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Warehouse picking policy

The warehouse picking policy is a set of rules that apply to all picking in a warehouse. It sits above any single wave or order, and one of its settings decides the biggest question of all: whether the warehouse uses waves at all.

This page covers the warehouse-level picking settings — the master waves switch and the related options. It is a different thing from the per-wave wave picking policy: that one is chosen for each wave and tunes a single wave; this one is set once for the whole warehouse.

Use waves​

The master switch for outbound picking.

  • On — orders are grouped into waves and planned and released together. This is the default.
  • Off — there are no waves. Orders are planned directly, one picking document per order, through the direct-picking flow. Only the Discrete methodology is used, and there is no replenishment, sorting, or packing.

Turning this off is what makes the direct-picking flow the warehouse's outbound process.

No-wave replanning document fill mode​

When waves are off, planning can be re-run at any time — see replanning. This setting decides what re-running planning does to the picking documents that already exist:

  • Extend existing pickings — top up the picking documents that are already open with the new demand, and create a new one only when there is nowhere to add it. This is the default.
  • Create new pickings — leave existing documents alone and put any additional demand into a brand-new picking document.
  • Do not create new pickings after start — once picking has started, do not create any more picking documents; only what is already open is worked.

Whatever the mode, quantities that have already been picked are never undone.

Outbound completion mode​

This setting decides what "finished" means for an order once its picking is done — see completion:

  • Standard shipment — picking is followed by a separate shipment step that hands the goods off and ships the order. This is the default.
  • Picking as final operation — there is no separate shipment; finishing the picking is what completes the order.

Free picking without reservation​

The second master switch, independent of waves: it decides whether the warehouse reserves the stock behind the picks it creates.

  • Off — planning claims the stock each pick needs: the source cell on a pick line is a commitment no other document can take. This is the default.
  • On — nothing is ever reserved; every quantity stays available to every other document until somebody physically takes it.

Free picking is a property of the whole warehouse — not of a zone, a work zone, or a kind of picking. There is no middle ground.

What changes when it is on​

  • The source cell is only a hint. Picks are created without a source cell; the cell the operator sees is worked out from current stock when the task is opened, and it can differ the next time. The goods may be taken from wherever they actually are; what is already picked keeps the cell it came from.
  • Demand with no stock still gets a line. The whole demand goes onto the pick, so an order always comes out Fully Planned. That is what the mode is for: picking starts on goods that are still arriving or still being replenished.
  • There is no planning step. The shipping planning assistant is unavailable — there is nothing to allocate or prioritise. Picks are launched from the order itself.
  • Pick work is not split by work zones. The split is built on the source cell of each line, and here that cell is only a hint.
  • Goods go to whoever picks first. Two orders that need the same goods do not queue: the pick worked first takes the stock, and the other comes up short.

Waves remain a separate decision — see Use waves. Free picking takes away the reservation, the planning step, and the zone split, not the wave.

Which mode fits a warehouse​

  • Reservation — an orderly warehouse: stock is where the system says it is, orders are worked in a known priority, and a planned pick is a promise.
  • Free picking — a warehouse that works on the fly: stock is replenished continuously, and picks have to be issued for goods that are not in a pick cell yet.

Enable unplanned picking​

Turns on unplanned picking — a manual way to issue goods to an external location without an order, a wave, or any planning.

  • On — operators can create unplanned pickings for this warehouse and pick goods straight to an external location.
  • Off — the flow is unavailable: no new unplanned picking can be created, and no further goods can be picked on one that already exists. Unplanned pickings that already exist can still be completed or cancelled.

This setting is independent of Use waves — it can be on whether the warehouse uses waves or direct picking.

Other settings​

The warehouse picking policy holds further settings — for example how pick work is split across work zones, how executors are assigned, and container rules. These apply to both wave and direct picking and are documented separately.