Request a split shipment in writing, lot by lot, and attach a delivery-lot table that states ordered, shipped-this-lot, cumulative shipped and outstanding quantity for every purchase-order line — then get the supplier to confirm that the order stays open until the balance reaches zero. That single document is what stops a partial delivery from being booked as full order completion.
The confusion is structural, not clerical. A split order is one whose items ship at different times or from different locations, and it stays in the processing queue because it is not fully shipped; it only moves to the processed-orders stage once completely processed and shipped. A partial shipment is simply the case where only some items ship while the rest are still pending. Two different systems, two different meanings of "shipped", and your ERP only sees one of them.
This page covers what to ask for when you split a bulk toys order across lots, what to put in the table, which document to reconcile each lot against, and the exception cases — label created only, tracking unavailable, one parcel delivered — where the wording of your request decides whether the balance survives. Worked example is illustrative, not a real shipment.
What changed in the last 14 days
None found for this product, in the sense of a rule that changes how you request a split shipment. Nothing in the last 14 days alters the mechanics of splitting a toy order across lots or of reconciling an outstanding balance.
Two adjacent items are worth a line each, because they touch what travels in the parcel rather than how the parcel is scheduled. The European Commission has welcomed the European Parliament's adoption of its proposal to strengthen EU toy safety rules — a proposal moving through the legislative process, and the official text does not confirm an application date for the revised regime. Separately, China's mandatory standard GB 46523-2025 for general safety requirements of children's products has been released with an effective date of 1 November 2026; that is an entered-into-force date published for the standard, and whether it applies to a specific SKU in your order is a question for your supplier and your test house, not for this article.
Do not mix these up with Digital Product Passport requirements, which sit in a different legal instrument from GPSR and the toy safety directive. They are not one deadline.
What this shipment should do
Reconcile one document per lot: the packing list. For each delivery lot, the packing list should carry the purchase-order line, the SKU, the quantity shipped in that lot, the carton count and carton codes, the lot or batch identifier, and the date. If one SKU is produced across factories or lots, that split should be visible in the order, the carton code and the compliance evidence — not buried in a factory's internal records.
Build the delivery-lot table before you send the request, and send it with the request. Columns: lot ID; PO line; quantity ordered; quantity shipped this lot; cumulative shipped; balance outstanding; packing list reference; parcel/tracking identifier; release or approval sign-off; date.
Never let a single delivery event close the order. A delivery scan on one parcel is not proof that the remaining lines arrived, and a missing tracking link only means tracking is unavailable in the record you inspected — it does not prove the warehouse has not shipped. Likewise, a label-created status means a label exists; without a later event you cannot claim carrier possession. Ask for the recorded state and write down what it is.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real shipment): you order 1,440 units of a PP plastic building set across two PO lines — 960 units for a US destination in window-box packing, 480 units for an EU destination in polybag packing. The factory can only finish the window-box run this month. You request lot 1 = 960 units, window box, packing list PL-01, one parcel, tracking ID recorded; lot 2 = 480 units, polybag, held as outstanding, no label yet. Your table shows ordered 1,440, shipped 960, balance 480, status of lot 2 = awaiting production. The step that would trap you is the delivery event: when lot 1 is scanned as delivered, an order-level status flips to "delivered" and the 480 units disappear from the open-order report. The table prevents that only if someone is responsible for updating the balance column after each lot.
Keep a second discipline on quantities: reduce the open balance only by what actually shipped. If the order is five SKUs and three ship, the order stays open until the other two ship or are cancelled — that is the point of the table, not a formality. And when you write to the supplier, name each shipment's state separately and keep an explicit outstanding-items section. Do not reuse the first tracking link on the order for everything; it can point at the wrong parcel, especially when two units of the same product travel separately.
One document worth agreeing up front, before the first lot moves: who releases each lot. Buyer-side approval on the packing list before dispatch, or supplier-side release with buyer acknowledgement after, matters less than that it is written down and that the same document records it. A lot released without a recorded approval is a lot nobody can reconcile later.
Delivery-lot table: what to record and what a red flag looks like
| Lot ID and PO line | Each lot gets its own identifier tied to the original order ID. Red flag: a lot number that exists only in the supplier's system and nowhere on your documents. |
|---|---|
| Quantity ordered / shipped this lot / cumulative shipped | Three separate numbers per line, updated after each lot. Red flag: a single "shipped" field that overwrites the ordered quantity. |
| Balance outstanding | Ordered minus cumulative shipped, restated after every lot. Red flag: the balance disappears once any lot has a delivery event. |
| Packing list reference | One packing list per lot, carrying PO line, SKU, quantity, carton codes and lot identifier. Red flag: one packing list covering two lots, or a packing list with no lot identifier. |
| Parcel / tracking identifier | A parcel-level identifier for each lot, not the first tracking link on the order. Red flag: one tracking number reused across lots, or two units of the same SKU travelling under one reference. |
| Release / approval sign-off | Named approver and date for each lot before or after dispatch, recorded on the same document. Red flag: verbal release, or approval recorded in a chat thread that nobody reconciles. |
| Order completion trigger | Order closes only when the balance reaches zero or the remainder is formally cancelled. Red flag: completion triggered by the first delivery event, or by a label-created status. |
Safety documents to keep tied to the lot, not the order
When an order splits across factories or production lots, the compliance evidence has to split with it. A single test report covering an order that was actually produced in two runs tells you nothing about which cartons the report belongs to.
The official US recall record shows why lot-level traceability matters. Recent recalls of toys with loose high-powered magnets — including magnetic building cubes and a magnetic fidget slider — cite the same hazard pattern: magnets that detach or are packaged loose, can be swallowed, attract each other or other metal objects, and lodge in the digestive system. Recalls of light-up toys cite the other recurring pattern: button cell batteries in compartments children can access, with the ingestion hazard that follows. In both patterns the question a buyer asks first is which production run, which carton codes, which lot. If your delivery-lot table does not carry carton codes and lot identifiers into the compliance file, you cannot answer that question for one lot without freezing the whole order.
So for each lot, keep the packing list, the carton codes, the applicable test or compliance document for that SKU, and the release approval in one place. If a lot is short-shipped or split again, restate the balance in the table rather than opening a fresh order — a new order number is how outstanding quantities get lost.
One naming check before you agree a packing format: a product record in a catalog is not a certification. A catalog snapshot records the SKU, material, packing, MOQ, units per carton and a reference price; it does not establish certification, age suitability, licensing, stock or factory capacity. Reconfirm the sample, the current quote, the age evidence and the destination documents for every lot you release.
FAQ
Does a split shipment mean my order is complete once the first parcel arrives?
No. A split order stays open until it is completely processed and shipped, and a partial shipment leaves the remaining items pending. Treat order completion as a quantity question — ordered, shipped, delivered where confirmed, and outstanding — not as a status label attached to one parcel.
What should I put in the split-shipment request itself?
Send the delivery-lot table with the request. It needs lot ID, PO line, quantity ordered, quantity shipped this lot, cumulative shipped, balance outstanding, packing list reference, parcel or tracking identifier, release sign-off and date. Add an explicit outstanding-items section so the supplier sees exactly what stays open.
The tracking link shows no movement. Has the supplier not shipped?
Not necessarily. A missing tracking link only means tracking is unavailable in the record you inspected; it does not prove the warehouse has not shipped. Likewise a label-created status means a label exists but, without a later event, does not establish carrier possession. Ask for the recorded state in writing rather than assuming either way.
One parcel arrived but items are missing from it. Will they come in that same parcel?
No — a delivered parcel with missing contents needs a support investigation, not a statement that the rest is on its way in the same parcel. Check the lot's packing list against what was actually in the carton, then reconcile against the balance column.
Can I reuse the first tracking number for the whole order?
Don't. Copying the first tracking link onto an order can point at the wrong parcel, and the risk rises when two units of the same product travel separately. Record a parcel-level identifier per lot instead.
How do I stop a partial delivery from closing the order in my own system?
Reduce the open balance only by the quantity actually shipped, and keep the order partially fulfilled until every line ships or is cancelled. If your system closes on the first delivery event, the delivery-lot table is the manual control that keeps the outstanding balance visible.
Sources
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Start with the table, not the email
Before you write the split-shipment request, build the delivery-lot table for the order. If you are still assembling the order itself, fix the packing format, carton codes and destination documents per lot first, because those are the fields the table depends on. Get the table agreed with the supplier, and the first delivery event stops being a completion event.