Storage Zones

Storage zones are those in which your permanent storage locations are set up. So depending on the type of storage, these could be areas which contain pallet racking, shelving or bin storage, bulk stacked storage or other open (internal or external) storage facilities.

 

Non-storage Zones

These are areas in your warehouse or storage area where you carry out activities other than permanent storage. These could include temporary holding areas e.g. QC or areas to perform re-work activities or to quarantine damaged products.

 

Marshalling Zones

These are specific areas that your goods will pass through when being received or despatched. There is a mandatory requirement to have at least one marshalling zone setup for the movement of goods. The reason for this is that any product in the warehouse which is not held in a permanent storage location (i.e. is going to or coming from) must still be identified. To confirm to best practice any product which is in-transit within the warehouse will still appear on reports as being ‘in store’

Creating Zones

“Depot Set-up>Zones and Locations” can be accessed from the side menu.

 

 

To create a new zone click the “New Zone” button in the centre of the screen. This button will always appear below the zones table.

 

 

 

 

You will be asked to enter a name for the zone. This is mandatory, but there is no set field length. Zones cannot have the same name, but names like Racking 1, Racking 2 are OK.

You will be asked to enter an optional 2-character code to identify the zone. This can be alpha, numeric or a combination. If you choose not to enter one, the system will provide a numeric code for your zone (01, 02 – 99). The code it assigns from the number sequence will depend on which numbers have already been used.

 

*Tip If you are not generating your own codes it may be important to ensure that the system generated sequence is in a logical order for your own warehouse if this is important to you.

Once you have entered the name and the code there are three check boxes:

If you are setting up normal storage locations (racking, shelving, etc.) do not check any of these boxes unless you require ‘random putaway’ otherwise;

 

Marshalling zone

If your zone is a marshalling area, check this box.

 

Non-storage zone

If your zone is a non-storage area check this box

 

Random storage sequence

If you are setting up a storage zone and you want the system to put your stock away in a random sequence, check this box. (if this is checked pick-faces cannot be setup in this zone)

You may do this if, for example, if you want products randomly distributed throughout the zone because of ease of access or because of weight distribution with certain storage system types.

Once you have entered the information click the “Create Zone” button in the centre of the screen. Your zone has now been created and will be displayed on the Zone display page in one of the three sections – Storage, Non-Storage or Marshalling dependent on the check box you have ticked on setup.

If you want to delete the zone click the “Delete” button to the right of the line. Please note for future reference that you cannot delete zones in which stock is stored.

 

Creating Locations

 

 

 

 

Now that your zones are set up, you can set up storage locations within them. The system is designed to allow flexibility for various storage equipment formats. For example the system will allow you to set up locations as ‘blocks’ or as ‘aisles’.

In practice the way you set these up isn’t that important. They don’t have to match the physical layout, as long as there is a physical location for each one you create in the system and the location identification (rack label, etc.) matches one in the system. ProSKU is also able to generate rack labels for you after the locations are created. The ProSKU support team will provide assistance with this during initial set-up.

The location code format is as follows:

Zone 01-99 or AA as described above

Block/Aisle A-Z (mandatory input)

Column 01-99 (mandatory)

Level 99 or unlimited alpha – system will allocate sequential numeric if nothing selected).

In order to create locations for the new zone click on the “View/Set up Locations” button to the right of the zone detail. A form will now be displayed to allow you to enter the new location details.

***A Picture is Required Here***

Start Block/End Block

You will be asked to enter a ‘Start Block’ and ‘End Block’. These will designate the first and last blocks, or aisles within the selected zone. For example if you have six blocks or aisles in your zone identified from A to F then your input would be A (start) and F (end).

 

Start Column/End Column

You are then asked to enter a ‘start column’, ‘column increment’ and ‘end column’.

• The start column will be the first numbered column in your aisle or block
• The end column will be the last numbered column in your aisle or block

 

Column Increment

In most cases, unless there is a reason to do otherwise your column increment will be 1. However, the column increment allows you to space your columns apart ‘numerically’ so that the location numbers are increased by the number you enter here.

 

Levels

At the ‘Levels’ box you are asked to enter the number of levels. This is the total number of levels in your column.

 

Level Names

In ‘Level Names’ you will enter the individual number or name for each level within the column. This can be any combination of numbers or letters, with each name on a separate line

 

Mixed

Check this box if you want to set the default for the locations to allow mixed product storage. This can be amended at a later stage if needed.

 

Default Capacities by Unit of Measure

When setting up locations you must enter at least one default storage capacity. This can be a physical number of items or a capacity in terms of volume. For a physical number this is the standard location capacity for the unit(s) selected for the locations you are setting up.

Under the heading ‘Default Capacities by Unit of Measure’ the units of measure setup in company setup>units of measure are displayed.

 

 

You can enter a number against as many of the UOM as you wish, dependent on the type of UOM you intend to store in the locations. However, if for example you only intend to store pallets in the locations, all the UOM except ‘Pallet’ can be left blank.

 

Default Capacities by Volume

You will use this if you want the system to put stock away automatically by volume, and the number you enter here will be the cubic metre volume for the locations you are setting up. At putaway, the system will match the items to put away to available location space in M³ to determine a putaway location. The volume of product must be held in the system in order for this to happen (see “Depot Set-up>Products”).

 

Editing Zones

To edit a zone click anywhere on the line against the zone name in the list. This takes you a screen where you perform an edit. The only editable field is the check box for ‘Random Storage Sequence’ (if a pickface does not exist in this zone).

 

Deleting Zones

To delete a zone click “Delete” button at the right of the zone in the list. Then click “Ok” to confirm deletion or “Cancel” to abort. You will not be able to delete a zone if any of the locations within it hold stock.