How to Pack Two Sales Orders Into One Carton in NetSuite Ship Central

The quick answer

In Ship Central, open Packing > Sales Order, tick both orders on Select Sales Orders, and choose Enter Order. Add one carton on Pack Items into Cartons, then use Pack on each order's line, choosing the lot and entering the quantity. Choose Pack Carton to close the carton with a weight and size, review Packing Summary, and choose Complete Packing. Tick every order you want in the carton before you enter the order, because a packing session that has started generally cannot take more orders.

The screenshots show sample data. The person, company, customer, orders, item, lot and carton are fictional.

Before you start

The account needs NetSuite WMS with Ship Central and SCM Mobile, and picked inventory for both orders. Packing several orders into one carton relies on the account's multiple-shipping-routes setup, and the orders must have a compatible customer, ship method, carrier and shipping address. The order list's default pick-status filter is Exclude Partially Picked; it can be changed to include them. Which bin and filter screens appear before Select Sales Orders depends on your WMS and bin setup, so a warehouse without outbound staging bins may open order selection directly. If an order's items sit in more than one bin or pick carton, Ship Central can show an Order Details page first, where you review the sources and choose Pack Order; make sure every listed bin or pick carton is packed.

This guide stops at Complete Packing. It does not use Go To Staging, Add To Pallet, printing or any shipping action. Labels, buttons and defaults vary by release and by your staging, pallet, printing, scale and shipping settings, so treat the buttons here as illustrative and check what your account offers. With item-line shipping enabled, the shipping details are compared at the line level.

01. Open the staged orders

Open Ship Central, choose the warehouse Cedar Point DC, then Packing and Sales Order. Choose the outbound staging bin OUT-STAGE-01. Select Sales Orders lists the picked orders waiting in that bin with their pick status, picked quantity, pack status, customer, ship method, carrier and shipping address.

Select Sales Orders lists SO-31204, SO-31218 and SO-31219, all fully picked for Willow Creek Hardware on UPS Ground. — Three picked orders for the same customer wait in the staging bin.

02. Select both orders

Tick SO-31218 and SO-31219. A line above the table shows the customer, ship method, carrier and shipping address they share, and Number of sales order rows selected reads 2. Leave SO-31204 unticked, because it is packed in its own carton. Choose Enter Order.

SO-31218 and SO-31219 are ticked, and the selection line shows one customer, ship method, carrier and address. — Two orders selected, with the shared destination shown once.

Pack Items into Cartons opens with one Pack row for each order line: 100 EA of HS-150 from SO-31218 and 15 EA of HS-150 from SO-31219. Items Packed is empty.

03. Add the carton

Choose Add Carton. The suggested carton name is SO-31218-1, based on the first order. You can scan or enter a different carton name; accounts can use their own carton ID format. Keep it, leave the optional Tare Weight blank (it matters mainly when the account calculates package weight), and choose Add Carton again. The carton appears at the right of Items Packed and is the selected carton.

The Add Carton dialog with the carton name SO-31218-1 and an empty Tare Weight field. — Keep the suggested carton name and add the carton.

04. Pack each line with its lot

With the carton selected, choose Pack on the 100 EA line. The item dialog asks for a lot. Scan or enter it, or leave Show All Lot Numbers on and select LOT-240611 from the list of lots recorded on the fulfillment. Enter the quantity 100 and choose Enter Quantity. The line moves to Items Packed with an Unpack button.

The HS-150 dialog shows the lot field, Show All Lot Numbers switched on, and lot LOT-240611 with 100 EA available. — Pick the lot; the list only offers lots on this order's fulfillment.

Do the same for the 15 EA line: choose Pack, select LOT-240611, enter 15 and choose Enter Quantity. Items to Pack is now empty and Items Packed lists both lines, 100 EA and 15 EA, in carton SO-31218-1.

Items Packed lists HS-150 100 EA and 15 EA in carton SO-31218-1 and Items to Pack is empty. — Both order lines are in the one carton.

05. Close the carton

Choose Pack Carton. Enter the carton weight 14, keep the unit lb, and choose the 12 x 12 x 12 carton size. Choose Pack Carton in the dialog. Do not use Print Label; it depends on an optional printer setup.

The Pack Carton dialog with carton weight 14, unit lb, carton size 12 x 12 x 12 and dimension unit in. — Weight, unit and size close the carton.

The carton shows as closed, and the footer now offers Open Carton and Next in place of Add Carton, Unpack Carton and Pack Carton. Open Carton reopens it if the physical box needs to change; a closed carton generally has to be reopened before its contents can change. Footer options vary with your rules.

Carton SO-31218-1 is shown closed and the footer offers Open Carton and Next. — A closed carton changes the footer to Open Carton and Next.

06. Review and complete packing

Choose Next. Packing Summary reads "Cartons packed for the following orders: SO-31218,SO-31219" and lists carton SO-31218-1 at 12 X 12 X 12 in and 14 lb. Before choosing Complete Packing, check whether your process needs staging, a pallet, a carton list or shipping first, because those options can appear here. This walkthrough uses none of them: do not choose Go To Staging or Add To Pallet. Choose Complete Packing.

Packing Summary lists carton SO-31218-1, 12 X 12 X 12 in, 14 lb, for orders SO-31218,SO-31219. — One carton covers both orders.

The app returns to Select Sales Orders. In this example SO-31218 and SO-31219 are no longer listed, and SO-31204 still is. Completed orders normally leave this list, but confirm the carton and packing details on the orders or their fulfillments rather than relying on list membership alone. Avoid editing the orders or fulfillments while packing is in progress.

Select Sales Orders now lists only SO-31204. — The packed orders have left the list; SO-31204 is still waiting.

Check the result

Packing Summary named both orders and one carton with the weight and size you entered.
Items to Pack was empty before you closed the carton, so every line was packed.
The carton and packing details are visible on the orders or fulfillments.
Nothing was shipped and no label was printed.

Common questions

Which orders can I pack in the same carton?

Orders that share a compatible customer, ship method, carrier and shipping address, with fulfillment quantities that are eligible for packing. Packing several orders at once relies on the account's multiple-shipping-routes setup, and with item-line shipping the comparison applies to the relevant lines. Orders that do not match cannot share a carton.

Can I add another order after I have started packing?

Usually no. Once an order's pack status is Started, extra orders generally cannot be added to it, even when their shipping details match. Tick every order you want in the carton on Select Sales Orders before you choose Enter Order.

Why does Ship Central ask for a lot number?

A lot-numbered item has to be packed against a specific lot. You can scan or enter the lot or pick it from the list of lots recorded on the fulfillment, and the quantity is limited by the eligible fulfillment and lot quantities, so a wrong lot or an extra unit is caught at the packing screen. Serialized items use serial numbers instead, and the number of serials must match the quantity.

What is the difference between Pack Carton, Open Carton, Unpack Carton and Delete Carton?

Pack Carton closes the carton with its weight and size. Open Carton reopens a closed carton when your account and item settings allow it. Unpack Carton returns every item in an open carton to Items to Pack and keeps the carton. Delete Carton removes an unsent carton and returns its items to Items to Pack. Unpack beside a line removes just that line from an open carton.

What is the difference between Save & Close and Complete Packing?

Save & Close keeps unfinished packing so it can be resumed, and the orders can show a Started pack status. Complete Packing finishes the session after the cartons are packed and returns you to order selection. Neither one ships anything.

Does packing ship the order?

Not by itself. Packing records what is in each carton, its lots, weight and size against the fulfillments, but it does not prove carrier shipment, tracking or delivery. Depending on your rules, the packing summary can also offer Go To Staging, Add To Pallet, Print Carton List, Go to Shipping or Mark as Shipped; those are separate actions that this walkthrough does not use.