Production containers

Production containers are multi-item containers that are not linked to an inbound or outbound document. This restriction has been lifted so that a multi-item container can exist in the warehouse, but it must be linked to a production order line. Note that a container can only be linked to a Released production order, not Planned or Firm Planned.

A production container is, for example, a pallet assembled prior to starting production that contains several items consumed during production. Consider the ingredients for producing dough. Flour is typically picked from the warehouse in whole pallets, but salt, sugar, seeds, and other additives are usually picked in bags. The Production Container functionality lets you create a pallet with those items either manually in advance or by creating a production pick.

The production pallet can then be moved as one unit to the production consumption area (or picked into the consumption bin) and can also be used to post consumption from.

During production order picking towards a container, the system allows over-picking of items. You can pick more than the required quantity and later move any excess quantity back into the warehouse manually if required.

You can create production containers in any location and in any bin, with certain restrictions. Moving a production container from bin to bin is possible as long as the location is not set as Pick Mandatory.

If a location is not set as Pick Mandatory, you can move the production container freely from one bin to another. However, you can only move it into the production consumption bin through a pick.

If a location is set up to use picks, a production pick always looks first for available production containers linked to that production order. If such a container is found, the Container License Plate field is filled on both the take and place lines for the items in the container.

If the container contains items that are not on the pick, registration of the pick fails. The reason is that a production container is assembled in advance containing all or most of the necessary consumable items. It therefore does not make sense to create a partial pick that uses only some of the containerized items.

See also

• Setting up production containers
• Setting up production container label printing
• Manually creating a production container
• Manually adding items to a production container
• Creating a production container during a production pick
• Managing a pick using production containers
• Consuming from a production container
• Using SSCC codes in Food Manufacturing & Distribution