WarehouseOS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• In Progress
  • Major Features
    • New WOS Fulfillment App
    • Replenishment
  • Minor Features
    • Item Options - Bundle Conversions and Merging Items
    • Better Exception Handling
• Upcoming Roadmap
  • Packing App
  • Inventory Management
  • Inventory Status
  • Granular Sub-Locations
  • Receiving and Putaway

The following details provide insight into the upcoming progress for WarehouseOS.

In Progress

These features have been scoped and are currently being developed.  Timelines are not hard set, but are typically released in the next 2-3 months.

Major Features

New WOS Fulfillment App

The new Replenishment app will be the start of a new iOS app.  This new app allows WarehosueOS to update an older code-base and implement the newest features available in iOS.  This app will be available in the Apple AppStore as WOS Fulfillment.

Over the next year, more of the WarehouseOS functionality will be rewritten into this new app.  New features and updated workflows will be included in each rewrite.  The new features will only be available in the new WOS Fulfillment App.  The current WMS Fusion app will not be updated to accomodate new features.  By the end of 2024, all apps will be converted to the new WarehouseOS app and the older WMS Fusion will become deprecated.  

This new app will require that iPads are updated to iOS16 to take advantage of the latest features the WarehouseOS app will be using.

Replenishment

A new replenishment app that provides a more streamlined approach to keeping the pickface stocked.  The replenishment feature will have 3 main parts

• Replenishment Report
  • This is a page in WOS Manager that will identify items that need to be replenished.
  • This report can be run in 3 versions
    • Home Location - If you assigned and pick inventory from a Home Location, the replenishment report can focus on replenishing this location
    • Zone - Identify the pick zones and the report will provide details on which items need to be replenished within each zone.  The item is configured to be picked out of a particular zone by either setting the Replenishment Zone on the Item Master or setting the Home Location and using the zone associated to that location
    • Area - Identify stock that needs to be brought from an Overflow Area into a Pick Area
  • The report will make a suggestion on which location to pull the backstock from.  This can be changed from within the report
  • Saving the report details will create Replenishment Tasks in the Work Queue for the second part of the process
• Replenishment Pick
  • This takes place in the WOS Fulfillment app on the iPad
  • The user assigns a Replenish location that will serve as a staging ground for inventory that is between the two steps of replenishment.
  • Tasks are assigned to the user and can be sorted and organized from the tablet
  • As the user completes the replenishment pick tasks, inventory is moved from the backstock location into the replenish staging location
• Replenishment Put
  • This takes place in the WOS Fulfillment app on the iPad
  • No longer a task-based approach, inventory that has been placed in a Replenish location needs to then be stocked back into the pickface
  • Scan a Replenish location to identify the items in that location that need to be put back on the shelf
  • Sort and organize items by Home Location Pick Sequence, Zone, or Priority to stock the items back into the shelf.

Minor Features

Item Options - Bundle Conversions and Merging Items

When item numbers change or something unusual happened in the sales channel that resulted in new items being created in WOS, a new feature will allow items to be merged to make it simple to pull those details back together.  The merge will identify a source and destination item, and then update all the inventory and order records to point to the new destination item.

Converting items into a bundle will become simpler by asking immediately for the component details and then updating any open orders with the new component details so it can be picked.

Better Exception Handling

If an order can't be fully picked, WOS currently requires that the order is fully reset to be started over when the issue is resolved.

Updated features will provide a way to better manage these problem orders that need some kind of exception handling.  The ability to offload the picked items into a new cart while the issues are resolved will free up picking carts to continue with more orders without having to repick all of the items when the order is finally ready to move forward.

Upcoming Roadmap

These features are next in line.  They have not been fully scoped and features are subject to change.  Timelines have not been set but will become more clear once the In Progress features have been released.

Packing App

Rewrite of the iOS Apps will continue with an update to the Packing App.  The current app has undergone several updates over the years and not all of them have been cohesive.  This update provides the opportunity to modernize a well-used app and fill in some minor, mostly unnoticed, holes in the logic.  Some new features will also be part of this update

• View of documents available to be printed while in the packing app.  No more guessing if the back-end processes have completed and documents are ready
• Scan Compartment to auto-advance to next order.  Scanning all the items does not mean the packer is finished and a review of the order might still be needed.  But scanning the next compartment can indicate that the packer is ready to move on to the next order.  Options will allow auto-closing open boxes and completing the order as it moves on.
• Automatic completion of short-picked lines.  User still has a chance to review and make sure the order is ok to proceed with short-picked order lines, but the lines can be automatically completed instead of having to verify items that were never picked
• Improved ability to select box types.  Set a sort value to place most-used boxes at the top.  Scan a box UPC to make the selection.  Require selection of a box before the user can close boxes
• Swipe to record picking error.  If the packer runs into issues with the items that were picked, errors can be recorded so that reports can be run on how often packers are running into issues.
• Resolve issues with boxes being created and left open that doesn't allow the order to be marked as Packed

These new features will only be available in the new WOS Fulfillment App.  The current WMS Fusion App will not be updated as part of these updates.

Inventory Management

Rewrite of the iOS App continues with an update to the Manage Inventory functions.  This includes Put, Pull, Move, and Cycle Count functionality.  Current issues with the implementation of Lot tracking will be addressed and streamlined in this new version of the app, including the ability to separate Lot Tracking from Lot Recording.  Some new features will also be part of this new update

• Ability to search for an item when barcodes are not available to be scanned
• Empty Locations are easier to find within the app when doing a Put or Move functions
• Cycle Counts will implement the option for double-blind counts that can be compared before approval
• Cylce Count App will provide more than counting full locations.  Identifying the next section of the warehouse to count or counting specific items will be easier.
• In Process inventory, the items that have been picked and now exist as part of an order waiting to be packed or that have either been received but not added as inventory during Putaway, will be easier to view when searching for inventory within the warehouse
• Use of the Work Queue will expand to being able to schedule Moves or Pulls.  Identify seasonal inventory that needs to be move out of the pick face, or quality issues that need to be pulled out of stock.  Create tasks in the work queue and users can pull these up in the app to complete the inventory updates.

These new features will only be available in the new WOS Fulfillment App.  The current WMS Fusion App will not be updated as part of these updates.

Inventory Status

Sometimes inventory needs to be put on hold while issues are reviewed and resolved.  WOS currently has Hold as a location type, but it requires moving inventory or changing location types.  A new featurew will allow specific inventory records to be set as Inactive.  Inactive inventory can't be picked or allocated against.  This will also fire off triggers that can be used in the integration to update other systems of the new status.

Granular Sub-Locations

Sometimes inventory needs to be segmented even further while not dividing up physical locations.  An implementation of sub-locations will compare to bin or LPN implementations by allowing a more granular inventory tracking when necessary.   Sub-locations can provide a work-around to the WOS requirement of 1 Lot # per location.  It can also keep more granular records of inventory created dates. When a sub-location is added to a location, the sub-location must be provided to adjust or pick inventory to ensure the right inventory is edited. 

Receiving and Putaway

A rewrite of the Receiving and Putaway will follow the inventory updates.  Some potential features include

• Implementation of the Sub-Location feature during Putaway
• Allow multiple putaways for the same item in the same received location to be performed in one step
• Receive multiple POs at once so a truckload of multiple POs doesn't need to be fully organized before receiving can start
• Create a Put-wall type of receiving so that items can be more easily organized into bins by aisle
• Auto-close POs when everything is received to simplify back-end PO views