Overview
Manifest statuses are designed to provide greater transparency during the transfer of goods from stores to e-commerce, better understand your operational bottlenecks, and help reduce loss.
After a store has created a manifest, it can be updated to any of the following statuses before the e-commerce team begins to process the items for sale online:
Ready for Pickup
In Transit
Received
Missing
This article provides a high-level overview of the manifest tracking workflow for stores, transportation, and e-commerce teams.
Table of Contents
Manifest Statuses
A manifest is a digital list of items from a store being sent to e-commerce to sell online. Each manifest has a status that represents where it is in the supply chain as it progresses from stores to being listed online.
Created: Represents a manifest that has been started but may not be ready for transfer to e-commerce
Ready for Pickup: Used by store teams to indicate that the manifest is ready to be shipped to e-commerce for processing
In Transit: Indicates the manifest has been collected by the transportation team and is on the way to e-commerce
Received: Used by e-commerce teams to indicate that the manifest has arrived at the facility
Missing: If a manifest can’t be found, stores, drivers, or e-commerce can mark the manifest as missing to help with loss prevention investigations
In addition, e-commerce can mark individual items as missing from within a manifest
Partially Processed: A manifest received by e-commerce and being inspected
Processed: A manifest that has been fully inspected by e-commerce
High-Level Workflow
Store Team Workflow
Stores create manifests as usual
Stores label each container with an identifying barcode that ties back to the manifest or group of manifests
Stores mark manifests “Ready for Pickup” in Lister
Driver/Logistics Workflow
Transportation teams arrive at stores and mark manifests as “In Transit” using Lister or Link
Transportation teams bring manifested containers to e-commerce
If transportation teams can’t access Lister or Link, store managers can mark manifests “In Transit”
E-commerce Team Workflow
E-commerce processing teams mark manifests as “Received” when the container arrives
E-commerce team process manifests as usual
Default User Role: Driver
Transportation teams have access to a limited view of Lister and Link that shows high-level details of manifests. Each driver will need a Lister account to view and update the status of manifests. Click here to learn more about creating users in Lister.
Drivers can use Lister or Link to update manifests to “In Transit” or “Missing”
Drivers can only change the status of manifests in the following states:
Created
Ready for Pickup
In Transit
Missing
In Lister, drivers can only see the manifest ID, supplier, creation date, last updated date, and manifest status
Manifest search box: Can be used to look up a specific Manifest by Barcode ID
Supplier list: Can be filtered to show specific locations
Status: Can be filtered to show only manifests in a particular status (e.g., “Ready for Pickup”)
Drivers can't access any other area of Lister, including viewing the contents of individual manifests
Drivers can also use Link (the Lister iOS companion app) to…
Scan manifests individually or in bulk to update them to “In Transit”
Manually search for manifests and mark “In Transit” or “Missing”
New Labeling Method: Manifest Scan Form
Some teams may have large amounts of manifests to transport and may need a faster way to scan items in. The manifest scan form is designed to allow a user to scan one barcode and update the status of multiple manifests. Manifest scan forms are printed via a standard office printer.
How to Use Manifest Scan Forms
From the Manifest overview page, click the checkboxes on each manifest that will be shipped to e-commerce on the same truck
Click “Print Scan Form” to print out the scan form via a standard office printer
Once printed, all manifests that were in the “Created” state will automatically be updated to “Ready for Pickup”
Note: If a manifest has been picked up (has an “In Transit” status or later) you cannot add it to a scan form
The printed Scan Form has barcodes of each manifest in the shipment and a “Quick Scan” barcode that can control the status of each connected manifest
Upon pickup, drivers can scan the top “Quick Scan” barcode in Link to mark all connected manifests to “In Transit”
💡 Operational Tip: This method is most useful for groups of manifests that won’t become separated in transit like a shrink-wrapped pallet of totes.
How to Update Manifests in Lister and Link
There are four primary ways to update manifests:
Bulk updates via the manifest manager in Lister (available to all users)
Updating individual manifests on the manifest view page in Lister (available to some users)
Scanning a manifest in Link to update the status (available to some users)
Note: a compatible iOS device and internet access are needed to download and install the Link app
Searching for a specific manifest in Link to update the status (available to some users)
Bulk Updates in Lister
Select the checkboxes next to the manifests you want to update
Select the button at the top to update the manifests to the correct status
Individual Updates in Lister
On the view page for the manifest select the button at the top to update the manifest to the correct status
Scanning Manifests in Link
Click on "Pick Up Manifests" or "Receive Manifests" depending on your permissions
Using the built in camera or a blue-tooth connected ring scanner, begin scanning manifest barcodes or the quick scan barcode at the top of a manifest scan form to update the status
Manual Search in Link
Click on "Pick Up Manifests" or "Receive Manifests" depending on your permissions
Click the search icon in the top right corner
Type in the manifest barcode ID
Tap the button to update the manifest status
Manifest Tracking Permissions by Role
Each type of user has different options for updating manifests to new statuses within Lister and Link. This section will outline what each role can and cannot do and the permissions that can be used to set up custom roles if desired.
Store Associates
Store associates can…
Bulk update manifests to “Ready for Pickup” or “Missing” statuses via the manifest manager Lister
Update individual manifests on the manifest view page in Lister
Store associates cannot…
Use Link to update manifests
Custom roles with the following permissions will have store associate privileges for manifest tracking:
“Can create and edit manifests, view authentications”
An associated supplier
Store Managers
Store managers can use Lister to change any manifest that has not yet been “Received” to any of the following states either individually or in bulk:
Created
Ready for Pickup
In Transit
Missing
This means if a manifest is updated by mistake, the store manager can correct the issue. Additionally, if drivers do not have access to Lister, store managers can update the status to In Transit.
Custom roles with the following permissions will have store manager privileges for manifest tracking:
“Can create and edit manifests, view authentications”
“Can override the status of unprocessed manifests”
Drivers
Drivers can…
Bulk update manifests to “In Transit” or “Missing” statuses via the manifest manager Lister
Use Link to update manifest statuses to “In Transit” via scanning or use manual search to mark “In Transit” or “Missing”
Drivers cannot…
Update manifests on the individual view page as they cannot see the contents of a manifest
Custom roles with the following permissions will have driver privileges for manifest tracking:
“Can pickup manifests”
E-commerce Team Members
E-commerce team members can…
Bulk update manifests to “Received” or “Missing” statuses via the manifest manager Lister
Update individual manifests on the manifest view page in Lister
Use Link to update manifest statuses to “Received” via scanning or use manual search to mark “Received” or “Missing”
Custom roles with the following permissions will have e-commerce team member privileges for manifest tracking:
“Can process manifests and manage authentications”
E-commerce Admins
E-commerce admins have all permissions associated with manifest tracking. As such, they can…
Change any manifest that has not yet been partially or fully processed to any of the following states either individually or in bulk:
Created
Ready for Pickup
In Transit
Received
Missing
Use Link to update manifest statuses to “In Transit” via scanning or use manual search to mark “In Transit” or “Missing”
Use Link to update manifest statuses to “Received” via scanning or use manual search to mark “Received” or “Missing
Custom roles with the following permissions will have e-commerce admin privileges for manifest tracking:
“Can process manifests and manage authentications”
“Can override the status of unprocessed manifests”
Event Logs and Reporting
Updating the status of a manifest creates an event log within the manifest and event logs report.
Additionally, the “Manifest Items” Report can be used to identify the current status of each manifest and how many items have been marked “Missing”. The “Missing Reason” column can be used to distinguish whether the entire manifest is missing or the individual item is missing.
Related Guides
Have questions? Reach out to us at support@uprightlabs.com or via chat anytime between 9am-6pm ET, Monday to Friday