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Part 3 of 7 · Packing slip checker series ~6 min read

How a discrepancy gets recorded at the door

Everything else in this system is preparation for an interaction that lasts about a minute and a half, happens standing up, and competes with a driver who has eleven more drops. Designing for that is a different discipline from designing for a desk.

Key takeaways

  • One hand, gloves on, poor signal, and a driver waiting. Those are the constraints.
  • Photographs, not typing. A picture with the label in frame is the strongest evidence.
  • Annotate the delivery note before signing, and give the driver the same words.
  • The system generates the annotation wording so nobody has to compose it.
  • It works offline and syncs later, because the loading bay has no signal.

The constraints

What the receiving doorway is actually like

  • About ninety seconds before the driver starts asking.
  • One hand free. The other is holding a clipboard, a box, or a door.
  • Gloves, cold, and often rain. Small touch targets do not work.
  • Little or no mobile signal. Loading bays are the worst coverage in any building.
  • The person is not a data entry clerk. They are doing this between two other jobs.
  • Any friction results in everything being marked as received correctly, which is the failure this system exists to prevent.

That last line is the one to keep in view. The alternative to a good receiving interface is not a slower receiving process; it is a receiving process where every delivery is recorded as perfect, because that is the one button anybody has time to press.

What it asks for

The five steps of recording a delivery at the doorA vertical chain of five steps entered by a box labelled Delivery arrives, scan the purchase order barcode. Step one shows three lines to check, not twelve. Step two asks for each whether it is as claimed, with one big yes and one big no; a no exits to Count it, offering a number pad and nothing else. Step three takes a photograph of the box, the label and the contents. Step four generates the annotation and prompts the person to read it to the driver. Step five signs, with it written on both copies. A note says there is no free text anywhere, because typing on a phone in a loading bay does not happen.AWS ACCOUNTDelivery arrivesscan the PO barcodeThree lines to checknot twelveEach: as claimed?one big yes, one big noCount itnumber pad, that is allnoPhotographbox, label, contentsAnnotation generatedread it to the driverSign, with it written onboth copiesNo free text anywhere. Typing on a phone in a loading bay does not happen.
Fig 1. The whole receiving interaction. Every step is one tap or one photograph, and nothing requires composing a sentence.
  • App integration
  • Analytics
  • Front-end & mobile
  • People

Photographs are the evidence

A photograph of an open box with the product label, the packing slip and the visible shortfall in one frame is worth more in a supplier dispute than any amount of typed description, and it takes two seconds rather than two minutes.

The system prompts for what to include rather than trusting somebody to think of it: one wide shot showing the pallet or box as delivered, one close shot with the label readable. Two photographs, a fixed order, no decisions.

No free text

Every free text field in a receiving app is empty in production. The information they were meant to capture is either derivable — which line, how many — or is better captured as a photograph.

The one exception is a voice note, which some people will use and most will not, and which is cheap to offer as an optional extra rather than a required field. It is transcribed later, at a desk, by somebody with time.

Annotate, then sign

Why a delivery note is annotated before it is signedA horizontal row of five boxes. Discrepancy found: short by forty. Wording generated: two of twelve boxes, and so on. Written on the note: both copies. Driver sees it and takes a copy. Then signed, as annotated. A note says signing first and reporting later means the signed clean note is what gets quoted back.THE ORDER THAT MATTERSDiscrepancy foundshort by 40Wording generated'2 of 12 boxes...'Written on the noteboth copiesDriver sees itand takes a copyThen signedas annotatedSign first and report later, and the signed clean note is what gets quoted back.
Fig 2. The sequence at the point of signature. Reversing these five boxes is the most common and most expensive receiving error there is.
  • Machine learning
  • Analytics
  • Front-end & mobile
  • People

The generated wording matters because composing it is exactly the thing nobody will do under time pressure. “Received 12 boxes. Box 7 opened at delivery: 40 units of BRG-4MM, packing slip states 60. Photographed. Signed subject to this note.” is a sentence the system can produce and the person can copy.

Giving the driver a copy with the same annotation is the step that makes it stick. A note on your copy only is a note the carrier has never seen.

Offline first

The interface has to work with no signal and sync when it gets one, because loading bays are consistently the worst-covered part of any building. Photographs and counts are held on the device and pushed when the person walks back inside.

Everything the interface needs — the check list, the expected quantities — is downloaded when the slip is matched the day before, so nothing at the door depends on a network round trip.

Next: what happens to the discrepancy.

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