Item consolidation - location utilization

Article
02/01/2023

This article provides information about functionality that makes it easy for warehouse managers to view and filter the volumetric utilization of locations across the warehouse. Managers can select locations and create inventory movement work directly from the Item Consolidation page to consolidate items and therefore make better use of warehouse space.

Turn on the features

Before you can use the features that are described in this article, you must turn them on in your system. Admins can use the Feature management workspace to check the status of the features and turn them on if they are required. Turn on both the following features, in the order that they are listed in. (Both features are for the Warehouse management module.)

Warehouse location status
(As of Supply Chain Management version 10.0.29, this feature is mandatory and can't be turned off. For more information, see Warehouse location status.)
Item consolidation location utilization
(As of Supply Chain Management version 10.0.29, this feature is turned on by default. As of Supply Chain Management version 10.0.32, it's mandatory and can't be turned off.)

Warehouse location status

The Warehouse location status feature adds four new fields to the Locations page to track additional information about the current state of the location:

Item number – The item that is currently in the location. If the location contains multiple items, this field will be blank.
Last activity date and time – The timestamp of the last warehouse transaction that was performed against the location.
Aging date – The date when the inventory in the location was brought into the warehouse. This date is calculated based on the license plate aging date. Although this date is accurate for license plate–tracked locations, it might not be accurate for locations that aren't license plate–tracked.
Location status – The status of the location. Four values are available:
- Undetermined – The location profile doesn't track status. Therefore, the current status is unknown.
- Empty – No inventory is currently in the location.
- Picking – Outbound transactions have been performed against the location after it was last empty.
- Storage – Only inbound transactions have been performed since the location was last empty.

These fields let warehouse managers get a better overview of the status of the locations in the warehouse. They also allow for more advanced reporting and filtering.

Set up item consolidation and location utilization

This section describes how to prepare your system to use item consolidation and location utilization. The procedures use sample values from the standard demo data. If you plan to work through the example scenario that is provided later in this article, select the USMF legal entity (which contains the standard demo data), and create each record that is described in this section. If you don't plan to work through the example scenario, the values that are provided here can be considered examples of the types of setup that you must complete to use the features.

Released product

Go to Product information management > Products > Released products.
In the Item number field, select M9201, and open the details page.
On the Action Pane, on the Manage inventory tab, in the Warehouse group, select Physical dimensions.
On the Physical dimension page, on the Action Pane, select New.

A new line is added to the grid. The Item number field is preset.
In the Unit field, select ea. The remaining fields on the line are automatically set.
Select Save, and close the page.

Location profile

Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Location profiles.
In the list of location profiles, select FLOOR-05.
On the Action Pane, select Edit.
On the General FastTab, make sure that both the following options are set to Yes:
- Enable item in location
- Enable location status
Select Save.

Important

If the Enable item in location and Enable location status options were already set to Yes, skip ahead to the instructions for setting up the Dimensions FastTab in step 10. If the options weren't already set to Yes, you must run a consistency check for the Warehouse management module after you manually set them. In this case, continue to the next step.
To run the consistency check, go to System administration > Periodic tasks > Database > Consistency check.
In the Consistency check dialog box, set the following values:
- Module: Warehouse management
- Check/Fix: Check
- From date: Leave this field blank.
- Warehouse location status consistency check: Select this check box.
Select OK.

Tip

When the consistency check is completed, you receive a notification. Open the Action Center to view the message. Select Message details to view the details.

If the message for the consistency check states, "Incorrect location status information found for location XXXX in warehouse XX," you must run the consistency check again. This time, set the Check/Fix field to Fix error. View the messages to make sure that no errors were found.
You must now finish setting up the location profile. Go back to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Location profiles, select location profile FLOOR-05, and then, on the Action Pane, select Edit.
On the Dimensions FastTab, set the following values:
- Volume utilization percentage: 100
- Volumetric method used for inventory location: Use location volume
- Actual location height: 10
- Actual location width: 10
- Actual location depth: 10
- Maximum weight: 100
Select Save.

Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Mobile device > Mobile device menu items.
On the Action Pane, select New to create a menu item for sorting.
In the header, set the following values:
- Menu item name: Adjust In
- Title: Adjust In
- Mode: Work
- Use existing work: No
On the General FastTab, set the following values:
- Work creation process: Adjustment in
- Inventory adjustment types: Adjust in
Select Save.

Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Mobile device > Mobile device menu.
In the list of menus, select Inventory.
On the Action Pane, select Edit.
In the Available Menus And Menu Items list, find and select the Adjust In menu item.
Select the right arrow button to move Adjust In to the Menu Structure list. In this way, you add the new menu item to the selected menu.
Select Save.

Movement types

Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Inventory > Movement types.
On the Action Pane, select New, and then set the following values:
- Movement type code: CONSOLIDATE
- Description: Consolidate locations
- Work class ID: InvMov
Select Save.

Example scenario

The following scenario uses the Warehouse Management mobile app to make an inventory adjustment in to two locations in the warehouse.

Add inventory to locations

Sign in to the mobile device as a user who is set up for warehouse 51.
Go to Inventory > Adjust In.

You will now enter the first location adjustment.
In the Adjustment in task, select the location to make the inventory adjustment for. In the LOC field, select LP-001.
Confirm the location.
Create a license plate ID for the item that will be added to the location. In the LP field, enter LP00101.
Confirm the license plate.
Enter the item that will be added to the license plate. In the ITEM field, enter M9201.
Confirm the item.
Enter the quantity of the item that will be added. In the QTY field, enter 10.
Confirm the quantity.

You receive a "Work Completed" message. You will now enter the second location adjustment.
In the Adjustment in task, select the location to make the inventory adjustment for. In the LOC field, select LP-002.
Confirm the location.
Create a license plate ID for the item that will be added to the location. In the LP field, enter LP00201.
Confirm the license plate.
Enter the item that will be added to the license plate. In the ITEM field, enter M9201.
Confirm the item.
Enter the quantity of the item that will be added. In the QTY field, enter 15.
Confirm the quantity.

You receive a "Work Completed" message.
Select the Menu button (sometimes referred to as the hamburger or the hamburger button), and then select Cancel to exit the Adjustment in task.

Consolidate locations

Go to Warehouse management > Periodic tasks > Item consolidation.
In the header, select a warehouse to do the consolidation for. In the Warehouse field, enter 51.

A record is shown for each location where item M9201 was adjusted. The Utilization percentage column shows the volumetric utilization of each location.
To consolidate inventory, select all the locations that must be consolidated, and then, on the Action Pane, select Consolidate Inventory.
In the Consolidate inventory dialog box, specify the location and movement type that should be used to create the work for inventory movement. Set the following values:
- Location: LP-001
- Movement type code: CONSOLIDATE
Select OK.
You receive an informational message that shows the movement work that was created. Make a note of the movement work ID.

View movement work

Go to Warehouse management > Work > Work details.
View the work that was created. Use the movement work ID from the inventory consolidation to filter or search the work grid.

In this scenario, an existing location that had inventory was used as the inventory consolidation location. Therefore, only one work ID was created.

Note

The system creates one work ID for each move that must be completed. If you specify a location that already contains inventory, only one work ID is created. If you specify a new location, two work IDs are created.