Production in Warehouse Environments

When manufacturing takes place in a warehouse, the reporting of production activities follows the same requirements as other transactions. The retrieval of production materials from their storage bins must be recorded, as must the placement of finished production goods in the warehouse. These movements are executed against specifically defined inbound and outbound production bins. All production activity passes through these bins.

The items that are used in production must be taken from their storage bins and placed in a designated bin from which production consumption is posted. Production materials can be retrieved through one of two methods:

  • Production picks
  • Movements to replenishment areas.

It is not possible to use both retrieval methods in the same location.

Production Picks

The same directed picking parameters that guide picking activities for outbound transactions are also used to instruct warehouse personnel as to where production components can be retrieved. When a production pick is generated, the program utilizes predefined picking logic to suggest bins from which to retrieve production materials, along with instructions to place each picked item into the location's defined inbound production bin. Picking must be completed for every necessary production component before consumption can be posted.

Production picks provide a high level of control over the material requisition process. In addition, the directed picking suggestions can be useful instructions for users. However, it may be that the strict requirement that picks be created based on specific production order lines is too limiting for production environments that demand greater flexibility when retrieving and consuming materials for production.

To use production picks

  1. In the Search box, enter Production Picking, and then choose the related link.
  2. In the Production Picking window, select the production order or orders for which you want to generate a pick.
  3. On the Navigate tab, in the Order group, choose Pick. The Warehouse Pick window appears, containing pick lines for the selected production orders.

Alternatively, you can create a staged pick, see How to: Pick Items with a Warehouse Staged Pick.

  1. Fill in the pick lines as appropriate.
  2. On the Actions tab, in the Registering group, choose Register Pick. The picked items are placed in the location's inbound production bin.

Replenishment Areas

Rather than set up a single inbound and outbound production bin for a location, you can define multiple replenishment areas, each with its own inbound and outbound bin, then assign them to production orders. The program uses the production orders to which a replenishment area has been assigned to suggest warehouse movements of production materials to that replenishment area's inbound production bin. Once items have been moved to the replenishment area's inbound production bin, consumption can be posted.

The ability to consume from a common replenishment bin instead of a specific picked quantity may be more desirable than the exacting requirements of a production picking setup. The presence of multiple replenishment areas, rather than a single inbound and outbound production bin for the entire location, can also be convenient. Because replenishment areas do not utilize warehouse picks, however, the user is unable to readily generate directed picking instructions for individual production orders. Therefore, the level of control is not as great as it is with production picking.

To use replenishment areas

  1. In the Search box, enter Bin Reclass. Journal, and then choose the related link.
  2. On the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Pick for Production.
  3. Fill in the fields in the request window as you wish and choose the Print button.

The printed replenishment report provides a list of the materials that are required to complete production for the production orders specified in the report. These materials must be moved from their storage bins to the replenishment areas's inbound production bin.

  1. In the bin reclassification journal, move items from storage bins to the necessary consumption bins, see How to: Enter and Post Bin Movements.

Alternatively, you can use the Bin Status window to move items between bins. For more information about the concept of Replenishment Areas, click here.

Production Reporting

Once materials have been moved to a consumption bin, you can use the Batch Reporting window to report production output and consumption. This window gives the user the ability to simultaneously record production results for a batch order and one or more related package orders.

When opened from the Production Picking window, the Batch Reporting window will automatically display the output and consumption lines for the selected production order. If this order is linked to other batch or package orders, these orders are displayed in the Batch Reporting window, as well.

The process of recording production results in the Batch Reporting window is the same in a warehouse environment as it is in a non-warehouse location. For more information on this, see the topic How to: Report Production.

Production Put-aways

Production output is recorded to a designated outbound production bin. Depending on how the warehouse has been set up, this output bin is defined for either the entire location or a specific replenishment area. Regardless of what type of output bin is used, the production items in it must be moved to a storage bin before they can be picked for use in shipments, transfers, or other production activities.

The process of creating a put-away from an outbound production bin to a storage bin is no different than creating a standard warehouse movement. For more information on this, see the topic How to: Enter and Post Bin Movements.