Understanding Delivery Types in CloudFFL OS
How Orders Become Shipments
When a sales order is confirmed in CloudFFL OS, the system automatically creates a delivery order (also called an outgoing transfer). This is a stock.picking record — the central document for everything that happens during shipping.
The delivery order lives at Inventory → Deliveries and contains:
- Which products need to ship
- The customer's shipping address
- The carrier and tracking information
- The shipping weight
- The status of the shipment
The Three Delivery Strategies
CloudFFL OS (built on Odoo) supports three outbound shipping strategies, configured per-warehouse:
1. Ship Only (1 Step) — Most Common
Path: Sales Order → Delivery Order → Ship
How it works:
- Order confirmed → delivery order created
- Open the delivery, verify quantities
- Weigh the package (manually or via PrintNode scale)
- Validate or Send to Shipper
Best for:
- Small to mid-size operations
- Single-person shipping desk
- Businesses shipping 1 box per order
- Most firearms dealers
This is the default and what most CloudFFL OS users should use. No extra configuration needed.
2. Pick + Ship (2 Steps)
Path: Sales Order → Pick Order → Delivery Order → Ship
How it works:
- Order confirmed → pick order created (move items from storage to output area)
- Pick order completed → delivery order created
- Ship from the delivery order
Best for:
- Warehouses with separate storage and shipping areas
- Multiple pickers feeding a single shipping desk
- Businesses that want to separate "finding the product" from "shipping the product"
To enable: Inventory → Configuration → Warehouses → select warehouse → Outgoing Shipments → "Pick then Deliver (2 steps)"
3. Pick + Pack + Ship (3 Steps)
Path: Sales Order → Pick Order → Pack Order → Delivery Order → Ship
How it works:
- Pick order moves items from storage to packing area
- Pack order handles boxing, weighing, labeling
- Delivery order is the final ship step
Best for:
- High-volume operations with dedicated packing stations
- Businesses that need formal package tracking per box
- Operations where different people pick, pack, and ship
To enable: Inventory → Configuration → Warehouses → select warehouse → Outgoing Shipments → "Pick, Pack, then Deliver (3 steps)"
Which Should You Choose?
| Your Operation | Recommended Strategy |
|---|---|
| 1-2 people, ship from one desk | Ship Only (1 step) |
| Separate warehouse and shipping area | Pick + Ship (2 steps) |
| Dedicated pick team, pack team, ship team | Pick + Pack + Ship (3 steps) |
| You're not sure | Start with 1 step — you can always change later |
Tip: You can change your delivery strategy at any time. Existing orders in progress won't be affected — only new orders will use the new flow.
Where Does Weighing Fit In?
Regardless of which strategy you use, the Weigh button (via PrintNode scale) is available on every delivery order. In a 1-step flow, you weigh right on the delivery. In a 3-step flow, you'd typically weigh during the Pack step.
For businesses using the Packages feature with multi-box shipments, the Put in Pack wizard provides per-package weighing. See the Packages & Put in Pack chapter for details.