Use Container Management to monitor, manage, and track imported container shipments before they reach your warehouse and then receive them once they arrive. You can
- View container contents and status,
- View expected arrival dates, estimated totals, and reference numbers
- Set third party freight costs
- View and print a report on container information including due dates, status, and fuel surcharges
- Assign purchase orders to one or more containers
- Generate a receiving ticket and receive container contents
- Attach tasks and activities
- Attach required documentation, photos, and other files
- Audit any changes made to the container

Enter shipping container information, including contents, an estimated total, and an expected delivery date.
- Go to Purchasing > Container Management.
- Click New.
- Type a customer Container ID or name (up to 15 characters), and then press the Tab key.
- Type a Description for the container.
- Provide as much additional tracking information about the container as you can, including the Vendor Container #, Estimated Total, and Status. You can add Third Party Freight amounts in the grid at the bottom of the screen.
- Click Save.
You can now link purchase orders or lines on a purchase order to a container for tracking purposes, as described below.

Tie items in a container to a purchase order or lines on a purchase order within your system.
- Go to Purchasing > Container Management.
- Open the Container you want to link, and then click Edit.
- Click the Detail tab.
- Under Add Purchase Order, type a P/O number, and then click Add. You can also click
to search for a purchase order using the Purchase Order Inquiry screen.
Inform adds the purchase order to the grid, displaying quantities and pricing for all products on the P/O as separate line items. Multiple purchase orders may be linked to a container.
- To update the Container Quantity for all items to match the Quantity Ordered, click Apply All
To zero out the Container Quantity for all items and update quantities individually, click Unapply All .
To zero out quantities one item at a time, click X to the right of that item.
The Extension field updates accordingly. Any items showing a 0 for the Container Quantity will be removed after you click Save, thereby allowing you to split purchase orders across containers.
- Click Save.
- To print, view, send, or save an pen P/O receiving ticket, click the Receiving Ticket button.
On the Print Document pop-up that appears, you may choose to Print, View, Send, or Save the document, depending on your needs.
- After you link a purchase order to a container, you can click the hyperlink for the P/O # to open the Purchase Order screen. Each item in the container will display a note (on the Details > Line Items tab) indicating the container name and quantity. When you receive container items, the Quant Recvd and Bal Due columns in the Purchase Order screen will update based on the receiving. Similarly, if you change quantities ordered on the P/O, the Quantity Ordered column updates in Container Management (Detail tab).
You can also receive container quantities directly from the Container screen, as described below.

To split a purchase order across containers, zero out the Container Quantity for the appropriate items. Then add that same purchase order to a different container. Update container quantities as necessary.
- Link a purchase order to a container, as described above.
- Zero out the Container Quantity for the items shipping in a different container. To zero out all container quantities at once, click Unapply All, or click the X to the right of a line item to zero out container quantities one at a time.
- Click Save. Items that had 0 for the Container Quantity no longer display.
- Create or open the second container in which the relevant items are shipping.
- Link the appropriate purchase order to this second container as described above.
- Zero out the Container Quantity for any items this container does not contain, and verify the container quantities for the remaining items.
- Click Save.
- Repeat this process as necessary, depending on how many containers are relevant to the purchase order.

From the Container Management screen, you can receive container quantities in a single step. Before you start, you can generate an Open P/O Receiving Ticket by clicking the Receiving Ticket button in the bottom left of the Container Management screen.
Note: To require a warehouse at the time of receiving, allowing you to override the warehouse set on all linked purchase orders, enable the Company Master setting: Require warehouse entry when receiving a container.
- After you save a container, the Receive button becomes available at the bottom right of the Container Management screen. To receive all container quantities as shown, click Receive. You can also edit container quantities manually.
- On the Receive Container pop-up, verify the initials in the Received by and the Received Date. If your system is set up to require a Receiving Warehouse, enter the warehouse number, or click to select a warehouse from the list.
- Click OK.
- To print, view, send, or save a copy of the P/O Receiving Ticket, click the Receiving Ticket button on the Container Management screen.
The following areas in the system update based on the receiving:
- In the Container Management screen:
- On the Setup tab:
- The Status field displays the Received by and Received Date information.
- On the Detail tab:
- The Available Quantity column is replaced with a Quantity Received column.
- The Container Quantity column updates to reflect actual quantities received.
- On the Setup tab:
- In the Purchase Order screen, the Quant Recvd and Bal Due columns update accordingly.