access

Open Sales Management > Shipment > Shipment (Standard) from the menu.

Bulk generation from orders (recommended)

Normally, generate shipments in bulk from orders rather than creating them individually.

1. Open Sales Management > Shipment > Generate Shipments.
2. Specify the warehouse, business partner, order date, etc.
3. Click OK to auto-generate shipments.

Manual entry

1. Click New.
2. Enter the header:
   • Document Type: select Shipment.
   • Order: select the source Sales Order (partner, etc. auto-fill).
   • Movement Date: the shipping date.
   • Warehouse: confirm the source warehouse.
3. Click Save.
4. On the Shipment Line tab, enter:
   • Product, Movement Quantity, Locator (storage location).
5. Click Save for each line.

Completing the shipment

1. Return to the Shipment (header) tab.
2. Click Document Action → Complete → OK.

Completing performs, automatically:

• Inventory deduction (reduces the shipped quantity from the warehouse)
• Reduction of the order’s reserved quantity
• Update of the order’s delivered quantity

⚠️ Note: A completed shipment cannot be edited directly; Void to reverse it. If an invoice has already been issued, process (void) the invoice first.

📌 Note: Completing a shipment reduces stock but does not recognize revenue. To recognize revenue / receivables, complete a separate Sales Invoice.

Field reference

Shipment tab (header)

Field	Type	Description
Document Type	Select	Shipment, Return Receipt, etc.
Order	Search	Linked Sales Order (auto-fills partner, etc.)
Movement Date	Date	Shipping date (inventory-movement date)
Account Date	Date	Accounting posting date
Business Partner	Search	Ship-to customer
Partner Location	Select	Ship-to address
Warehouse	Select	Source warehouse
Delivery Rule	List	Complete, Partial, After Receipt, etc.
Delivery Via	List	Pickup, Delivery, etc.
Shipper	Select	Carrier
Tracking No	Text	Tracking number
Freight Amount	Amount	Freight

Shipment Line tab

Field	Type	Description
Product	Search	Product to ship
Movement Quantity	Quantity	Shipped quantity
Locator	Select	Storage location in the warehouse
Attribute Set Instance	Select	Lot / serial number, etc.
Order Line	Search	Linked sales-order line
Description	Text	Notes

FAQ

Q. Can I make a partial shipment?

Yes. Enter only part of the ordered quantity and complete; ship the rest later. The order remains Completed until fully shipped.

Q. How do I cancel a shipment?

Void a completed shipment to return the stock and restore the order’s delivered quantity. If an invoice exists, process the invoice first.

Q. What if there is not enough stock?

It depends on the Delivery Rule:

• Complete: cannot ship unless the full quantity is in stock
• After Receipt (availability): ships only what is available
• Force: ships even without stock (negative stock)

💡 Tip: When managing stock by lot/serial, specify the lot via Attribute Set Instance on the line tab; otherwise completion may error.

Position in the business flow

graph TD
    A[Sales Order] -->|generate| B[Shipment]
    B -->|confirm| C[Confirmation]
    B -->|invoice| D[Sales Invoice]
    B -->|update| E[Inventory Ledger]

Sales Order Sales Invoice Inventory Ledger

Related pages

• Sales Order
• Sales Invoice

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About OSS ERP adoption

iDempiere shipment management provides full logistics features — reservation, picking confirmation and package management.

As-Link Inc. provides iDempiere implementation support and customization development.

Learn more about our OSS ERP services