When receiving cannot match an arriving load to the correct purchase order, the next job may be a phone call or an inbox search. Someone must find the reference before the team can complete the required check. A useful paperwork process starts with that specific task: what information does it need, and why is that information unavailable?
Get the right paperwork to receiving.
In this example, the receiving team needs the bill of lading to match a shipment to its purchase order before the truck arrives.
Where you need to intervene:
- BookingState document requirements
- Document issuedUpload bill of lading
- Before arrivalReceiving team matches shipment to order
- On arrivalReceiving team checks the load
The upload requirement blocks the booking.
- Needed
- Bill of lading required to bookPurchase order PO-583
- Available
- Booking details for PO-583Bill of lading not yet issued
The bill of lading will only be available later. Allow booking with the order details, then set a document deadline that leaves time for the receiving team’s check.
Check the order reference before arrival.
- Needed
- Shipment DL-204Purchase order PO-583
- Available
- Shipment DL-204Purchase order not supplied
Request the missing purchase order number from the document sender so the receiving team can identify the order.
Check access before arrival.
- Needed
- A copy the receiving team can openShipment DL-204 · Order PO-583
- Available
- A link to the bill of ladingReceiving team cannot open it
The document exists, but the team cannot use it. Ask the sender for an accessible copy.
Check the shipment reference before arrival.
- Needed
- Shipment DL-204Purchase order PO-583
- Available
- Shipment DL-219Purchase order PO-583
The purchase order matches, but the shipment number does not. Request the bill of lading for DL-204.
The useful requirement is the information needed to finish a receiving task. Why it cannot be used determines whether a request, access change or correction would help.
Name the check that cannot be completed
Start with the person who has to use the information. Ask them to show you a delayed delivery and explain what they needed to establish before proceeding. Was it the purchase order, the identity of this particular shipment, or a product detail needed for inspection? Write the requirement around that check.
The distinction matters when one purchase order covers several shipments. A document can show the right order number while describing another load. The receiving team needs enough information to connect the document, the expected delivery and the freight in front of them.
Helena Forslund’s 2007 study of information quality in order fulfilment measured timeliness, accuracy, ease of access and reliability. Those dimensions give you useful questions for a paperwork review: can the team find the information, use it in time and trust that it describes this delivery?
Ask when the information can be supplied
Trace the request back to whoever can fulfil it. The booking contact may have the purchase order details but depend on someone else to issue the bill of lading. Establish when that document becomes available and how it will reach receiving.
In the illustration, making the bill of lading mandatory at booking prevents an appointment from being created because the document has not been issued. The facility can collect the available order details first, state the document requirement clearly and set a later deadline. That deadline needs to leave time for someone to review the document and request a correction before arrival.
Agree the handoff with the supplier or carrier involved. Specify the reference or document, where to send it and who follows up if it is missing. Check that the receiving team can open the submitted copy using its normal access.
In an April 2026 SupplyChainBrain contribution, PathGuide Technologies CEO Eric Allais describes distributors building requested shipment information into their fulfilment workflows. Use the supplier conversation to establish where your receiving requirement fits into that work, so the person preparing the shipment knows what to provide.
Give unresolved deliveries a next step
A reminder helps when someone has forgotten to send a document. An inaccessible link needs an accessible copy. A bill of lading for another shipment needs correction. Give the sender a request that identifies the actual problem and the delivery concerned, so they can act without another round of clarification.
DataDocks can keep uploaded documents with their appointments and support reminders for missing paperwork. That gives the team a shared place to look and a way to prompt submission. Someone still needs to check that the information supports the receiving task.
Agree who handles cases still unresolved near arrival and who can decide how the delivery should proceed under your facility’s requirements. Record what remains outstanding and the person following it up, so the next shift can continue the work.
Choose one recent paperwork delay and trace it from the original request to the completed check. Change the requirement, timing or access that caused the delay. On the next comparable delivery, ask the receiving colleague whether they could finish the check without chasing an answer.
