Warehouse location status

Article
02/01/2023

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management includes several location fields that give you flexibility when you work with and maintain locations. You can include location statuses in the location directive query to provide better control over warehouse flow.

The following four fields on the Locations page track information about the current status of a location. These fields let warehouse managers get an overview of the status of the warehouse locations. They also allow for advanced reporting and filtering.

Item number – The item that is currently in the location. If the location contains multiple items, this field is 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 value is calculated based on the aging date of the license plate. It's accurate for locations that are license plate–tracked, but it might not be accurate for locations that aren't license plate–tracked.
Location status – The status of the location. There are four possible values:
- Undetermined – The location profile can't track status. Therefore, the current status is unknown.
- Empty – There is currently no inventory in the location.
- Picking – Outbound transactions have been performed against the location since it was last empty.
- Storage – Only inbound transactions have been performed against the location since the location was last empty.

Turn the Warehouse location status feature on or off

To use this feature, it must be turned on for your system. As of Supply Chain Management version 10.0.29, the feature is mandatory and can't be turned off. If you're running a version older than 10.0.29, then admins can turn this functionality on or off by searching for the Warehouse location status feature in the Feature management workspace.

Set up warehouse location status

Prepare the sample data that is required for the example scenario

Before you start to work through the scenario, you must activate sample data and set up the feature as described in this section. To complete the example scenario, you must use either the Warehouse Management mobile app or the browser-based emulator. The steps that are provided here use the Warehouse Management mobile app. The steps for the browser-based emulator are similar.

Use the USMF legal entity

To work through the example scenario by using the sample records and values that are specified here, you must be on a system where the standard demo data is installed. Additionally, you must select the USMF legal entity before you begin.

Set up location profiles

The example scenario requires that you prepare two location profiles.

Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Location profiles.
Select Edit to put the page into edit mode.
Select the BULK-06 profile.
On the General FastTab, set the following values:
- Enable item in location: Set this option to Yes.
- Enable location activity date and time: Set this option to Yes.
- Enable location status: Set this option to Yes.
These options control whether the reference fields on the location are active.
Repeat steps 3 through 4 for the PICK-06 profile.

Note

When the parameters on the location profile (Enable item in location, Enable location activity, Enable location status) are set to Yes, the system immediately updates the relevant locations by executing the warehouse location status consistency check job.

Scenario

Go to Procurement and sourcing > Purchase orders > All purchase orders.
Select New.
In the Create purchase order dialog box, on the Vendor FastTab, in the Vendor account field, select 104.
On the General FastTab, in the Warehouse field, select 61.
Select OK.
Your new purchase order (PO) is opened. It includes an empty line in the Purchase order lines grid. On this line, set the following values:
- Item number: A0002
- Quantity: 5
On the Action Pane, on the Purchase tab, in the Actions group, select Confirm to confirm the purchase order.
On the mobile device, go to Inbound > Purchase Receive.
Select the PONUM field, enter the PO number, and confirm.
Select the ITEM field, enter A0002 as the item number, and confirm.
On the QTY page, enter 5 as the quantity, and confirm.

You can enter the quantity in either of the following ways:
- Select the plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) button to add or subtract a numerical value.
- Select the blank field between the plus sign (+) and minus sign (–) buttons to open the number pad.
Confirm your selection of item number A0002 and a quantity of 5. A "Work Completed" message appears at the bottom of the page.
Select the Menu button (sometimes referred to as the hamburger or the hamburger button) in the upper-right corner, and then select Cancel to exit Purchase Receive and return to the Inbound menu.
On the purchase order page, select Work details above the Purchase order lines grid.
On the General tab, notice the Work ID and Target license plate ID values that were created.
In the Lines section, notice the Location values for the Pick and Put work types.
On the mobile device, go to Inbound > Purchase Put-away.
Select the ID field, enter the work ID, and confirm.
Confirm once more to complete the Pick entry.
Select the Menu button in the upper-right corner, and then select Done to complete the Pick work.
Make a note of the Putaway location, and confirm. A "Work Completed" message appears at the bottom of the page.
Select the Menu button in the upper-right corner, and then select Cancel to exit Purchase Put-away and return to the Inbound menu.
Select Back to return to the main menu.
In Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Locations.
Filter on Location, and enter the putaway location from the purchase order work. You should see the following results:
- The Location status column shows a value of Storage, because the last transaction against this location was a put.
- The Item number column shows a value of A0002, because that item was received and put to the location.
- The Last activity date and time column shows the timestamp for the date and time when the work was completed at the location.
On the mobile device, go to Quality > Movement.
Select the LOC/LP field, and enter the location you made note of in the previous steps.
Confirm the information that is shown. Make a note of the license plate number that is generated.
On the To Information screen, select the LOC/LP field, and enter 06A07R2S1B as the location to move the item to.
On the To Information screen, confirm the LP value (the target license plate ID), which is automatically generated. A "Work Completed" message appears at the bottom of the page.
Select the Menu button in the upper-right corner, and then select Cancel to exit Movement and return to the Quality Management menu.
Select Back to return to the main menu.
In Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Locations.
Refresh the Locations page, and view the original putaway location again. Notice that the Location status field is now set to Empty, and the Item number column is blank.
View the record for location 06A07R2S1B, and notice that the Status value has changed to Storage, and the Item number and Last activity date and time fields have been updated.
Go to Sales and marketing > Sales orders > All sales orders.
Select New.
In the Create sales order dialog box, in the Customer account field, select US-002.
In the Warehouse field, select 61.
Select OK.
Your new sales order is opened. It includes an empty line in the Sales order lines grid. On this line, set the following values:
- Item number: A0002
- Quantity: 1
On the Sales order lines FastTab, on the Inventory menu, select Reservation.
On the Reservation page, select Reserve lot to reserve the order line. Then select the Close button (X) in the upper-right corner to close the page.
On the Action Pane, on the Warehouse tab, in the Actions group, select Release to warehouse.
In the Sales order lines section, on the Warehouse menu, select Work details.
Copy the Work ID value that was created.
On the mobile device, go to Outbound > Sales picking.
Select the ID field, enter the work ID that you copied earlier, and confirm.
On the Sales orders: Pick page, the LOC field suggests the picking location as the putaway location that was created earlier. Make a note of the location.
Select the LOC field, enter the location, and confirm.
Select the LP field, enter the license plate number that you made a note of during the Movement activity, and confirm.
Select the Item field, enter the A0002 as the item number, and confirm.
On the QTY page, enter 1 as the quantity, and confirm.

You can enter the quantity in either of the following ways:
- Select the plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) button to add or subtract a numerical value.
- Select the blank field between the plus sign (+) and minus sign (–) buttons to open the number pad.
Select the TARGET LP field, enter a user-defined target license plate ID, and confirm.
Confirm once more to complete the picking work. A "Work Completed" message appears at the bottom of the page.
Select the Menu button in the upper-right corner, and then select Cancel to complete the picking activity and return to the Outbound menu.
In Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Locations.
Filter on Location, and enter the pick location from the sales order work.
Notice that the Location status field for the location that the sales order work picked from is now set to Picking, and the Last activity date and time field has been updated.