This article gives you ready-made putaway algorithm set-ups for common warehouse situations. Each one shows the rules (conditions, actions and order by), what happens when stock is put away, and why. Copy the one closest to your operation, then adjust the zones, groups and order to match your warehouse.

For how to build them, see Create a Putaway Algorithm. For how rules are evaluated, see How the Putaway Algorithm Chooses a Location.

Goal: forward pick shelves hold any mix of SKUs, but never more than 50 units in total. Top up shelves that already hold the SKU; otherwise open an empty shelf.

Location set-up: each Forward Pick shelf has Location Capacity Type = Max Unit Quantity and Maximum Capacity Quantity = 50.

What happens: shelf FP-03 holds 30 units of SKU-1 and 15 units of SKU-2, so 45 units in total.

Why: the limit counts every unit in the location, whatever the SKU. Without Check Location Capacity Type in the rule, the location fields are ignored.

Goal: each carton flow lane takes at most 8 packs, whatever is in them.

Location set-up: each lane has Location Capacity Type = Max Pack Quantity and Maximum Capacity Quantity = 8.

What happens: lane CF-02 holds 5 cases and 2 eaches of SKU-7, which counts as 7 packs. One more case fits (8); two more don't, so CF-02 is left out for a putaway of 2 cases and Rule 1 looks at the next lane holding cases of SKU-7. Rule 2 opens an empty lane when no occupied lane has room.

Why: Max Pack Quantity counts packs as they are stored, not units, so it suits lanes where the number of cartons is the physical limit. Compare example 1, where the number of units is the limit.

Goal: slow movers share shelves, but no shelf holds more than 3 different SKUs, so picking and counting stay simple.

Location set-up: each shelf in the Slow Movers zone has Maximum SKU Quantity = 3.

What happens:

Why: Check Max SKU Count only blocks a SKU that isn't on the shelf yet; adding more of a SKU already there is always allowed. Rule 1 is still useful because it keeps each SKU together before new shelves are mixed.

Goal: fast movers go to the Hotpick zone first, but each SKU may only take 2 Hotpick locations. After that, new locations come from Back-shelf (up to 4 per SKU), then Reserve (no limit).

Zone set-up: in Settings > Data Setup > Location Zone, Hotpick has Zone Priority 1 and Max Location per SKU 2; Back-shelf has priority 2 and limit 4; Reserve has priority 3 and no limit.

Location set-up: every location in these zones has Location Capacity Type = Max Unit Quantity and Maximum Capacity Quantity = 40, so a location counts as full at 40 units.

What happens: SKU-X is in H-01 and H-02 (Hotpick).

Why: Check Max Locations per SKU removes a zone once the SKU has reached that zone's limit, and Zone Priority decides which zone comes next. Check Location Capacity Type is what makes a location "full"; without a limit, Rule 1 would keep sending SKU-X to H-01 forever. The action is skipped for LPs holding more than one SKU.

Goal: chilled products only go to chilled zones and ambient products to ambient zones, without writing one rule per product group.

Zone set-up: in Settings > Data Setup > Location Zone, select each zone, click Match With Product Groups and match it: Chilled A and Chilled B with the Chilled and Dairy groups, Ambient with Dry Goods and Beverages. A zone can be matched with several groups, and a group with several zones.

What happens: a carton of yogurt (group Dairy) goes to a Chilled A or Chilled B location already holding it, otherwise to an empty location in the highest-priority matched zone. A tote mixing yogurt and crisps holds two product groups, so Rules 1 and 2 are skipped for it and Rule 3 sends it to Mixed Staging.

Why: the match is set once per zone, so new products follow their group automatically. For an LP, every product on it must belong to the same group; otherwise the matching rules are skipped. That's why the catch-all Rule 3 is there.

Goal: when receivers use Suggest Putaway Location on the receiving screen, top up pick faces directly; otherwise drop stock in an overflow area for later putaway.

Location set-up: pick faces have Location Capacity Type = Max Unit Quantity with a limit that suits each face.

What happens: at receiving, a SKU whose pick face stays within its unit limit goes straight there (Rule 1). Anything else goes to an empty overflow location (Rule 2). Later, when an operator moves stock out of overflow with directed putaway, Rules 1 and 2 are skipped (this isn't receiving), and Rules 3 and 4 send it to reserve.

Why: rules with Is Receiving Process only apply to putaway straight after receiving. See Suggest Putaway Location When Receiving (Mobile).

Goal: damaged stock never reaches pickable locations.

What happens: a return with Damage Reason "Water" joins other water-damaged stock in a damage location that can't be picked from (Rule 1), or opens an empty one (Rule 2). Undamaged stock fails the condition and goes on to your normal rules.

Why: these rules must be at the top. If a general rule sat above them, damaged stock would be suggested pick faces. Use Test Rule with a damaged inventory line (the test grid shows Damage Reason) to check.

Goal: a key client has its own zone; everyone else shares, but stock never mixes between clients.

What happens: Acme stock stays in the Acme zone. Other clients' stock joins Shared locations that hold the same client's products of the same group, preferring locations with fewer SKUs and skipping any that have reached their Maximum SKU Quantity. Otherwise it opens an empty Shared location.

Why: Check Same Client only lets stock join its own client's stock. As a safety net, turn on the location setting that prevents multiple clients in Shared locations: the algorithm never suggests a location whose "one client only" setting would be broken.

Goal: fill shelves by physical space, with a 10% buffer, and still get a suggestion for products without dimensions.

What happens: 10 boxes of 2,000 cm³ need 20,000 cm³. Rule 1 suggests the shelf with the least free volume that still fits them, among shelves already holding the same product group. If none fits, Rule 2 opens an empty shelf big enough. A product with no dimensions skips the volumetric Rules 1 and 2, so Rule 3 gives it an empty shelf.

Why: only the top 20 shelves after sorting are checked, plus one more batch of 20 for volumetric rules; narrowing by zone keeps the right shelves in that window. See Volume Based Putaway.

Goal: operators doing putaway never fill pick faces; replenishment does that.

What happens: stock goes to reserve locations holding the same SKU and lot, otherwise to an empty reserve location in the highest-priority zone. Pick faces (Target locations) are never suggested.

Why: putaway doesn't count open replenishment tasks. If putaway could also suggest pick faces, an operator might fill space a replenishment task is about to use. Keeping putaway on Source locations avoids this. See Understanding Soft Allocation in Putaway.

Can I use these set-ups for Dynamic Replenishment? The same kinds of rules work in the algorithm marked Use this algorithm as dynamic replenishment algorithm. Rules with Is Receiving Process never apply there. To keep replenishment on pick faces, add Suggest a location with the selected replenishment type = Target to its rules. See Setting Up Dynamic Replenishment.

How do I check an example works before going live? Use Test Rule for each rule and Test Algorithm for the whole set-up. See Create a Putaway Algorithm.