New in Katana: native 3PL and WMS integrations

Katana now connects natively to over 137 3PL and WMS providers, including ShipBob, ShipHero, ShipStation, ShipMonk, Mintsoft, CartonCloud, Quickbox, Flexport and ControlPort.

Connect your 3PL by name and its orders, shipments, tracking, stock levels and inbound deliveries flow into Katana automatically without middleware or double entry.
That gives you one view of inventory at every location, including the stock your 3PL holds, without retyping its reports or reconciling numbers by hand. The stock levels you sell and reorder from match what’s on your 3PL’s shelves.

If your 3PL isn’t listed, check which warehouse software they use. A lot of 3PLs run on platforms with different names, and that’s the one Katana connects to. You can also reach out to our team to request new providers.

How to connect your 3PL to Katana

Every 3PL connects the same way: once you’ve set up your first one, adding a second follows the same steps. The options you see might look a little different depending on what each 3PL’s platform shares.

1. Connect your 3PL

Find your 3PL by name on Katana’s Integrations marketplace and log in with your 3PL account details. You don’t need a separate connector tool or developer work. Katana then reads your 3PL’s setup, which can take a couple of minutes.

2. Choose which warehouses sync

Each 3PL warehouse you map gets its own location in Katana. Warehouses you leave unmapped stay out of Katana completely, along with their stock and the orders shipped from them.

3. Match your products

Your 3PL’s product catalog imports and matches to your Katana products by SKU. If your SKUs differ between the two systems, you can download your Katana SKUs as a spreadsheet, add your 3PL’s SKU next to each one and upload it back. New SKUs keep matching as you add them.

4. Choose your syncs and activate

Turn on the syncs you need, then activate the integration, and your 3PL’s data starts coming into Katana automatically. To see each step before you connect, try our interactive demo.

How 3PL inventory sync works in Katana

Orders, fulfillment and tracking

Every order your 3PL fulfills shows up in Katana as a sales order, with the customer details from the ship-to address. You choose the stage at which an order is created in Katana, for example as soon as it’s open at the 3PL or only once it’s delivered, and you can import the orders already in your 3PL once when you connect.

When the 3PL ships, the matching sales order is marked fulfilled with the carrier, tracking number and ship date. Partial shipments fulfill only the lines that shipped, and orders sent in several packages get tracking for each one. Your team can look up where any order is from Katana, without opening the 3PL’s portal.

Stock levels and reconciliation

Your 3PL’s on-hand stock shows in Katana next to your own numbers for each location, so you can see where they differ before anything changes. Reconciliation then creates stock adjustments that bring Katana in line with the 3PL, which keeps the stock you sell from accurate. You can run it on a daily or weekly schedule at a time you choose, or only when you start it yourself, and every adjustment is logged.

Inbound stock

When you send a delivery to your 3PL, it shows in Katana as a stock transfer as soon as it arrives at the 3PL’s warehouse. You don’t need to enter anything in either system. Since your 3PL only shares which of its warehouses received the delivery, you choose a default origin location in Katana for each one. If your 3PL also shares supplier details, you can set a different origin for deliveries from specific suppliers. You also decide whether the transfer stays in transit while the 3PL receives the goods or shows as received right away.

How brands use 3PL and WMS integrations in Katana

Which syncs you turn on depends on how you work with your 3PL. The table below shows what to turn on for four different setups. If your business fits more than one row, you can combine them. The integration also works alongside Shopify, Amazon, QuickBooks, Xero and Katana’s other integrations, and everything feeds into the same Katana account.

Learn more about Katana’s 3PL and WMS integrations

You’ll find every supported provider, and how each integration works, on the 3PL and WMS integrations page. If you want help choosing the right setup for your business, reach out to our team.