Amazon FBA Inbound Shipping

FarApp's Amazon FBA Inbound Shipping Sync is a powerful and time-saving tool for our customers who use our Amazon connector and offer products Fulfilled by Amazon. This add-on feature enables our customers to send a shipment of items to the Amazon FBA Warehouse for FBA orders. 

This article explains how the FBA Inbound Shipping Sync works.

Sending Your Stock to Amazon

1. Client creates Transfer Order (TO) in NetSuite, pending fulfillment. 
2. FarApp creates an “inbound-shipping plan” in Amazon, and Amazon indicates to FarApp where the client should ship the package according to Amazon.
3. FarApp gets the shipping plan in return and creates a pick-ticket per inbound-shipment in the plan.
4. Client now adds the appropriate number of packages with no carton content details (mark the weight of the Item Fulfillment, and set Fulfillment as “Packed”). Note that it's to enter the rows in the "Packages" tab of the fulfillment record. Do NOT add records in the "Fulfillment Packages" custom record - this is how FarApp knows how many packages the client wants.
5. FarApp sees what package the client has and creates a blank custom record for the client to do data entry for the quantities of the items that are in the packages. The items for the package should already be there.
6. Client now makes sure that the packages are filled in properly, fill in the package dimensions, and make any changes in their cartons, set fulfillment as “Shipped”).
7. FarApp then relays that info back to Amazon, gets a quote based on this information, prints the label, and syncs it back to your NetSuite.
8. Once the client marks the transfer order as “fulfilled” in NetSuite, FarApp notifies Amazon that it’s shipped.
9. Now FarApp scans Amazon every now and then for item receipts, and when FarApp sees the receipts, FarApp syncs those back to NetSuite.

"Receipt-only" Mode

FarApp also offers a "Receipt-only" mode for our FBA Inbound Shipping sync. In this scenario, you generate the Amazon inbound-shipping plan, add the Amazon Shipment ID to a corresponding Transfer Order in NetSuite, and ship the product to Amazon. All of this takes place outside of FarApp. FarApp simply checks Amazon for new item receipts and posts those to NetSuite based on the mapped Shipment ID.

Setup

If you would like to set up an Amazon FBA Inbound Shipping sync, please open a ticket with us and let us know if you would like the Full Sync or the Receipt-Only Sync. We will assist you in the set up. Please provide the info below based on which sync you want.

Receipt-Only Sync

1. FarApp will need the field ID of the custom field on your Transfer Order form where you will enter the Amazon Shipment ID.
2.  Please provide a Transfer Order ID in the Pending Receipt state. It should have items on it that were shipped to Amazon and has the Amazon Shipment ID populated in the custom field you specified above. We will use this Transfer Order to post the Item Receipt(s) from Amazon.

Full Sync

1. FarApp will need to create custom records that will show up as a custom sublist of your fulfillment record in NetSuite that will be used to input carton contents for each package. Is it ok for us to create this?
2. Will you be using case-packed shipments? If so, please create a custom transaction column field of type integer visible on transfer orders and purchase orders to indicate for a given line item on a transfer order or purchase orders, how many of the item there will be per case. If setting up the field, please provide us the field ID.
3. Will you be using Amazon-partnered carriers? Usually people will use partnered carriers because it's cheaper.
4. What is the originating address for the shipments (i.e. where you'll will be sending the shipments from). This is usually the address for your warehouse and is just a fixed value we'll map for you. If you are shipping from more than one warehouse, we will need the names of the warehouses as well as the addresses.  
5. Please create a folder in your NetSuite File Cabinet where we should put the label files and let us know the folder ID.
6. Please create a transaction body field of type document visible on fulfillments and purchase orders where we should put the label and let us know the field ID.
7. Please provide the NetSuite field that you put your SKUs in.
8. Once ready, please create a transfer order to use for testing and provide us with the internal ID.

FAQs

Does FarApp support LTL (Less Than Load, or relatively small) and small parcel?

Yes, FarApp does support LTL and small parcel type of shipments. You'll provide us with a field that indicates the shipment name/type during setup.

Does FarApp support syncing purchase orders in NetSuite, so that a vendor can ship stock to Amazon on behalf of the client?

Yes, this works similarly to the transfer order functionality except that purchase orders aren't fulfilled in NetSuite. 

Which carriers does FarApp support for FBA Inbound Shipping? 

FarApp support Amazon's preferred carriers and well as using your own carrier.

Can I put Kit Items on Transfer Orders?

Unfortunately, NetSuite does not allow you to put Kit Items on Transfer Orders. The key reason it doesn't work for kits is that you can’t inventory the master item. However Assembly Items should work as Assemblies have an inventory value unless you “unbuild” them.

How will we be able to see where inventory is, what's in our warehouse, what's already made it to Amazon, what's still en route, etc?

When you created the inventory transfer (either a Transfer Order or Purchase Order), the inventory was still in your warehouse. Once the inventory transfer is shipped, it takes the inventory out of available quantity in your warehouse but doesn't add it to the Amazon warehouse yet. Once the receipt is posted against the inventory transfer, the inventory is made available in your Amazon FBA warehouse location in NetSuite In-between, when the transfer is shipped and the receipt is posted, NetSuite will show that inventory as "In Transit" status. It’s still carried on the books as an asset, but it won’t be available at any location. When looking at a specific item you have shipped, NetSuite will show the quantity available at each location as well as that quantity that is in transit. You will also be able to look at the open Transfer or Purchase Order in the relevant orders screen. In-transit inventory should also be counted towards things like your reorder-point, so your NetSuite shouldn't generate further POs just because the inventory isn’t in a particular location yet.

What happens when Amazon over or under receives inventory we sent them?

When Amazon under-receives inventory, FarApp posts an item receipt to NetSuite for the lower amount reported by Amazon. When Amazon over-receives, FarApp tries to sync the quantity that Amazon reported, which causes NetSuite to generate an error. In this scenario, the customer will get an error so that they can dispute it with Amazon.

Can FarApp sync partial receipts?

If the useItemCostAsTransferCost field on your Transfer Order is set to false and there are multiple line items on the Transfer Order, FarApp can sync Item Receipts to partially receive the Transfer Order. Note that you can't partially receive a line item.