Consolidation

Consolidating inventory and moving stock are two ways to use your warehouse space more efficiently. Stock consolidations and stock movements take the inventory from one location and combine it with similar inventory in another location. For example, consolidation can minimize partially filled locations. An item can be removed from a bin location and put on a pallet to be released for putaway.

If a product is found outside of its default area, or there are multiple records for available inventory in the warehouse, then you should consolidate. You can consolidate products in multiple locations only if the status type of the products is the same.

Consolidation is a two-step process: build, then release. First you build a consolidation pallet, and then you release the pallet for put away. Your TWL administrator can use Replenishment parameters 2033 through 2038 to determine the rules for putting away consolidation pallets. The administrator must consider the default area and the types of locations that are excluded in consolidation. The administrator must also consider whether serpentine routing is used for putting away consolidation pallets.

If, during putaway, the inventory is on a replenishment pallet, a bin location matching the item’s putaway group is suggested. This suggestion hierarchy is used by TWL to determine and suggest a location:

  1. Suggest a bin location with a matching putaway group that already contains the inventory record.
  2. If a bin location does not exist, then suggest an empty bin location with a matching putaway group.
  3. If an empty bin location does not exist, then suggest a bin location with a matching putaway group that already contains a different inventory record.
  4. If no putaway groups are defined for the item, use standard putaway logic for suggesting an empty bin location.
  5. If no bins can be found with matching putaway group, use standard putaway logic for suggesting an empty bin location.

The putaway function on the RF shows all receiving pallets and consolidation pallets. If a consolidation pallet is located on a receiving dock, that pallet is treated by TWL as a consolidation pallet instead of a receiving pallet.