Backorders On Autopilot, Printing That Behaves And A Lighter Step All Round

High summer, and while the vans shimmer on the tarmac, Helm has delivered a busy run of releases with a single idea running through them all: hand the routine work to the system and make every part of the day feel that bit lighter. Backorders now manage themselves, picking can run to a schedule, printing does exactly what you set, the mobile app has learned a clever new trick at goods in, and a quiet speed improvement has put a spring in the step of every screen.

Backorders, Handled Automatically

The headline of the week: Helm now looks after backorders from the moment an order lands to the moment stock returns.

Introducing Backorder Automation

New settings in Store and Channel Settings move orders into Backorder status automatically when available stock can't cover them. A companion setting can split an order instead, sending the part that can be fulfilled on its way while only the short lines wait.

Helm checks whether waiting backorders can now be fulfilled in full; the moment they can, they move back to New Order and rejoin the flow. Switch it on at Store level to lock the behaviour across every channel, or leave the store setting off and let each channel decide for itself.

No lists, no manual shuffling, no orders waiting longer than they need to.

Picking, Purchase Orders And Goods In, Moving Themselves Along

Time-savers for the warehouse floor, the buying desk and the goods-in bench.

Scheduled Pick Routines

Pick Routines can now run themselves. Tell Helm when each routine should run and picks are generated automatically to your schedule; set the morning wave for before the team arrives, and the pick list is ready and waiting with the kettle.

Sharper Search When Building A Pick

The Product SKU filter in pick creation now matches partial codes, so typing part of a SKU finds exactly the products you're after rather than drawing a blank.

A New Mark As Sent Action For Purchase Orders

Purchase Orders can now be marked as Sent with a dedicated action, available in Helm and through the API. If your PO emails travel by another route, the record stays straight with one click (or one call).

Add Items To A Delivery From A Photo

On the mobile app you can now add items to a Delivery straight from an image. Take a photo of the paperwork that arrived with the goods and AI turns it into suggested delivery lines, ready for you to review, adjust and confirm.

It makes goods in noticeably quicker and kinder on the thumbs. A pallet lands with a delivery note: snap it, check what the app suggests, confirm, and get on with your day.

Printing And Paperwork, Straightened Out

Printing is one of those things nobody thinks about until it goes sideways. This tidy-up makes sure labels and paperwork come out exactly as you intended, whichever route they take to the printer.

Print Labels Straight From The Order List

A Print Label option now appears on the Order List for dispatched orders, as both a bulk action and a single-order action. Select the orders, print the labels, off you go; only the orders that actually have labels will print, so there are no surprises in the tray.

Packing Slips That Follow Your Defaults, Everywhere

Your Packing Slip printing defaults now apply consistently across every print path. Whether a slip is printed from a single order, as part of a bulk action or out at the terminal, the template and settings you chose are the ones that print. Set your preferred defaults once and every corner of Helm respects them.

The Right Size, Even When A Rule Is Resting

When a Document Rule is switched off, printing falls back neatly to your Print Template's default size. You can pause or retire a rule with confidence: documents keep coming out at their proper size, with no surprises at the printer tray.

Crisp, Scannable 6x4 Labels

6x4 label printing now comes out even sharper and true to size, ensuring barcodes scan first time. Fewer reprints, less squinting, and even if the courier's scanner is in a fussy mood, it will find nothing here to complain about.

Lists That Work The Way You Do

The list pages have had a proper going-over, and it shows.

One Click Straight Through

Every list page now opens a record with a single click, while hovering still shows the quick preview. Less clicking, more doing, on every list in the product.

Shipments That Point Home

Every Shipment page now links back to the order it came from, so tracing a parcel back to its paperwork is one click rather than a search.

Order Tags Without The Detour

Typing an existing Order Tag and pressing Enter applies it straight away, just like a brand-new tag. Tagging the third, fourth and fiftieth order is as quick as the first.

Richer Order Imports

Order Imports now accept Dispatched Date and Date Placed columns, and where a placed date isn't supplied, the import date steps in sensibly. Historic orders arrive carrying their real dates.

Storage Cost Groups In Bulk

On the Location List, Assign Storage Cost Group is now a bulk action. Tick the locations, assign the group once, and the billing side of the warehouse keeps pace with the physical one.

Quicker Pages And Quiet Work Behind The Scenes

The reliability work you may never notice, which is rather the point.

A Quicker Step On Every Page

This week's work has trimmed load time right back. Every page load, print and save shares the benefit; the whole product simply feels more eager.

Friendlier Imports

When an import excludes a record, the Import Problems screen now shows the exact CSV row number alongside it, so the culprit line can be found and fixed in moments. The resend action also works smoothly for channel orders that have already been dispatched.

The Despatch Terminal, Kept Perfectly In Step

The Despatch Terminal has been updated in line with changes to the order lookup service it relies on in Helm, keeping order checks at the terminal quick and dependable. There is nothing to change at your end; it is simply the sort of quiet maintenance that keeps busy pack benches running smoothly.

Quiet Fixes And Polish

As ever, this week's releases also include a wide round of smaller fixes and general improvements throughout Helm, all in the name of keeping things running smoothly and reliably. Nothing for you to do; everything simply works that little bit better.

Hand the routine to Helm and give your team their attention back. Thank you for trusting us with your warehouse; every change here exists to keep your orders moving beautifully, for you and your customers.

Your team at Helm