Business Benefits

The Radio Frequency (RF) system provides Operators using hand-held RF devices with the ability to access specific functions.

Unallocated picking reduces order pick time since warehouse staff may choose to select stock that is more readily accessible (i.e., closer to their current location or that resides on the pick face of a location).

Note: For other RF01-related documentation see RF01 - RF Menu.

Usage

Unallocated Picking is used when strict stock rotation rules are NOT required. This is often found in bulk storage facilities where the "oldest" stock is not readily accessible for picking. Rather than perform numerous moves (and incur high handling costs) to pick the "oldest" stock, the warehouse may select a lot with an age close to the oldest lot. This is commonly called a "Pick Window".

To enable users to choose the location from which to pick stock regular order must be created with unallocated lots (i.e. some or all the lot components are NOT entered). As a result the system will NOT reserve/allocate stock at the lot level for the order.

The generation of a Pick Slip for this type of order does not reserve stock at the location level and the system will display the fictitous location "UNALLOC" on the Pick Slip. This indicates that a RF picker may choose the location from which to pick the stock.

After accessing Unallocated Picking a user selects an order line (i.e., product) to pick.

The system will then display a list of locations containing lots that match the requested product with partially/fully unallocated lots and have an age within the defined "pick window". The first location listed always contains the "oldest lot" for the requested product so that FIFO rotation is available/possible.

The following is a list of the type of inventory that may be picked with the Unallocated Picking option.

• Normal (i.e., Non-ID stock: Conveyance & Units)
• Conveyances (Containing Normal stock only)
• Unit IDs - Control Type "1" (i.e., each piece MUST be identified).

Preconditions

1. Assign a Pick Window to Client/Products requiring Unallocated Picking with job RF.93 [Unallocated Picking - Set-Ups]. Option to Pick Allocated Lots is activated in job CR.62 [Client's Inventory Products]. Set field # 60 Stock Location Picking Method to "N" (No Allocation of Location).
2. Create a regular order with Unallocated Lots in OE.01 [Enter Orders (Shipping)].
3. Generate and Print a Pick Slip for the Order using job OE.03 [Print Shipping Documents]. Note that this process does NOT allocate/reserve stock at the location level. It also sets the order status so it may be picked.

Subsequent Actions

The following is a partial list of optional steps that may be performed after using the RF.01 Unallocated Picking option.

RF.01 [R.F. Menu] (Load Verify)
RF.55 [Shipment ID Report]
OE.03 [Print Shipping Documents]

(e.g., Bill of Lading)

OE.07 [Print Shipping Labels]
LI.85 [MH10 Label Entry - Orders]
LI.86 [MH10 Label Print/Audit Report]

General Notes

1. Unallocated Lines vs Picked Lines

As each order line is picked the system will reduce the unallocated order line by the pick quantity and add the pick quantity to a new or existing allocated (or picked) order line.

Example 1: Original Order - Unallocated Lot

Example # 2: Order After Picking 40 Cases

In the above example, 40 cases have been picked from Lot H330 Dec 26 2005. A quantity of 24 cases of product 109819 still need to be picked to fill the order.

2. Shipping Storage Conveyances

If ALL of the remaining stock is picked from an identified storage conveyance and the "Shipment Conveyance" feature (e.g., Pick to an identified and labeled pallet) is not being used then the system assumes that the storage conveyance still "holds" the picked stock (i.e., was not left in the storage location). After the order is confirmed as shipped the system assumes the conveyance was also shipped and changes the status of the conveyance from "active" to archived".

Details of archived conveyances may be viewed in job OR.50 [Conveyance - Inquiry]. From Field 2 - Conveyance ID Browse, select option 2 - Archived Conveyances.

List of Features

1. Pick Allocated Stock (at Lot Level)

It is also possible to create an order for allocated lots (i.e., all lot components are selected) but use the Unallocated Pick option. This allows Clients to request the oldest or a specific lot but still enable warehouse staff to select the location from which to pick stock (if it resides in multiple locations). To view how to set-up this feature refer to the Pre-Conditions section.

2. Lot/Location Override

Occasionally a different lot than originally ordered/requested may need to be picked (e.g., as per inspection). Rather than office staff adjusting the order using the OE.20 [Confirm or Modify Shipments] option RF staff may instead scan, enter or browse and select alternate stock (e.g., a Conveyance, Unit ID, normal stock).

The system will then ensure that the selected stock is the same product ordered/requested, and a lot within the product's "pick window".

3. Order Messages

After the entire order has been "dropped" (i.e., moved from its storage location and placed in a stage/dock location) then the system will display a message that the "Order is complete". At this point the order may no longer be processed with the Unallocated Picking" option.

In the event that the user attempts to exit the order or switch to another order before the Order has been completed then the system will display the message "Order is NOT complete". The user may acknowledge this message and proceed to picking another order.

4. Default Shipment Conveyance Object

Rather than select a Conveyance Object (e.g., Pallet, Container, etc.) to "hold" picked stock for shipment, the system may be configured to default this value to the most common entry for a specific Company/Warehouse.

The default is defined in the job RF.99 [R.F. System Parameters], Field 13 - Conveyance Object for Picking.

The system will automatically set the default Conveyance Object in the jobs RF.01 [R.F. Menu] - Pick Order to Conveyance and RF.01 [R.F. Menu] - Unallocated Picking.

5. Order Lines that can NOT be picked

In the event that an order line can NOT be picked (e.g., no stock is available) then the system will display those order lines with an "*" prefix (to the left of the order line) and display it (and similar order lines) as the last lines in the order line list.

Sample:

This feature allows RF users to readily identify stock that can NOT be picked. It also eliminates the time (and frustration) users spend selecting/recalling order lines for which there is no available stock in inventory. Once all available lines are picked warehouse staff normally make office staff aware of these scenarios.

6. Supplementary Browse - Conveyance IDs and Quantity

After the user selects an order line the system will display a list of ALL locations that contain lots that have an age that is within the product's defined "Pick Window" (e.g., 30 days from the oldest lot). The system will also display, for each location, a list of Conveyance IDs and their quantities. This "preview" feature allows the RF user to better plan which locations to select stock so as to minimize travel and picking time (e.g., select a Conveyance with an exact quantity matching the order request or the closest Conveyance with the required quantity).

7. Freshest Product Picking

It is possible to configure the system so that order pickers are presented with a list of locations beginning with the "freshest" stock (based on the "age" of lots) for a specific product. In this scenario the "Pick Window" will only allow a user to select a lot that has an age within a specified number of days (e.g., 30) from the "freshest" or "newest" lot. An order may be designated as requiring "Freshest" stock by the user selecting an appropriate Order Type (e.g. "F" = Freshest).

For details on activating this feature see RF.93 [Unallocated Picking - Set-Ups]:
Field # 3 - Pick Window Aging = "F" (Freshest)
Field # 4 - Order Type (e.g. "F" = Freshest)
Note that Order Types are defined in CR.29 [Order Types].

8. Pick Window for Location Containing Oldest Lot

Locations with larger capacities (e.g., multiple Pallets) may periodically contain multiple Lots based on location's co-storage stock mixing rules (e.g. same Product but different Lots) and how stock was unloaded and received.

In this scenario a facility will normally incur higher handling costs since they need to move "newer stock" to access "older stock" (which may be behind, under other pallets, etc.).

To minimize this cost it is possible to configure the system to direct Order Pickers to ONLY select stock from the Location that contains the Oldest Lot while still applying a Pick Window (e.g., pickers may only select stock with an age within 30 days of the Oldest Lot).

If the Location containing the Oldest Lot is inaccessible (e.g., a forklift is parked there) then it is possible for the picker to override the location and view ALL locations that contain stock within the defined pick window.

To define this scenario access job RF.93 [Unallocated Picking - Set-Ups], Field # 6.1 Pick Window for Location containing Oldest Lot.

Related Videos: Unallocated Picking - Pick Full Pallet from Bulk Unallocated Picking - Pick Less than Full Pallet from Pick Line Note: To exit a video completely, click the e-Z Learn (back) button.