DIRECT ANSWER
Match the Walmart PO line to its item configuration and confirm the order's unit of measure. Convert both the order and the proposed shipment to the same sellable unit using documented pack quantities. If the records disagree, preserve the difference and obtain instructions before changing the PO or substituting a pack.
The PO says 120. The pick list says 120. One person means cases and another means individual sellable units. The numbers look consistent until someone checks what is inside the shipment.
For U.S. first-party Walmart Owned suppliers shipping to Walmart facilities, reconcile the unit as carefully as the quantity. This guide focuses on fixed-count packs. DSV customer orders, variable-weight products, assortments, and special-program configurations need their applicable instructions. The calculation below helps expose a mismatch; it does not authorize an order change.
Which item configuration does this PO describe?
Start with the PO number, current version or change record, line, Walmart Item Number, supplier agreement, destination, quantity, and unit of measure. Preserve the source document or order view. If you cannot establish the PO itself, begin with our missing purchase-order guide.
Match that line to the intended configuration in Supplier One. Walmart’s Item Configuration Overview guidance explains that a product may present multiple configurations to choose from. A matching product name alone is insufficient. Compare identifiers and configuration details, and use the record applicable to the order’s dates.
Next obtain the approved packaging specification and the physical case information for the stock proposed for shipment. Keep old and new configurations separate. A current catalog value does not by itself establish what an earlier PO ordered.
Which quantities belong in the comparison?
Use the same named sellable unit on both sides. For a product sold as a six-bottle consumer multipack, one sellable unit may be that multipack. Do not silently substitute individual bottles for multipacks.
| Record | Capture before calculating |
|---|---|
| PO line | Quantity, exact unit of measure, item identifiers, version, and relevant dates. |
| Applicable Walmart configuration | Sellable and orderable identifiers, pack counts, and the meaning of each count. |
| Approved supplier specification | Sellable units per case, any inner-pack breakdown, identifiers, and revision. |
| Physical stock and pick plan | Actual pack label, units per case, cases proposed, and stock/configuration selected. |
Walmart’s General FAQs distinguish vendor packs or cases from warehouse or inner packs and their identifiers. That terminology does not establish the unit on your particular PO. Read the actual quantity field and its definition. Preserve identifiers as text in spreadsheets.
When each case contains inner packs, establish whether a field already counts sellable units or instead counts inner packs. Multiplying a quantity that already includes the inner-pack conversion would count those units twice.
How do you calculate the difference?
Once the units and conversion factors are confirmed:
Ordered sellable units = PO quantity × sellable units per PO unit
Proposed sellable units = proposed physical cases × sellable units per physical case
Difference = proposed sellable units − ordered sellable units
Use a factor of one only when the PO unit is confirmed to be the same sellable unit used in the comparison. If the PO unit or conversion is unknown, leave the result unconfirmed. Do not infer it from the quantity being divisible by a familiar case size.
A fictional mismatch that a matching number hides
Suppose the team confirms that a fictional PO line orders 120 cases, each containing 12 sellable units. The approved physical case contains three inner packs of four sellable units: 3 × 4 = 12. The expected order quantity is therefore 120 × 12 = 1,440 sellable units.
The internal pick list instead interprets 120 as sellable units and proposes ten cases.
| Basis | Calculation | Sellable units |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed PO | 120 cases × 12 units per case | 1,440 |
| Proposed pick | 10 cases × 12 units per case | 120 |
| Proposed minus ordered | 120 − 1,440 | −1,320 |
This example identifies an internal interpretation error under stated assumptions. The owner checks the original PO and mapping before correcting the pick instruction. The arithmetic does not establish what happened on another order.
Now suppose the stock actually contains eight units per case. Shipping 120 such cases would provide 960 units. Shipping 180 would total 1,440, but that numerical match would not establish that the eight-unit configuration is acceptable against the original order. Pack identity and order instructions still require resolution.
Is this a record error or a real pack change?
Ask the packaging and item-data owners which physical configuration was approved and which is available. Separate a transcription error from an actual change in case contents. Section 2.8 of the GS1 GTIN Management Standard requires new GTINs at the applicable higher packaging levels when the case count changes. A case-count change alone does not automatically require a different retail consumer-unit GTIN. Confirm the affected hierarchy before deciding what to change.
Walmart’s new-GTIN guidance also addresses incorrect identifiers and pack changes. Confirm the applicable item-setup path and transition with the responsible Walmart team. A submitted catalog change does not prove that an existing PO has been revised. Read the old-cost-on-a-PO guide when the same problem also affects cost.
What needs to be resolved before the shipment decision?
Give the order owner the source PO, configuration, physical specification, calculation, and exact unresolved question. Ask for the applicable correction or fulfillment instructions and retain the response. Do not quietly change the order quantity, round to a convenient case count, or substitute a configuration based only on this calculation.
After an authorized correction, verify the relevant order and pick records again. If item setup remains pending, use the Supplier One setup investigation. For a packaging change, Startup Success Lab’s packaging-change guide connects physical stock, recorded configuration, and order decisions to the cutover plan. Its launch-readiness guide covers the wider handoff.
Evidence checked
Official Walmart HelpDocs indexed text and GS1’s public GTIN Management Standard were reviewed September 13, 2026. The Walmart articles require sign-in. The GS1 document served at its current standard URL is Release 1.1, ratified September 2023. Account-specific PO units and correction procedures were not verified. The worked quantities are fictional and independently calculated.