Replenishment

Replenishment refers to the process of restocking inventory. This involves moving products from bulk storage locations or reserve areas to pick locations or other areas where the products are needed to fulfill orders. The goal of replenishment is to ensure that there is always enough stock on hand to meet demand while minimizing excess inventory and maximizing space utilization within the warehouse. Effective replenishment processes are critical for maintaining accurate inventory levels, optimizing order fulfillment, and ensuring timely customer delivery.

The replenishment system in DATASCOPE WMS has two main modules. One is a simple replenishment module to move stock from a bulk area to a pickface location. The second module is a full directed replenishment system, where better efficiency rules apply.

• Simple Replenishment—This module is typically used for replenishing pickface bins from bulk bins. It will take any pickface replenishment request created and populate an SQL database table with replenishment tasks. These replenishment requests are generated automatically through the Pickface Replen Service. However, this module will not tell the user what a suitable supply bin location may be for replenishment. The user will select the oldest replenishment on the list and do a Stock Query on the mobile device to see where to get the supplying stock. The Stock Query button has no logic behind it and shows all available stock in a default order sequence.

• Direct Replenishment – This module is also used for replenishing pickface bins but for larger pickface areas. For example, where a warehouse has 25 pickface zones and hundreds of pickface bins. This module allows users to group existing replenishment tasks using a detailed filter screen and perform an auto-reservation to apply logic in the allocation of stock to the replenishment (similar to the auto-allocation process for Sales Orders).  A replenishment pick slip will be generated, which can be picked as if it were a sales order or job pick, but instead, it is used to top up pickface bins. An additional benefit of the Direct Replenishment module is that logic can be built into the replenishment reservation rule to reserve in a FIFO (First in First Out) or LIFO (Last in First Out) order or exclude supplying pallets that already have reservations for Jobs and Sales Orders against them. The module also has the functionality to group replenishment pick slips by a supplying bin zone. This will assist the Replenisher to work his way logically through the supplying warehouse and build up his pallet before moving the stock to the pickface warehouse to unload it. Picker performance KPIs and pick slip status tracking can be tracked, whereas the Simple Replenishment module does not have this functionality.