Glossary
Bin location
A bin location is the smallest addressable place in a warehouse: one slot with one code that a scanner can read. Everything the system says about where stock is depends on these codes being real, unique and on the shelf.
What it is
A bin is one slot: a shelf position, a pallet bay, a floor square. Its location code is its address. The set of all addresses is the location master, and every stock record that says “here” points at one of them.
Why it matters
Stock without a bin is stock without an address. The system may know the building has 300 of something, but a picker needs to know which shelf. A bin structure that is consistent (aisle, rack, level, bin) lets a picking route follow the floor and lets a new hire find things on day one.
Bins also carry meaning. A pick face bin and a bulk bay bin hold the same product in different roles, and a damaged bin holds it in a different condition. The address tells the system which bucket the stock belongs in.
A worked example
PF-A-03-02-06 reads as pick face, aisle A, rack 3, level 2, bin 6. BULK-A-03-05-06 is the bulk bay above it, same rack, level 5. A putaway to the second and a replenishment to the first are two scans each, and the picker’s route through aisle A goes rack by rack because the codes sort that way.
How DockingWare does it
Locations live in a Location Master with a code, zone, type and status, and can be imported from a CSV. The zone decides the stock bucket: pick face, bulk, damaged, quarantine or receiving. Labels print from the master in the same barcode the handheld reads, and putaway, transfer and pick confirm a location only by exact scan of a code that exists.
Questions
- What should a location code look like?
- Readable by a person walking the aisle and unique in the building: zone or aisle, rack, level, bin, in that order, with fixed widths so codes sort the way the floor is laid out.
- Do I need a label on every bin?
- Yes. A location that cannot be scanned cannot be confirmed, and an unconfirmed move is a guess. Print them from the system so the barcode matches the record.
- What is a location master?
- The list of every location with its code, zone, type and status. It is the map the system uses; if a bin is not in it, stock cannot be put there.