Imagine this, your operations team just received a new export booking. The order has already been entered into CargoWise, but now it’s time to convert it into an active job for shipment execution. You’re managing multiple orders, each requiring its own documentation, customs checks, and client updates. Without a clear workflow, it’s easy for information to get lost between the order entry stage and job creation.
That’s where understanding how to create and attach orders to jobs in CargoWise becomes essential. This function connects your sales and operations workflows, ensuring every shipment moves smoothly from booking to delivery with full visibility.
Why Linking Orders and Jobs in CargoWise Matters?
In logistics, efficiency depends on how smoothly your internal systems talk to each other. When orders and jobs exist as separate, disconnected records, it causes three major issues:
Duplicate data entry: Teams spend hours retyping customer, product, and route details.
Missed information: Packing details, Incoterms, or customer instructions might not transfer to the job record.
Visibility gaps: Operations staff lose track of which shipments belong to which orders.
By attaching orders directly to jobs, CargoWise keeps everything linked, from initial booking through shipment execution, billing, and final delivery. It’s not just an administrative task; it’s a key step toward maintaining operational control and accuracy.
What You Should Know Before You Start?
Before creating or attaching orders, make sure you’re familiar with these basic CargoWise functions:
Order and Planning Information: Understand how to enter key order data such as shipper, consignee, routing, and product details.
Order Lines: Know how to record individual product or SKU-level details for accurate packing and invoicing later.
Shipment Pre-Advice: Be able to review expected shipment information and identify the right order to link.
This foundation ensures your linked orders flow correctly into the forwarding job and financial modules.
Creating a Job from an Existing Order
Let’s say your sales team has already created an order in CargoWise. The next step is to turn that order into a shipment or job record.
Go to Operate > Forwarding > Order Manager > Orders.
Use filters to locate the specific order.
Select the order and click Edit.
From the Actions menu, choose the appropriate option depending on what you’re creating.
CargoWise gives several options based on the workflow you need:
Create Declaration: Starts a customs declaration (with a “B” reference) and attaches the order.
Create Consol/Shipment/Declaration: Creates a consolidation, shipment, and customs declaration (with an “S” reference). If multiple products are listed, the system will ask if you want to merge the order lines.
Create Shipment: Generates a new shipment record.
Create Quick Booking: Ideal for simple or single-transaction shipments.
Create Warehouse Receive: Creates a warehouse receiving record, provided a warehouse address is defined in the order.
Once created, CargoWise automatically transfers relevant order data, such as shipper, consignee, goods details, and route information, into the new job record. This ensures accuracy while saving time for your operations team.
Attaching an Existing Order to a New Job
Sometimes, you may already have a new job created and want to attach an existing order to it. Here’s how to do it:
Open a new Job record.
Enter key details: transport mode, container mode, consignor, and consignee.
If there are unattached orders available, the New Select Orders window will appear.
Choose the required order and click Select, then confirm by clicking Yes in the prompt.
When the Order Lines to Pack Lines Mapping window opens, decide if you want to merge order lines or leave them separate.
Complete any remaining details in the job record and click Save & Close.
This process links the job to the order while maintaining full traceability. Every update to the job now reflects in the order history, giving complete visibility to both your operations and finance teams.
Understanding Order-to-Job Mapping
One of CargoWise’s most powerful capabilities is how it handles order line mapping. When you attach orders, you can choose to:
Merge lines: Combine similar products or cargo units into a single pack line.
Keep separate lines: Maintain detailed product visibility for customs or billing accuracy.
Choosing the right option depends on your business model. For example:
Freight forwarders handling consolidated cargo may prefer merging for simpler documentation.
3PL providers might keep lines separate to track SKU-level data for clients.
This flexibility helps ensure your job data structure aligns perfectly with how your business manages shipments.
Common Use Cases
Different logistics functions use the order-to-job feature in slightly different ways:
Forwarders: Convert customer orders into jobs to initiate shipment processing and status updates.
Customs brokers: Attach orders when creating declarations to link goods and documents directly.
Warehouse operators: Use orders to trigger warehouse receiving and dispatch activities.
No matter your role, linking orders ensures data flows automatically across modules, from operations to finance to customer visibility portals like CargoWise Neo.
Tips for Optimizing the Process
Here are a few practical recommendations to make the most of order-to-job linking in CargoWise:
Maintain clean order data: Double-check that all mandatory fields, such as consignee, transport mode, and routing, are filled before creating the job.
Use standard naming conventions: Consistent job and order references help avoid duplication and confusion.
Train your team: Ensure both sales and operations teams understand how orders flow into jobs.
Audit regularly: Review linked jobs periodically to confirm that no orders remain unattached or incomplete.
These best practices prevent errors that can delay billing, compliance filing, or shipment tracking updates.
How This Improves Operational Efficiency?
By linking orders and jobs properly, CargoWise users gain several tangible benefits:
Reduced manual entry: Order data flows directly into job records, saving time.
Improved visibility: Managers can track the full order lifecycle within one system.
Better accuracy: Fewer opportunities for human error or missing data.
Integrated compliance: When linked, jobs automatically carry the correct product and route data for customs filing.
In short, this workflow turns CargoWise into a single source of truth for shipment data, from customer booking to final invoice.
Conclusion
Creating and attaching orders to jobs in CargoWise isn’t just a technical step, it’s a vital process that keeps your logistics operations connected, accurate, and efficient. It ensures your sales orders smoothly flow into execution, minimizes data re-entry, and provides complete visibility across departments.
As logistics operations continue to grow in complexity, these connected workflows are key to faster turnaround times and better customer service.
If your team struggles with linking orders, maintaining clean data, or automating order-to-job mapping, our certified CargoWise consultants can help. At Elicit we specialize in optimizing CargoWise setups for freight forwarders, 3PLs, and customs teams, ensuring your system runs exactly the way your business does.
Talk to our experts today to learn how to streamline your CargoWise operations and keep every order moving effortlessly from quote to delivery.
