Every FBF shipment carries one decision about its unit (FWU) labels: you print them, or Fawran prints them during receiving. This guide covers both modes in depth, what an UNPRINTED unit is, and the exact errors you can hit around unit-label downloads.
The two modes at a glance
SELLER_PRINTS | FAWRAN_PRINTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Who labels the units | You, before handover | The warehouse, during receiving |
| Barcode allocation | Up-front — the platform allocates codes for your shipment, you download the PDF | At arrival — units are generated and labeled by the warehouse |
| Your unit-label work | Allocate → download → print → attach one label per unit → attest | None. Never attach your own unit barcodes. |
| Carton labels | Still yours — always | Still yours — always |
Choosing and changing the mode
You choose at step 4 of the shipment wizard («من سيطبع ويُلصق ملصقات الوحدات (FWU)؟»). After submitting, the mode can still be changed — but only from the shipment detail page, and only before the warehouse receives the shipment. The app states both rules exactly: «يُحدَّد هذا الوضع عند إنشاء الشحنة، ويمكن تغييره قبل الاستلام من صفحة تفاصيل الشحنة فقط.» and, once received, «لا يمكن تغيير مسؤولية باركود الوحدات بعد استلام الشحنة أو إكمالها أو إلغائها.»
While the unit-barcode service is awaiting platform activation, the seller-prints option is unavailable: the wizard assigns FAWRAN_PRINTS and explains «خيار "البائع يطبع" سيتاح عند تفعيل خدمة باركود الوحدات لدى فريقنا.»
SELLER_PRINTS: your printing flow
- Allocate — from the success screen or the Barcode Center, run تخصيص باركود الوحدات (allocate unit barcodes). The platform mints one unique FWU code per unit.
- Download — get the unit-labels PDF (one label per unit, with the FWU barcode, product name, SKU and unit counter).
- Print and attach — one label per physical unit, flat and scannable. Never attach the same barcode to two units.
- Attest — tick the unit pledge in the wizard (or make sure it was ticked) before handover.
FAWRAN_PRINTS: hands off the units
The app’s guidance, verbatim: "Fawran will print and attach a unique barcode to every unit after the shipment reaches the warehouse. Do not attach unit barcodes yourself — receiving is blocked until the warehouse prints, attaches and scans them (carton labels remain your responsibility at all times)."
Under this mode, your shipment’s units are created in the UNPRINTED state when the shipment arrives. The warehouse then prints the labels, attaches them, and scans each unit — only then does receiving proceed for those units.
What UNPRINTED means, and the errors you may see
UNPRINTED marks a unit whose physical label doesn’t exist yet. Warehouse scans reject UNPRINTED units until the label is printed and attached — that’s why a Fawran-prints shipment shows receiving progress in stages, and why you must never "help" by sticking your own barcodes. The unit-labels download endpoint is also strictly gated; these are its exact errors:
feature_disabledUnit-barcode printing is pending platform activationDownloading unit labels fails with "Unit-barcode printing is pending Admin activation" (HTTP 409). The Barcode Center shows a pending banner.
- The unit-barcode service is awaiting platform activation — nothing is wrong with your shipment.
- Ship under Fawran-prints (the default while the service is dark) — carton and shipment labels work normally.
- Wait for activation; the Barcode Center unlocks automatically.
No escalation needed — this is expected platform gating, not an account problem.
wrong_modeThis shipment’s units are printed by FawranDownloading unit labels fails with "Unit labels are printed by Fawran during receiving for this shipment." (HTTP 400).
- The shipment’s unit-label mode is FAWRAN_PRINTS — there are no seller-printable unit labels for it.
- Nothing to print — the warehouse labels the units at receiving.
- If you truly want to print them yourself and the shipment is not received yet, switch the mode to seller-prints on the shipment detail page, then allocate and download.
no_allocationNo unit barcodes allocated yetDownloading unit labels fails with "No unit barcodes have been allocated for this shipment yet." (HTTP 409).
- The shipment is in seller-prints mode but the allocation step hasn’t run (or didn’t complete).
- Open the Barcode Center, expand the shipment row and click «تخصيص باركود الوحدات» (allocate).
- When allocation confirms the count, the unit-labels download button unlocks.
If allocation keeps failing, contact support with the shipment number.