Shipping and Receiving Checklist

Receiving clerk pulls the bill of lading from the driver and matches it against the open PO queue in ERP (NetSuite, Epicor, or Dynamics). Reject the load back to the driver if there is no PO on file or if quantities exceed the PO by more than the tolerance allowed on the blanket.

Walk the load before the driver leaves: crushed corners, water staining, broken bands, tilt/shock indicator activation. Photograph any damage and note exceptions on the BOL before signing — once the driver pulls away, freight claims against the carrier are nearly impossible to recover.

Capture pallet condition, packaging, label area, and any visible product damage from multiple angles before unloading. Attach photos to the receiving record and notify the buyer same-day so the claim window with the carrier is preserved.

Piece-count or weigh-count the cartons against the packing slip and the PO line. Over/short/damaged (OS&D) discrepancies get flagged to the buyer the same day — supplier credits get hard to collect after 48 hours on most terms.

Record lot/heat/serial from the supplier C of C and material tags into the receiving record so finished-goods traceability is intact. Required for any AS9100, ISO 13485, or IATF customer; missing traceability is the most common audit finding on receiving.

Verify the certificate of conformance and material test report match the PO spec (alloy, temper, condition). Attach to the receiving record in PLM or document control. No cert, no release — material stays in the bonded/quarantine area.

Risk-based: first article from a new supplier and any safety-critical part get full dimensional inspection; trusted suppliers run an ANSI Z1.4 sample. "Skip-lot" is only appropriate for suppliers with documented PPM history under the threshold on the supplier scorecard.

Quality inspector measures sampled pieces against the drawing using calibrated gauges; any past-due gauge is red-tagged and pulled. For stainless vs. carbon or any alloy substitution risk, run PMI on the gun before release — a wrong-alloy mix-up in pressure work is a fatality-class defect.

Move parts to the red-tagged hold area, lock the lot in ERP, and open an NCR in the QMS (ETQ, Qualio, Greenlight Guru) with photos and measurement data. Notify the buyer to start the supplier debit and return-to-vendor (RTV) authorization. NCRs that sit open over 30 days are the #1 source of accidental commingling — assign a closer when you open it.

Receive the PO line in ERP, print location labels, and direct the material handler to the bin. FIFO rotation for any shelf-life material (adhesives, resins, gaskets); temperature-controlled stock to the climate cage.

Shipping clerk releases the pick wave from the WMS or ERP shipping queue. Confirm the customer hold list (credit hold, quality hold, export hold) before walking the floor — picking against a held order wastes labor and risks a non-compliant ship.

Scan or hand-record the lot/serial pulled from each bin onto the pick ticket so the as-shipped lot record matches what the customer receives. Required for any AS9100, ISO 13485, or food-contact customer.

For international shipments, verify HTS classification, country of origin marking, and any ITAR/EAR ECCN flag on the part record. Hazmat shipments require a DOT-trained shipper to prepare the shipping paper, marks, labels, and placards — the carrier will refuse the load if any element is wrong.

DOT-trained shipper (49 CFR 172.700) prepares the shipping paper with proper UN number, shipping name, hazard class, and packing group. Verify package marks and labels match, and apply placards to any vehicle requiring them. A peer-shipper second-checks before the BOL is signed.

Follow the customer's routing guide for carton labeling, pallet pattern, max weight per carton, and required inserts (packing slip placement, GS1-128 label, ASN trigger). Routing-guide chargebacks from big retail and Tier-1 customers run hundreds per violation.

Cross-check the address on the label against the sales order header in ERP, not against the previous shipment. Address corrections after pickup typically run $15-25 per package and delay delivery by a day.

Rate-shop in the TMS (ShipStation, Project44, customer-specified portal) per the routing guide — collect, prepaid, or third-party billing per the customer terms. Apply the label to the side of the carton clear of seams and straps.

Stage in the carrier's lane (parcel zone, LTL lane, dedicated truck door) before the cutoff posted at the dispatch board. Missed cutoffs roll the order to next business day and break OTD on the customer scorecard.

Driver and shipping clerk both sign the BOL after piece count is confirmed at the door. Retain a signed copy in the shipping log; this is the proof-of-tender used to defend OTD claims and freight loss claims.

Confirm shipment in ERP to relieve inventory, trigger the EDI 856 ASN to customers that require it, and release the invoice. ASN failures are a top chargeback category for any retail or automotive customer — verify the EDI acknowledgment came back clean before end of shift.