You've probably just found an error similar to this in the logs
external order: {{Channel Order Ref}} - Please check that the following SKUs are on the target sales channel ({{Sales Channel ID}}) and are configured correctly
This is usually followed by a list of SKUs that we couldn’t add to the order for some reason, and at the time the application was written, the most common error was with the data not being set up correctly within CCP which is why this is the default error for the Order Importer.
If you see this error listing all the SKUs on the order, and you find the listed SKUs are actually on the channel - then in practice, the chances are there was actually a communication error between the machine where the application was running and our API, and not likely to be a genuine problem with all the SKUs on the order.
The error above is the standard recommendation returned by the application when we have had no confirmation that the order has been created within a minute after making the attempt.
There are no plans to make changes to the time out when it uses the API; the order importer was not designed to handle larger orders and doubling the time out for each of the requests that it makes could make the application look like it has crashed.
Recommended steps:-
Check target system and channel to see if the issue order/product actually exists or not before resetting the application to try the order/file again.
If it did time out, there is the possibility that the application might have created a duplicate order when it didn’t get a response the first time. If this happens, you may need to cancel any duplicate orders created.
Orders that timed out may not appear in the dispatch queue if they require a payment before dispatch. If this is the case, you may also need to manually pay the order before they can be dispatched.
If this error is seen commonly in the logs...
If this is an error that is commonly seen in the logs, this would suggest that you may be running in orders that are often over and above the limits of their environment or the applications capacity and the application can appear to be temperamental at best.
This includes, but is not limited to:-
Larger orders
Warehouse configuration (number, size and type of warehouses)
Internet connection quality
Programs running on the local machine running the application
Order size and connection quality are a known limitation that we can’t guarantee support for.
Dealing with Larger orders
If possible, it is recommended that larger orders (which are more susceptible to time outs) are broken down into separate orders with the real order number entered in a column mapped to the Customer Reference instead.
This is particularly recommended for large trade orders as these would typically go straight into CCP even if the connection is lost, but the lack of response may result in duplication of an order that is simply too big to cancel without the help from Support/Dev.