Welcome to Terminal Sorting:

Your elegant shortcut from warehouse mayhem to labelled serenity.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to install the plugin, bulk‑pick orders with a handheld device, deposit the spoils into a container, and let the terminal direct each item to its rightful order - culminating in swift shipment creation and label printing.

We’ll cover setup, picking flows, packaging dimensions, best practices, and troubleshooting; in short: pick in bulk, sort at the terminal, ship with grace, and watch your keystrokes: and sighs: diminish accordingly.

Prerequisites:

1. Helm account with access to Settings and Plugins.

2. A handheld scanning device (HH)

3. Stock available

4. Orders that are either:

   • Despatch Ready

   • A custom status created for your client

   • Simply by selecting Orders on the left-hand menu and applying the necessary filters,

   • Create a new order or multiple orders to test it out

Picking and Packing Workflow

1. Install Terminal Sorting:

• In Helm, go to Settings: Plugin Store: Terminal Sorting.

• Click Install. Once installed, Terminal Sorting appears in your left-hand navigation under Terminal Sorting.

Picking Mode Assumption:

This guide demonstrates Bulk Picking. You can adapt the steps for your preferred picking method; the Terminal Sorting flow remains fundamentally the same.

2. Locate Orders for Picking:

• Log into Helm.

• Navigate to orders via:

  • Despatch Ready (client-custom status), or

  • Orders in the left-hand menu; apply filters to show eligible orders.

• The system permits picking only for orders that:

  • Have not yet been dispatched:

  • Have stock available: This safeguards efficiency; you can pick many orders concurrently without manual sorting - Helm orchestrates the chaos.

3. Select Orders:

• Use the tick boxes to select individual or multiple orders:

• Or select the top tick box to select all filtered orders.

4. Create Picks:

When orders are selected, a toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen:

• Click Create:

• Select Picks:

5. Configure Pick Settings

Choose how picks should be created: for Terminal Sorting choose Bulk

• Single Picks (orders with one item): select Bulk

• Multi Picks (orders with multiple items): select Bulk

Click Create Picks

Note: Picks are created only if selected orders meet status and stock requirements.

6. Assign Picks to a User:

Go to Despatch > Picking:

• Assign the pick to a user on a handheld (HH) device:

• Or go to settings and allow the system to show unassigned picks for everyone to pick up, depending on your setup

6. Pick Items via HH Device:

On the HH device:

• Open the app:

• Go to Picks:

• Select the pick:
  Follow the on-screen steps:

• Scan the BIN:

• Scan the item:

• Confirm quantity:

• At completion, scan the container barcode (for example, CON-01) to assign all picked items:

• scan the next few items until they are all complete

• Confirm pick completion:
  Result: The container now holds mixed items for multiple orders, ready for Terminal Sorting.

7. Terminal Sorting:

In Helm, go to Terminal Sorting > Terminal:

• Scan the container barcode you’re packing from:
  Process:

• Pick an item from the container and scan it:

• The system identifies the target order and prompts you to scan the remaining items for that order:

• Once an order’s items are complete, you are directed automatically to the Despatch terminal for shipment creation.

8. Create Shipment and Add Dimensions.

1. Shipping rules should select the correct service based on your configuration. Feel free to adjust the shipping service to your liking

2. You must add package dimensions:

   • Scan a packaging barcode and press Enter on your keyboard:

   • Or use a scannable barcode you’ve created for the packaging:

   • You can also split the package and ship them in separate packages by clicking Add Piece

3. If needed, adjust:

   • Service:

   • Weight:

   • Dimensions:

   • Number of boxes:
     Repeat for multi-parcel orders as required.

4. Click Create shipment

9. Print the Label:

Once shipment details are confirmed:

• A shipping label is generated:

• Print and affix to the package:

• Return to Terminal Sorting: scan the next item from the container:
  Continue until the container is empty. The system updates order statuses and inventory as you progress.

Best Practices:

• Label your containers consistently (for example, CON-01: CON-02) to prevent mis-scans:

• Keep BIN locations accurate; Handheld prompts are only as clever as your data:

• Use packaging barcodes to speed dimension entry; standardise carton profiles for fewer keystrokes:

• Monitor Terminal Sorting exceptions (for example, missing items: stock discrepancies) via the Picking and Despatch dashboards to resolve swiftly:

Troubleshooting:

• Picks not creating:

  • Check order status and stock availability:

  • Confirm filters aren’t excluding valid orders:

• Container scan fails at Terminal:

  • Verify the container barcode format and that the pick completion was confirmed:

• Wrong courier service selected:

  • Review shipping rules; ensure criteria (destination: weight: dimensions: service mapping) are correct:

• Dimensions rejected or label fails:

  • Validate packaging barcode values: unit of measure: and maximums allowed by the courier:

  • Try Create Single Shipment and edit fields manually to confirm rule logic:

• HH device can’t scan:

  • Check connection: battery: and app login:

  • For demos, confirm the Virtual Handheld Scanner is installed and assigned:

FAQ:

• Can I use Wave Picking?

  • Yes; Terminal Sorting is agnostic to picking mode. The crucial step is assigning items to a container at pick completion:

• Do I need packaging barcodes?

  • Not strictly; you can type dimensions. Barcodes simply accelerate accuracy:

• Can I change service at Despatch?

  • Yes; you can override service: weight: and dimensions at shipment creation before label printing:

Summary:

• Install Terminal Sorting

• Pick in bulk

• Assign to a container

• Sort at the terminal

• Create shipment

• Print label

• Repeat until the container is gloriously empty.

Efficiency by design; fewer keystrokes: fewer sighs.