What is putaway in a warehouse?
Putaway is the step of moving received goods from the receiving area to the storage location where they will be kept.
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What happens at putaway
After receiving, goods wait in a staging area. Putaway moves them to storage, and the choice of location affects how fast they can be picked later.
A WMS suggests a location for each pallet or case and records the move when the worker confirms it.
Worked example
In this example, 8 pallets of item H-90 are received. Item H-90 already has stock in reserve in aisle 6, so the system suggests empty slots in that aisle for all 8.
One suggested slot turns out to be damaged. The driver reports it, and the system offers the next valid location in the same aisle.
How Waresify handles it
Waresify suggests a location using rules checked in order. It tries a fixed location for the item first, then consolidates with existing reserve stock, then a zone set for the item's category, then any empty location that fits the LP, preferring short travel from the inbound area.
The worker scans the LP and then the location, and the server checks both. If no valid location exists, the task is blocked and the supervisor is notified. Putaway tasks can be created as soon as an LP is received or when a supervisor releases them.
Questions
Can a worker put stock somewhere other than the suggestion?
If the suggested slot is blocked, the system suggests the next one. A supervisor can override to any valid location, and the override is logged.
Why not let workers choose locations freely?
Free choice works in small sites with few SKUs. As the warehouse grows, rules keep fast movers near the pick area and stop the same item spreading across many slots.