Inbound operations
The following sample procedure shows what the warehouse handling process might look like for inbound loads for purchase orders. The flow for handling inbound loads can involve the following steps:
Vendor confirms the purchase order - The inbound process begins when someone enters a purchase order into the system. Then, the purchase order is delivered to a vendor who confirms the order. The purchase order must exist for someone to create an inbound load record. Warehouse personnel can create the inbound load even if the vendor hasn’t yet confirmed the order.
An inbound load record is created to plan the arrival and its contents - An inbound load record represents a vendor shipment of one or more purchase orders. The load arrives at the warehouse as one physical transportation unit, such as a truckload or container. The inbound load record gives the logistics coordinator visibility on the load’s progress from the vendor. Warehouse personnel can also use the record to register order line quantities and manage progress through warehouse operations, such as arrive and put-away work. Workers can create inbound loads automatically or manually, and they’re typically based on a purchase order or an advanced shipment notice (ASN) from the vendor.
Vendor confirms load dispatch - After the vendor dispatches the load, the logistics coordinator of the receiving warehouse can confirm the load shipment. If the receiving legal entity is using the Transportation management module, the inbound shipment confirmation triggers other load management processes that are associated with inbound loads.
Load arrives at the warehouse and workers register quantities - When a truckload arrives at the warehouse receiving dock, warehouse workers register the load quantities. They can complete this registration from the warehouse management module on their mobile devices.
Warehouse personnel post the registered load quantities against purchase orders – After workers register the load quantities as arrived, the warehouse manager needs to product receipt-post the quantities to the company’s inventory ledger so that they can record the physical stock increase.
Supply Chain Management can support these steps of the inbound purchase order process in a various ways. However, your business might have specific process requirements that call for variations on this process. For more information, see Warehouse handling of inbound loads for purchase and inbound shipment orders.
Purchase order receipts
The purchase order receipt process can be broken down into the following steps, from preparing to verifying the location in the warehouse:
The purchase order is prepared by the appropriate person and sent to the vendor.
You're advised of the delivery and it arrives at your dock.
The warehouse person logs in to the mobile device.
The menu can be customized for different workers.
The Receiving function is accessed in the mobile device by selecting Purchase Receive.
You can either use the Scan function or type in the PONUM (purchase order number).
Enter the Quantity and Unit that is being received.
The process of receiving is verified as correct by viewing the Work page in Supply Chain Management.
You can refer to the item's inventory to see that it's located at the default Receive location in the warehouse (or wherever it was received).
Purchase order put away
Purchase order put away tasks are typically handled by warehouse workers through a mobile device. After the purchase order has been received, another worker might be assigned to put away the items in their inventory location as specified in the location directive.
The put away process can be broken down into four basic steps:
Scan the work ID or license plate of the shipment to be put away.
Validate the items to be put away.
Follow the system prompts:
If system-directed, the mobile device directs you to the location.
If user-directed, the worker selects a location.
The verification of the location is scanned into the handheld device.
Purchase order put away clusters
Put away clustering provides efficiency on the inbound process by allowing workers to group put away work into a cluster and pick multiple license plates at once, and later put away in the different locations.
The process is as follows:
Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Mobile device > Cluster profiles and create Put away cluster
Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Mobile device menu items and create Put away cluster, ensuring to select the Cluster profile ID that was set up in step 1.
Receive the purchase order as is described above on the mobile device.
On the mobile device, select Assign to put away cluster and scan or enter the multiple work IDs.
On the mobile device, select Put away cluster and scan or enter the cluster ID and:
If system-directed, the mobile device directs you to the location.
If user-directed, the worker selects a location.
Purchase order put away with quality check
When you receive an order, some warehouses require a quick inspection of the items to determine whether or not they're in a satisfactory condition, without having to go through a formal quality order. This quality check option allows the worker to physically check the item prior to actually receiving the item and putting away the items in their inventory location, as specified in the location directive.
When you receive an item, if the item isn't in a satisfactory condition, the worker rejects the quality check step on the mobile device and a new work item is created.
The process is as follows:
In the Warehouse Management > Setup configure the following:
In Warehouse > Locations create a Quality check location where the system directs the worker to place a failed check
In Work > Work classes create a new work class QualChck
In Work > Quality check template choose to Prompt user and Create work only
In Work > Work template choose the Work order type > Quality in quality check create a Pick and Put on the Work template details with the Work class ID set up
Setup a Work template for Work order type > Purchase order with Work template details with Work type for Pick, Quality check and Put
In Location directives for the Work order type > Quality in quality check with a Work type > Put
In Mobile device > Mobile device menu item > Purchase put-away add the QualCheck in the Work classes fast tab.
Scan the work ID or license plate of the shipment to be put away.
Follow the system prompts, per the setup in step 1:
The mobile device directs you to check the items in the shipment.
If the quality check passes, the device directs you to the put away location.
If the quality check fails, that work item closes and a new work item is created for further action.
Purchase order put away with a quality order
A common practice in many companies is performing quality checks on incoming shipments of inventory. The process is set up in the Inventory management module in Supply Chain Management.
Part of the quality process can be the creation of an automatic quality order upon receipt of an item. This means that when an item is received into inventory, the system creates a quality order. Instead of putting away all items as usual, some or all of the items (based on the sample size that was set up) are moved to a different location for testing.
The process is as follows:
The Quality order put away menu item, location directive, and work template are created to support the process.
The shipment is received.
The quality order is generated.
The quality order process is initiated to move the product to the location that is specified for quality testing.
Work policies for inbound work
This feature simplifies the receiving process for warehouse receiving workers, and for transfer orders, or when you complete the manufacturing process. It allows the purchase order item, or load item receiving, and put away process to receive goods without creating putaway work.
As of Supply Chain Management version 10.0.32, these features are enabled by default.
Rather than creating work, the process allows workers to register inbound physical inventory directly to the location at the inbound receiving dock. This feature also adds options for receiving at any location in the warehouse, allowing for the setup of location specific menu items in the mobile app, to include non-license-plate controlled locations.
A work policy controls whether warehouse work is created when a manufactured item is reported as finished, or when goods are received by using the Warehouse Management mobile app. You set up each work policy by defining the conditions where it applies: the work order types and processes, the inventory location, and (optionally) the products.
For example, a purchase order for product A0001 is received in location RECV in warehouse 24. Later, the product is consumed in another process at location RECV. In this case, you can set up a work policy to prevent putaway work from being created when a worker reports product A0001 as received in location RECV.
Consider the following restrictions:
- For a work policy to be active, you must define at least one location for it on the Inventory locations FastTab of the Work policies page.
- You can't specify the same location for multiple work policies.
- The Print label option for mobile device menu items won't print a license plate label unless work is created.
Work policies page
To set up work policies, go to Warehouse management > Setup > Work > Work policies. Then, on each FastTab, set the fields as described in the following subsections.
The Work order types FastTab
On the Work order types FastTab, add all the work order types, and the related work processes, that the work policy applies too. The following work order types and related work processes are supported for work policies.
| Work order type | Work process |
|---|---|
| Raw material picking | All related processes |
| Co-product and by-product put away | All related processes |
| Finished goods putaway | All related processes |
| Transfer receipt | License plate receiving (and putaway) |
| Purchase orders | License plate receiving (and putaway) Load item receiving (and putaway) Purchase order line receiving (and putaway) Purchase order item receiving (and putaway) |
To set up a work policy so that it applies to several work processes of the same work order type, add a separate line for each work process to the grid. For each line in the grid, set the Work creation method field to one of the following values:
Never – The work policy prevents warehouse work from being created for the selected work order type and related work process.
Cross docking – The work policy creates cross-docking work by using the policy that you select in the Cross docking policy name field.
The Inventory locations FastTab
On the Inventory locations FastTab, add all the locations where this work policy should be applied. If no location is associated with a work policy, the work policy won't be applied to any process. You can't specify the same location for multiple work policies.
You can use a warehouse location that is assigned to a location profile where the Use license plate tracking option is turned off. In this case, workers will directly register the on-hand inventory.
The Products FastTab
On the Products FastTab, set the Product selection field to control which products the policy should apply to:
- All – The policy should apply to all products.
- Selected – The policy should apply only to products that are listed in the grid. Use the toolbar on the Products FastTab to add products to the grid or remove them from the grid.
Demonstration
To set up a warehouse work policy, follow these steps.
- Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Work > Work policies.
- Select New.
- In the Work policy name field, enter No purchase item putaway work.
- Select Save.
- On the Work order types FastTab, select Add to add a row to the grid, and then set the following values for the new row:
- Work order type - Purchase orders
- Work process - Purchase order item receiving (and putaway)
- Work creation method - Never
- Cross docking policy name - Leave this field blank.
- On the Inventory locations FastTab, select Add to add a row to the grid, and then set the following values for the new row:
- Warehouse - 24
- Location - FL-001
- On the Products FastTab, set the Product selection field to All.
- Select Save.
Work breaks
Work breaks support inventory transactions to be split during the goods-in-transit receiving process, which provides the following benefits:
- Warehouse managers can establish work break rules to split large putaway jobs into smaller ones based on item, location, stocking limits, or other factors.
- Work break functionality correctly handles under-deliveries and over-deliveries, and makes all appropriate adjustments to the underlying data.
- Workers can complete or cancel each work header independently.
- The system correctly handles canceled work for goods-in-transit orders, including after an over-delivery transaction and after applying work breaks. The related goods-in-transit and purchase orders are also automatically updated as appropriate.
Work header breaks
Work templates consist of a header and associated lines. Each work template is for a specific work order type. Many work order types are associated with source documents, such as purchase or sales orders. However, other work order types represent separate warehouse processes, such as cycle counting. The Work pool ID lets you organize work into groups.
Use the settings in the work header definition to determine when a new piece of work should be created. For example, you can set a maximum number of pick lines and a maximum expected pick time. Then, if the work for a sales order picking process exceeds either of those values, that work is split into two pieces of work.
Use the Work header breaks button to define when the system should create new work headers. For example, to create a work header for each order number, select Edit query on the Action Pane, and then add the Order number field to the Sorting tab of the query editor. Fields that are added to the Sorting tab are available for selection as grouping fields. To set your grouping fields, select Work header breaks on the Action Pane, and then, for each field that you want to use as a grouping field, select the check box in the Group by this field column.
Purchase order returns
Most warehouses have a specific process to handle inventory that needs to be returned. This process might involve a specific location to house the inventory, sometimes known as a quarantine warehouse. This location can be used for returns, items requiring inspection, or items requiring infrequent actions.
Occasionally, something that is purchased will need to be returned to the vendor. This can be done with the mobile device by following these steps:
The return order is entered into Supply Chain Management.
The return is entered or scanned with the mobile device to start the process.
Items are picked and are sent through the process that is set up on the work template and the mobile device.
Items are shipped by using the mobile device to handle the created shipment and load.
Receive items at a different warehouse than expected
You might receive loads or items at a warehouse that differ from the warehouse that was specified on the source document. When you receive the load or the item, it's located at the new warehouse and then all related work is created for that new warehouse. This means that all processes for managing the inventory are the same as they would have been at the warehouse where the inventory was expected, which includes packing structures and advanced shipping notice.
Information on the source document isn't changed to reflect the new warehouse. The warehouse must be assigned to the same site that was specified on the source document. Inbound workflows on the mobile device for purchasing and returns only support the following work creation processes:
License plate receiving
Purchase order line receiving
Purchase order line receiving and put away
Purchase order item receiving
Purchase order item receiving and put away
Return order receiving
Return order receiving and put away
Load item receiving and load item receiving and put away
To avoid mistakes, it's important that the worker who is receiving the load or items ensures that they're logged into the correct warehouse.
For example, if an employee is working in Warehouse 11 but has forgotten that they logged in on their mobile device in Warehouse 21, the loader items are mistakenly located at Warehouse 21.
To enable receipts at a warehouse that differ from the warehouse that is set up on the source document, you need to go to the Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse > Sites > Warehouse FastTab.
You can enable the option to allow users on a mobile device to receive at another warehouse.
License plate receiving via the warehouse app
You can set up the warehouse app to support using a license plate receiving process to receive physical inventory. This process can simplify the license plate receiving process for the Warehouse clerk.
Require workers to confirm the product, location, or quantity when they pick items
You can set up job confirmations that enable a worker to use a mobile device while working in the warehouse to record the location or quantity. Job confirmations guarantee that the person is in the appropriate position or manages the proper number of items.
You can also enable Supply Chain Management to validate the registration of the worker automatically. You may not require confirmation of location or quantity if you enable automatic confirmation.
Items and product variations are often included in job confirmations. Also, by scanning a bar code, you can record confirmations. You must enter an ID for the product or product variant to validate products and product variants. This ID can be a product ID, product search ID, external ID, GTIN, or bar code. The dimensions for the product variant are seen on the mobile device after you enter the ID or scan the bar code.
Capture product variants and tracking dimensions in the warehousing app during load item receiving
This feature makes it possible for loads containing multiple product variants to capture a specific product variant (without using a product barcode) during the load item receiving process. Tracking dimension values (such as batch and serial numbers) can also be captured, provided they're predefined on the order line. This allows each item to be registered by the Warehouse receiving clerk and note its variant and tracking dimensions as it's unpacked, rather than being instructed to locate each particular SKU following the order-line sequence.
Show or skip the receiving summary page
For mobile device menu items for license plate receiving or license plate receiving and put-away there's a Display receiving summary page setting. This setting has the following options:
- Display a detailed summary – During license plate receiving, workers see an extra page that shows the full ASN information.
- Skip the summary – Workers won't see the full ASN information. Warehouse workers also won't be able to set a disposition code or add exceptions during the receiving process.
Prevent transfer order shipped license plates from being used at warehouses other than the destination warehouse
A license plate receiving process can't be used if an ASN contains a license plate ID that already exists and has physical on-hand data at a warehouse location other than the warehouse location where the license plate registration occurs.
For transfer order scenarios where the transit warehouse doesn't track license plates (and therefore also doesn't track physical on-hand inventory per license plate), you can prevent physical on-hand updates of license plates that are in transit.
Follow these steps, to set this up:
- Go to Warehouse management > Setup > Warehouse management parameters.
- On the General tab, on the License plates FastTab set the Transit warehouse license plate policy field to one of the following values:
- Allow reuse of non-tracked license plate – This value is the default setting.
- Prevent reuse of non-tracked license plate – Only on-hand updates related to a shipped license plate are allowed at the destination warehouse until the transfer order has been received.
Location license plate positioning
When you have a multi-pallet location that contains multiple license plates, Location license plate positioning adds a sequence number to the License plate when each license plate is put into a location. This allows users to see where each license plate is in the Location.
To configure the location license plate positioning functionality, follow these steps:
Go to Warehouse management -> Setup -> Warehouse -> Location profiles, select the location, toggle Enable license plate positioning and Display mobile device LP position options to Yes.
Enable license plate position – Enables the LP positioning functionality for the location profile.
Display mobile device LP position – This is only editable when the functionality is enabled and controls if the user on the mobile device should be shown the position when performing adjustment in and cycle counting transactions.
Update Warehouse management > Setup > Location directives and on the locations that you want this functionality to work on, add a Location directive action for Sequence number 1 to the pick position 1 as shown below:
Then select Edit query
Select Joins tab and expand the Locations, Inventory dimensions tabs and highlight the Inventory dimensions then select Add table join and scroll all the way down to License plate and select the Select check mark.
Highlight License plate and select Add table join > License plate positioning select the Select check mark.
Select the Range tab.
Select Add button and add the field License plate positioning with a Criteria of 1.
Automatically update documents when receiving purchase orders
When inventory is received, the purchase order documents are automatically updated. This removes the manual step of having to manually assign a product receipt number to update the cost. By enabling this feature, your organization will improve efficiency and no longer need to manage purchase order updates manually when inventory has been received saving time for your warehouse workers.
Optimize the inbound receiving process
Consider a scenario where your organization has an order line requesting 100 crates, each crate containing various electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Each electronic device is individually tracked with a unique serial number, ensuring accurate inventory management and traceability. As this process can be extremely time consuming, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management provides increased performance to streamline this process and the Warehouse Management mobile app brings increased visibility for inventory that is ready to be put away.