In The Business Edge, clients use the Wireless Warehouse to pick Orders without paper.
The Wireless Warehouse uses barcode scanning to both eliminate the need for pick tickets and ensure accurate picking
After an order is entered in The Business Edge, the Order can be released to the warehouse picking queue from the final screen of Order entry by selecting F2-Release to Wireless Warehouse from the right-hand menu under options.
Please note that an Order must be in the Warehouse Queue in order to be allocated using barcode scanning.
The next screen is where the system is notified of how to prioritize the Order.
The first field we see is priority. This field gives a direct numerical value to the Order’s priority. The priority field is used when multiple sales Orders share the same date requested and the lowest numbered priority will appear in the queue to be picked first. This priority field defaults from the shipper that was selected as the ship via on the Order.
Typically, will calls will carry the highest priority followed by LTL freight and then end of the day UPS or FedEx shipping. The assigned to field is used to tell the wireless warehouse that a specific user is to pick this particular Order. Assigning an Order to a user overrides the priority. The date requested will pull from the Order heading information but can be changed here if needed. Picking messages will display on the handheld scanners when a user begins to pick an Order. Order holding location is used for pack and holds. After an Order is allocated either in full or partially this location tells the pickers where to put the Order while it waits for a customer pickup or remaining balances to arrive. The Order holding location can also be entered by the pickers when they are done allocating. The majority of clients prefer to handle the Order holding location in this manner. Allocation rules are created and maintained with the assistance of a Computer Insights support representative. The released to warehouse question defaults to Yes and after pressing escape or clicking okay this Order will be released to the warehouse for picking. Orders can also be released to the warehouse by using what is known as the Wireless Warehouse Picking Report. .
The picking report will display all open Orders for a particular branch based on shipper, date requested, or both. A majority of the time the shipper range will be left at beginning to end and the date range will be back dated as far back as possible to catch any outstanding backorders. The ending date will cut off any Orders from displaying that have a date requested after the ending date in the report. Firm, Work and VMI Order types can be set to be included or omitted from the report by answering Yes or No to each respective field. The backorder option can be set to include all Orders, backorders only or no backorders. Processing Po’s can also be displayed in the report by answering Yes to include Processing Po’s. When using the Wireless Warehouse, the send to processor stage of the PPO process can be handled with barcode scanning. Pressing escape or clicking okay will run the picking report.
The picking report will show all open documents that fall within the parameters set prior to running the report. There are some visual references we can see immediately that let a user know that status of an Order.
The symbol below represents an order that has NOT yet been released the picking queue.
The symbol below represents an order that is currently in the warehouse queue.
As mentioned earlier documents can be released to the warehouse queue from this picking report. The most common method is to use the F5 release to Wireless Warehouse button found on the right-hand menu.
When using this method, the Order is released to the wireless warehouse instantly and a default priority is assigned to the order from the shipper master file. The alternative method is to double click a detail line, which allows a user to edit the document’s priority similar to what was shown at the final screen of Order Entry.
Documents can also be removed from the picking queue using this report. To remove a document that is currently in the queue, we can highlight the detail line and select the F3 add/remove queue button. .
Determining whether or not a document should be in the queue to be picked is made easier by looking at 4 columns displayed in this report.The 4 columns are # of lines which tells a user how many line items are on any given document.
# of packable lines which tells a user how many of the lines on an Order have availability and can be packed. # of packed lines tells a user how many of the line item have already been allocated. # of not packable lines tells a user how many line items can not be packed due to a lack of inventory. Lines may also be deemed un-packable if they do not meet certificate requirements. Should an Order have a Certificate Requirement on any of the detail lines within the Order, the Cert Required column will show a Yes.
The picking report can be refreshed at any time by using the F7 refresh list. It is recommended that you “refresh list” periodically throughout the day, if you chose to release Orders through the picking report. This process should be monitored by either a sales or warehouse manager.
At any time while using the picking report to release orders to the Warehouse Queue, the Queue itself can be viewed by selecting the F2 Show Queue option from the right-hand menu.
In order for a document to show in the warehouse queue, the document needs to be released to the queue, have a date requested, a priority, and have packable lines. This means if a document is released to the warehouse with a priority but no inventory is available to allocate the document will not appear until the inventory is brought into the system. This also means that documents can be pre-released and prioritized before product is brought in. When product is put into inventory the document is automatically put in the queue and no paper trail is needed. Warehouse Pickers use a feature called pick/allocate next doc which prompts the barcode scanner to pull down the top document from the warehouse queue to be picked.
For more information on barcode scanning/allocation please reference the barcode scanning/allocation documentation.
After a picker has packed all of the pack-able lines for a document the document is removed from the queue. Please note any backorders generated as a result of partial shipments will need to be re-released to the warehouse and assigned a priority. Documents can be moved up or down the queue by changing the priority or by assigning a specific document to a user. To alter any of the priority information on a document, double click the detail line in the queue and make any necessary changes from here, including un-releasing from the warehouse. Depending on your procedures you may want to see what items are on a particular document to help decide how to prioritize it. Selecting the F4 Detail lines from the right-hand menu will display this information.
Any given detail line can be double clicked and a more in-depth inquiry is available.
At the order detail screen, Reservations can be made or viewed by utilizing the F8 Reservations found in the right-hand menu.
Allocation rules are put in place after extensive conversations with a CI representative. The majority of the time overrides will not be necessary, but Reservations are available for the rare occurrence that an override is needed. Pressing escape or clicking okay will return you to the queue, advancing screens again will take you back to the picking report