Container purposes

A container's purpose says what it is for. It is set when the container is created and it decides where the container is allowed to go: each purpose has a set of cell types it may be moved into, and a move to any other type is refused.

The six purposes below are the ones the warehouse processes actually use. The remaining six are listed further down so you can recognise them on a container card.

Storage (STORAGE)

The everyday container — a box, tote or pallet that holds goods on the rack. This is the default purpose for a container created by hand.

Putaway Cart (PUTAWAY_CART)

A cart that carries received goods from the receiving area to their storage cells. Putaway takes its goods from carts of this purpose.

Pick Cart (PICK_CART)

A cart the picker takes along the route, holding what is picked. Cluster picking uses one container per order on the same cart.

LPN Shipment (LPN_SHIPMENT)

A finished unit prepared for a customer — packed, labelled and waiting to be loaded. It is the narrowest purpose of all: an LPN belongs in a shipping area and nowhere else.

Returns (RETURNS)

A container for goods coming back from a customer, waiting to be checked and put away or written off.

Empty RTI (EMPTY_RTI)

Empty reusable packaging — the totes, trays and pallets themselves, held ready to be filled again.

Where each purpose may go

The cell types below are the ones you see on a cell. A move to a type that is not in the container's row is refused, and the message names the type that was rejected.

Purpose	Allowed cell types
Storage	Storage, Picking, Receiving, Cross-dock, Shipping, Location
Putaway Cart	Storage, Picking, Receiving, Location
Pick Cart	Shipping, Cross-dock, Receiving, Picking, Storage, Location
LPN Shipment	Shipping, Location
Returns	Storage, Receiving, Location
Empty RTI	Storage, Receiving, Shipping, Location

There is one exception, and it matters in daily work: if the container carries a plan cell — the cell the process that created it wants it to end up in — that cell is always accepted, even when its type is not in the row above. This is how a pick cart reaches a packing station, which is a cell type no purpose lists.

For what the refusal looks like and what else is checked, see Transfer rules.

The other purposes

These follow the same principle — each is allowed in the cell types that suit it — and appear on container cards in warehouses that use them.

• Work In Progress (WIP) — goods part-way through an operation, not yet ready to be stored or shipped.
• Put Wall Slot (PUTWALL_SLOT) — a single slot in a put wall, holding one order while it is being assembled.
• Replenishment Tote (REPLEN_TOTE) — a tote carrying stock from reserve storage down to a pick face.
• QC Hold (QC_HOLD) — goods held for quality control, kept apart until they are released.
• Scrap (SCRAP) — goods written off, waiting to be disposed of.
• Yard Trailer (YARD_TRAILER) — a trailer standing in the yard, treated as a container so its contents can be tracked.