Outbound procedures for handling units

Step 1. Generate outbound advice

To retrieve the handling units that contain the goods listed on the outbound order lines from the warehouse, outbound advice is created that lists the locations from which the handling units must be collected. If automatic creation of the outbound advice is not defined in your outbound warehousing procedure, you must generate the outbound advice in the Generate Outbound Advice (whinh4201m000) session.

If the use of handling units is enabled for the item and the warehouse listed on the outbound order lines, the search engine checks the warehouse for handling units. If handling units containing the required items are available, LN allocates these handling units to the outbound advice.

If suitable handling units are not available, or if handling units are not used in inventory, you can generate handling units for the outbound advice. For more information, refer to To generate handling units.

Handling units for which outbound advice is created receive the Allocated status.

If no handling units are found that contain the entire required quantity, part of the quantity of items contained in the handling unit is allocated to outbound advice. The status of the handling unit is then set to Partially Allocated.

When allocating handling units to outbound advice, the application first searches for handling units that contain the entire required quantity. For example, if the required quantity is 100, the application searches for a handling unit that contains 100 items or multiple handling units that together contain 100 items.

If not found, the application must partially allocate one or more handling units. For example, if the required quantity is 100 and four handling units each containing 30 items are available, three handling units are allocated and from the fourth handling unit, a quantity of 10 is allocated and this handling unit receives the Partially Allocated status.

When partially allocating handling units, the application first selects handling units that were partially allocated in previous runs. If insufficient partially allocated handling units are found, the application partially allocates handling units with the In Stock status.

Lot and serial registration is not allowed for handling units with the Partially Allocated status. LN consumes lot and serial numbers in alphabetic order when releasing outbound advice or confirming picking lists.

Step 2. Release outbound advice

You can release the outbound advice immediately after the outbound advice is generated. Releasing the outbound advice implies that the handling units are moved from the storage location to the staging location. The handling unit obtains the Released status. For more information, refer to To release handling units.

Step 3. Generate picking list

After releasing the outbound advice, you can print picking lists. The picking lists includes detailed information about the locations from which the warehouse personnel must collect the handling units or the goods. For more information, refer to To generate picking lists.

Step 4. Pick advice

After the goods are collected as specified on the picking list (or the outbound advice, if the use of picking lists is not part of your outbound flow), you must use the Pick Advice option to indicate that the handling units are collected from the storage locations and moved to the staging location or inspection location. To access the Pick Advice option, select the Execute Inbound submenu on the appropriate menu of the Handling Units (whwmd5130m000) session.

If inspections are part of your outbound flow, the handling unit status becomes To Be Inspected.

If inspections are not included in your outbound flow, the handling units are moved to the staging location and the handling unit status becomes Staged.

If present, the lot and serial information of the handling unit is also forwarded to the shipment line. To generate handling units for the shipment line, handling unit generation during picking or shipment creation must be specified in the setup.

Step 5. Inspection

If inspections are included in the warehousing procedure for handling units, the handling units are inspected at the staging location. In some cases, the goods undergo various tests. The handling units are approved or rejected.

Approved handling units will be shipped when the shipment is conformed. It depends on the shipment procedure whether this is done automatically or manually. Rejected handling units are unlinked from the handling unit structure and their contents are removed from inventory through an adjustment order.

After approval, the handling unit obtains the Staged status.