Keeping your inventory at adequate levels is crucial for meeting customer demand, especially during peak seasons. Using the Locad Control Tower, you can easily create an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) to coordinate your incoming stock with our fulfillment centers, ensuring a smooth and efficient receiving process.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is an ASN?

An ASN (Advanced Shipping Notice) is a document that provides our fulfillment center (FC) with detailed information about an incoming delivery. It serves as the primary reference for our FC team to plan for and receive your items, ensuring they are inbounded accurately and according to your specific requirements.

How to Create an ASN (Step-by-Step)

Follow these steps to create and submit your inbound request.


Step 1: Start a New Inbound Request

1. Log in to the Locad dashboard. Navigate to the Inbound section on the left-side menu and click on Inbound Requests.

2. Click the New Inbound Request button in the top right corner.

3. Select New Inbound ASN and fill out the required fields:

  • Consignment Number: Your unique reference for the inbound shipment. We recommend the format: NI-BrandNameddmmyy (estimated delivery date); NI = New Inbound); guidelines on ASN naming here.

  • From Address: The location where the shipment is originating.

  • Warehouse: The destination Locad fulfillment center.

  • Planned Arrival Date: The date you expect the shipment to arrive at our FC.


4. Click Submit. This will generate an ASN with a Draft status, allowing you to add items and make changes before final submission.



This will generate a Draft ASN which allows you to edit your ASN before final submission to Locad for approval.

Step 2: Prepare the Item Upload File

To add products to your ASN, you will use a template file.

1. Inside your Draft ASN, click the Update Items button.

2. Click Download Sample Template to get the required CSV file.

3. Open the file and fill in the columns:

  • SKU: The Stock Keeping Unit identifier for your product.

  • Quantity: The number of units for that SKU.

  • VAS - Expiry Date: The expiration date for perishable goods.

    • Important: The cell format must be set to Short Date (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD).

  • Pack Type Name: Used for products with a Pack Hierarchy. Leave this blank for standard products.

Handling Multiple Expiry Dates: If a single SKU is being sent with multiple expiry dates, you must create a separate row for each batch.


Example: 

You are inbounding 9 units of SKU JC-TEST-WFL-001. 4 units will expire on November 28, 2027, and the remaining 5 will expire on October 11, 2027. 

This SKU should have 2 rows in the template indicating the corresponding quantity and expiry date. Your file should look like below:



Note on Expiry Management: If expiry management is enabled for an SKU, the expiry date is a mandatory field. If it is not enabled, this field must be left blank.


If the expiry date is not yet finalized, please provide a tentative expiry date. You can still modify the expiry date up to 24 hours before the Planned Arrival Date, even if the ASN has been submitted. 


If you input an expiry date for an SKU for which expiry management is not enabled, the ASN will not be uploaded. In this case, you must remove the expiry date from the ASN before uploading the file.


REMINDER: When a new SKU is created and it requires expiry management, please reach out to the help team so we can enable it before inbounding the item. We will no longer be able to activate expiry management if there are quantities inbounded in an SKU.


Step 3: Creating an ASN for Pack Hierarchy Products

Pack Hierarchy allows you to manage stock at different packaging levels (e.g., individual units, inner packs, carton and  pallet) under a single SKU.

When inbounding products with a pre-configured pack hierarchy, you must specify the quantity for each pack level you are sending.


When inbounding products with a pre-configured pack hierarchy, you must specify the quantity for each pack level you are sending.

  1. Identify Your Pack Types: In your item setup, you have defined different pack levels, such as Unit (L0), Pack_12 (L1), and Pack_48 (L2).

  2. Use a Separate Row for Each Pack Type: In the ASN upload file, each pack type you are sending requires its own row, even if they share the same base SKU.

  3. Fill in the Pack Type Name Column: Enter the exact name of the pack level as it appears in your product settings (e.g., "Pack_12", "Pack_48").

    • For the base unit (Level 0), you can either enter its name (e.g., "Unit") or leave the Pack Type Name cell blank.

  4. Specify Quantity per Pack Type: The Quantity column should reflect the number of packs you are sending, not the total number of individual units.


Example Scenario: You are sending SKU 4750020004 in three different configurations:

  • 10 individual units (Unit / L0)

  • 10 inner packs, each containing 12 units (Pack_12 / L1)

  • 10 cartons, each containing 48 units (Pack_48 / L2)

Your ASN upload file should be formatted as follows:




Step 4: Upload Your Items and Finalize the ASN
1. Save your completed template file.

2. Drag and drop the file into the upload section on the ASN page and click Upload. The products will now appear in the Consignment Products list.


3. Review and Edit (if needed): While your ASN is still in the ASN_DRAFT status, you can edit the SKUs and quantity.

Revising Items: To change quantities or remove an SKU, click Update Items and upload a new file. The new file will completely overwrite the previous one. You must include all desired SKUs in the revised file.

Updating Expiry Dates Only: If only expiry dates need to be changed, use the Update Expiry button. You can upload a new file that details the new expiry dates. You can still update the expiry dates of an ASN even after it has been submitted as long as this is done 24 hours before the Planned Arrival Date.


Please note that the last file to be successfully uploaded will be the ASN that will flow to our back end for approval, once you hit ‘Submit”.

4. Add Carrier Details: In the Details section, click Edit to add the carrier name, tracking number, and any shipping notes.

5. Attach Documents: In the Documents section, click Attach Document to upload your Delivery Note or other relevant files.

Select Instruction from the Document type drop-down, drag your file to the upload section, and click Upload.

6. Submit for Approval: Once all details are correct, click the Submit button. Your ASN is now sent to Locad for approval.

You can also change the Shipping date while the status is in ASN_DRAFT.


The history section will show you the progress of your ASN. If an upload fails because of errors on the file (e.g. it includes an SKU that has not been uploaded to the Locad dashboard), this will be reflected on the errors file. 

You can click on the ‘errors’ hyperlink as shown below, which will trigger the file to download.

The sample error file is shown below:

You can monitor the status of your shipment on the Inbound Tracking page.


As a reminder, all ASNs uploaded by 11:00 AM Monday to Friday will be processed for approval with our fulfillment center teams the same day. You can view our inbound guidelines and reminders here.


How to Add a Value-Added Service (VAS)

If your inbound shipment requires special services like item labelling, kitting, or manual unloading, you can request them directly within the ASN.

  1. Before submitting the ASN, scroll down and click Add Value Added Service.

  2. Select the required VAS activity from the list.

  3. Provide the necessary details (e.g., select the SKUs, indicate quantity, add remarks) and attach any instructional files.

  4. Click Save. You can add multiple VAS requests to a single ASN.


Continue to add more VAS activity if necessary. Else, you are ready to submit the ASN.



Key Reminders

  • Submission Deadline: ASNs uploaded by 11:00 AM (Mon-Fri) will be processed for same-day approval.

  • File Uploads Overwrite: Remember that uploading a new item file via Update Items will replace the entire existing item list on the draft ASN.

  • Check for Errors: If an upload fails, click the 'errors' hyperlink in the History section to download a file detailing the specific issues.

  • Communicate in Advance: For new SKUs requiring expiry management, contact our support team for activation before creating the ASN.



If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Success team through the Support widget on your Locad dashboard.