What is Outbound?
Outbound is the process of releasing the stocked goods from the warehouse that is either handed over to a shipping company or an external entity for further delivery. A delivery order is required to initiate an outbound flow of a product. Product inspection, processing, release, and subsequent delivery create a successful outbound flow.
Significance of Outbound in an E-commerce Shipping and Delivery
An outbound flow is initiated by several documents, which ensures that the products are being handed over to the correct entity.
- Streamlined flow and equilibrium: A steady outbound flow allows a warehouse to efficiently manage and release products in time. It further helps a storage facility streamline the outbound flow with the inbound flow, thus allowing them to ensure maximum optimization of time and resources.
- Product inspection and efficient collaboration: An outbound flow is initiated by documents such as the D/O and the sales order. Several stakeholders are involved in completing the delivery cycle. A well-documented outbound flow allows a warehouse to identify the right stakeholder. On the other hand, products are inspected before disbursal.
Prerequisites of Outbound and How It Works
The documents required to initiate and complete an outbound flow are listed below.
- Delivery Order (D/O) or an outbound transfer order.
- Sales order.
- Service order.
- Purchase return order.
Once these documents are in place, an outbound flow is completed in the following ways.
- Processing: The products are processed, and the existing details match the received documented information.
- Product inspection: Products waiting to be released are inspected for damages.
- Delivery: The product is delivered to the concerned party.
Use Case with Outbound
For example, a warehouse located in Phuket receives and stores a packed tea set per their protocol. They received a release order with all the required documents two days later. After cross-verification of the information and further inspection, the warehouse delivered the tea set to another storage unit in Pattaya.