Warehouse Locations

Using the License Plate Numbers (LPN) Feature

License Plates (LPNs) are scannable physical containers — pallets, cases, totes, and bins — that group inventory within a warehouse and move as a single unit. They support up to three levels of nesting and integrate with pick, split, and move workflows to keep inventory location data accurate across the entire warehouse hierarchy.

License Plates (LPNs)

License Plates let you group inventory into physical containers — pallets, cases, totes, or bins — and move everything inside them as a single unit. Instead of updating each item individually when a pallet moves across the warehouse, you scan the container once and ShipSidekick updates everything automatically.

What is a License Plate?

A License Plate (LPN) is a barcode label attached to a physical container in your warehouse. When you scan an LPN, ShipSidekick knows exactly what inventory is inside it and where it's located.

LPNs are useful when:

  • You receive a full pallet and want to store it as one unit before breaking it down.

  • You need to move a group of items from one location to another without scanning each one.

  • You want to track which tote or bin a picker is working from during a pick run.

Containers within containers

LPNs can be nested up to three levels deep, which mirrors how physical packaging works:

Pallet
  └─ Case
       └─ Inner Pack

A pallet can contain cases, and each case can contain inner packs. Moving the pallet moves everything inside it automatically.

Enabling License Plates

License Plates are turned off by default. A warehouse admin needs to enable the feature before it appears in your warehouse.

To enable License Plates:

  1. Go to Settings → Organization Settings.

  2. Turn on Enable License Plates.

  3. Save your changes.

Once enabled, the LPN features will appear throughout the warehouse interface.

Creating an LPN

You can create an LPN when you receive a shipment, during put-away, or any time you want to group inventory into a container.

To create an LPN:

  1. Navigate to Inventory → License Plates.

  2. Click New License Plate.

  3. Select the warehouse this LPN belongs to.

  4. Optionally assign it to a warehouse location.

  5. Enter a custom number or leave it blank — ShipSidekick will auto-generate one (e.g. LPN-00042).

  6. Click Save.

Tip: If you're creating an LPN that lives inside another container (e.g. a case inside a pallet), select the parent LPN during setup. The new LPN will inherit the parent's location automatically.

Moving an LPN

Moving an LPN updates the location for the container and everything inside it — all nested containers and all inventory — in one action.

To move an LPN:

  1. Find the LPN in Inventory → License Plates, or scan its barcode.

  2. Click Move.

  3. Select or scan the destination location.

  4. Confirm the move.

Note: You can only move an LPN to a location within the same warehouse. Archived LPNs cannot be moved.

Splitting an LPN

Splitting lets you take some inventory off a container and move it to a different LPN. This is useful when breaking down a pallet — for example, pulling a few cases off to fulfill an order while keeping the rest in storage.

To split an LPN:

  1. Open the LPN you want to split from.

  2. Click Split.

  3. Select the inventory items you want to move out.

  4. Choose an existing LPN to receive them, or enter a number to create a new one on the spot.

  5. Confirm the split.

The selected inventory moves to the target LPN. Everything else stays on the original container.

Archiving an LPN

When a container is empty and no longer in use, you can archive it to remove it from active inventory views. Archiving is a soft delete — the record is kept for history but the LPN won't appear in searches or pick flows.

Before you can archive an LPN:

  • All inventory inside it must be removed or transferred to zero.

  • Any nested containers (child LPNs) must be archived first.

To archive an LPN:

  1. Open the LPN in Inventory → License Plates.

  2. Click Archive.

  3. Confirm the action.

How LPNs affect picking

ShipSidekick automatically skips inventory on archived LPNs when allocating picks. If inventory is on an active LPN, it is available for picking as normal. You don't need to do anything extra — the system handles this in the background.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I move a pallet that has cases inside it? All nested containers and their inventory move with it. You only need to scan or move the top-level pallet.

Can I put an LPN inside another LPN that already has inventory on it? Yes. A parent LPN can have both nested child LPNs and its own inventory at the same time.

What is a Virtual LPN? Virtual LPNs are created automatically by ShipSidekick for every warehouse location. They are system containers that keep the inventory model consistent in the background. You won't see them in any lists or searches — they are invisible to day-to-day warehouse operations.

Can I reuse an archived LPN number? No. LPN numbers are unique per warehouse and cannot be reassigned once used.

Can I move an LPN to a different warehouse? No. LPNs are tied to the warehouse they were created in and cannot be transferred to another warehouse.