The purchasing manager confirms delivery to one branch. Two hours before dispatch, the receiving supervisor messages your team: “Send it to the other warehouse instead.” Following the latest message could send the shipment to an unapproved location and create a dispute over cost or timing. The right response is not to pick the quickest person to answer. It is to identify who is authorized to change the order.
Separate operational details from commercial changes
A receiving supervisor may know the gate, unloading hours and site restrictions better than anyone. That does not necessarily give them authority to change the delivery city, contracted location or transport cost. Purchasing may own the commercial change while operations verifies whether the new destination can receive the goods.
Keep four facts together: the approved delivery address, latest instruction version, authorized approver and shipment preparation status. Membership in a WhatsApp group is not evidence of purchase order authority.
Microsoft's direct delivery guidance illustrates how delivery addresses can be linked across sales and purchase documents. A procurement change-order guide shows the value of a documented approval path. These are operational examples from outside Egypt, not local legal requirements.
Decide based on how far the shipment has progressed
Before picking starts: log the request, confirm approval ownership and ask operations to check cost, timing and site readiness. After loading but before departure: use a temporary hold only if your dispatch process allows it safely; do not substitute an unverified chat message for a shipping instruction. After departure: do not promise rerouting. First check feasibility and charges with the carrier, then seek explicit approval.
Imagine an order for 80 cartons approved for one Cairo location. Receiving asks to move them to another site because of maintenance. The reason may be sensible, but the change still needs commercial authorization and operational confirmation. The driver, buyer and receiving team should end up with the same approved version.
A response that keeps the customer informed
“We've received the request to change the receiving location, but the order currently shows a different approved address. We'll confirm the authorized decision-maker and review the delivery impact before updating dispatch. Once approved, we'll share one confirmed instruction version.”
Avoid treating an unresolved request as a rejection, and avoid saying the change is complete while transport is still reviewing it. Once resolved, distribute the new reference and version date to purchasing, receiving and dispatch.
Measure confusion before it becomes a failed delivery
Review address changes requested after picking, contradictory instructions, time to approval and unanticipated transport charges. Record cases where an outdated instruction was executed. The aim is not to ban changes. It is to prevent undocumented ones.
This is distinct from planning an order across several branches, where multiple destinations are agreed upfront. If quantities or commercial terms also change, use the purchase order revision workflow.
Where Mr. AI fits
Mr. AI can organize the conversation, answer from approved company rules, summarize conflicting requests and hand the case to a person. It does not establish automatic truck control, transport system updates or authority verification. Define your approval matrix first, then discuss the workflow with the team.
