Replenishment

In a warehouse, as a product is removed from a location, the inventory in that location requires re-stocking. This process is called replenishment. Demand-based replenishment is initiated after PLA has specified the total demand placed for an item. A retrieval request is created by PLA for the demand.

The replenishment strategy is specified for a zone that requires replenishment. The zones to replenish from can be specified by the unit of measure that is required. For example, an active (loose) pick zone is replenished from case storage zone for the UOM specified as EACH, while the case storage zone is replenished from the pallet zone when the unit of measure is CASE. Additional zones can be specified as secondary preferences in both these cases. During the replenishment process, zone attributes such as round-off level, controls the optimal quantity suggested for replenishment. For example, in case storage zone, the quantity to replenish can be rounded up to a case quantity for the item, while in a pallet zone, quantity to replenish can be rounded up to a pallet quantity for the item.

The Sterling Warehouse Management System groups demand-based tasks based on the department requesting replenishment. For example, PLA for a wave creates both replenishment task and pick task. Typically, replenishment tasks are expected to precede pick tasks for a wave. The Sterling Warehouse Management System may be configured such that pick tasks are kept on hold until inventory is replenished and made available for picking for the entire batch, shipment, or container.