Inventory and Order Management: Changing Picking Locations on the Fly

When warehouse staff pick items from a shipment in MYOB Acumatica, they may find that the full item quantity isn’t available in the specified location. Maybe some units are damaged or missing, or perhaps the units in the location don’t have the expected lot or serial numbers. Until now, the picker couldn't pick the remaining quantity from another location without stopping to ask a manager to update the shipment's details.

In Version 2026.1.1, location-level shortages no longer create roadblocks when you use paper pick lists. Pickers can now change the location of unpicked quantity in a shipment directly from the Pick, Pack, and Ship screen of the mobile app. This means that they can immediately switch to another available location and keep the process moving—without waiting for a manager to update the shipment manually.

Attention:
This functionality is not available for pick lists generated by using the Paperless Picking feature.

Curious about how to change a location? Let's take a closer look.

Updating Picking Settings

Before warehouse staff can use the new functionality, make sure that the new Allow Picking Location Changes check box (shown below) is selected on the Warehouse Management tab of the Sales Orders Preferences (SO101000) form. By default, this check box is selected during the upgrade to Version 2026.1.1.

Figure 1. The Allow Picking Location Changes check box


Changing Locations in Shipment Lines

On the Pick, Pack, and Ship screen, a picker starts by scanning a shipment or pick list number. Once the document is loaded (Item 1 below), the picker taps Review (Item 2) to review its details.

Figure 2. The Review button


Suppose that a picker has picked 40 pounds of apples and discovers that 10 remaining pounds are missing. When they tap Review, the system opens the shipment-level Review screen, which lists items and their picked quantity (Item 1) and overall quantity (Item 2).

Figure 3. The Review screen for the shipment


The picker taps the line with the stock item whose location needs to be changed. The line-level Review screen opens with detailed information about the selected line.

On this screen, the picker reviews the item’s picked and overall quantities (Item 1 below). On the More menu, they tap Change Location (Item 2) to open the dialog box.

Figure 4. The Review screen for the line


In the Change Location dialog box, the picker reviews the Remaining Qty. value (Item 1 below)—the quantity to be picked from another location or other locations. Above this field, locations with shippable quantities are displayed.

Tip:
For lot- or serial-tracked items, quantities available for shipping are shown as follows:
  • If the item’s lot number was allocated in a sales order, the system shows available quantities at other locations for only this lot.
  • If the item’s lot or serial class has the User-Enterable issue method, available quantities are shown without lot or serial numbers.

When the picker taps the check box to the left of the location, the system decreases the remaining quantity and increases Qty. to Pick (Item 2) for the location. If the available quantity is insufficient, the picker can select another location (and continue until the remaining quantity is 0). Once the remaining quantity is fully distributed, the picker taps Change (Item 3).

Figure 5. The Change Location dialog box


The system splits the original line into separate lines—one for each picking location (shown below)—and returns to the shipment-level Review screen.

Figure 6. The item with the changed location


The picker can then return to the Pick, Pack, and Ship screen and pick the remaining item quantity from another location.

Tracking Allocations for Updated Lines

As a warehouse manager, you can view location overrides in real time. If a picker changes the initial location and picks items from multiple locations, the system automatically updates the line on the Shipments (SO302000) form as follows:

  • Inserts <SPLIT> in the Location column on the General tab for the updated line (Item 1 below)
  • Adds a line split for each location in the Line Details dialog box, which opens when you click Line Details on the table toolbar (Item 2)
Figure 7. A shipment line picked from two locations


If the picking location is changed for an item on a Wave or Batch worksheet, the system adds a row for each new location in the Pick List dialog box of the Picking Worksheets (SO302500) form. The system also temporarily creates an additional SO Allocated item plan (a system record that represents a planned allocation of inventory) for the quantity picked from the new location. This item plan exists only during picking and is removed when the shipment is marked as Picked in the worksheet. At this point, the original shipment-based item plan is deleted.

Viewing the History of Changes

On the new History of Picking Location Changes (SO406020) inquiry form, you can view shipments whose locations have been changed by pickers.

Figure 8. The History of Location Changes inquiry form


Feature Highlights

  • Pickers can now change the assigned picking locations in shipment lines directly in the mobile app.
  • Warehouse managers can review the updated locations on the Shipments (SO302000) or Picking Worksheets (SO302500) form.
  • Warehouse managers can review all shipments with changed locations in one place.