When a picker cannot find an item

Last reviewed: 2026-10-11

What this is

When a picker cannot find a unit at the bin they were sent to, they report it from the picker. CanShip takes the unit off the order's allocation, marks the order short, and flags the bin so someone counts it. It also puts the rest of that product in the bin on hold until the bin is counted, so no other order is sent to a shelf that may be short.

Report it from the picker

1. At the location, click Can't Find on the item's line.
2. Read the question and click Confirm.
3. Carry on with the job. The rest of the order is picked into its tote as usual.

The line then reads Can't find reported, and the job's last screen lists what could not be found.

What changes

• The order reads Short in the Orders list, with Partial under Inv. Status. In the order, the line shows 0 allocated.
• The bin reads Count requested under Inventory and under Settings > Locations.
• Every free unit of that product in the bin goes on hold with the reason Can't Find. The picker's confirmation says how many. Under Inventory, the row shows the hold with the order and pick job it came from.
• The Dashboard's Needs Attention card counts the bins waiting for a count and the units on hold until then.
• The bell in the header shows a line for the hold. See Notifications: the bell in the header.
• Stock on hand does not change. Only the allocation is released.

Count the bin

Go to Settings > Locations, find the bin, and count it.

• If the count matches what CanShip shows, click Counted on the bin's row. The flag clears and the Can't Find hold is released.
• If it does not match, correct the stock under Inventory > Adjust Inventory with the reason Cycle count. That clears the flag too.

A hold someone placed by hand for another reason, such as Damaged, is not released by the count.

If you release the Can't Find hold from the Inventory page instead of counting, the stock is free again, but the bin still reads Count requested until it is counted.

While the stock is on hold

A new order for that product is saved with nothing allocated from that bin. CanShip says why: the units are on hold (Can't Find), and to count the bin or release the hold. The same message shows when you click Allocate Inventory in the order.

Fill the order again

1. Once there is stock for the line, open the order and click Allocate Inventory. CanShip confirms with Inventory allocated in full.
2. On the Orders list, tick the order, click Actions and choose Add to pick job.

The new job holds only the line still to pick. Under What's in this job it also lists what is already in the order's tote. When the picker scans the unit, CanShip names the order's tote and asks them to scan it, so the unit joins the rest of the order.