Strategy B: Bulk Storage

 

Materials that occur in large quantities and therefore generally take up a lot of space in storage (for example tires, glass products, and beverages) are often stored in bulk storage. The advantages of bulk storage include:

  • Reduced need for physical storage bins

  • Fast access to the containers

  • Clear structuring of the warehouse (into blocks and rows)

This putaway strategy searches for storage bins in bulk storage.

Use

The following figure illustrates bulk storage in WM.

The most important features of bulk storage processing are:

  • Freely-defined coordinate structure

When you define the storage bins in bulk storage, you do not have to take any technical prerequisites of the system into account. The warehouse is divided into blocks, which in turn are divided into individual rows.

  • One storage bin per row

In practice, a row is selected as the sort characteristic in bulk storage. In WM a row is created and managed as a storage bin. The storage bins (rows) are classified according to storage bin types.

For example, rows 2 and 3 in block A05 (illustrated in the above figure) can hold up to 16 pallets. However the 4th row can only hold a maximum of 12 pallets, due to a structural column in the row. You can record this exception (reduction in the capacity of a row) in WM when you define the block structure (see step 4 in "Setting up the Strategy" below).

  • Different storage unit types

Bulk storage is often used to manage different types of storage units with different dimensions, for example standard pallets and industrial pallets with clip-on mounts. WM supports the management of different storage unit types in bulk storage.

  • Mixed storage

Storage units for different materials are generally not stored in the same row. However, in WM, all combinations of mixed storage are allowed in bulk storage. You can also define that all materials in the storage bin must come from the same batch.

  • Different storage unit types per material

Within bulk storage you can store a specific material in a maximum of three different storage unit types. In the material master record you can define storage unit types for each material and the number of units of measure, such as bottles or liters, per storage unit type.

  • Automatic blocking per row

To optimize the processes of putting away stock into and removing stock from bulk storage, you can set a blocking indicator for each row separately.

Prerequisites

When you define the storage type record to use this strategy:

  1. Enter b in the Putaway Strategy field.

  2. Enter x in the Addition to Stock field to allow for addition to existing stock.

  3. Leave the Capacity Check Method and SUT Check Active fields blank. A capacity check and storage unit type (SUT) check are not necessary in bulk storage because an internal check is carried out based on the block structure definition.

  4. Enter the appropriate indicator in the Mixed Storage field. For a description of the combinations that are allowed, see the input help information in the storage type record.

When defining the storage type control for this strategy, there are several indicators that you must take into consideration to control the putaway of goods into bulk storage. This data includes:

See also:

Putaway Strategies

Definition of Bulk Storage Indicators

For this strategy, you can enter bulk storage indicators together with a description. Using the bulk storage indicator, you define how a particular material is to be stored in bulk storage. To do this, you enter the bulk storage indicator in the material master record and again in the bulk storage sectioning table when defining the structure of a block.

Block Structure Definition

You can define various characteristics of bulk storage such as storage bin types, storage unit types, maximum number of stacks, and stacking height.

When you define storage bins for bulk storage you must enter a storage bin type. For more information about creating and maintaining storage bins, see Storage Bin.

Other Control Options

In the material master record (in the Warehouse Management view), you can:

  • Define up to three storage unit types

  • Set the bulk storage indicator

  • Set the indicator allowing addition to existing stock