Use containers to package and store finished goods at the end of a production line and to warehouse them in single-level containers before shipping. Also use containers to consolidate goods going to the same location. A container can be a box of finished goods, a pallet of boxes, or a truckload of pallets.

You must set up item numbers representing containers such as boxes, pallets, racks, or truck trailers in Item Master Maintenance (1.4.1). Containers can be managed like any item in the system. You can use no order planning or inventory tracking to full MRP with lot/serial control to track expensive racks, truck trailers, or other specialized containers.

If you want to track container inventory, assign a nonzero GL cost to container item numbers. This ensures that the system creates inventory transactions of type ISS-UNP when you confirm shippers that reference these container items. If you do not want to track container inventory, create dummy item numbers for containers that have zero GL costs. See Creating Shippers Manually.