Will-call orders, where the customer picks up at the warehouse, seem simple. Customer calls, orders material, shows up, loads it, leaves. In practice, will-call creates coordination challenges that most service centers handle poorly because nobody owns the process end to end.
The Will-Call Coordination Problem
A will-call order touches four groups: sales (takes the order), warehouse (pulls and stages the material), shipping/receiving (handles the paperwork and verifies the load), and accounting (processes the payment or invoices the customer). If any one of these groups drops the ball, the customer shows up and waits.
The most common failure mode: the sales rep takes the order and tells the customer it will be ready at 2 PM. The order enters the system. The warehouse team does not see it because they are focused on outbound shipments scheduled for that day. The customer arrives at 2 PM. The material has not been pulled. The customer waits 30 to 45 minutes while the warehouse scrambles to find and stage the material.
That 45-minute wait costs the customer time and money (their crew is standing idle at the jobsite waiting for material). It costs the service center reputation and trust. Do it twice, and the customer stops calling.
Why It Falls Through the Cracks
Will-call is nobody's primary job. The sales team owns order entry. The warehouse team owns pulling and staging. The shipping team owns documentation. But nobody owns the will-call workflow as a complete process from order to pickup.
Outbound shipments have natural workflow pressure: the truck arrives at a scheduled time, and the material has to be on it. Will-call has no external forcing function. The customer's arrival time is approximate and often earlier or later than stated. Without a hard deadline, will-call orders get deprioritized behind outbound loads.
Communication gaps compound the problem. The customer tells the sales rep they will arrive at 2 PM. The sales rep enters the order but does not communicate the pickup time to the warehouse. Or they communicate it verbally, and it gets lost in the noise of a busy warehouse morning. The warehouse team pulls the material when they get to it, not when the customer needs it.
Digital Will-Call Management
A structured will-call workflow has five steps, and each one should be tracked in the system.
Order entry with pickup time. The will-call order includes the customer's estimated pickup time. This time drives the staging priority. An order for a 2 PM pickup gets staged by 1:30 PM. An order for 8 AM the next morning gets staged before the warehouse closes the night before.
Pull and stage notification. When the order is entered, the warehouse team receives an automatic notification with the material details and the staging deadline. The notification appears on their mobile device or workstation, not buried in an email.
Staging confirmation. When the warehouse team pulls and stages the material, they confirm completion in the system. This updates the order status to "Ready for Pickup." The customer can be notified automatically: "Your order is staged and ready. Proceed to Dock 4."
Customer arrival and verification. When the customer arrives, the shipping team verifies the order: confirms the correct material, checks the weight, generates the BOL or delivery receipt, and processes the payment (if COD) or generates the invoice.
Departure and documentation. The customer loads the material (or the warehouse team loads it with a forklift). The order status updates to "Picked Up." Documentation (receipt, MTR, weight ticket) is delivered electronically or printed on the spot.
The Inspection Option
Some will-call customers want to inspect the material before loading. This is common for stainless steel, aluminum, and any material with surface-quality requirements. The inspection adds time and needs to happen in a location with adequate lighting and space.
A well-managed will-call process accommodates inspection by staging the material in an accessible location (not buried under other items), providing adequate lighting, and having a warehouse team member available to re-stage or substitute material if the customer rejects a piece.
Inspection results should be recorded: what was inspected, whether it passed or failed, and if material was substituted. This data informs future quality discussions with suppliers and provides documentation if disputes arise later.
Measuring Will-Call Performance
Three metrics reveal whether will-call is working. Average wait time: from customer arrival to material loaded. Target: under 15 minutes for pre-staged orders. On-time staging rate: percentage of orders staged by the committed time. Target: 95% or higher. Customer satisfaction: direct feedback or repeat will-call frequency. If a customer stops using will-call and starts requesting delivery, the pickup experience was poor.
Will-call is not a revenue driver. It is a loyalty driver. The contractor who can swing by your warehouse, pick up 2 tons of material, and be back at the jobsite in 30 minutes is a customer for life. The one who waits 45 minutes and then has to verify that the right material was pulled will find another service center.