Replenishment

Restocking forward picking areas with inventory from the reserve storage locations.  There are a number of options for accomplishing this, many often used in combination. These include basic “min/max” logics, replenishment based on demand (for example associated with a “wave” of order picks, “lean time replenishment” and more). The WMS should be able to hold the release of picks to areas where there is insufficient inventory until the replenishment has been completed. Units of measure are key.

For example, a forward case pick area may be replenished with full pallets, while split case picking locations may be replenished with full cases. Replenishment challenges are critical and can “make or break” a new WMS deployment. A common challenge is when the needed replenishment quantity exceeds the capacity of the forward pick locations. There is no easy answer to this challenge, but one solution can be for the WMS to create dynamic (temporary) locations to hold the extra inventory, with those locations being “consumed” when the picks are complete.