Cargoflow at a glance

Overview

Cargoflow is the system a warehouse uses to run its whole operation: who arrives at the gate, which truck is at which dock, what goods come in, where they are stored, what goes out and how much each customer is charged. It all lives in one place, so something captured once (for example, the driver’s plates at check-in) flows on its own to the receipt, the shipment and the invoice.

The system is built from modules. Each warehouse has only the modules it contracted turned on, and each person sees only what their role allows. That is why two people in the same warehouse can see different menus.

The modules

The top bar groups screens by stage of work: Home, Operations, Inventory, Commercial, Reports and Admin (the one with the gear).

Operations: docks, yard and visits

• Docks — the board with each dock and the loading or unloading job it has. The supervisor assigns door and operator; the operator moves the job forward from their screen. See Docks.
• My Work — the operator’s screen with their current job and the next ones. See The operator app.
• Yard and Special Jobs — the map of spots with parked trailers, their moves, and jobs that are neither loading nor unloading (washing, repair, inspection). See Yard.
• Visitors and Drivers — registration of drivers and visitors at the gate, at the self-service kiosk or by invitation. See Driver registration and Visits.
• Crossdock and Accessorials — goods that come in and go out without being stored, and the extra charges captured during operations. See Cross-dock and Additional services.

Inventory: receipts, stock and shipments

• Inbound shipments (ASN) and Receipts — the notice of what is on its way and the document recording what actually arrived. See Receiving.
• Stock, adjustments, cycle counts and transfers — what is on hand, where it is and how it is corrected. See Inventory.
• Products, locations and zones — the catalogs everything above uses.
• Shipments — goods going out: created, allocated, picked and shipped. See Shipping.

Commercial: customers, quotes and billing

• Customers — each company’s record: warehouses, contacts, rates, emails and portal access. See Customers.
• Quotes — the price proposal before the customer starts. See Quotes.
• Billing, receivables and archive — the charges operations generate, the invoices and what is still to be collected. See Billing.

Pieces that serve everything else

• Reports and KPIs — exportable lists and indicator boards. See Reports and KPIs.
• Document templates — the design of receipts, bills of lading and invoices that are printed or emailed. See Documents.
• Notifications — internal alerts (the bell), customer emails, and SMS or WhatsApp to drivers and visitors. See Notifications.
• Client portal, API and EDI — ways the customer sees their goods or sends information without calling the warehouse. See Client portal, API and EDI.

The journey of the goods

1. The customer announces what is coming (ASN) from their portal, via API or by email to the warehouse.
2. The driver arrives and checks in at the gate or kiosk. If no door is free, the trailer waits in the yard.
3. The supervisor assigns a door and an operator. On assignment the arrival is linked to its receipt and the driver’s details flow onto the document. The driver can get an SMS with the door.
4. The operator unloads and captures what actually arrived; the supervisor reviews and confirms. At that moment the goods enter stock and the customer can get their notice.
5. The goods are put away in their location, counted, adjusted or transferred when needed.
6. The customer requests an outbound: the shipment is created, stock is allocated, picked, loaded at the dock and shipped.
7. Each step generates its charges (receiving, storage, handling, accessorials) that land in the "To be invoiced" pool and from there on the invoice.

Each leg has its detailed walkthrough: From notice to stock, From order to departure and From quote to first invoice.

One piece of data, many places

That is why it is better to fix data at the source rather than on the final document: the correction travels on its own. What the customer sees at each step: What the customer sees and when.

Example: a delivery from start to finish

On Monday, Northern Trading Co. sends an ASN for 240 boxes from their portal. On Tuesday at 8:10 their driver arrives, checks in at the kiosk, and the trailer is parked in yard spot A-03. At 8:40 the supervisor assigns Dock 4 and Luis Pérez as operator; the driver gets the SMS. Luis unloads, counts 238 boxes and captures them; at 9:30 Ana López confirms the receipt. The 238 boxes enter stock, the customer sees the receipt in their portal and the receiving charges are created. At month-end, those charges and storage appear on their invoice.

Warehouses, contracted modules and permissions

What each person sees depends on three things, in this order:

1. The warehouse they are working in. Almost everything (customers, stock, receipts, reports, numbering) is filtered by the active warehouse shown in the top bar. See Change language and warehouse.
2. The modules turned on in that warehouse. Cargoflow defines which modules your company contracted; within that, each warehouse has some on and some off. A module that is off disappears from the menu, and opening its address directly shows a page-not-found. See Warehouses and modules.
3. Their role’s permissions. A worker does not see billing; accounting does not see the dock board. See User roles.

The full detail is in Modules, permissions and access.

Where to start reading

• Setting up a warehouse: Setup guide.
• Your first day: Finding your way around and Your profile and account security.
• Managing the team: Manage users.

FAQ

Why can’t I see a module my colleague has?

Because you are in different warehouses (and the module is only on in theirs), or their role has a permission yours lacks. Ask your admin to check your role and warehouses in Users & access.

Can I work in several warehouses?

Yes, if your user has more than one. Switch with the selector in the top bar; from then on everything you see belongs to the chosen warehouse. See Working with several warehouses.

Can my customers sign in?

Yes, through the client portal, a separate view: the customer sees only their goods, receipts, shipments and indicators, and can announce arrivals and request outbounds. Their users are created from the customer record, not in Users & access. See Client portal.

Does it connect to other systems?

Yes: via API, EDI, and QuickBooks for invoices. What comes in those ways lands in the same flows as manual entries. See Integrations, API and EDI in operations.