UK warehouse ordering system down: what to agree
Agree who activates manual ordering, which orders qualify, how the warehouse acknowledges and tracks each release, and who authorises restart. Pause automatic retries and reconcile manual dispatches before queued orders resume. Use this checklist when coordinating China-sourced stock with Cambridge China Bridge.
Agree activation, ownership and a usable fallback
Put an outage procedure alongside your warehouse service agreement. Name the buyer and warehouse decision-makers, their deputies and an alternative contact route. Define the failures that activate it, including orders arriving without acknowledgements. Agree who pauses incoming feeds and automatic retries, records the last confirmed processing point and authorises manual releases.
Keep the procedure, order template and contact details accessible without the failed portal. Agree manual capacity, reporting intervals, escalation triggers and approval for extra charges. Establish whether picking, stock records and carrier booking still work independently. If reliable stock or dispatch records are unavailable, hold affected orders. Use the warehouse selection guide for the wider provider assessment.
Use a controlled manual order register
Use a designated submission channel and a shared register with a named custodian. Record the original customer order reference, manual release reference, approval, product code, quantity, delivery address, service, batch restrictions and current status. Send only the customer information needed for fulfilment through an agreed access-controlled route.
Require warehouse acknowledgement against the release reference before treating an order as accepted. Record picking, packing, carrier handover and tracking separately. Route amendments and cancellations through the same register, retain earlier instructions and obtain acknowledgement of the change. Agree when a cancellation can still stop dispatch; an unanswered request remains unresolved.
Prevent duplicate dispatch at every handover
Preserve the original order reference across the sales channel, manual register and warehouse records. Before release, check whether the order is queued, acknowledged, being picked, packed or already handed to a carrier. A timeout or missing acknowledgement does not prove rejection. Put uncertain orders on hold while the warehouse checks its work queue and physical dispatch area.
Agree that resending an instruction keeps its existing reference and is treated as a status enquiry unless a new release is expressly authorised. Record partial dispatches by order line and remaining quantity. Retain evidence of parcel handover; a generated label alone is insufficient. Keep delayed automated orders blocked from release until their manual status has been matched.
Set customer priorities and preserve stock holds
Agree priority criteria before the outage: confirmed delivery commitments, booked receiving slots, customers whose operations depend on the goods and orders already in progress. Name who can approve exceptions and record the reason. Let the warehouse confirm achievable capacity before customer service offers revised dates; agree who contacts affected customers and when the next update is due.
Reserve stock against approved releases and record movements, substitutions and partial fulfilment. Carry batch restrictions, quarantine and stop-dispatch flags into the manual process. Do not substitute products or split deliveries without agreed authority. For unexplained inventory differences, follow the missing warehouse stock guide rather than assuming the outage explains them.
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Reconcile before restarting and rehearse the plan
Agree a cutover point and stop new manual releases while the records are matched. Compare sales orders, the manual register, warehouse movements and carrier handovers. Classify each order as unprocessed, partly dispatched, dispatched, cancelled or unresolved. Restore actual quantities, batch records and tracking; ensure completed manual orders cannot become fresh dispatch instructions when imported. Investigate discrepancies before releasing affected orders.
Have buyer and warehouse owners sign off the matched queue, stock position and unresolved holds before restarting feeds under observation. Retain the incident record and check exceptional charges against the warehouse invoice guide. Rehearse ambiguous acknowledgements, cancellations and restart with test orders that cannot reach customers. Cabinet Office guidance says plans need exercising to establish that they work.
Frequently asked questions
Can I email orders when the warehouse portal fails?
Use email only if it is the agreed fallback channel, with authorised senders, controlled customer data, unique release references and warehouse acknowledgement. Keep every release in the manual register.
Should I resend an order after a timeout?
Check its status first. A timeout can occur after acceptance. Keep the original reference and hold the order until the warehouse confirms whether it is queued, being processed or dispatched.
Which customers should get priority during an outage?
Apply agreed criteria covering delivery commitments, receiving slots and operational dependence on the goods. Record exceptions and confirm warehouse capacity before promising revised delivery dates.
When can automatic ordering restart?
Restart after manual releases and queued orders have been matched, actual dispatches recorded and unresolved orders held. Obtain buyer and warehouse sign-off, then observe the resumed feeds for duplicate releases.