PLEASE Separate Package from Carrier/Service in Automations

[RedRoosterCoffe]

I am really struggling to understand why these are inexorably linked in Automations.

At the moment, we have about 50+ automations for 4 shipping options (all based on Requested Service) and 14 box sizes. Really, we should have 100+ but I gave up creating one for every single possible option and we just have to manually adjust every day. (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1421/4994/files/multiple_automations_for_one_mailer.png?v=17538867...)

What I don't understand is why the two options are sealed together in the automations.

Ideally, I could have a Store setting that just said: set service to Requested Service. OR, since there is Service Mapping, let the Service Mapping stand alone and then be able to just make automations based on weight or whatever for JUST package size. Instead, Service Mapping forces you to either set a package--which then doesn't work for a large number of orders and you have to manually reset the packages or do an automation that also include resetting the Service, so what's the point of the mapping?--or skip setting the package, but then you cannot set JUST a package in automations, you have to also reset the shipping service, which then, again, what's the point of the Mapping? (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1421/4994/files/Service_Mapping.png?v=1753886861)

If the two were simply unlinked in automations and Service Mapping (like they are in the order settings!) then Service could be set in Service Mapping or Automations and Packages could be set in Automations without having to have 4 different services for every package size and content combination.

It's incredibly frustrating because we have done all the other things already.

1. We have every product set with the shipping weight... but because the Shipping Service has to be set before you can set the package, we cannot default to a package and JUST let the Mapping Service do it's job. Plus, 75% of our orders have more than 1 product AND we have to have automations in place that end up overriding those single product settings because their weight ends up matching that of mixed orders. 
2. We can't use Tags because we have so many combinations of products in orders AND already use tags for other settings that Production and Fulfillment need to be able to access easily. PLUS, Tags plus weight based rules is essentially what we already do.
3. We already use the Custom Fields to pass other vital order information through from Shopify.
4. FINALLY, setting just package dimensions in automations DOES NOT WORK! The Service NEVER recognizes the package dimensions. Why even have Package Dimensions as an option when you have all these preset Custom Packages ready and waiting to be set????!!!

It would be a total game-changer if we could just set up our box logic once based on weight, and let the Requested Service flow in naturally from the order data. No more duplicating rules for every combo. It’s such a clean and scalable approach.

Please tell me I am not the only one who finds this incredibly frustrating and time consuming?
Amy

[CaraAdmin]

Hello @RedRoosterCoffe!

First, welcome to the Community! We're so glad you're here. This space is an excellent resource for finding answers, sharing feedback, and suggesting new product features—we hope you find it helpful and inspiring!

We appreciate you sharing this fantastic idea. Your input is crucial to helping us grow and improve. We have passed on your feedback to the development team to review.

Let’s see if we can gather more feedback from the community to highlight how valuable this feature would be. If you’d like to see this feature become a reality, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up to show your support!

Happy Shipping!

-Cara