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Transfer Inventory Ownership

What this does​

Transfer Inventory Ownership moves stock from one customer to another inside the same warehouse, without moving anything physically.

It's built for warehouses whose customers buy from and sell to each other. The pallets stay where they are, with the same LPN numbers and the same locations. Only the owner of the stock changes, so nobody has to relabel or move a pallet.

When you complete a transfer, Teamship:

  • Removes the stock (every SKU on the selected LPNs) from the sending customer
  • Adds the same stock, with the same lot, expiry and other attribute values, to the receiving customer
  • Creates the receiving customer's product first if they don't have that SKU yet
  • Records the transfer in product history, LPN history and the Adjustment Report for both customers

When to use it​

  • One of your customers sells stock to another customer stored in the same warehouse
  • A brand changes hands, or stock moves between related companies you store for
  • Stock was received under the wrong customer and needs to move to the right one

To move stock between warehouses instead, use a Transfer Order.

Rules​

  • All selected LPNs must belong to one customer and one warehouse.
  • The receiving customer must be in the same organization and assigned to the same warehouse.
  • LPNs whose stock is reserved for a shipping order, or that are added to a shipping order through multi-add or Order by weight, can't be transferred. Remove them from the transfer first.
  • Quarantined LPNs and quarantined products can be transferred. They stay quarantined for the new owner.
  • Both bulk LPNs and picking LPNs can be transferred.
  • Only warehouse roles can transfer ownership.

Transferring stock​

1. Select the LPNs​

  1. Go to Inventory and open the Ship by LPN tab.
  2. Select the LPNs that hold the stock you're transferring.
  3. From the Action menu, choose Transfer Inventory Ownership.

If your selection mixes customers or warehouses, Teamship shows one option for each customer-and-warehouse group, with its LPN count. Pick the group you want, and Teamship unselects the rest for you.

2. Choose the new owner​

The Transfer Inventory Ownership page shows:

  • From: the current customer, company and warehouse, filled in from your selection
  • Customer: the customer receiving the stock (required). Only customers in your organization assigned to this warehouse are listed. You can search by name.
  • Warehouse: the same warehouse, filled in automatically
  • Reference ID (optional): your own reference, such as a purchase order or invoice number. Both customers can search for it later.
  • Transferring LPNs: each LPN with its location and zone, and every product on it with SKU, UOM and quantity. Use Delete to drop an LPN from the transfer.

There's no Save button and no draft. If you leave or refresh the page before completing, start again from the Ship by LPN tab.

3. Complete the transfer​

Select Complete Transfer. Teamship checks every LPN again for shipping order reservations. If any fail, nothing is transferred: remove the LPNs it lists and try again.

Once complete:

  • The sending customer's on-hand quantity goes down, and the receiving customer's goes up by the same amount, for each product.
  • The LPN number, location and zone don't change.
  • If the receiving customer already has the SKU, the stock joins that product. If not, Teamship creates it with the same details as the original: name, UOM, dimensions, weight, pictures and tags.
  • If the receiving customer's product doesn't have the needed attributes (for example lot or expiry) turned on, Teamship turns them on.
  • Any LPN left empty is deleted, as usual.

A completed transfer can't be edited.

Storage charges and quarantine​

Storage charges move to the new owner. The sending customer is never charged storage for the transferred LPNs again. The receiving customer is charged from their own storage setup:

  • If they have a pallet storage charge with the same name as the LPN's current charge, that charge is used.
  • Otherwise, their default pallet storage charge is used, or their default storage charge using their own calculation method (CBM or square feet).

The next storage billing run charges the receiving customer. See Storage Billing.

Quarantine carries over. A quarantined LPN stays quarantined. If quarantined stock is transferred to a product that isn't quarantined, the receiving product becomes quarantined, and its history notes it was quarantined because of the transfer.

History and reporting​

Every transfer is recorded in:

  • Product inventory history: a removal on the sending customer's product and an addition on the receiving customer's
  • LPN Lookup: the LPN history shows the ownership change (from and to customer, date and user), and the product history shows each removal and addition. See LPN Lookup.
  • Adjustment Report: one removal row for the sending customer and one addition row for the receiving customer, per product. Both rows show the Reference ID and a system-generated transfer ID. The transfer ID links to a read-only page listing every LPN and product transferred. See Reports.

What customers see​

Both customers see the transfer in their own Adjustment Report: the sending customer sees the removal and the receiving customer sees the addition, each with the Reference ID. Each sees only their own rows. Both can open the read-only transfer page, but neither can change it.

Roles and permissions​

Warehouse roles​

  • Transfer inventory ownership between customers
  • View transfer history and the read-only transfer page

Customers (parent and child)​

  • Don't see the Transfer Inventory Ownership action
  • See their side of each transfer in the Adjustment Report, and can open the read-only transfer page

Common issues​

IssueLikely cause
Transfer Inventory Ownership isn't in the Action menuYou're signed in with a customer role. Only warehouse roles can transfer.
Asked to choose which LPNs to keepThe selected LPNs belong to more than one customer or warehouse
An error lists LPNs used in a shipping orderTheir stock is reserved for a shipping order, or they were added through multi-add or Order by weight. Remove them from the transfer.
The customer you want isn't in the listThey're in another organization, or not assigned to this warehouse
Can't complete the transferNo customer is selected, or every LPN has been removed
The receiving customer now has a new productThey didn't have that SKU, so Teamship created it from the original
Transferred stock is quarantined for the new ownerThe stock or LPN was quarantined before the transfer