New inbound FBA API 2024-03-20 - How to match Amazon provided boxes labels to our boxes? NOTE: Need API ability to provide SELLER BOX ID to print on labels

[MetaMan2023]

Summary of the question:

If we use the API to supply packing information (ie: setPackingInformation) to Amazon for an inbound plan / shipment -- how do we match the resulting box labels with actual boxes in our warehouse? There is no way for us to provide an internal (seller) box identifier to Amazon.

Detailed example:

I understand now that boxes cannot be “named” which brings up a logistical question for warehouses. For this example please assume we are following Path #1 and we have 3 SKUs (A, B, C) in a shipment and that they result in 6 boxes for each SKU (*with a few mixed), 18 boxes in total. They look like this:

EXAMPLE BOX CONFIGURATION:

B1 = [ A ] B2 = [ A ] B3 = [ A ] B4 = [ A ] B5 = [ A ] B6 = [ A+B ]

B7 = [ B ] B8 = [ B ] B9 = [ B ] B10 = [ B ] B11 = [ B ] B12 = [ B+C ]

B13 = [ C ] B14 = [ C ] B15 = [ C ] B16 = [ C ] B17 = [ C ] B18 = [ C ]

LEGEND for above:

B1 = [ A ] means that BOX 1 contains ITEM A.
B6 = [ A + B ] means that BOX 6 contains ITEM A+ B

Now let’s say we provide the boxes to Amazon through the “setPackingInformation” call and we provide the boxes and quantities in the exact order above.

NOTE during this step (setPackingInformation)
We cannot provide a box name or an internal box identifier to Amazon (functionality does not exist)
Amazon does not immediately return an internal Amazon box ID to us during this call that we can directly associate with a specific box above (** I do realize Amazon does attach a box ID but it is not available at this step)

Later in the process, Amazon splits our boxes into 3 shipments and sends out labels in a PDF file. Those labels, I believe, have these identifiers on them assigned by Amazon internally.

AMAZON BOX LABEL IDENTIFIERS PRINTED ON THE LABELS:

P1 - B1 , P1 - B2 … P1 - B6
P2 - B1 , P2 - B2 … P1 - B6
P3 - B1 , P3 - B2 … P1 - B6

QUESTION 5a: Does Amazon keep our box order provided through “setPackingInformation” when printing labels? ** NOTE: This would only be partially useful due to center splits. For example if we are sending to a single center, would the box labels come out in the exact order passed in setPackingInformation, or could it be “random”?

QUESTION 5b: Please let us know how we accurately match up the Amazon box labels to our boxes? Remember that we cannot provide an internal box identifier during setPackingInformation. It is most likely that “P1 - B3” (ie: third box in Packing Group 1) is going to be box B7 – however we have no guarantee of that. NOTE: even if box order is kept by Amazon (from the setPackingInformation process) this won’t help at this step if there are multiple shipments, and it also won’t help if box order accidentally changed (let’s say a warehouse employee had to move a box during the process).

We rely on matching by box contents (for example that a box contains “SKU A” or “SKU B”) because the Amazon provided shipping label only says “MIXED SKUS” for Boxes #6 and #12 (it does not list the full contents) so there would be no way to tell which label to put on those two boxes. And even if Amazon did provide the full box contents, the font is so small and with a large # of mixed SKUs it would get very tedious.

Our operation regularly deals with mixed SKUs and shipments > 50 boxes, as well as multiple different “inbound plans” at one time. This is why it is critical we need to provide an INTERNAL BOX IDENTIFIER to Amazon during setPackingInformation that is then printed on the resulting labels for matching ** OR ** Amazon returning a very specific Amazon identifier that we can somehow match to a specific box. The only workaround would be to process only one single SKU in a shipment – however this is very inefficient as our shipping costs would skyrocket due to very small shipments (+ extra labor of shipping). We maximize shipments > 500 lbs to a center so that we minimize shipping costs.