Creating Work Orders Overview
Work Orders are how you request warehouse services from Cahoot — preparing inventory, moving it between warehouses, sending it to Amazon FBA, shipping it to a business customer, or removing it from the network. This article helps you pick the right work order type and walks through the creation process, which is the same for every type.
Which Work Order Type Should You Use?
Find what you're trying to do below.
| Work order type | Use it when you need to |
| Inventory Prep — Barcoding | Add, replace, or fix barcodes on units already at a Cahoot warehouse |
| Inventory Prep — Reboxing/Polybagging | Combine SKUs into bundles or multi-packs at a Cahoot warehouse, or break packs down into smaller sizes |
| Inventory Transfer | Move inventory from one Cahoot warehouse to another Cahoot warehouse |
| B2B Fulfillment | Ship a large or wholesale order from a Cahoot warehouse to a retail or business customer, especially one needing freight, vendor labels, or custom documents |
| FBA Forwarding | Ship inventory from a Cahoot warehouse to Amazon FBA |
| Inventory Removal | Send inventory from a Cahoot warehouse to your own address, a 3PL, or any address outside the Cahoot network — including damaged or expired units |
| Other | Request work performed on inventory inside a Cahoot warehouse: inspections, photos, cycle counts, consolidation, sorting, or returns processing |
How to Create a Work Order
Every work order type follows the same process. The fields you see change slightly depending on the type — for example, Ship To only appears on types that ship inventory out. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.
- Go to Work Orders → Add New and select your work order type.
- Enter a Job Name that will help you identify this work order later.
- Select the Job Location — the Cahoot warehouse where your inventory is currently stored.
- Enter the Ship To address and upload any Shipping Documents, if your work order requires them, such FBA Forwarding.
- Add your Items and enter the Qty for each.
- Select a Shipment Method — Parcel, LTL, FTL, or Container.
- Set Include Protection to Yes or No. If Yes, enter the Protection Amount.
- Add any Special Instructions, then click Submit Work Order — or Save as Draft from the Other Actions dropdown to finish later.
If you select LTL or FTL
Three additional dropdowns are required. Answer Yes or No to each:
- Is liftgate required at dropoff location?
- Limited access dropoff?
- Is appointment required at dropoff location?
These answers affect your freight cost and prevent failed deliveries. If you're unsure, confirm with the receiving location before submitting.
If a SKU doesn't appear in the item search
This means one of the following:
- It has no available inventory at the Job Location you selected
- It hasn't been received at that warehouse yet
- All units are already committed to open orders or other work orders
Check your inventory at Cahoot locations to confirm availability. Your Qty cannot exceed the Qty Available shown, which already accounts for committed units. Use the trash icon in the Action column to remove a SKU added by mistake.
What Happens After You Submit
Cahoot reviews your work order for completeness and feasibility. You'll be notified through the Conversations panel when it's approved, or if we need more information. Work begins once the work order is approved and any required payment has been processed.
Work order statuses
| Status | What it means |
| Draft | Saved but not yet submitted |
| Pending Approval | Submitted and awaiting Cahoot review |
| Approved | Cahoot approved it and the fulfillment partner has been notified |
| In Progress | The fulfillment partner has started the work |
| Pending Pickup | Work is done and box or pallet dimensions and weights have been added; ready for labels or BOL |
| Completed | The shipment was handed to the carrier and inventory levels have been updated |
Finding and Tracking Your Work Orders
Use the Search Filters at the top of the All Work Orders page to filter by Job Status, Type, or Job Location, or to search by Job Name.
All communication about a specific work order goes through its Conversations panel rather than a separate support ticket. This keeps the full history attached to the work order.
Video Walkthrough
| Time | Topic |
| 0:08 | Overview |
| 0:24 | Work order types |
| 1:10 | Locating work orders |
| 2:27 | Work order statuses |
| 3:03 | Example work order |
| 4:23 | Inventory prep |
| 7:38 | Inventory transfer |
| 10:32 | FBA forwarding |
| 15:08 | Inventory removals |
Related Articles
- Creating Inventory Prep Work Orders
- Reboxing Work Orders for Multi-Pack and Bundle SKUs
- Creating Inventory Transfer Work Orders
- Creating Work Orders - B2B Fulfillment
- Creating FBA Forwarding Work Orders
- Creating an FBA Shipment Plan in Amazon Seller Central
- Creating Inventory Removal Work Orders
- Creating Other Work Orders
- Using the Conversations Panel for Work Orders and Inbounds