# Introduction - Packages

A package records what went into which box.

It sits between picking and shipping, and it exists so that a customer receiving three boxes on Tuesday and one on Thursday can be told exactly what is in each.

![The Packages screen listing thirty-nine packages with columns for Package Number, Package Date, Package Type, Source, Customer/Vendor, Items Count, Status and Carrier. Status reads Shipped on most rows and Not Shipped on the rest, and carrier is filled only on the packages that have been despatched.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/packages/package-list.png)

*A package with no carrier or tracking has been packed but not yet despatched.*

## Why packages are separate

Picking is about what leaves the shelf. Shipping is about what leaves the building. Packing is the record connecting the two, and it is what makes a packing slip and a courier label possible. If you never split orders across boxes, packing is a formality. The moment you do, it is the only record of which item is in which box.

> **Note:**
>
> **Packing still moves no stock**
>
> Like picking, packing changes nothing on your books. Stock leaves on the shipment.

## Multi-box orders

One sales order can produce as many packages as it needs, and several packages can go out on one shipment. The relationship is deliberately flexible because reality is: two boxes today by courier, one next week by pallet, all against the same order.

1. **Sales Order**: The commitment
2. **Packages**: One or many boxes
3. **Shipment**: One or many despatches

## Do you need them

Not if you ship complete orders in one box. Ship directly from the picklist or the order. Packing earns its keep on split deliveries, on anything a carrier needs dimensions for, and anywhere a customer will one day ask which box the missing item was supposed to be in.