Topic overview

This document explains the warehouse organizations that are supported by the system. The applications used and the related fields, actions, and procedures are described in detail in separate documents.

Definition of terms

Owners of inventory

The inventory owner is the legal possessor of the specified warehouse inventory. For each storage location, the inventory owner can be specified. The inventory owner is used for many inventory management processes, for example, inventory counts and inventory valuation.

Bulk storage

A bulk storage is a warehouse organization in which the warehouse zone is subdivided into rows and locations. A bulk storage is usually divided into bulk storage locations by lines drawn on the floor.

Simple warehouse

A simple warehouse is a warehouse organization, in which the warehouse or warehouse zone is not further subdivided into rows, levels, and locations. Storage location control is therefore not possible for a simple warehouse.

High rack storage area

A high rack storage area is a warehouse organization in which the warehouse zone is subdivided into rows, levels, and locations. Optionally, the rows can be grouped into warehouse aisles, and the individual storage locations can be further subdivided into slots.

Warehouse aisles

Warehouse aisles are a grouping of rows of a warehouse zone that can be accessed from the same physical area. Warehouse aisles play an important role in the sort order of storage locations for put-away and withdrawal.

Warehouse organization

Warehouse organization determines the structure of a warehouse or warehouse zone. Using warehouse organization, warehouse structures such as simple warehouses, high rack storage areas, and bulk storage can be mapped.

Warehouses

A warehouse is a logically or physically defined area in which item inventory is maintained. A warehouse is always assigned to a site. A warehouse can be subdivided into storage locations if storage location control is enabled in Customizing. The exact structure of the warehouse is defined by the warehouse organization.

Storage location

A storage location is the exact point in a warehouse where items can be stored. A storage location within a warehouse always lies in a warehouse zone and is determined precisely on the basis of a row, a level, and a storage location number. Each storage location has a storage location category that establishes the use of the storage location. The availability of storage locations is essential for storage location control.

Warehouse zones

If storage location control is activated in the Customizing application, a warehouse can be subdivided into warehouse zones. A warehouse can have any number of warehouse zones.

Slot

A storage slot is a subunit of a storage location. It is the smallest component of a warehouse. A storage slot can accept exactly one storage unit. The number of storage slots is the maximum number of storage units allowed for the storage location.

Warehouses and warehouse zones

The system differentiates between physical and virtual warehouses. A physical warehouse corresponds to a physically or logically defined area in which item inventory is maintained. A virtual warehouse is used, for instance, as a transit warehouse for distribution orders.

If the Storage location control is activated in the Customizing application, the warehouse can be sub-divided into warehouse zones and storage locations. Such a warehouse is referred to as sub-divided or managed by storage location. If the warehouse does not have any warehouse zones or storage locations, it is a simple warehouse. Storage location control is not possible in simple warehouses.

A sub-divided warehouse is structured in warehouse zones. Each warehouse zone represents a logical area in which item inventories can be maintained with their own storage strategies. Each warehouse zone has a warehouse organization that describes the structure of the warehouse zone in terms of the structure levels of rows, levels, and storage locations. The warehouse organization of a sub-divided warehouse is thus determined by the warehouse organization of its warehouse zones.

The following warehouse organizations of a warehouse zone that are possible in the system result from assignment of the structure level:

• Simple warehouse
  A warehouse zone of the Simple warehouse warehouse organization is also referred to as a simple warehouse zone. It does not have any additional sub-division and thus also any storage locations.
• High rack storage area
  A warehouse zone of the High rack storage area warehouse organization is sub-divided into rows, levels and locations.
• Bulk storage
  A warehouse zone of the Bulk storage warehouse organization is sub-divided into rows and locations, but does not have a level.
• Locations only
  A warehouse zone of the Locations only warehouse organization is sub-divided into locations, but does not have rows or levels.

In addition, a utilization is assigned to each warehouse zone. Warehouse zones of different utilizations are used for different purposes and are subject to various checks in the system. The following utilizations for a warehouse zone are possible:

• Receipt of goods
  A sub-divided warehouse must have exactly one non-subdivided warehouse zone of the Receipt of goods utilization. Upon posting of a receipt of goods, the receipt takes place in the receipt of goods zone.
• Issue of goods
  A sub-divided warehouse must have exactly one non-subdivided warehouse zone of the Issue of goods utilization. Upon picking, the inventory to be picked is transported to the issue of goods zone. Reserve and picking locations as well as warehouse zones without structure can be taken into consideration as a source. With the issue of the delivery slip, the issue takes place from the issue of goods zone.
• Picking
  A sub-divided warehouse can have any count of picking zones. A picking zone can have only picking locations.
• Reserve
  A sub-divided warehouse can have any count of reserve zones. A reserve zone can have only reserve locations, i.e., storage locations of a storage location type of the Storage location with storage unit, Storage location without storage unit, Bulk storage location with storage unit or Fixed location without storage unit categories.
• Not specified
  A warehouse zone without specified utilization can have both reserve and picking locations. If a warehouse zone has a picking location with a replenishment definition for an item, the withdrawal logic takes the inventory in the picking locations into account before the inventory in reserve locations in the same warehouse zone.
• Inventory count differences
  A sub-divided warehouse must have exactly one non-subdivided warehouse zone of the Inventory count differences utilization. This warehouse zone is used only in order to minimize the count of valuation relevant inventory postings for inventory counts. Deviations from the target inventory result in a valuation-neutral relocation against the inventory count difference zone. At the end of the inventory count, only the cross-warehouse difference quantities remain for each item and identifier. A negative difference quantity is deducted from the warehouse upon closing of the inventory; a positive quantity is posted. This way, deviations from the target inventory that result from storing in an incorrect storage location within the warehouse remain valuation-neutral.
  An inventory count difference zone is also used, in addition to the transfer posting of inventory count differences executed in the meantime, for posting of incorrect inventory postings.

The following figure shows a sample structure for a warehouse sub-divided into storage locations:

The warehouse has two warehouse zones of the Reserve utilization with the High rack storage area or Bulk storage warehouse organization. Furthermore, the warehouse has a warehouse zone of the Picking utilization with the Locations only warehouse organization.

If the warehouse organization of a warehouse zone provides for utilization of rows, they can be grouped in warehouse aisles. A warehouse aisle represents a quantity of rows of a warehouse zone that can be operated together (e.g., from the same physical aisle at the warehouse). You can use warehouse aisles in order to, for example, sort storage locations in a specified sequence for put-away and withdrawal. However, the warehouse aisles do not constitute a part of the address of a storage location.

Storage locations

Every storage location has a storage location type assigned. The storage location receives its properties with the assignment. These properties include, for example, the storage location category, the ABC classification and the definition of the storage capacity in various storage units. In the case of fixed locations and picking locations, the storage capacity is defined directly in the storage location.

The storage location is addressed according to its affiliation with a warehouse and a warehouse zone as well as its structure levels. All structure levels must be alphanumerical. The row and the location have three characters and the level has two characters. The structure levels must be executed in the following sequence: row, level and location.

An example of the address of a storage location in the “High rack storage area” warehouse zone is 300-RES-004-02-002.

Slots

The slot is an additional classification for the storage location. It is the smallest component of a warehouse and it can accept exactly one storage unit. Therefore, the actual count of storage locations corresponds to the maximum count of storage units specified for the storage location type. (In the case of fixed locations and picking locations, the slot can be defined directly for the storage location.) Due to the fact that this value depends on the storage unit used, the count of slots is calculated no sooner than with the first utilization of the location. Thus, a storage location without inventory or reservation does not have any slots. If a storage location has a storage unit assigned, only the same storage unit can be put away to other slots of the same storage location. A mix of different storage units in a storage location is thus not permitted. A change in the maximum count of the storage unit or removal of a storage unit for the storage location type affects only future put-aways to empty location. The change does not affect the count of slots for existing inventories.

If a storage location has more than one slot, the number of the slot can be used for the address. The length of the slot number depends on the capacity of the storage location. If the maximum count of storage units is lower than ten, the slot number consists of one character. If the storage location can hold from ten to 99 storage units, the number consists of two characters. It is only possible in the case of fixed locations and picking location to specify alphanumerical slot details with up to three characters.

An example of the address of a slot with maximum 10 storage units is 300-RES-004-02-002/02.

An example of the address of a slot in a fixed location is 300-RES-021-002/A30.

If the slot number is not specified, the first slot (1 or 01) is referenced.

Exception: storage locations for which the put-away strategy Bulk additions to existing stock is used. In such storage locations, the individual storage units and the slots also cannot be addressed individually.

Owner of inventory

The owner of inventory is the legal owner of an item inventory. Item inventories for any count of owners of inventory can be stored in a warehouse. If the warehouse is sub-divided into storage locations, each storage location can be assigned to one owner of inventory. The owner of inventory, depending on the setting of the Origin of owner of inventory parameter, is either taken over by the parent level, specified directly in the storage location, or determined according to the reservations or put-aways in the storage location.

The owner of inventory is usually a firm of the own corporation. However, external customers can be owners of inventory as well. If item inventories in a sub-divided warehouse are managed by external customers (Vendor managed inventory), the storage locations where the inventories are stored must be assigned to the relevant customer as owner of inventory.

Both in the inventory management and in the inventory valuation, the inventories are indicated differently for the owner of inventory. However, in the inventory valuation, an inventory valuation is performed only for owners of inventory that constitute firms of own corporation. For the availability calculation, only owners of inventory are taken into consideration that belong to the same corporation, because the system is aware of planned receipts and issues only for these owners of inventory.

If the inventory in a multi-site installation is transferred to another firm of own corporation, it results in an internal clearing between both firms.