Bin Paths And Distances

In .wms, there are a number of fields related to the management of bins. Here we explain the way that the system uses these fields and how they affect system behaviour.

The primary fields that can affect the behaviour of picking, replenishment and putaway are:

Field	Description
Distance	Distance is defined from a system perspective, as the distance of the bin from your dock location. As this distance is used primarily for comparison, the unit of measure is not of high importance. All that is required is that it is consistent. Systematically, the distance is used to decide which bin to pick from. Depending on what picking methodology is being used, this can either be: the primary method of deciding the best bin to pick from (In the case of ‘Optimistic’ methodology, which is the default methodology, this is the only deciding factor between picking bins) or it could be a secondary method of deciding the best bin (In the case of First Expiry, First Out, if 2 locations have the same expiry, this will be the deciding factor). If the ‘PickPathSeq’ Methodology is used, this value is ignored and the location selected is the location with the lowest PickPathSeq number.
Pick path sequence	A pick path sequence is the order in which the bins are displayed to the user. This allows bins to be ordered in the most optimal route around your warehouse while still preferencing bins that are close to the front of the warehouse. Just because the bin is the highest in the route does not necessarily mean it is the best to select from.
Count path sequence	A count path sequence is the order in which bin and stocktake counts should be routed around the warehouse. The order in which you pick from locations is not necessarily the same way you would intend to count the locations, so this can be used to route you differently for this type of task.
Putaway path sequence	A putaway path sequence is the order in which putaway is directed and ordered on the scanner for bins which have Auto Allocation enabled.
Warehouse zone	A warehouse zone is a logical area of a warehouse for grouping bins together. Most commonly, this is used to establish geographical zone in a warehouse. For example, “A” zone may be a zone closest the entrance, with “B” being the next zone along. The size and make-up of these zones is arbitrary, however you can use it to drive certain system functions such as: Item AllowedZones attribute – This attribute systematically only allows items to exist in a Warehouse Zone that match this value (or if multiple zones are allowed, one of the zones). This applies to all movements. A job or wave PreferredPickingZone – This attribute, on a PCK or WVE level, will direct the scanner to select stock from the listed zones as a priority. This does not override FxFO rules, nor does it prevent picking from other zones if the stock is not available in that zone.