> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arcuserp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Scheduled Ship Date

> Set or change a future ship date on one or more order lines, notify the customer automatically, and surface the schedule on the printed order copy.

<Note>
  Scheduled Ship Date lets a customer service rep defer specific lines on an
  order to a future ship date without putting the whole order on hold. The
  customer is notified by email at the time the schedule is set, and the
  printed order PDF reflects the per-line schedule.
</Note>

## When to use it

Scheduled Ship Date is for the customer-facing case where one or more lines
on an active sales order need to ship later than the rest. Common examples:

* Customer asked you to hold a specific line for a future jobsite delivery.
* One backordered line has a known restock date and the customer wants the
  rest of the order to ship now.
* A mixed order has services or kits with longer lead times and the
  customer needs visibility into when each line will ship.

The schedule is per line. You can defer a single line or every line. The
non-deferred lines on the order keep their existing ship-as-soon-as-ready
behavior.

## How to set or change the date

1. Open the order detail page.
2. In the line-item table, find the line you need to defer.
3. Click the ship-date pill on that line. It may read **Ships ASAP**, show a short date such as **Jun 1**, or read **Released** if the line is already in the pack queue.
4. In the **Schedule ship date** modal, set the **Requested ship date**. Clear the date to return the line to ship-as-soon-as-ready behavior.
5. If the customer or warehouse needs context, add a **Reason**. The reason is optional, but if customer email is enabled it is included in the customer notification.
6. Click **Save**.

When the line saves, three things happen automatically:

1. The customer receives a `Scheduled ship date set` email listing every
   line on the order that is currently scheduled, with each line's SKU,
   item title, quantity, and ship date.
2. The order timeline records the schedule change.
3. The next time the order PDF is generated, a Ship Date column appears on
   the line-item table so the customer can see at a glance which lines
   ship now and which lines ship later.

## Release a scheduled line early

Use release when the customer calls back and asks you to ship a deferred line today, or when stock arrives earlier than expected.

1. Open the order detail page.
2. Find the deferred line. Deferred lines show a dated pill and a **Release** link.
3. Click **Release**.
4. In the **Release line for immediate pack** modal, enter an override reason. Arcus requires at least 5 characters.
5. Click **Release now**.

Expected result: Arcus changes the line to **Released**, logs the override reason, and adds the line to today's pack queue. The scheduled date is no longer holding that line back.

## Locked or disabled states

* If the line shows **Released**, the schedule pill is read-only because the line has already moved into the pack queue.
* If the line-item table is locked because the order is cancelled, fulfilled, posted, actively labeled, or otherwise protected, the ship-date pill is disabled with the same lock reason as the line editor.
* If a date picker will not allow a past date, choose today for immediate release or use the **Release** action on an already scheduled future line.

## What the customer sees

The customer email is transactional. It announces the scheduled date,
shows a table of every line currently on the schedule, and includes a link
back to the customer portal. If you set a Ship Hold Reason, the reason
appears as a friendly note in the email so the customer understands why
the line was held.

The order PDF shows a Ship Date column on the line-item table only when at
least one line on the order has a scheduled ship date. Orders that ship
normally render with the standard column set and no extra noise.

Each line cell on the PDF reads one of three values:

* A formatted ship date (e.g. "May 29, 2026") for lines that are scheduled.
* "Ships ASAP" for lines on the same order that are not scheduled.
* "Released" for scheduled lines that have already been released into the
  pack queue by the auto-release scheduler or a manual release action.

## Auto-release and the scheduler

The system runs a scheduler that auto-releases scheduled lines on their
ship date so the warehouse picks them on schedule without manual
intervention. The customer email at scheduling time is the proactive
notification; the standard shipment notification fires at fulfillment time
once the package ships.

## Disabling the customer email

The customer email is on by default. To turn it off for the entity:

1. Open Settings then Notifications.
2. Locate the "Scheduled ship date set" toggle under Transactional emails.
3. Turn the toggle off and save.

The toggle is per entity. Customers cannot opt out individually because the
email is transactional under CAN-SPAM (it announces a state change on the
customer's own order).

## Cross-references

* Order Fulfillment: how scheduled lines flow into the pack queue.
* Order Exceptions: how to handle a scheduled line whose date passes
  without release.
* Customer Notifications: full catalog of customer-facing emails and which
  toggles control them.