Synopsis:
- How do I configure Picking locations?
- How do I set default locations for products?
- How does having picking locations change shipping, receiving, or manufacturing?
- How can I change picking location ordering?
- How can I create a location for storage only?
Webinar transcript
APT University: Picking locations
Hello Everyone and Welcome To AdvancePro University.
Today we’re going to look at Picking location functions in AdvancePro – this refers to a physical location where you might put your stock in AdvancePro, and it allows you to know where an item is located. When Receiving, you’ll know where to put a product away, and when shipping, you’ll know where to go get it. You might hear this called Bin numbers or location numbers.
Picking locations are very important to simplify and speed up receiving and picking times, as well as training your employees. If you spend any time at all looking for product around your warehouse, this feature is likely going to be a good fit for you.
So today we’ll be covering
How to create picking locations
How create rules around using Picking locations
How to do regular AdvancePro operations with Picking locations
Moving to AdvancePro, this is enabled by going to Admin> Utilities > MPL. MPL stands for multiple picking locations. To start using picking locations, check off Enforce Picking Location inventory and click save. Now you can begin working with these settings in detail. If you have multiple warehouses, you can apply picking location settings to just one, or to all warehouses.
Now lets go to MPL level settings for the first level.
Here you’ll be able to give a picking location a name, as well as a type. Most locations will be both receiving and shipping locations. If you only check off receiving, you will need to run a transfer before you can ship items from that location, if you only click shipping, you will need to transfer items into that location, you won’t be able to receive there. And if you choose storage, all you can do is transfer stock in and out of that location. Be sure to choose a warehouse to apply the location to.
Temporary picking locations can also be set up. So you can set the expiry date for that location, and at the end of period, the items will be left outside of a location – which means you will need to transfer them into a location in order to ship them.
Now once you’ve created picking locations, you can associate products as default, you can do that by clicking the A button for Associate and checking off your products. If you’ve associated the product with default locations, you will have the option to move all stock into the default locations, otherwise you can transfer product into locations manually.
You can also choose products by entering the sku and setting the default location hereunder the set default MPL area.
The best way to think of location association is that you have POSSIBLE locations or eligible locations for a product, and then you have BEST locations, which are the default locations.
If you’re starting with AdvancePro for the first time or bringing new products in via excel, you can create picking locations easily and automatically from the product import sheet, just by including a column for picking locations.
You can name your locations anything, and you will be able to scan locations for various areas you might deal with them in AdvancePro, so you may choose to make your location names scannable.
If you click the E button, you’ll be able to change the settings for that location
Now once you enable picking locations, your items appearing on a customer pick/pack/ship slip, as well as your vendor receiving slips will be sorted by picking location – which will allow your picker to move through the warehouse in a logical way, picking items from each location as they pass. If you want, you can set that sequence up
If you have a warehouse chosen at the top, you;ll be able to set the sequence that picking locations are sorted on your customer and vendor orders – if you choose manual you’ll be able to click and drag the locations listed here. If you choose by name they will appear alphabetically, if you choose reference tag you can sort the locations alphabetically using the reference tag field. And if you choose by expiry date, any location with an expiry will appear first in order of what will expire first, followed by locations that do not expire sorted by name.
Now if we back out, you’ll see that we can see the picking location settings that can be applied on the customer orders or CPO’s and on the Vendor orders or VPO.
On the customer side, this will tell your picker either to get items from the default location, or from the location with the smallest quantity, the largest quantity, the location that will expire first, the picking location that appears first alphabetically by name, or by reference tag. And we can have separate logic setting to receive by default into the default location, or with lowest or highest stock, or with an expiry, or that appears first by name or by reference tag.
Now that we’ve spoken about setting up locations and the logic around them, lets talk about using them daily in AdvancePro.
When you receive items, you’ll see a new column with the default receiving location displayed. To split the items into multiple locations, or to receive into a different location, just click the location name once you’ve entered the items you’re receiving and make your adjustments. If you’re barcode scanning, you now scan the location first, and then scan the item to receive it there.
When you’re shipping items, AdvancePro will tell you where to get them, and again you can click the location name to pick from somewhere else.
To transfer between locations, come to manage inventory and you’ll see the stock level and the location names, click the location name to make your transfer, or remove items from a location entirely. Which you should do if you’re going to do a manual inventory adjustment – if you have items in a location AdvancePro won’t let you adjust them out unless you remove them from the location using this feature. Another way to do this is to use our multiple adjustment tool, located down here.
From the multiple adjustment tool you can choose a positive or negative amount to change the stock level, and then you can choose the picking location and either add or remove that stock.
It does require a reason to complete.
This concludes our tour of the picking locations feature in AdvancePro.