Zone Putaway

Guidance on Zone Putaway, including how to build zones and create zone rules for your warehouse in Flexe.

IN THIS TOPIC

• About Zone Putaway
• About Suggested Locations
• Building Zones in Locations
• Zone Rule Creation
• Test Zone Rules
• Viewing Location Details During Mobile Moves
  
  • Using the Device Keyboard During Mobile Moves

About Zone Putaway

The Zone Putaway feature in Flexe helps optimize the putaway and picking processes at your warehouse. 

With this feature, shippers can add a “velocity” attribute to inventory in the Item Master, to specify the frequency that product typically flows through. In turn, you can use these velocity specifications to set up and configure groups of locations, called “zones.”

Zones help to consolidate product storage at your warehouse, so as to streamline putaway and picking workflows on Flexe mobile devices.

About Suggested Locations

Here’s a quick breakdown of how the Flexe system uses zones to suggest putaway locations on Flexe mobile devices, including details on the different types of location types:

Primary Pick Location - Consolidation Used for locations in the zone with the highest quantity of the item. Primary Pick Consolidation locations are recommended first.  Primary Pick Location - Empty Location Used for locations within the zone that currently do not contain any inventory. Primary Pick Empty locations are recommended second.  Non Primary Pick Location - Consolidation Used when there is a consolidation opportunity for locations in the zone with the highest quantity of the item. Non Primary Pick Consolidation locations are recommended third.  Non Primary Pick Location - Empty Location Used for non-primary locations in the zone that do not currently contain any inventory. Non Primary Pick Empty locations are recommended last.

Note: If none of these categories are present within a zone, another location within the zone will be suggested based on the zone rules for the specific SKU being moved.

Building Zones in Locations

To use Zone Putaway, you’ll need to set up zones for your warehouse from the Locations page in Flexe. 

To set up zones in Flexe:

1. Select Locations from the left menu.

2. Select Download Location Master CSV.

Select the Download Location Master CSV option at the top of the page to download all of your active locations in a CSV file. 

You’ll use this file to set up the zones; you’ll then re-upload the file to save changes in the Flexe system.

3. Edit the Location Master CSV file to configure your zones. 

Open the Locations Master CSV file once it downloads through your web browser. 

You can then edit the file to configure your zones. Use the Put Away Zone column to assign specific locations into zones. The grouping you specify is applied to all individual locations you want to include in that zone. 

You can also use the Name column to add a name for zones. 

Once you’ve added all the zone information needed, make sure to save the CSV file. 

4. Upload the Location Master CSV in Flexe. 

Go back to the Locations page in Flexe and select Upload CSV to upload the edited Locations Master file back into the system. 

In the upload window that opens, drag and drop the edited file or select Choose File to find the file from where it’s saved. The file name will then show next to File selected. 

To upload the file, select Submit.

The zones you created then be added to the Locations page under the Put Away Zone column. 

You can also use filters to find all locations within a specific zone. Select New Filter, then select the Put Away Zone option. 

Enter the zone(s) you want to review, then select the checkmark icon to confirm.

Zone Rule Creation

To begin creating zone rules in Flexe: 

1. Select Zones from the left menu.

This opens the Zones page, where you can review and manage your current zone groupings.

2. Select Upload CSV.

To create Zone rules, you’ll need to upload them to the system via CSV. Select Upload CSV to proceed.  

3. Download the CSV template file. 

In the upload window that opens, select the CSV template link to download the template file you’ll use to create zone rules. 

4. Edit the template file to configure the rules.

Once downloaded, select the rules template file to open it. 

Editable zone attributes and SKU specifications include:

• hazmat
• lot code
• ship as is
• shipalone
• expiration date tracking
• customer specific attributes (CSAs) - specifications added by location that allow for more efficient putaway. CSAs allow customers to store additional fields that are non-core item attributes for their item master. To learn more about CSA's, see the Customer Specific Attributes section. 

Note: CSAs are only visible to accounts which have had them configured, if you would like to set this feature up, please reach out to your Primary Logistics Analyst. 

For additional guidance on what to include in the file, select See more about what inputs your file needs from the upload window in Flexe. The section will expand to show detailed information about the different columns and fields you'll need to complete. 

Once you’ve added everything, make sure to save the file. 

5. Upload the rules CSV file in Flexe. 

Go back to the Create SPA Rules From a CSV window in Flexe to upload the edited template file. Drag and drop the file, or select the Choose File option and select the file from where it’s saved. The file name will then be listed next to File. 

Select Submit to upload the file. 

Once the file is uploaded, the zone rules will be applied on the Zones page.

Test Zone Rules

Note: The ability to test zone rules is not enabled by default. If you would like this ability, please reach out to your Primary Logistics Analyst.

To test the zone rules that are in place:

1. Select Test Zone Rules 

This button will simulate the rules that have been added to double check that items will be putaway to the warehouse’s expected Zone or Location.

2. Select a SKU to test

Selecting a SKU to test and clicking on “Generate Putaway Suggestions” button will give you a list of locations that the system will recommend the putaway to. This allows you a preview of whether the rules have been set-up correctly for the warehouse to use.

Viewing Location Details During Mobile Moves

During putaway or when using the Move Items function on Flexe mobile devices, you can view details about suggested locations via Lookup Details. 

Open the menu (three vertical dots) next to the location, then select Location details. This launches the Lookup Details feature, which you can use to review location details. 

When you’re done, select the Back arrow (top left) to return to the previous screen and resume  the current move. 

Using the Device Keyboard During Mobile Moves

To access the onscreen keyboard during a move, open the Actions menu (three vertical dots) at the top right of the screen, then select Enter With Keyboard. 

When you select the text field, the device’s keyboard will automatically display at the bottom of the screen so that you can manually enter barcode numbers, as needed.