SouthWare Warehouse Tracking Implementation Planning Worksheet

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1 SouthWare Warehouse Tracking Implementation Planning Worksheet This document outlines some of the key decisions you should make before starting to implement SouthWare's Warehouse Tracking module. By reviewing these questions in advance you will minimize the time it takes you to get your system up and working for you. This is designed so that you may print the worksheet as a form and write your answers on the printed sheets. In Microsoft Word you may also enter answers directly in the form fields and then print out the completed form. A Planning for the Changeover from your existing system 1 Cutoff/Timing of changeover is critical Data - You must carefully plan the conversion of your existing warehouse data to your new system. You need to continue to support your normal operations while preparing the files in SouthWare s Warehouse Tracking. This involves: Building Warehouse Tracking files with the Interface flag (WT-05-02, field 11) turned off Creating warehouse beginning quantities via: o Physical count, or o of stock quantities via warehouse transactions, or o Running of a special quantity initialization process Activating the Interface flag to start the creation of warehouse transactions from other Inventory/Sales processing Note on Stock File Data: If you have bins identified in your stock records you could export these via ReportMate to import/create Storage ID records and Pre-Assigned Stock records. If you plan to use the weight/volume features of Warehouse Tracking you should make sure you have defined unit weight/volume for each stock item. 2 Timeframe You should plan your timeframe so that switchover to the new system causes the least possible interference with your ongoing operations. Indicate below how long you plan to allocate for the transition to the new system. Note: This timeframe should be only for Warehouse Tracking. If you are not currently using Inventory/Sales you will not be able to implement Warehouse Tracking until Inventory/Sales is implemented. 3 Running parallel (dual systems) Most businesses don t have the resources to run parallel on both their old system and their new system. However, you should consider this if possible. You should also consider what your fallback plan will be if you switch to the new system and then realize that you don t have the system/procedures ready yet. This is unlikely, but it is better to have thought about this than to be unprepared. Will you run parallel? Yes No 4 Decision on Interactive Inventory/Sales Receivings Post If you are currently Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 1 of 12

2 posting receivings in batch from Inventory/Sales then you should consider changing to interactive updates (as defined in the Inventory Operator record). Warehouse transactions are not created until the Inventory/Sales transactions are posted, so there will be a delay between receivings and warehouse processing if you continue to use batch posting. 5 How Data is Stored if You Have Multiple Locations Each inventory location is considered to have a separate warehouse. All of the data for each warehouse is stored in files that are separate from any other location warehouse. This simplifies and streamlines the efficiency of each warehouse. Stock records are not separated this way since it is useful to inquire and sell from multiple locations, but warehouse data is unique to each warehouse. The location number is used as part of the file name for the warehouse data files. For example, the file of storage ID information has the external file name of "WSID" and the storage ID file for location 001 would be "WSID001.FIL". If you need to set up multiple locations you have the option to bring up a single warehouse at a time. Implement one location, then implement another location, etc. B Personnel 1 Who will be involved in this implementation? Decision Making: Set Up of SouthWare files Data Entry/Conversion: Training?: If one of these people is not able/willing to make time to perform the necessary implementation work, who should be contacted? C Operator Setup (WT-05-01) 1 Warehouse Operators You must indicate which logon operators may use the Warehouse Tracking module. A logon operator is associated with a single warehouse location - when the operator logs on, the system automatically knows which warehouse location data to use. There are also certain operator options that you must define per operator including: What types of transactions the operator may access Whether the operator may change the picking/packing quantity for an order Note: This file is shared by all warehouse locations, while other files in the Warehouse Tracking module are separated per warehouse location. Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 2 of 12

3 D Major Control Record File Setup Decisions (WT-05-02) 1 Control Record - Units of Measure What units of measure (up to 3 characters) will you use for measuring the capacity of storage units? Height/Width/Depth Volume Weight (default "IN") (default "CIN") (default "LBS") 2 Control Record - Use of Locator Levels See the Warehouse System Overview discussion or WT in the manual for an explanation of how positions and locator levels can be used. You can choose to ignore locator levels for now and have positions automatically created for you as you create fixed Storage IDs. Do you plan to organize your warehouse positions using sub-areas within sub-areas (such as shelf within aisle within zone)? I plan to set up locator levels now I don t plan to use locator levels now but may implement them later If so, what will you call each level? (The name may be up to 20 characters and you may use up to five levels - leave unneeded levels blank.) NOTE: This organization hierarchy is in addition to the specific position of fixed storage areas. For example, if you use Bin IDs for your fixed position storage areas you do not need to define Bin as a level. The actual storage position is a level underneath the locator levels. Level 1 (most aggregate) Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 3 of 12

4 3 Control Record - Assigned Storage ID Types Do you use designated storage IDs or bins for specific stock items (the item is always stored in one or more specified positions)? Yes No Does a stock item have more than one designated storage ID (e.g. does it have both a fast pick and a bulk position?)? Yes No If so, what labels will you use to designate the different types of designated storage locations? (The label may be up to 20 characters and you may have up to 10 designated storage IDs per stock item in addition to a designated position to put pallets.) NOTE: If a storage ID is reserved for a single stock item you may designate this in the storage ID record. You also have the option to designate a unit of measure and minimum quantity for each designated ID for a stock item if the unit to use is based on the quantity. Examples might include labels for "Fast Pick", "CASE", "BULK", or "CARTON". SID Label 1 SID Label 2 SID Label 3 SID Label 4 SID Label 5 SID Label 6 SID Label 7 Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 4 of 12

5 SID Label 8 SID Label 9 SID Label 10 4 Control Record - Priorities You may assign priorities to your transactions to establish a relative sequence or importance of transactions. This affects two features: The default sequence in the Transaction Controller is by priority The Next Trx feature of the handheld pages will consider higher priority transactions first In the Control record you may indicate how many levels of priorities to use (up to 9) and give a label to each priority. How many priorities will you use? What will you call each priority? (The name may be up to six characters and you may use up to 9 priorities - leave unneeded names blank.) 5 Critical Set Up Step Control Record - Key Field Edit Controls The following questions control whether the system will enforce a standard of upper case/lower case letter consistency in the definition of certain key fields. This can be very helpful in establishing clean and consistent files, but it is VERY IMPORTANT to get this right before you set up any data. Once you have established a standard it is not practical to change it, although you can remove the standard. Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 5 of 12

6 Here are the options for each key field below: 1. No Control - allow any combination of upper/lower case letters 2. All Uppercase - change any letters entered to upper case 3. All Lowercase - change any letters entered to lower case 4. Uppercase First Letter - change any letters entered so that the first letter in a word is capitalized but all subsequent letters in the word are lower case Station ID Case Editing: Storage ID Attribute Case Editing: Warehouse Locator ID Case Editing: Storage ID Type Case Editing: Storage ID Case Editing: Position ID Case Editing: 6 Critical Set Up Step Control Record - Transaction Generation Options The following questions are VERY important. They control how warehouse transactions are created and updated from other SouthWare processes. You may change these answers later if needed, but any transactions created will be controlled by these parameters. Default Storage IDs - the system will automatically assign storage IDs to certain types of transactions that change warehouse quantities. Here you control the default storage IDs: For Receivings the default is "*RECEIVINGS" For Returns the default is "*RETURNS" For Packing/Staging the default is "*STAGING" For Assemblies (if applicable) the default is *ASSEMBLY Items posted from Receivings process Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 6 of 12

7 Items posted from sales/service returns Items picked for staging Assembly area Note: The Edit Control options will be applied to the defaults. 7 Picking Assignment Sequence You may specify your preferred sequence for assigning Storage IDs to picking transactions when a stock item is located in more than one SID in the warehouse. When the system does not assign a SID from the stock assigned record (WT-05-09) it next checks all SIDs in the warehouse that contain this stock item. Via a field in the Control Record you can control which SIDs are assigned first: L - Locator Preferences for the Station The suggested SIDs for Picking should be in the sequence of the Locator Preferences (WT-05-10) for the Picking station. D Date - Oldest PUT Date The suggested SIDs for Picking should be sequenced by oldest PUT date (the SID with the oldest date the item was last added to the SID). Q Largest Quantity The suggested SIDs for Picking should be sequenced by largest quantity in the SID (the SID with the most quantity of the item should be suggested first). 8 PIK/PAK - Do you normally pick items from the warehouse per order or do you use a picking consolidation such as wave picking or zone picking? Normally pick per order Normally pick group of orders in wave (combined) Normally pick group of orders per zone 9 PIK/PAK - Do you want to generate a separate packing transaction in addition to a picking transaction? This facilitates tracking/assigning the staging work for orders as a separate process from the picking of the items from the warehouse. Generate separate PIK and PAK transactions per item to be shipped from warehouse Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 7 of 12

8 Generate only a PIK transaction 10 PIK Consolidation - When you generate picking transactions from orders you have the option to combine quantities needed of the same stock item. In the control record you specify whether to do any consolidation. The reason for the "B"atch option is to allow you to combine all picking items from a single batch without combining them with unfinished picking items from other batch postings. For example, if you printed picking tickets this morning that are in the process of being picked you may not want picking tickets from this afternoon to be combined with the ones from this morning. I don't want the picking ticket generation process to consolidate stock items - I want one transaction per order line item ("N" option) I want the picking generation process to add quantity to pick for an item to any existing open picking transaction for the same stock item ("Y" option) I want the picking generation process to consolidate the quantities to create a single warehouse picking transaction per stock item in the generation (but don't combine with any other generation batches). ("B" option) 11 PUT - Do you want to generate a separate putaway transaction from receivings? This facilitates assigning the putaway work as a separate process from the receiving of the items from the warehouse. Generate separate ADJ and PUT transactions per item to be placed in the warehouse Generate only an ADJ transaction 12 PUT Consolidation - When you generate putaway transactions from receivings you have the option to combine quantities to put away of the same stock item. In the control record you specify whether to do any consolidation. The reason for the "B"atch option is to allow you to combine all putaways from a single batch without combining them with unfinished putaways from other batch postings. For example, if you posted receivings this morning that are in the process of being put away you may not want receivings from this afternoon to be combined with the ones from this morning. I don't want the putaway generation process from receivings to consolidate stock items - I want one transaction per receiving line item ("N" option) I want the putaway generation process to add quantity to put away for an item to any existing open putaway transaction for the same stock item ("Y" option) I want the putaway generation process to consolidate the quantities to create a single warehouse putaway transaction per stock item in the generation (but don't combine with any other generation batches). ("B" option) Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 8 of 12

9 13 Critical Set Up Step Tracking Detail - Do you want to record warehouse information for each tracking number for those stock items that use tracking numbers? Pros: This allows you to track lots or other tracking-type numbers in the warehouse Cons: It does require you to enter tracking number information on each warehouse transaction. Note: Serial numbers are covered by the next option. Yes - I do want to keep records of tracking numbers such as lots within the warehouse. No - I do NOT want to keep records of tracking numbers such as lots within the warehouse. 14 Critical Set Up Step Serial Number Detail - Do you want to record warehouse information for each serial number for those stock items that use serial numbers? Pros: This allows you to track serial numbers within the warehouse Cons: This requires you to enter serial number details on each warehouse transaction. Yes - I do want to keep records of serial numbers within the warehouse. No - I do NOT want to keep records of serial numbers such as lots within the warehouse. 15 Control Record - Transaction Defaults In the control record you may also define default priorities and stations for each transaction type. These are used to automatically assign priority/station to new transactions based on the transaction type. You can change these defaults at any time they affect only new transactions. 16 Critical Set Up Step Control Record Activate I/S Interfaces There is a field in the control record that controls whether Inventory/Sales processes that affect stock quantity should generate warehouse transactions. During set up of the warehouse tracking files this should be N since you are not ready to interface. When you change this to Y the Inventory/Sales processes that affect stock on hand quantity will immediately start to create corresponding warehouse transactions. See Establish Beginning Warehouse Quantities and Activate Interfaces later in this document. E Other Major File Setup Decisions Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 9 of 12

10 1 Warehouse Stations This file is used to define assignment stations within the warehouse. Warehouse transactions are assigned to stations to help with the delegation of work. The station concept provides a way to assign work without relying solely on operators. An operator could be a station, but the station concept allows work to be shared by multiple operators and multiple shifts without unnecessary reassignment. For example, if you have two putaway stations manned by various warehouse workers you can assign putaway transactions to a station without designating a specific operator. Zone Picking/Putaway If you use zone picking or putaway you should normally assign a station to each zone. This allows you to assign stock items to picking/putaway zones(stations) for automatic assignment of warehouse transactions to zones. How will you use stations in your warehouse? Considerations: Having a station per operator gives you more ability to analyze operator productivity, but it requires a more complex assignment of warehouse work Using only a few stations for the warehouse work makes it simpler to assign warehouse work but gives you less ability to review operator performance. A station per operator A station per work area or zone (such as receivings/picking areas or Zone A, Zone B, etc.) Other 2 Storage Attribute Types See the Warehouse System Overview Storage Attributes discussion or WT in the manual for an explanation of how attributes can be used. Essentially they allow you to define required attributes such as refrigeration or lockup and then indicate which stock items need the attribute and which SIDs have the attribute. You can choose to ignore attributes for now. However, if you plan to use them it is much easier to define default attributes per Storage ID type so that these will default as you set up your Storage IDs. I plan to set up attributes now I don t plan to use attributes 3 Storage ID Types What types of storage IDs will you define? See the Warehouse System Overview Storage Types discussion or WT in the manual for an explanation of how Storage IDs are used. Their most important roles are to define whether Storage IDs Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 10 of 12

11 are moveable (such as pallets and license plates) and to define default capacity and attributes. Fixed? Fixed? Fixed? Fixed? Fixed? Fixed? Desc Desc Desc Desc Desc Desc 4 5 High Volume High Volume (if used) Storage ID Records Creating your storage IDs typically involves the most data setup of any step. Your choices (in order of preference) are: 1. storage ID info from an existing data file 2. Create an importable file of storage IDs via a spreadsheet, then import the file 3. Enter your storage IDs manually During the import of storage IDs the system will automatically use default capacity and attribute information defined for the storage type. For fixed position storage types the system will automatically create a position record if one does not already exist. And if the storage ID is reserved for a single stock item then the import also creates a stock pre-assigned record. Note: No quantities are imported when you create storage IDs quantities are handled in a separate process since a storage ID may contain multiple items. Stock Item Pre-Assigned Info See the Warehouse System Overview Pre-Assignments discussion or WT in the manual for an explanation of this file. This file allows you to pre-assign the storage IDs for a stock item to help with picking and putaway. It also allows you to specify an override station for picking and putaway if you use zones in your warehouse. I plan to use stock pre-assignments I don t plan to use stock pre-assignments 6 Add Establish Preferred Picking and Putaway Sequence per Station See the Warehouse System Overview How SID Assignment Works discussion or WT in the manual for an explanation of this file. This file allows you to designate a preferred sequence of searching the warehouse. This is particularly helpful when you use floating bins. Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 11 of 12

12 Wizard There is a wizard program on Windows workstations to help assign preferences to a workstation. I plan to use station preferred locator codes I don t plan to use station preferred locator codes 7 Critical Set Up Step High Volume Add Wizard Establish Beginning Warehouse Quantities and Activate Interfaces This is a critical process because of the timing. Please read WT Start Up Quantity Options in the manual for an explanation of your options. The difficult aspect of this process is that the Inventory/Sales processes that update the warehouse are typically ongoing, so establishing a clean cutoff point is challenging. You want to make sure that your warehouse stock quantities match your inventory stock quantities, but there are always transactions in process that must be reconciled. As soon as quantities are established you should activate the Interfaces Flag in the warehouse control record. This causes future changes to the stock on hand quantity in Inventory/Sales to create corresponding warehouse transactions. I plan to take a full physical count to establish quantities I plan to use the special startup program to build warehouse quantities from the stock file Other Warehouse Tracking Implementation Page 12 of 12