5 ways to automate delivery received checks

#1 - The basic check-in

Who it's for: Single-site businesses taking the odd delivery, where one or two people sign for everything and there is no formal goods-in process.

What it is: A delivery received check is a short log filed at the door the moment a driver arrives. Four steps on a phone: type the supplier, type what arrived, pick the condition, add a note. Each completion is one stamped record, so a week of deliveries becomes a clean list instead of a pile of paper dockets in a drawer.

In practice: Take a single-site coffee roastery. When the green-bean delivery turns up, whoever is on the floor opens the canvas, types the supplier name, types "8 sacks Brazilian, 1 pallet packaging", and picks the condition. One sack is split, so they pick "Damaged or short, partial accept" and type "one sack split at the seam, accepted the other seven". Submit. Server timestamp captured. No clipboard, no docket lost behind the machine, and the manager can see exactly what landed without being there.

Why it works: The check is the record. The act of receiving does not change, but now there is a server-side, time-stamped log of who delivered, what arrived, and the state it was in. If the supplier later disputes a credit for that split sack, there is a dated entry from the moment of delivery, not a memory of a Tuesday three weeks ago.

Steps included:

• 1 text input (supplier)
• 1 text input (what arrived)
• 1 single-choice step (3 options: all fine, damaged or short, refused)
• 1 text input (notes)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one person signs for deliveries, so everyone checks the same things before they accept.
2. Add photo evidence (#3) once a damaged or short delivery needs visual proof to win a credit from the supplier.
3. Add a signature (#4) once an auditor or your insurer expects a named, signed receipt for every delivery that comes in.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Sites with multiple suppliers and rotating receivers, where the person at the door changes from one delivery to the next.

What it is: The basic check plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. The first panel tells the receiver what to check before they sign: count against the docket, look for damage, do a quick temperature check on chilled goods, confirm seals are intact. The second panel explains how to refuse a delivery that is over-temperature, badly damaged, or just plain wrong. A new starter on their first goods-in gets the same checklist as the person who has done it for years.

In practice: Take a three-site garden centre. Plants, compost, tools, and seasonal stock all arrive from different suppliers, and whoever is nearest the loading bay takes the delivery. The "what to check" panel reminds them to count the trays against the docket before the driver leaves, not after. When a pallet of compost turns up split and damp, the "how to refuse" panel walks them through it: tell the driver to take it back, log it as refused, and let the duty manager know so the supplier can be told. The push-back happens at the door, where it actually saves money, instead of becoming a phone call the next day.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A "what to check before you sign" panel covering the count, damage, temperature, and seals.
2. A "how to refuse a delivery" panel that walks the receiver through sending a bad delivery back at the door.
3. A consistent goods-in standard across every person who signs, without anyone having to train them in person.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the receiver is about to accept. The checklist is on the screen while the driver is still standing there, which is the only time it can change the outcome. It is not a laminated sheet that fell off the wall months ago. It is right there at the moment of the task.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what to check before you sign)
• 1 text input (supplier)
• 1 text input (what arrived)
• 1 single-choice step (condition)
• 1 text input (notes)
• 1 guidance panel (how to refuse a delivery)

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses wanting photo proof of damaged or short deliveries, so a credit claim does not come down to one person's word.

What it is: The guided check plus a photo step at the end. The receiver snaps the delivery note alongside a wide shot of the goods, and if anything is being refused or partially accepted, a close shot of the damage. The image lands in the same record as the supplier, the condition, and the note, so a disputed delivery carries its own evidence.

In practice: Take a regional builders' merchant taking pallet deliveries across four branches. A timber order arrives with two lengths cracked and one bundle short. The receiver picks "Damaged or short, partial accept", types the detail, and takes three photos: the docket, the full pallet, and a close shot of the cracked lengths. When the branch manager raises the credit with the supplier the next morning, the photos are already attached to the record with the date the delivery landed. The supplier sees the damage they shipped, and the credit goes through without a back-and-forth.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo step after the notes.
2. Visual proof of the docket and the goods, captured at the moment of delivery.
3. A close shot of any damage, which turns a disputed credit into a settled one.

Why it works: A typed note is a claim. A photo is evidence. The two together survive a dispute in a way that either alone does not. The note says what was wrong; the photo shows it, with the date baked into the record. The supplier cannot argue with a picture of the damage they sent, taken before the driver left.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what to check before you sign)
• 1 text input (supplier)
• 1 text input (what arrived)
• 1 single-choice step (condition)
• 1 text input (notes)
• 1 guidance panel (how to refuse a delivery)
• 1 photo step (docket and goods)

#4 - With photo and signature

Who it's for: Audited or stock-sensitive businesses needing a signed receipt, where every delivery has to be traceable to the person who checked it.

What it is: The photo-evidenced check plus the receiver's signature at the end. The receiver signs once the count is done and the condition is confirmed, capturing who accepted the delivery on the same record as the supplier, the condition, the note, and the photo. An auditor or your insurer would accept this as a contemporaneous goods-in receipt, captured in under a minute on a phone.

In practice: Take a pharmacy chain with a dozen branches receiving controlled and chilled stock daily. Every delivery is checked against the docket, photographed, and signed by the staff member who received it. When the annual stock audit lands, the auditor pulls a sample of delivery records and finds a named signature, a dated photo, and a logged condition on each one. The chain of custody is intact from the driver's hand to the shelf, and the audit closes in an afternoon instead of dragging across a week of chasing paperwork.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A signature step at the end of every delivery check.
2. A named receiver attached to the same record as the condition, the note, and the photo.
3. A signed, traceable receipt for every delivery, which is what an audit or an insurer expects to see.

Why it works: The signature is what closes the receipt. The condition and the photo say what arrived and the state it was in. The signature adds who checked it and confirmed it. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, the four together turn a delivery from a thing that happened into a thing that can be proven.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what to check before you sign)
• 1 text input (supplier)
• 1 text input (what arrived)
• 1 single-choice step (condition)
• 1 text input (notes)
• 1 guidance panel (how to refuse a delivery)
• 1 photo step (docket and goods)
• 1 signature step (receiver's sign-off)

When to upgrade: When a delivery window has to hit a set time and sometimes slips or gets missed, #5 adds a Poppi message to the team chat the moment the delivery is due to arrive.

#5 - With a team alert when delivery is due

Who it's for: Venues with fixed delivery windows that have to hit a set time. Hotels expecting the laundry by 10am, restaurant chains waiting for peak-time produce, pharmacies with chilled stock that needs immediate unpacking.

What it is: A team alert on delivery is the photo-and-signature check plus a Poppi action set to the workflow's start time. When the delivery is due to arrive, Poppi posts a message in the Pilla team chat so whoever needs to receive it knows to get to the loading bay. It fires on the start time, not on a completed step, so the nudge lands even if nobody has opened the checklist yet. This is the version to add when the problem isn't how the delivery is checked, but whether it gets received on time.

In practice: A hotel receiving laundry knows deliveries come at 10am every morning. When Tuesday is busy and the laundry sits unsigned for an hour, the rooms start running short of linens. With this version, at 10am the team chat gets a message that the laundry delivery is due, so the housekeeping lead sees it and the receiving starts right away rather than at 11:15 in a panic.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A message in the team chat the moment the delivery is due to arrive
2. A nudge that lands even when nobody has opened the canvas yet
3. A record of when the delivery should have been received, sat next to the record of when it actually was
4. One less thing for the manager to chase by text every morning

Why it works: The alert is tied to the delivery time itself, not to someone remembering to open the canvas. It turns "did that delivery come in?" from a thing the manager has to check into a thing that checks itself.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what to check before you sign)
• 1 text input (supplier)
• 1 text input (what arrived)
• 1 single-choice step (condition)
• 1 text input (notes)
• 1 guidance panel (how to refuse a delivery)
• 1 photo step (docket and goods)
• 1 signature step (receiver's sign-off)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat when the delivery is due to arrive)

When to upgrade: When you want Poppi to do more than nudge: read the delivery note in advance, check whether the goods need special handling, route to a specific team member, or post the receipt to a channel. Those versions are coming in the next update.

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer four questions about how your team runs.

Is it just you running this, or do other people run it too?

If it is just you, the basic check (#1) is enough. You already know what to count and what to look for, and you do not need the canvas to coach you.

If anyone else signs for deliveries (a colleague, a new starter, a rotating goods-in crew), go to #2 onwards. The guidance panels are what stop one person counting carefully and another waving the driver through. You write the checklist once; everyone reads it inline at the door.

Do you need a photo as proof, or is the typed record enough?

If a damaged or short delivery would be sorted with a quick call to a supplier you trust, the typed record is enough. Go to #1 or #2.

If a credit claim could be disputed, or a delivery would be looked at by an auditor, the typed note alone is rarely enough. They want to see the damage, not just read about it. Go to #3. The photo of the docket and the goods gives the visual proof a note cannot.

Do you need someone to sign off at the end?

If the delivery is operational and no auditor will ever look at it, a record is enough. Stick at #3.

If the delivery has to be traceable to a named person, the signature is the lock. Go to #4. The signature closes the receipt with the receiver's confirmation on the same record as the condition, the note, and the photo.

Does your delivery have to arrive at a set time, and does it sometimes slip?

The first four versions are all about how the delivery is checked. This one is about whether it gets received on time. If your delivery has a fixed arrival window and missing it means disruption - rooms running short of linens, a restaurant missing peak produce, a pharmacy holding up its queue - #5 posts a message to the team chat the moment the delivery is due. If timing looks after itself, #1 to #4 are enough.

Related workflows

• Lone worker check-ins
• Damage reports
• Stock counts
• Maintenance fault reports
• Contractor sign-ins

Conclusion

A delivery received check is a stamped record of who delivered, what arrived, the condition it was in, and a note, filed at the door the moment the driver turns up. The version you run depends on how many people receive deliveries, whether you need photo proof or just a record, and whether the delivery has a fixed arrival window that sometimes slips. Most single-site businesses are well served by #1 or #2; audited or stock-sensitive sites move up to #3 and #4; venues with tight delivery windows add the #5 team alert.

Three more versions are coming in the next update that bring more of Poppi into delivery receiving: reading the delivery note in advance, checking whether the goods need special handling, routing to a specific team member, or posting the receipt to a channel. Those need more review time and will land separately.

→ Build your own delivery received check on Pilla.