Work steps

This manual page deals with the work steps that can be set up for processes. You can create and configure as many work steps as you want for a process.

Depending on which type of work step you select, there are different settings and options to choose from. These primarily consist of procedures and sub-procedures that are carried out one after the other and can either run endlessly or be controlled manually. You can also select filters that allow you to carry out very individual settings for work steps.

Watch the following video to learn more about work steps.

Video tutorial
plentyBase required

To create and run processes, you need the tool plentyBase. You can download the installation files for plentyBase in the plentyMarketplace.

Select the type of work step when you create a new work step.

Click on Add and carry out the settings as described in the following sub-chapters.

1. Order group processing

The Order group processing work step determines to which and how many orders the process is applied. Start out by choosing filters to specify which exact orders should be included in the process. Then decide how you want to change the orders that have finished being processed. Change the order status, owner and/or flag so that you never accidentally process the same order twice. Lastly, decide which order should be processed first, second, third, etc.

1.1. Creation

First create a work step.

Creating a work step:

  1. Click on New work step.

  2. Select the type Order group processing.

  3. Click on Save.
    → The settings window opens.

If you have already created a work step, click on Edit to open this window.

1.1.1. Settings

Use this area to save general settings for the work step. For example, save a name and decide where the work step should appear within your process.

Table 1 explains the settings for the work step.

Table 1. Setting up the work step: Settings
Setting Explanation

Name

Select a name that identifies the work step as clearly as possible.

Quantity

Decide how many orders should be processed every time the process runs.

Next step

Decide whether your process should automatically continue on to the next step, or if the process should wait until the next step is started manually. This setting is only relevant if you’ve created more than one work step.
Awaiting input = The next work step will not start automatically. Instead, the system will wait until you have clicked on Start again.
Start automatically = The next step will be started automatically.

Position

This option is not visible until you have created the work step.
If your process includes multiple work steps, then use this option to specify which step should be first, second, third, etc. New work steps are automatically given the next available position number. Change the position number if you want to change which work step runs first, second, third, and so on. Work steps run in ascending order. In other words, the work step with the lowest number runs first.
Tip: The position of work steps can also be changed using the context menu. To do so, right-click the work step and select Move up or Move down.

1.1.2. Filters

Use filters to determine in more detail which orders will be affected by the Order group processing work step.

Table 2 lists all filters that are available for this work step.

Table 2. Overview of filters for the Order group processing work step
Filter Explanation

Order data area

Previously started box picking

Continue = The last round of box picking will continue when you start the process.
Users will be notified if they start a round of box picking but do not finish it. If you do not want to continue a previously started round of box picking, you can reset the box picking instead.

Number of order items

Select an operator from the drop-down list and enter a number into the field next to it. Orders will only be processed if they include this specific number of items.
Note: This filter does not filter for item bundles, but only for bundle components.

Order type

Select an order type to only apply the process to orders of a certain type.

Order warehouse

Do you want to filter orders by a specific warehouse? Add the filter and then select the warehouse from the drop-down list.
Optional: then add the Storage location filter afterward.

Date

Select a point in time, for example Yesterday or a time period such as In the past to filter all orders that have been created up until now. You can select more than one option. In addition, select an option from the drop-down list to filter for the date of Incoming orders, Incoming payment, Outgoing items or the Delivery deadline.

Current invoice

Filter orders for which a current invoice is available or not available.

Reversal document

Filter orders for which a reversal document is available or not available.

Owner

Select an owner to filter for orders that are assigned to this owner. Alternatively, select the option Active user. This way, the orders of the owner that is logged into the PlentyONE system while the process is run are filtered.

Email address

Select the option to filter orders that either include an email address in customer master data or that do not include an email address in the customer master data.

Express delivery

Select if you want to filter orders with express shipping.
Yes = Orders with express shipping are filtered
No = Orders without express shipping are filtered
Important: For this filter to function correctly, the option Express delivery has to be activated in the shipping profile of the respective orders.

Total quantity of items

Select an operator from the drop-down list and enter a number into the field next to it. This way, orders that include a specific number of unique items are filtered.
Note: This filter does not filter for item bundles, but only for bundle components.

Weight

Orders can be filtered by weight in grams. Enter a value and select the equals sign to filter orders with an exact weight. To filter for weight ranges, enter a value and the appropriate operator. You can filter two different ranges by using both text fields at once.
Example: For a weight of 3.5 kg and higher, enter 3500 into the text field and select the operator >=.

Referrer

Select the referrers according to which orders should be filtered. You can select more than one option.

Customer class

Select one or more customer classes according to which orders should be filtered.

Storage location

Filter orders according to a specific storage location.
First, add the filter Order warehouse and select the warehouse from the drop-down list. Then use this filter to specify a particular Rack, Shelf and Storage location.

Country of delivery

Select the country of delivery for the orders you want to filter. You can select any country of delivery, not only the ones that are activated in your system.

Client (store)

Select the client (store) for whose orders you want to filter. You can select more than one option.

Flag

Filter orders that have a specific flag. The option None will filter orders that do not have a flag.

Packstation

Select if you want to filter for orders that are delivered to a Packstation or a Postfiliale.
Yes = Orders with a Packstation or a Postfiliale included in the shipping address are filtered.
No = Orders without a Packstation or a Postfiliale included in the shipping address are filtered.

Invoice amount

Orders can be filtered by their invoice amount. Enter a value and select the equals sign to filter orders with an exact invoice amount. Enter a value and select the appropriate operator to filter orders within a certain invoice amount range. You can filter two different ranges by using both text fields at once.
Example: For an invoice amount of EUR 39.90 and higher, enter 39.90 into the text field and select the operator >=.

Order status

Select a status to filter for orders with this status.

Tag

Select one or more tags to filter for orders with the selected tags.
In addition, activate one of the following options to determine exactly how tags should be filtered:
Orders without tags
Orders without these tags
Orders with exactly these tags
Orders with at least these tags
Orders with at least one of these tags

Loyalty program

Select one, several or no loyalty program to only process orders from this loyalty program or orders without a loyalty program.
Important: Loyalty programs are only available for orders from eBay Plus or Amazon and are only considered if they have been activated in the respective shipping profile.

Shipping service provider

Select a shipping service provider to only filter orders that use this shipping service provider.

Shipping costs

Orders can be filtered by shipping costs. Enter a value and select the equals sign to filter orders with an exact amount. Enter a value and select the appropriate operator to filter orders within a certain shipping cost range. You can filter two different ranges by using both text fields at once.
Example: For a shipping cost of EUR 3.90 and higher, enter 3.90 into the text field and select the operator >=.

Shipping profiles

Select one or several shipping profiles to only filter for orders with these shipping profiles.

Shipping region

Select a shipping region to only filter for orders with this region.

Outgoing items date

Select how you want to filter orders according to outgoing items:
Not booked = only orders where the items have not been booked as outgoing
Booked = only orders where the items have been booked as outgoing
Today = only orders where the items were booked as outgoing today
Yesterday = only orders where the items were booked as outgoing yesterday

Payment

Decide which payment status you want to filter orders by.
Check payment = Only orders currently in a status that should be checked (manually), i.e. unpaid, partially paid and overpaid orders.
Unpaid only = Only orders that have not been paid for yet.
Paid only = Only orders that have been paid in full.
Partial payment only = Only orders that have partially been paid for.
Initial payment complete = Only orders that have received a complete initial payment.
Overpaid only= Only orders that have been overpaid.
Unpaid and partially paid = Either orders that have not been paid for yet or orders that have partially been paid for.

Payment method

Select one or more payment methods to only filter orders with this payment method.

SEPA area

Type of debit

Decide whether you want to filter orders with First debit or Recurring debit.

Type of mandate

SEPA core direct debit = Allows a biller to collect funds from a payer’s account, provided that a signed mandate has been granted by the payer to the biller.
SEPA business to business direct debit = Enables business customers in the role of payers to make payments by direct debit (Source: European Payments Council).

Payment frequency

One-time payment = Standard orders
Recurring payment = Regularly occurring orders such as subscriptions, etc.

IBAN & BIC

Decide whether you want to filter orders for which an IBAN and BIC are available or not available.

SEPA direct debit mandate

Filters orders based on whether the customer has confirmed and signed the SEPA direct debit mandate.
not available = Orders will only be processed if the customer has confirmed and signed the SEPA direct debit mandate.
available = Orders will only be processed if the customer has not confirmed and signed the SEPA direct debit mandate.

1.2. Select orders

In order for you to recognize those orders that already passed through the process, assign a flag or a new status here. You can also change the user if orders should e.g. be assigned to another department after passing through the process.

Table 3 explains the flags that are available for the Order group processing work step.

Table 3. Setting up the work step: Flagging orders
Setting Explanation

New status

Select the desired status from the drop-down list if you want this work step to change the status of the orders.

New owner

Select a person from the drop-down list if you want this work step to change who is responsible for the order. You can also select the active user or without changes if you do not want to change the owner.

New flag

Select a flag from the drop-down list if you want this work step to change the flag of the order.

Add tags

Select the tags that you want to add to the order.
Activate the option Remove all tags in order to remove all tags that already exist on the order so that only the tags selected afterwards will be added.

Remove tags

Select the tags that you want to remove from the order.

1.3. Sorting

Decide how the orders should be sorted.

Table 4 explains the sorting options that are available for the Order group processing work step.

Sorting

Only the first item of an order is taken into consideration for the sorting.
Table 4. Setting up the work step: Sorting
Setting Explanation

Sorting

Decide how the orders should be sorted. Orders can be sorted in ascending or descending order by:
Order ID = Default setting
Item ID
Customer ID
Invoice number
Item number
Storage location position

1.4. Overview of procedures and sub-procedures

Once you have carried out all of the settings, add procedures and sub-procedures to the work step.

The following procedures and sub-procedures can be selected for the Order group processing work step. Click on the links to see further information and learn about the settings.

2. Single order processing

Use the work step Single order processing to specify how individual orders should be processed further, for example after they were scanned with a barcode scanner. This flexible work step can be further defined by using the corresponding procedures and sub-procedures.

2.1. Creation

First create a work step.

Creating a work step:

  1. Click on New work step.

  2. Select the type Single order processing and click on Save.
    → The settings window opens.

If you have already created a work step, click on Edit to open this window.

2.1.1. Settings

Table 5 explains the settings for the work step.

Table 5. Setting up the work step: Settings
Setting Explanation

Name

Select a name that identifies the work step as clearly as possible.

Next step

Decide whether your process should automatically continue on to the next step, or if the process should wait until the next step is started manually. This setting is only relevant if you’ve created more than one work step.
Awaiting input = = The next work step will not start automatically. Instead, the system will wait until you have clicked on Start again.
Start automatically = The next step will be started automatically.

Position

This option is not visible until you’ve created the work step.
If your process includes multiple work steps, then use this option to specify which step should be first, second, third, etc. New work steps are automatically given the next available position number. Change the position number if you want to change which work step runs first, second, third, and so on. Work steps run in ascending order. In other words, the work step with the lowest number runs first.
Tip: The position of work steps can also be changed using the context menu. To do so, right-click the work step and select Move up or Move down.

The work step will be displayed. If you hover the cursor over the element, the settings elements appear.

Adding further elements

Click on the green plus to add a procedure or sub-procedure by selecting the desired element from the drop-down list.

2.1.2. Filters

Use filters to determine in more detail which orders will be affected by the Single order processing work step.

For the Single order processing work step, the same filters that are described in Table 2 are available.

Additional filters that you can use specifically in connection with the work step Single order processing are described in Table 6.

Table 6. Additional filters for the Single order processing work step
Filter Explanation

Item registration area

Progress

Select the option Completely registered to filter for orders whose items have been fully registered by the warehouse staff during the packing process.

Order

Select the option In progress to filter for orders for which the item registration has been started. Use the option Last scanned to filter for the order for which an item was last registered.

Order items area

Number of order items

Select an operator and enter a value in the text field to filter by the total number of order items per order.
Example: To filter for orders with less than 10 order items, enter 10 in the text field and select the operator <.
Note: This filter does not filter for item bundles, but only for bundle components.

Total quantity of items

Select an operator and enter a value in the text field to filter by the total number of order items per order.
Note: This filter does not filter for item bundles, but only for bundle components.

Serial number

Select if you want to filter for order items for which a serial number has been saved.
Yes = Order items with serial numbers are filtered
No = Order items without serial numbers are filtered

2.2. Overview of procedures and sub-procedures

The following procedures and sub-procedures can be selected for the Single order processing work step. For further information about the settings, refer to the corresponding page.

3. Incoming items

You can use the work step Incoming items to search for and register single incoming items, to search for orders and then book the items contained in the order and to automatically assign reorders.

3.1. Setting

First create a work step.

Creating a work step:

  1. Click on New work step.

  2. Select the type Incoming items and click on Save.
    → The settings window opens.

  3. Carry out the settings according to Table 7.

  4. Click on Save.

If you have already created a work step, click on Edit to open this window.

Table 7 explains the settings for the work step Incoming items.

Table 7. Setting up the work step: Settings
Setting Explanation

Position

This option is not visible until you’ve created the work step.
If your process includes multiple work steps, then use this option to specify which step should be first, second, third, etc. New work steps are automatically given the next available position number. Change the position number if you want to change which work step runs first, second, third, and so on. Work steps run in ascending order. In other words, the work step with the lowest number runs first.
Tip: The position of work steps can also be changed using the context menu. To do so, right-click the work step and select Move up or Move down.

Name

Select a name that identifies the work step as clearly as possible.

Next step

Decide whether your process should automatically continue on to the next step, or if the process should wait until the next step is started manually. This setting is only relevant if you’ve created more than one work step.
Awaiting input = The next work step will not start automatically. Instead, the system will wait until you have clicked on Start again
Start automatically = The next step will be started automatically.

The work step will be displayed. If you hover the cursor over the element, the settings elements appear.

3.2. Overview of procedures and sub-procedures

The following procedures and sub-procedures are available for the Incoming items work step. Click on the links to see further information and learn about the settings.