Understanding Movement Instructions

You define movement instructions to control which locations that the system suggests for putaway, picking, and replenishment. A movement instruction table contains many parameters that you specify to refine the list of potential locations to the smallest possible number.

When you set up movement instructions, you define this information:

Whether to use fixed or random locations.
Which random rule to use if you use random locations.
Whether to restrict the movement to a zone.
Which zone to use for the location search if you use zones.
Which tiebreaker method to use to rank equally suitable locations.
Whether to use minimum and maximum percentages for putaway and picking.

You can also define specific movement instructions. For putaway, you can define:

Whether to select empty locations or locations that contain the same items as those you must store.
Whether the system converts larger units of measure into smaller units of measure.
Whether to completely fill partially filled locations.
Whether to completely fill or top off partial units of measure, such as half-filled pallets.

For picking and replenishment movements, you can define:

Whether to move the oldest items in a location first to avoid spoilage or obsolescence.
Whether the system converts smaller units of measure into larger units of measure, such as combining cases to comprise a pallet.
(Release 9.2 Update) Whether the system can break down a license plate while picking.
Note: Breakdown is allowed when both the picking breakdown flag in the Item Unit of Measure Definition (P46011) program and the license plate breakdown flag in the Movement Instruction (P46095) program are set to yes.

You define a fixed location to use for one purpose. Conversely, a random location is any location that matches the criteria that you define, such as:

The location characteristics specified in the random rule.
Whether the location characteristic is required or optional.
The priority of the optional characteristic.
Whether the item should include or exclude the specified location characteristic for the search.

When you search for locations, the system identifies many locations that match the search criteria. You can use tiebreakers to select the best location from all the matching locations. You can also specify the process mode to use. You can select to:

Maximize warehouse space.
Maximize employee productivity.
Use other criteria that you define.