TABLE OF CONTENTS
When a dynamic approach to inventory is not required, Home, Preferred Putaway, and Dedicated Locations can help determine specific locations where an item should be stored.
Home Location
A Home Location assignment can determine where an item should always be stored. Each item can only have one home location. It is usually best for each location to only have one item assigned to it as a Home Location, but that is not a requirement.
In the Manage Inventory or PO Putaway apps or in the Location Override option within the picking app , the Home Location is displayed with the above icon of a green house. This location will be displayed at the top of the list of locations, even if there is no inventory in the Home Location.
For non-inventory systems, the Home Location assignment can be used in conjunction with the Home Location Allocation rule to assign the ordered items to pick from the Home Location, regardless of any knowledge about inventory.
Systems that track inventory can also use the Home Location assignment and associated allocation rule for a simpler approach to informing the picker where an item should be picked from. Orders allocate to available inventory, and when there are more quantity in order lines than in the Pick location orders will start to allocate to BackStock locations. After replenishment happens to restock the Pick location, orders do not automatically reallocate back to the Pick location and will continue to point to the BackStock location until manually reallocated. This can cause some issues with large volumes of orders, so allocating to the Home Location can become a helpful option in these situations.
The main purpose of a Home Location is to assist in organizing the picking operation, including identifying replenishment based on inventory in the Home Location. In rare cases the Home Location can be used in the receiving processes to designate where the inventory should be putaway, but the Preferred Putaway Location is designed for that purpose.
Preferred Putaway Locations
A Preferred Putaway Location determines a designated BackStock location for an item. This allows flexibility for 2 different dedicated locations on an item, one for the picking operation through the Home Location; and one for the inbound operation through the Preferred Putaway Location.
Setting a Preferred Putaway Location on items also allows for a more directed Putaway Process. During the Putaway step, if the Group setting "Request Putaway To Preferred Location" is enabled the user will be encouraged to put the inventory into the Preferred Location. It is not a restriction, but warnings will pop up if the user opts to put it somewhere else. The reason it is not restricted is practical, there are sometimes moments when a location is full and additional inventory needs to be stored elsewhere, or other situations arise where inventory can't be physically put in the Preferred Putaway Location. WOS encourages inventory accuracy by allowing the Preferred Putaway Location requirement to be bypassed in extreme situations.
Dedicated Locations
A Dedicated Location assignment can determine additional locations where an item should be stored. Multiple dedicated locations can be assigned to an item, providing dedicated locations in multiple areas or zones throughout the warehouse operation.
In the Manage Inventory, PO Putaway apps, or in the Location Override option within the picking app, the Dedicated Locations are displayed with the following icon. This locations will be displayed at the top of the list of locations, just below the Home Location, even if there is no inventory in the Dedicated Locations.
Because multiple locations can be set as a dedicated location, this can help provide specific locations within a Backstock zone to be used in the receiving processes to identify where inventory should be placed during the PO Putway step if the Preferred Putaway Location is not able to be utilized.
Multiple warehouses or Pick zones can be another way to utilize Dedicated Locations instead of Home Locations. When multiple designated locations are needed for an item in different places this feature makes it possible.