Glossary
LPN
A barcode that identifies one physical container, a pallet or a tote, so the warehouse can move the container and let its contents follow.
What it is
A license plate number is the identity of a container. Print it, stick it on the pallet or tote, and from then on the warehouse talks about that container by scanning it. Move the pallet and the twenty cartons on it move with it, because the system knows what the plate holds.
The name comes from vehicles for a reason. You do not describe a car by listing its parts; you read the plate.
Why it matters
Without plates, every move is a count. Twelve cartons of this, eight of that, re-verified each time the goods change hands, with every count a chance to be wrong. With plates, a pallet moves as one scan, and the contents are a fact recorded once at receiving. The ledger stays exact and the floor stays fast.
Plates also make mixed pallets honest. A pallet carrying three SKUs is not a problem when the plate knows the three.
A worked example
A receipt of ITEM-01 (twelve cases) and ITEM-02 (four cases) is palletized onto one pallet. The pallet gets plate LPN-000481. Putaway scans LPN-000481, then the target bay. The system moves all sixteen cases in one movement, against the plate, into the bay. Later a replenishment task needs two cases of ITEM-01: the operator scans the plate, the product, confirms two, and the plate now holds ten and four. Every step is a row that names the plate.
How DockingWare does it
DockingWare assigns plates at palletize, after receiving and before putaway, and the handheld’s scan flow verifies plate and location by exact match. Location labels print from Location Master in the same Code 128 the handheld reads, so a plate, a bay and a product all scan back through one verify contract. In pick-to-tote mode, a tote is bound as a container with its own lifecycle: bind, carry, release, rebind.
Questions
- Is an LPN the same as a SKU barcode?
- No. A SKU barcode says what a unit is. An LPN says which container you are holding. One LPN can hold many SKUs, and one SKU can sit on many LPNs.
- When does a pallet get an LPN?
- At receiving, when the received goods are palletized. From that point putaway, transfer and pick can address the pallet instead of counting loose units.
- Can a tote have an LPN?
- Yes. In a pick-to-tote flow the tote is the container; binding an LPN to it lets the picker carry it and hand it to a bench without re-identifying what is inside.