Inventory can be shipped in the system either by automatic notification from a connected shipping system or by completion of Shipping action at a hand-held.

If a shipping system is connected, it must be programmed to export shipping results periodically and at pick-up. Access 1000 collects the shipping results, including such fields as order number, customer purchase order number, tracking number, shipping mode, date, time, and shipping cost. The shipping information is automatically merged with on-file line item pick/pack results and forwarded to the business system. Thus the business system automatically receives all the actual shipping information needed for invoicing without the requirement for manual data entry.

If an order is to be shipped manually, the user selects Shipping from the hand-held menu, keys or scans the order number, accepts or changes the ship date, and enters the shipping cost. Access 1000 changes the status of all line items to shipped and forwards the information to the business system.

A site selection option determines when Access 1000 should relieve inventory. If the business system plans to issue an invoice and relieve inventory immediately upon receipt of the shipping notification, then it makes sense to have Access 1000 relieve inventory at the time it sends the shipping report to the business system. On the other hand, if the invoicing function does not happen immediately, then Access 1000 can be set up to retain the inventory in a shipped status until the business system notifies the system that invoicing is complete.