One scan for the box: how Fulfillment 4 weclapp keeps track of dimensions, weight and box stock
The packing station is where it's decided whether your shipping data is correct. We have been developing Fulfillment 4 weclapp, our logistics app for weclapp, together with our customers' warehouse teams for years. One of the features that makes the biggest difference there looks unremarkable at first glance: the box scan. Before the goods go into the parcel, you scan the barcode of the box. From that moment the system knows how big the parcel is, what it weighs and which box has just left your warehouse.
Why the box belongs in the shipping data
Carriers classify every parcel by weight and dimensions. The box is more than a shell here: its own weight counts, and its outer dimensions determine the parcel format. If the system knows the box, these values are correct by themselves, instead of coming from a blanket default that may not fit today's parcel at all.
Then there is stock. Boxes are consumables. If you want to reorder them in time, you need stock that keeps pace with actual consumption.
How the box scan works at the packing station
You open the shipment in Fulfillment 4 weclapp as usual. Then a simple sequence applies: first the box, then the goods.
- Scan the box. The app actively asks for it before you scan the first article.
- Scan articles. The parcel weight is made up of the gross weight of the box and the weights of the scanned articles.
- Take over dimensions. Length, width and height of the box come from the article master in weclapp and become the parcel dimensions. These values go to carrier integrations that process parcel dimensions, for example shipcloud, Dachser, Gebrüder Weiss or Swiss Post Cargo.
- Next box, next parcel. If not everything fits in one box, you simply scan the next one. That automatically starts another parcel, and a shipment becomes a multi-parcel shipment without any detour. The app only allows a new box once the previous one is no longer empty.
In addition, you can store a packaging weight per shipping method, for example for filler material. It is added to the parcel weight as tare.
New: default box per shipping method
Many packing stations have a box that almost always fits a certain shipping method. For this, since August 2026 there is the setting “Default packaging per shipping method” (Standard-Kartonage je Versandart). You store a default box per shipping method and, in addition, a general default as a fallback.
When you open the scan dialog, this box is already preselected, as if you had already scanned it. If you need a different one in an exception, you simply scan or select it as long as the parcel is still empty, and it replaces the default. For most shipments, one scan is thus eliminated without the data becoming less accurate. The feature came directly out of a customer request.
Box stock that manages itself
With the option “Enable stock tracking for boxes” (Lagerverfolgung für Kartons aktivieren), Fulfillment 4 weclapp books a goods issue in weclapp for every box used at shipping. Your boxes then appear there like any other stock article, and you can manage them with your usual reordering logic.
If you have several warehouses, you use “Preferred warehouse for packaging withdrawal” (Bevorzugtes Lager für Kartonage-Entnahme) to define which warehouse is booked from. And if no stock is found for a box, you get a notice, and shipping continues anyway. A parcel never gets stuck because of a box.
What you need to set it up
- In weclapp: Create your boxes as stock-tracked articles in the product group “Shipping material” (Versandmaterial). For each box, maintain a scannable barcode, length, width, height and the gross weight.
- In Fulfillment 4 weclapp: Enable “Enable parcel scanning” (Paket Scanning aktivieren). Optionally, switch on stock tracking for boxes, choose a preferred warehouse and store default boxes per shipping method.
Setup doesn't take long if the box articles are maintained cleanly. We're happy to go through it with you.
Side effect: a clean trail for your packaging
With the box scan, it is documented for every parcel which box it left in, and every goods issue carries the associated shipment number. This parcel level is a more reliable basis for packaging evaluations than the invoice, for example for packaging reporting in Austria. Why that is, you can read in our article on packaging reporting.
Try it at your packing station
How the box scan interacts with the other scan modes is shown on the page Scan-Workflow 4 weclapp, the multi-parcel details are under Multi-parcel shipments: scan box, label per parcel. Already working with Fulfillment 4 weclapp? Then we'll enable the box scan together with you and set up your box articles. Not using the app yet? Then we'll show you the box scan in a short session on a real workflow: Book a call.