Calculating Shipment Details
Goflow calculates the shipping details of an order before it is actually packed. These estimates power background workflows that require shipment details, such as rate shopping and bulk shipping.
Goflow estimates three aspects of a shipment: the number of boxes, box weight, and box dimensions. The more complete and accurate your product shipping data, the more closely these estimates will reflect the actual packing configuration.
Calculating Box Count
Larger shipments often need to be split into multiple boxes. When packing manually, you control exactly which units go into each box. With automatic packing, Goflow determines the box breakdown based on a packing strategy that you select.
Choose one of the following:
- Box per Order - Pack all units into a single box.
- Box per Unit - Pack each unit into its own box.
- Box per Case - Pack units according to their configured shipping cases.
To use Box per Case, configure units of measure on products and set a default shipping unit of measure. The default shipping unit of measure defines how many units are packed together for shipping, such as a case of 12 units.
If the ordered quantity does not divide evenly into full cases, choose how to handle the remaining loose units:
- Box per Order - Combine all loose units into a single mixed box.
- Box per Product - Pack loose units for each product into separate boxes.
To illustrate, consider an order with 32 cans each of two brands, Fizz and Sparkle. Each product has a default shipping unit of measure of 12. This yields 2 full cases (24 units) and 8 loose units per product. The table below compares how each packing option determines the box distribution:
| Option | Fizz Boxes | Sparkle Boxes | Mixed Boxes | Total Boxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box per Order | — | — | 1 (64 units) | 1 |
| Box per Unit | 32 (1 unit each) | 32 (1 unit each) | — | 64 |
| Box per Case / Loose per Order | 2 (12 units each) | 2 (12 units each) | 1 (16 units) | 5 |
| Box per Case / Loose per Product | 3 (2×12, 1×8) | 3 (2×12, 1×8) | — | 6 |
What matters is the total quantity per product, not how it appears on the order. For example, if the same product appears on multiple lines (e.g., in quantities of 16 and 8), Goflow combines them to a total of 24 units, which packs into 2 full cases.
Calculating Box Weight
Box weight is the total weight of all products packed in the box. Enter a weight on each product.
Weight can be defined at multiple levels on a product. Goflow uses the most specific available weight value in the following order:
- Group Parent - The weight entered on a parent group product.
- Unit of Measure - Exact - The weight from a unit of measure that exactly matches the quantity packed in the box.
- Each - The single-unit (each) weight multiplied by the quantity in the box.
- Unit of Measure - Derived - The per-unit weight derived from a non-exact unit of measure, and multiplied by the quantity in the box.
If any product in the box has no weight defined at any level, Goflow cannot calculate the box weight, and rate shopping will fail.
Exact unit of measure weight only applies when a single measure fills the entire box. Mixed boxes always use Each weight.
The default shipping unit of measure is irrelevant in determining box weight. It matters only in determining the number of boxes. What matters is whether the quantity in the box matches any unit of measure defined on the product.
To illustrate, consider a box containing 12 units of a single product. The product has different weights defined at multiple levels, a per-unit weight, a small case weight (6 units), and a full case weight (12 units). The table below shows how Goflow calculates the box weight. As higher-precision values are removed, it falls back to the next best option:
| Uses | Each (× 1) | Small Case (× 6) | Full Case (× 12) | Box Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit of Measure - Exact | 1 lb | 5 lbs | 9 lbs | 9 lbs (exact) |
| Each | 1 lb | 5 lbs | — | 12 lbs (1 × 12) |
| Unit of Measure - Derived | — | 5 lbs | — | 10 lbs (5 ÷ 6 × 12) |
Calculating Box Dimensions
Dimensions can be defined on a product at multiple levels. Goflow can determine exact box dimensions only when the quantity in the box matches a defined dimension at one of these levels:
- Each - The box contains a single unit.
- Group Parent - The box quantity matches a group product.
- Unit of Measure - The box quantity matches a defined unit of measure.
If the box contains a mix of products, or the quantity does not match any defined unit of measure, exact dimensions are not possible. Unlike weight, box dimensions cannot be calculated by simply adding product dimensions together. Instead, Goflow estimates dimensions from the total packed volume. This produces an approximation that keeps shipping rates reasonably accurate.
The table below shows the per-product volume for a box containing two products:
| Product | Length | Width | Height | Qty | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fizz | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 × 4 × 2 × 1 = 48 |
| Sparkle | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 × 5 × 2 × 3 = 240 |
Goflow estimates box dimensions in three steps: getting the total volume, setting the box length, and calculating the remaining two sides:
| Step | Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 48 + 240 | 288 |
| Length | max(6, 4, 2, 8, 5, 2) | 8 |
| Area | 288 ÷ 8 | 36 |
| Sides | √ 36 | 6 |
The final box dimensions are estimated as 8 × 6 × 6.