Inbound procedures and handling unitsTo receive and store goods in a warehouse, you can process the inbound order lines on which the goods are listed, or you can process the handling units used to pack the goods. Both inbound order lines and handling units are processed according to user-defined warehousing procedures. If you use handling units to process goods, the order lines related to the handling units are updated in the background. For more information on inbound order lines, see To handle warehousing orders, and How to receive goods. For more information on the user-defined warehousing procedures, see To define warehousing procedures. You can generate handling units for an order line during any stage of the inbound or outbound procedures. This is described in To generate handling units and To maintain handling units. Warehouse inbound procedures Various settings are available to enable the use of handling units for inbound and/or outbound procedures, and for specific items and warehouses. For more information, refer to To set up handling units. The warehousing procedures used to process handling units are identical to those used to process order lines. In LN, default inbound procedures are available that you can adjust to meet the requirements of various types of warehouses. You can choose the procedure steps that meet the requirements of your warehouse, but the advice and receipt steps are mandatory. The warehousing procedures that comprise the inbound flow are grouped into two main procedures, the Receipt Procedure and the Inspection Procedure. For more information on the LN warehousing procedures, see To define warehousing procedures. Note In this topic, the procedure steps, also called activities, of the inbound flow are discussed, but you can specify that some of these activities are omitted or performed automatically. For more information, refer to To define warehousing procedures. Receipt Procedure The receipt procedure includes the following steps. Step 1. Receive handling unit The first step of the inbound flow is the arrival of the goods at the receipt location of the warehouse. At the receipt location, the handling units used to pack the goods are counted and the receipt of the handling units is confirmed. If the supplier and the warehouse support handling units and EDI, the receipt is performed by scanning the labels of the handling units. After handling units are confirmed, the items are added to the inventory of the warehouse. For more information, refer to To receive handling units. Step 2. Advise handling unit From the receipt location the handling units are then moved to the storage locations or, if required, inspection locations. The storage and/or inspection locations are printed on an inbound advice that is created after the receipt of the handling units is confirmed. For more information, refer to To advise inbound handling units. Step 3. Inspect handling unit The inbound inspection procedure is one of the main inbound procedures, which is discussed in the following section, Inspection Procedure. Step 4. Put away handling unit After receipt and/or inspection, the handling units are stored in the warehouse. For more information, refer to To store handling units. Inspection Procedure In many warehouses, inspections are included in the inbound flow. Therefore, the inspection procedure is optional in LN. Handling units are inspected if inspections are specified for the item, supplier, or warehouse of the handling unit. At the inspection location, the handling units are checked. In some cases, the goods undergo various tests. After inspection, handling units can be:
Approved handling units are stored in the warehouse. For these handling units, an inbound advice is printed that lists the storage locations. After the inbound advice is printed, the handling units are moved to the storage locations in the warehouse as specified on the inbound advice. For more information, refer to To advise inbound handling units and To store handling units. Rejected handling units are moved to a reject location, provided that your organization applies the reject functionality and uses reject locations. Handling units are not supported in reject locations. Therefore, you must close the handling unit, because the goods included in the handling units are no longer processed through the handling units, but by item. In the reject location, the items are accepted and stored in the warehouse, returned to the supplier, or deleted. For goods that are accepted and stored in the warehouse, you can create new handling units. Rejected items that are not destroyed, are kept in rejected inventory. For more information, refer to Rejected inventory and Handling Unit Status. Handling units are booked as destroyed if they are destroyed as a result of testing or by some accident. The supplier must be paid for goods that are destroyed. For more information, refer to Handling Unit Status and To inspect inbound handling units. Note The Generate Inbound Advice (whinh3201m000), Generate Storage List (whinh3415m000), Storage List (whinh3525m100) activities are unavailable for warehouses without locations. If the warehouse that receives the goods is not location-controlled, LN skips these activities and stores the goods in the warehouse after you confirm the receipt. The handling unit then obtains the In Stock status. If inspections are included in the warehousing procedure, the handling unit obtains the To Be Inspected status. After the inspection is completed, the handling unit obtains the In Stock status.
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