1What this screen is for #
- Menu path: Warehouse Management > Warehouse Layout. Route /warehouse/layout .
- Pick the storage space , add its zones , then create the bins of each zone from a pattern.
- Nothing here holds or moves stock. A storage space can be laid out, labelled and checked long before it is switched to the WMS - that switch is on the Warehouse master.
- Single bins - a different size, a blocked bin, a pick face - are refined on the Bin master .
2Step by step #
- Pick the storage space at the top of the list.
- Press Add (F3) ; give the zone a short code (A), a name (Bulk storage) and its type; Save (F5) .
- With the zone picked, fill the pattern: the prefix, aisle 01 to 02, level 1 to 2, position A to D.
- Press Preview : the screen says how many codes the pattern gives, the first and the last, and how many are new.
- Press Create the bins and confirm. Only the missing bins are created.
- Press Print labels of this zone , stick the labels on, and scan a few to check them.
3The layout map #
The map at the top draws the storage space as it is laid out, and is worked with the mouse.
- The floor. Each block is a zone, each row in it an aisle, each square a position. The levels of a position are stacked behind its square, as a floor is seen from above. The number in a zone's head is its bins.
- Colours. By status: green in use, red blocked, amber being counted, hatched grey inactive. A square holding several levels shows the worst of them. Colour by bin type shows what each bin is for instead. A ring marks a default receiving or dispatch bin, a dot an item's pick bin.
- Click a zone's head to work in that zone - the same as picking it in the list.
- Click a square, or an aisle's label , to open that aisle under the map as a rack face : the rack seen from the front, levels up and positions across, one cell per bin.
- Click a bin on the rack face to see what it is and the bar code its label carries, Block or Unblock it there, or Open in Bin Master to change it.
- Arrange zones. Press it, then drag a zone by its head to where it stands on the real floor; the small button in the head turns the zone so its aisles run down instead of across. Every move is saved as it is dropped. Set out again hands all zones back to the screen, which sets them out in rows. Press Done arranging to go back to clicking.
- Size. The two magnifier buttons make the picture smaller or larger; the map's lower edge can be dragged to make it taller.
- Not in an aisle. A bin is drawn from its aisle, level and position. Bins made from a pattern have them; a bin added by hand, or made from a rack, is listed in its zone under "Not in an aisle" until the three are filled on the Bin master.
- The map shows where bins are and what state they are in. It holds no stock yet - how full a bin is arrives with bin stock.
4Toolbar & keyboard #
- Add (F3) starts a new zone; Modify (F4) edits the picked one; Save (F5) , Cancel (Esc) and Delete each ask to confirm first - OK is focused, so Enter confirms.
- The zone list is the Find: type in its search box, arrow keys move, Enter opens a zone for Modify.
- Esc in view mode closes the page. Enter moves field to field.
- The storage space cannot be changed while a zone is being added or modified.
5Fields #
- Zone code * - capital letters and digits, up to 20, one per storage space. It is part of every bin code of the zone, so it is fixed once the zone has bins.
- Zone name * , Zone type * - Receiving, Storage, Pick face, Staging, Packing, Dispatch, QC hold, Damage, Returns.
- Under - the zone this one is filed under, for an aisle or rack inside a zone. Empty for a zone of its own.
- Putaway class - which items belong here. Kept now; it is used when receiving and putaway are delivered.
- Inactive - hides the zone from the pickers and keeps it.
- Pattern - prefix, aisle, level and position ranges; bin type, mixing, capacity and walking order of the new bins.
6Rules (why a save or a run is refused) #
- A zone code is unique within its storage space, and a bin code too.
- A label value finds one bin only - in every storage space of the company. Two storage spaces need different prefixes.
- One run creates at most 5,000 bins, and a bin code is at most 40 characters.
- A zone with bins, or with zones under it, cannot be deleted - mark it Inactive.
- Who may add, change or delete is set in User Manager, on the objects WMS - Zones and WMS - Bins .
7If something does not work #
"Zone code is required." / "Zone name is required." / "Zone type is required."
- Why
- A zone needs all three before it can be saved.
- What to do
- Fill the field named and save again.
"Zone code '...' may hold capital letters and digits only, up to 20 - it becomes one part of every bin code in the zone, and the hyphen is what joins the parts."
- Why
- A space, a hyphen or another sign in the zone code would make bin codes that cannot be told apart into their parts.
- What to do
- Use letters and digits only: A, B2, COLD.
"Zone code '...' is already used in .... Each zone of a storage space has its own code."
- Why
- Two zones of one storage space with the same code would give two bins the same code.
- What to do
- Give the zone another code.
"Zone ... already has ... bin(s), whose printed codes carry '...'. Its code cannot be changed; add a new zone and move the bins if the code must change."
- Why
- The labels on the shelves carry the zone's code. Changing it here would not change what is printed.
- What to do
- Leave the code. If it must change, add a zone with the new code and move the bins to it on the Bin master.
"Zone name can't exceed 100 characters." / "Putaway class can't exceed 20 characters." / "Zone type '...' is not one of: ..."
- Why
- The text is longer than the field holds, or the type is not in the list.
- What to do
- Shorten it, or pick the type from the list.
"The zone picked in Under is not a zone of this storage space. Pick it again, or leave Under empty." / "A zone cannot be filed under itself." / "Zone ... is itself filed under ..., so ... cannot be filed under it."
- Why
- A zone can only be filed under another zone of the same storage space, and never in a circle.
- What to do
- Pick another zone in Under, or clear it.
"The zone being modified no longer exists in this storage space. Load the list again." / "That zone no longer exists. Load the list again."
- Why
- Someone deleted the zone while it was open here.
- What to do
- Pick the storage space again to reload the list.
"Zone ... has ... bin(s). Delete or move its bins first, or mark the zone Inactive - it is then hidden from the pickers and kept." / "... zone(s) are filed under zone .... Move them, or clear their Under, first."
- Why
- Only an empty zone can be deleted.
- What to do
- Mark the zone Inactive, or empty it first.
"Pick the zone the bins belong to." / "Zone ... is Inactive. Pick a zone in use."
- Why
- The generator creates bins in the zone picked in the list, and not in a retired one.
- What to do
- Pick a zone in use, then run the pattern.
"Prefix '...' may hold capital letters, digits, dot, underscore and slash, up to 15, with no hyphen - the hyphen joins the parts of the code."
- Why
- The prefix is the first part of the bin code.
- What to do
- Shorten it and take the hyphen out: WH1, not WH-1.
"Aisle: give both From and To, or leave both empty to leave the part out of the code." (also Level, Position)
- Why
- A range needs both ends.
- What to do
- Fill the other end, or clear both.
"Aisle: To (...) is before From (...)." / "Aisle: '...' to '...' is neither two whole numbers (01 to 10) nor two single letters (A to D)." / "Aisle: the range ... to ... is too long."
- Why
- A range runs upwards, and both ends are whole numbers or both are single letters.
- What to do
- Correct the two ends. 01 to 10 keeps the leading zero; A to D gives A, B, C, D.
"Give at least one of aisle, level and position - with none the pattern is a single code, and a single bin is added on the Bin master."
- Why
- A pattern with no range gives one code.
- What to do
- Fill at least one range, or add the single bin on the Bin master.
"The pattern gives ... bins; one run creates at most 5,000. Do it zone by zone, or aisle by aisle."
- Why
- A run is limited so that a mistyped range cannot fill the table.
- What to do
- Narrow the ranges and run the pattern more than once.
"The pattern gives the code '...', which is longer than 40 characters. Shorten the prefix or the zone code."
- Why
- A bin code holds 40 characters at most.
- What to do
- Shorten the prefix.
"The code '...' is already the label value of a bin in another storage space, and a scan must find one bin only. Give this storage space a prefix of its own."
- Why
- A label is looked up across every storage space of the company. Two storage spaces laid out with the same codes and no prefix would collide.
- What to do
- Give the storage space its own prefix (its Code on the Warehouse master is offered).
"Bin type '...' is not one of: ..." / "Mixing '...' is not one of: ..." / "Maximum quantity must be above zero - leave it empty for no limit." (also weight, volume, pallets) / "Pick sequence can't be below zero."
- Why
- A value for the new bins is outside what a bin can hold.
- What to do
- Pick from the list, or clear the number.
"Nothing to create: all ... bins of this pattern already exist."
- Why
- Running a pattern again is safe - it only ever adds the bins that are missing, and none are.
- What to do
- Nothing to do.
A bin is on the map under "Not in an aisle"
- Why
- The map draws a bin from its aisle, level and position. A bin added by hand, or made from a rack, has none of the three.
- What to do
- Open the bin on the Bin master and fill Aisle, Level and Position - or leave it: it stays listed in its zone.
A zone dragged on the map jumps back to where it was
- Why
- The move could not be saved - the message at the top of the form says why (usually the right to change zones, or the zone was deleted by someone else).
- What to do
- Read the message; pick the storage space again to reload the map.
"A zone's place on the map needs both co-ordinates, or neither." / "A zone can be placed between 0 and 20,000 on the map."
- Why
- A zone was dropped outside the map's area.
- What to do
- Drag it back towards the top left, or press Set out again.
Zones overlap on the map, or the map looks wrong after bins were added
- Why
- A zone somebody placed stays where it was put, and grows when it gets more aisles or positions - it can then reach under its neighbour.
- What to do
- Press Arrange zones and drag them apart, or Set out again to let the screen place them all.
Block and Unblock are greyed out for a bin picked on the map
- Why
- Only a bin in use can be blocked and only a blocked one unblocked; a default receiving or dispatch bin cannot be blocked; and nothing changes while a zone is being added or modified.
- What to do
- Save or cancel the zone first. For a default bin, name another default bin on the Warehouse master.
"Zone ... has no bin in use to label." / "Pick the bins to label, or a zone to label all of."
- Why
- Labels are printed for bins that are not Inactive, and the zone has none.
- What to do
- Create the bins first, or print from the Bin master.
"The labels could not be handed to the browser's print dialog. Reload the page (Ctrl+F5) and print again."
- Why
- Labels are printed from a hidden frame inside the page, and the browser could not make it - usually an old copy of the page's script.
- What to do
- Press Ctrl+F5 to reload the page, then print again.
"The labels could not be sent to the printer. ..."
- Why
- The browser failed while preparing the labels for printing.
- What to do
- Read the text after the full stop, reload the page and try again.
A label prints "No bar code: the label value "..." holds a character a bar code cannot carry. Change it on the Bin master."
- Why
- The bin's label value holds a character outside what the bar code can carry.
- What to do
- Open the bin on the Bin master and change its label value to letters, digits and the usual keyboard signs.
"No item names a rack, so there is nothing to turn into bins." / "Nothing to do: every rack in use is already a bin here, and no item is waiting for a pick bin."
- Why
- Only racks that an item names become bins, and the step never does the same work twice.
- What to do
- Nothing to do.
"The label value '...' is already on a bin of another storage space. Give a prefix so the rack bins of this storage space have codes of their own."
- Why
- A rack's bin code is the prefix, the zone and the rack's name; without a prefix two storage spaces can give the same code.
- What to do
- Fill the Prefix box in the pattern above, then run it again.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Warehouse Layout screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
See this screen for yourself
The demo is the real product, with a company of your own.