Advanced Warehouse Management

Priorities are everything in logistics - Real-Time insight on the amount of actual and expected work in a warehouse is crucial for planning and prioritization of tasks. The warehouse dashboard visualizes the open lines, hours, and areas without current worker activity. Per wave, the estimated completion time is displayed and the warehouse manager can monitor at one glance that all shipments will be loaded in the truck on time.

Easy replenishment starts with bulk storage near the fixed pick location, especially for those items with a high cubic velocity. Advanced Warehouse Management can find the nearest suitable location automatically. The travel distances through the warehouse aisles are not longer than necessary. Dynamic replenishment is added to replenish to empty locations and avoid the timing issues of too early replenishment (items do not fit on location), or too late replenishment (picker has to wait) that could burden the operation.

Academic and field studies report that 60% or more of the logistical costs in a warehouse tend to be picking-related. Advanced Warehouse Management reduces traveling distance in a warehouse by applying two heuristics that determine an alternative pick sequence: Largest gap and aisle by aisle. The best alternative is selected automatically. Depending on the situation, savings of up to 10-20% of picking time is possible.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, the Warehouse management module collects a lot of data like estimated and actual time per work line. Unfortunately, this information is not easy to analyze using standard screens, and the displayed data is also not combined with other data sources such as master planning or ABC frequency. Advanced Warehouse Management goes beyond these limitations and combines the fore mentioned standard data with enhanced functionality.