Allocation
Allocation is the process of assigning product items from the inventory to shipping orders and then fulfilling the shipping orders from appropriate fulfilment sites such as warehouses.
If Pick ticket is in a draft state it will need to be released to Floor to begin the processes. Releasing to Floor moves the Order from Draft (editable) to a live document.
Notice: In the event your instance of P4 Warehouse is connected via integration with your ERP, orders will not show draft status and cannot be edited from the WMS, edits must take place from the ERP.
To allocate a suitable pick ticket, click on the 'Allocate' button from the pick ticket window as shown below.
Pop-up allocation window is dynamic, meaning the screen only shows the options that are available for this order or group of orders.
Allocation Menu
Figure one shows the basic selections for pick ticket allocation. These fields will be present for any kind of product within P4W system.
Zones
Zones sections contains all the warehouse zones which P4W allocation algorithm will use. Default zones are set in system configurations. Users can add zones to the allocation sequence pressing 'Add zone' button and selecting the zone from a pop-up screen.
To remove the zone, click on the 'Remove' button next to the desired zone as shown below.
Finally, users can change the order of the by dragging them up and down thus creating the zone allocation sequence.
In this example, P4W system will first search zone A1 for the required products. If the product is missing or not present in the right amount P4W will search for outstanding quantity from the bulk zone (B1)
General
General section will be the same for all allocations regardless of product specifications. This section contains of five fields.
Allocation Style field contains five options for allocation behavior, including: FIFO (First in, first out), LIFO (Last in, first out), BinName (Based on alphanumeric bin sorting), Most Product First (Attempt to consume product from bin/lpn with most quantity first), and Least Product First (Attempt to consume product from bin/lpn with least quantity first). Use the drop down menu to make a selection.
Short Options allows users to either to allow shipping of incomplete orders (Pick Short option) or prevent incomplete order from being picked while reserving the available stock (Hold Short option).
Obey Zone Sequence checkbox indicates whether zone sequence setup on Allocation screen should be enforced during allocation process.
Allocate Bulk allows users to include LPNs in Bulk Zones during allocation tp pick or replenish from.
Hold for Letdown indicates whether to hold order for Letdown or not.
Additional fields will automatically appear if the allocated products contains attributes such as: bill of material, lot control, expiry date, and packsizes.
Production
Products containing bill of material will have a production section in the allocation window. If such product is not available in the warehouse, system will be able to generate a production order to fulfill pick ticket requirements.
Generate Production for BOMs checkbox indicates whether the system will automatically generate production for missing BOM products.
Auto release production option automatically releases generated production orders to floor.
Packsizes
If the product is pack size controlled P4W system will include packsizes section in the allocation window. This section allows users to set custom rules for allocating products with different pack sizes.
Packsize allocation has two styles: Bigger Packsize First and Smaller Packsize First. Depending on the nature of order, users can select best fitting option. Use a dropdown menu to make a selection.
Allocate Eaches checkbox indicates whether to allow allocation of eaches for packsize controlled items.
Packsize Breakdown determines whether to issue packsize breakdown request and hold order.
Lots
Lot controlled product will generate following selection.
Allocate partial - if enabled, the system will allow multiple lots to be picked for the same order.
Allocation style include three options: Alphabetical, Max Qty first, and Min Qty First. Use a dropdown menu to chose best fitting option.
Expiry
Product with expiry date provide an option to override allocation style: Oldest First or Newest first. Use a dropdown menu to make a selection.
Notice: All the allocation selections can be pre-set in system configuration menu. To access configuration settings, navigate to Setup > System > Configuration > Fulfillment > Allocation.
Finishing Allocation Process
After all the selections are done, click 'Submit' to complete allocation and move to the next fulfillment step.
After allocation is complete, pick ticket state will changed from 'Unallocated' to 'Ready to pick' as shown below.
Additionally, in the lines section of the pick ticket window users can see if the allocation was fully complete. P4W system also generates an optimal picking sequence according to the warehouse layout.
This pick ticket is now ready to be waved for picking process.
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