What it produces
Receipts posted the day goods arrive, putaway to the right bin, and every discrepancy routed with its paperwork.
Workflows
Receiving Discrepancies
a difference between what a supplier shipped and what the purchase order called for, in item, unit, quantity, or condition
The job in one minute
Who owns it
Receiving, with the warehouse, inventory control, buyers, supplier quality, logistics and AP.
How often
Every delivery, every day.
Why it hurts
The dock counts cartons; the ERP wants units. A slip that says 4 cases against a PO in each becomes 4 each instead of 48. A supplier ships revision C against a PO for revision B. Half a delivery arrives today and half next week.
Receipts wait on a clipboard until the afternoon, so AP holds invoices, MRP reorders parts already on the floor, and a buyer calls a supplier about a shipment sitting in aisle 3. Meanwhile the clocks run: rejections must be timely, and a freight shortage nobody noted before the driver left is much harder to claim.
Systems it touches
Supplier ship notices become the expected list, carrier portals supply proof of delivery, and certificates and dock photos are filed by PO. Native scan-based receiving keeps the clean deliveries; the agent handles the paper and the exceptions. Product →
- ERP
- Barcode and mobile scanners
- Carrier portals
- EDI ship notices
- Outlook
- Excel dock log
- SharePoint or OneDrive
12 steps · 5 actions · 6 decisions · 1 human reviews
The workflow, step by step
Action Decision Human review Select a step in the flowchart to jump to it.
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Action · Agent
Read the packing slip, bill of lading and any labels photographed at the dock.
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Decision · Agent
The PO must be open for this supplier. No PO means a receiving-hold location and a question to the buyer.
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Decision · Agent
Cartons counted must equal pieces on the bill of lading. A gap or a damage note starts the carrier path.
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Decision · Agent
Convert units only by the factor in your conversion table. Unknown pairs stop the receipt instead of shrinking it.
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Decision · Agent
Quantity inside the item class tolerance is accepted. Outside is a discrepancy.
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Decision · Agent
Supplier part must map through the cross-reference, and revision must match the PO.
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Decision · Agent
Items that need certificates must have one whose heat or lot matches the label, or they go to inspection.
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Action · Agent
Post the receipt to stock or inspection, then reopen it and verify quantity, unit and lot.
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Action · Agent
For carrier loss or damage, build the claim file: bill of lading, delivery receipt, photos, value and response dates.
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Human review · Buyer
The buyer decides overages, receiving confirms shortages and quality decides wrong revisions.
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Action · Agent
Put away to the default bin, or the next bin in the zone, and verify on-hand by bin.
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Action · Agent
Make the receipt available for AP matching and tell the buyer which lines just closed.
✓ Done
Rules vs judgment
A person always counts and signs at the dock. The undisputed quantity posts right away while the disputed part waits.
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Exact rule
- PO match, piece count, unit conversion, tolerance, part and revision, certificates, putaway bin
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Model reads
- Packing slips, bills of lading and label photos in any layout
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Person decides
- Noting exceptions on the driver's delivery receipt; overages, substitutions and wrong revisions; whether damage is concealed and whether to file; receipts against an unreleased PO
When it stops
- No PO on the slip. Candidate open lines for this supplier are listed; the buyer confirms.
- Short or over shipment. The in-tolerance quantity posts; the rest is logged or goes to the buyer.
- Visible or concealed damage. Claim file assembled; logistics approves filing.
- Wrong revision or missing certificate. Received to inspection; quality or supplier quality takes it.
- Duplicate receipt. Stopped with the original receipt cited.
- Shelf-life item near expiry. Received to inspection for a quality decision.
What you end up with
- Receipts posted when the paperwork is validated, not when the clipboard reaches a desk.
- AP and MRP seeing what is really on the floor.
- Claim files assembled with their filing and response dates.
- Labels printed only after a receipt verifies, so no label exists for stock the ERP does not hold.
Questions
Can the agent receive without a person counting?
No. A person counts and signs. The agent validates the count against the paperwork and the PO.
Does it use the supplier's ship notice?
Yes, as the expected list. When the notice and the count disagree, the count wins and the gap becomes a discrepancy.
Who files the carrier claim?
A person approves it. The agent assembles it and, where the carrier accepts claims online, enters it from the logistics coordinator's session.
How fast does AP see the receipt?
As soon as it posts. The AP three-way match playbook picks it up from there. AP Three-Way Match →
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