Operations guide · Putaway and replenishment
What Are Putaway and Replenishment?
Putaway is placing received stock in a suitable warehouse location. Replenishment refills the pick face from reserve stock. Good design balances distance, capacity, product compatibility and picking continuity together.
Which data does a putaway rule use?
- The item's volume, weight, ABC velocity and storage conditions
- Location type, dimensions, load capacity and fill rate
- Whether lots/expiry dates may be mixed, hazardous goods and product adjacency
- Distance to the receiving door, the pick face and shipping
Fixed locations are easy to learn but can use space inefficiently. Dynamic putaway improves space utilisation; it requires reliable barcodes and device discipline.
Types of replenishment
| Type | Trigger | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Min–max replenishment | The pick slot falls below minimum | Steady demand |
| Demand-driven replenishment | Open order requirements | Preparation before a wave |
| Top-off | Planned gap | Between shifts or waves |
| Emergency replenishment | Shortage during picking | Exception; track the root cause |
Dedicated areas and mezzanine operations
A dedicated area is a set of locations reserved for a specific client, channel, product group or project. It can reduce mixing and service-level risk; it can also cause low utilisation and less flexibility. The WMS should manage the area not just as a label but as a capacity and access constraint.
On mezzanine levels, stair/lift transfers, container capacity, consolidation points and workload per level are planned separately. Keep heavy items off upper levels, turn fire and safety limits into master data rules, and make sure transfers between levels are never lost.
Measures of success
Track dock-to-stock time, distance per putaway, pick-face stock-out rate, number of emergency replenishments and location utilisation together. Increasing utilisation alone can make picking distances worse.
For receipt design see the goods receipt guide, for handling units the pallet–case–location hierarchy, and for picking after replenishment the picking methods.