Packaging rules
A rule tells the module how orders on one shipping method turn into boxes. Without a rule every order on that method ships as one parcel, whatever it weighs.
Stockly → Operations → Shipping → Packaging rules.
Columns: Shipping method, Carrier, Split by, Max weight per parcel, Max parcels, Order shipments, Active.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”Leave the limits empty to use the carrier’s own. The field then shows that carrier’s number as a placeholder, so it is visible what will happen; it is marked from carrier.
A limit is filled in only when the agreement differs from the standard. The same carrier is 31.5 kg for one warehouse and 20 kg for another whose staff may not lift more.
Packaging weight (kg) is the box, the filler and the tape. It counts against the limit, because carriers weigh what arrives, not what was put inside.
Picking Generic carrier means no carrier limits at all.
When weights are unknown
Section titled “When weights are unknown”When weights are unknown decides what happens for orders whose products have no weight — a very common case.
- Ask the operator — the default. Passes the decision to the person at the table.
- Treat as weightless — produces one parcel for goods of any size.
Order shipments
Section titled “Order shipments”Order shipments chooses when a carrier is asked.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| On a button | the default. A fresh installation orders nothing by itself |
| When packing is finished | the packing screen reports it directly, so this works in a shop that never defined a “packed” order state |
| When the order reaches a state | for a flow designed in the state machine — choose this when something other than the packing screen decides an order is ready |
| An outside system asks for them | the module calls nobody and waits to be asked |
With When packing is finished, When exactly picks the moment.
| Moment | Books |
|---|---|
| As each box is closed | one shipment per carton, the moment it is taped shut |
| As each order is packed | every box of an order together, once it is reported packed |
| When the whole run is closed | everything at the end, for a desk that packs a wave and then fetches one stack of labels |
As each box is closed produces a label that is already waiting while the box is still on the bench. It has two consequences, both permanent. Every box becomes its own consignment at the carrier: there is no later moment at which they could be declared together, so a carrier that prices a multi-piece shipment as one will not do so here. And a booked box can no longer be cut open.
What the carrier adds
Section titled “What the carrier adds”The form says what the chosen carrier implies:
- a carrier that needs a weight per parcel means operators will be asked to assign items to boxes,
- a carrier that cannot be asked for shipments automatically means tracking codes are entered by hand or sent in by an outside system.
Deleting a rule
Section titled “Deleting a rule”Orders on that shipping method ship as a single parcel again.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- Carriers — where the default limits come from.
- Shipping settings — the settings that are not per carrier.