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CRISTAL WMS
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Outgoing
This page is under construction. The information presented is currently being edited.
Outgoing covers goods leaving the warehouse. This is covered by 2 menu options:
- The Picking program is used to pick
required goods from the storage locations and place them on
despatch pallets. Note that these despatch pallets are
subsequently processed from the WMS Desktop programs to generate
the delivery note.
- The Despatch menu is reserved for future use. It will contain special programs for handling the despatch pallets for delivery. As these functions are handled by the WMS Desktop program, there are no RF specific despatch programs at the moment.
Click on the hyperlinks to go to the full description of each menu option.
Program Permissions
To run the Picking programs, the operator must be granted access to the "Picking" task in the User Groups > Works > Tasks and Priority tab:
The User Groups > Works tab is also used to configure the warehouse areas that the operator is permitted to pick from. An operator who has the privilege to run the Picking program, but who has no privilege to work in a particular zone, will not be able to perform picking tasks from the forbidden zone.
Pallet Handling
Storage Pallet and Despatch Pallet
All items that are picked must be placed on a "despatch" pallet for subsequent delivery. In the CRISTAL WMS, the picking programs will typically generate a new pallet number that is used to identify the despatch pallet.
If a pick involves picking the entire pallet, the storage pallet number can theoretically be re-issued as the despatch pallet number. However, the WMS will usually re-assign the entire contents of the storage pallet into the despatch pallet.
Types of Sales Orders
The WMS Desktop Operations > Sales Order Entry program allows different types of sales orders to be created. If pick tasks are created from the sales order, then the sales order type does not matter.
However, if you want to use Pick by Sales Order from the RF Picking program, then the sales order type must be "ADHOC".
If you are only using Pick by Work Order from the RF Picking program, the sales order type can be any type: "ADHOC", "NORMAL", "URGENT" etc.
Status Codes
Stock Status
- AVAIL
Only good with "AVAIL" status can be picked.
Sales Order Header Status
- DATA ENTRY
Sales order is currently being edited and has not been released to the warehouse for picking.
- WAITING
Sales order has been released to the warehouse for picking. No pick tasks have been generated for the sales order.
- PICKING
Pick tasks have been generated for the sales order.
- PICKED
All sales order detail lines have been fully picked. Sales order is now pending despatch.
- DO PRINT
Sales order delivery order has been printed.
- DESPATCHED
Sales order have been despatched and pending delivery confirmation.
- CLOSED
Sales order has been delivered and is closed.
- BACKORDER
There is insufficient stocks to fulfil the sales order.
- CANCELLED
Sales order has been cancelled. The sales order number of a sales order that has been cancelled cannot be re-used for another sales order.
- DELETE
Sales order has been deleted. The sales order number can be re-used to for another sales order.
Sales Order Detail Status
- WAITING
Detail line is waiting to be released to the warehouse for picking.
- CLOSED
Detail line has been released to the warehouse for picking.
- BACKORDER
Detail line has been released to the warehouse, but there is insufficient stocks for picking.
- CANCELLED
Sales order has been cancelled.
- DELETE
Detail line has been deleted. The line number can be re-used for creating another sales order line.
RF Picking Methods
The RF provides 2 picking methods:
- Picking by Work Order
- Picking by Sales Order
Choosing the method to use depends on the client's requirements.
The WMS Desktop program can only be used to perform picking by Work Order. This is because the WMS Desktop has its heritage in paper-based picking, when the Sales Order is processed by the WMS Picking algorithm to generate and print out a pick list. The warehouse operator then follows the instructions printed on the pick list to pick the contents of the sales order.
There are several advantages for using the pick list method. When the pick list is printed, the program can sort the picking instructions to optimise the route the picker must take when traversing the warehouse. Also, several sales orders can be combined into a single work order for batch and/or wave picking.
However, the pick algorithm will always "book" inventory items for the work order, and the picker must strictly adhere to the designated locations specified by the system.
Sometimes, this causes an administrative issue if first-in-first-out need not be strictly adhered to. Suppose the WMS requires the picker to pick from a hard to reach pallet due to FIFO rules, whereas it is easier to pick from an alternate pallet. However, since the hard to reach pallet's inventory has already been "booked", it becomes necessary to perform a lot of complex data manipulations to "unbook" the original inventory, and "rebook" the alternate inventory, before the pick transaction can be committed.
To avoid this problem, it would actually be easier to not create the pick work order in the first place, and to simply pick the sales order on demand. Since no warehouse inventory were "booked" for the pick list, there is no complicated mechanism required to "unbook" and "rebook" warehouse inventory to pick from the easy access locations.
This is the flexibility provided by the RF Pick By Sales Order option.
Picking by Sales Order is also useful for picking serialised tracking items. If pick tasks are generated, the picker may be required to find and pick a specific serial number as "booked" by the picking algorithm. With Picking by Sales Order, the warehouse operator can pick any serial number of an item that matches the specific stock attributes.
Pick by Work Order
The Pick by Work Order method is the default method, which is also the same as that used by the WMS Desktop. After pick tasks have been generated by the picking algorithm from the WMS Desktop program (Operations > Outbound > Manage Sales Orders), a work order number will be assigned to the pick activities. This Work Order number is to be specified in the RF Picking program instead of the Sales Order number.
Pick by Sales Order
In the Pick by Sales Order method, the Sales Order should be left in "WAITING" status. However, the program will allow sales orders that are in "WAITING", "BACKORDER" or "PICKING" to be selected.
It is up to the user to ensure that no pick tasks are generated for the sales order.
Adhoc Picking
Adhoc Picking is a special form of Pick by Sales Order. However, in the Pick by Sales Order program, you will need to first create the sales order header and details from the WMS Desktop program, and then change the sales order status from "DATA ENRY" to "WAITING". For the Adhoc Picking, there should be no sales details lines created from the WMS Desktop Sales Order Entry program, as these sales details lines will be created by the RF Adhoc Picking program instead when items are picked.
The RF Adhoc Picking program will require the sales order to be in "DATA ENTRY" status.
Storage Pallet, Packing Pallet, and Despatch Pallet
When the picker is picking items from the storage pallets, the picked items will be transferred from the Storage Pallet on to the Packing Pallet. This Packing Pallet is identified by its own unique pallet number.
Note that currently, the RF Picking programs require pieces or carton level scanning. Thus, it is currently not possible to use the original storage pallet number as the packing pallet number, even if you are picking the entire storage pallet. When you pick an entire storage pallet, you must still create a Packing Pallet number, and have the entire qty of the storage pallet transferred to this Packing Pallet number (operationally, the picker will only be handling one physical pallet - and not two pallets - even though the Storage Pallet number and the Packing Pallet number are different).
The Packing Pallet is then to sent to the Pick Pack area, where the picked goods will again be divided for despatching purposes, example:
- grouping by destination post codes
- grouping by transportation mode (by truck, by van, by
3rd party courier service - eg DHL, FEDEX, UPS
At the Pick Pack station, the goods on the packing pallets may be transferred again to other Despatch Pallets. Note that these Despatch Pallets are also identified by a unique pallet number.
However, the Packing Pallet can also be despatched as is without such re-transfers. This is why the Packing Pallet number is usually the same as the final Despatch Pallet number.