DC1 Help Centre 12.0

Overview

If container assignment is activated, the pick list processing includes the selection of containers for the delivery of the order lines. Each container is identified by its unique number which is retrieved from a container number series defined in the DIS control File.

If the volume of an order or an order line is too large for one container, several containers are created by the system. The applicable container numbers are linked to the pick list and order line.

When you start the pick list print for an order, the container assignment routine checks which items have to be picked from which pick location and into which container(s). It will also check if the items to be picked need to be packed first before being put into the container (i. e. packed into a container inside the container).

What impacts the choice of the container assigned to an order line

The following describes what kind of information has an impact on the choice of the container assigned to an order line:

Item

Quantities per order line
Unit dimensions
Unit weight
Item features (cold storage items, fragile items, inflammable items)
Pick category

I	Isolated from all other items (i.e. can only be put in a container together with the same item)
N	No pick restrictions (i.e. can be put in a container together with any other item)
S	Same pick category (i.e. can be put in a container together with items of the same picking category)

Packaging container group (only if item needs packaging)
Packing material (only if item needs packaging)

Container type

Sizes (internal/external) – used to check whether the item or the package with its given dimensions (external dimensions) fits into a delivery box container (internal dimensions)
Container usage (packaging / delivery)
Packaging group (only if the container used is a packaging container)
Maximum weight
Types of items allowed in the container (cold storage items, fragile items, inflammable items)
Maximum volume contents %

Criteria

Maximum number of containers per order line
Pick restrictions
Automatic picker (A-Frame)
Conveyor belt systems
Picking from separate warehouse zones
Weights
Container consolidation
Route information, i.e. items belonging to different route restriction groups cannot be put in the same container.

Container assignment process

Container assignment involves the following four consecutive steps:

Assignment of the largest delivery box container/packaging container type possible for an item depending on the values defined for item, container and criteria as listed above.
Optimization of the packing container, involving the search for the best possible packaging container, if there are items which need packaging before they can be put into a delivery box container. This optimization is done on the basis of the accumulated dimensions of the items inside the packaging container assigned in the first step. The packaging container to be assigned must have the same features as the one chosen in step 1 and the items must fit into it.
After packaging container optimization the packaging containers will be assigned to a delivery box container.
Optimization of the delivery box container, involving the search for the best suited delivery container type available in terms of dimensions. This optimization is done on the basis of the accumulated dimensions of the items inside the delivery box container assigned in the first step. The new delivery box container to be assigned must have the same features as the one chosen in step 1 and the items must fit into it.

Checklist for the system’s selection of the container type for a specific item

Does the item need to be packed before it is assigned to a container? The process for the packaging container is the same as for the delivery box container and will be described below.

Are the item’s features the same as the container’s (cold storage, inflammable, fragile)?

Is the warehouse picking zone that is assigned to the item the same as the container type with regard to conveyor and automatic picker (A-Frame) capability?

Will the dimensions of a single item fit into the dimensions of the container (length, width, height)?

Is the weight within the maximum weight range allowed for the container?

If no container type is found for the item, the default container type from the Warehouse table will be used. In the event that no default container type is defined in the Warehouse table, the default container type will be retrieved from the Container control file.

Is there already a container that has the same container type as the one currently determined?

If NO, a new container number will be created and assigned. Afterwards the container assignment routine will check if there are other items or pick list lines that also need to be assigned. If so, the container assignment routine will start with the very first step again.
If YES, the container assignment routine will perform the additional steps described below.

Do the items inside the determined container have the same item picking category as the item being processed? The following values can be configured for each item in Item file maintenance, Warehouses panel

I	Isolated from all other items (i.e. can only be put in a container together with the same item)
N	No pick restrictions (i.e. can be put in a container together with any other item)
S	Same pick category (i.e. can be put in a container together with items of the same picking category)

Does the customer want the scheduled lines to be picked separately? This Yes/No field can be configured for each customer in the Business partner file maintenance, Customer file panel.

In terms of consolidation criteria per order, what kind of consolidation does the customer want? The following panel values can be configured for each customer in the Business partner file maintenance, Customer file panel.

A	Always
N	By order number (only consolidate items in a container by order number)
T	By order type option (see next point)

If the container consolidation is T (by order type option), an additional check of consolidation type on order type and order property level will be done: What kind of container consolidation is required for the item? The following values can be configured for each order type/order property in Sales order type/Sales order property maintenance.

A	Always
C	By consolidation group (The container assignment will check if the container contains the same container group defined for the item.)
O	By order type (The container assignment will check if the container contains items which were created from an order with the same order type)

Caution: The container consolidation definition A=Always can also result in separately assigned containers per order type, if only one of the following criteria defined for the order type diverges:
Direct Invoice; Batch Invoice; Stock update; Update A/R; Direct transport note; Batch transport note; Backlog after pick list; Hold invoice; Pick list heading; Proof of delivery code; Transport note with amounts; Transport note heading; Transport preparation code; Order progress log code; Order flow log, Dispatch code; Surcharge handling; EDI tracking.

If the previous restrictions (Item picking category, Business partner consolidation option, Sales order type/order property consolidation option) are not fulfilled, a new container will be created with the container type determined in the first part of the process.

If the picked items do not fit into one container, multiple containers will be created based on the dimensions and weight of the items and container(s) involved.

Moreover, the pick separation group functionality is used to group warehouse zones in order to achieve a simplified picking process. Especially in warehouses with a conveyor belt system it might be useful to let the container pass several zones without creating individual containers per warehouse zone. No container will cross pick separation group borders which implies that a given container will only contain items from one separation group.

The container assignment allows the system to determine if the item needs to be packed into a packaging container before it is put into a delivery box container. After the items have been packed, the system will look at the weight and volume of the packaging container including the weight and volume of the packaging material. The calculation of weight and volume of the packaging container will depend on the packaging material setup for the item.

Another container assignment functionality is the assignment of pick quality control or PQC. In this case a quantity check must be performed for the container before picking. If the zone is connected to a conveyor or if it is an automatic picker (A-Frame), the quality control conveyor message will be sent to the interface file. The pick quality control can be configured by warehouse, warehouse zone, customer and route.

Number of pick instruction lines per container

The number of order lines allowed per container controls the number of items which will be assigned to a container. The maximum number of order lines can be maintained in the Warehouse table. Once this has been configured for a container, the container assignment function will use this value to determine whether an order line will be assigned to a new container.

The number of order lines per container is required to limit the number of pick lines per container pick list. This will also serve as the limit of items to be picked by an automatic picker (A-Frame).

Container consolidation

Example 1: Separate products into different containers – Customer order 1:

In this example the customer wants their products to be separated into different containers. This can be handled using the item pick category defined in the item/warehouse definition. Once this has been configured, the items are assigned to the containers using the Item pick category group. This generates a certain number of containers depending on the pick categories included in the container pick list. The larger the number of containers, however, the higher your overhead costs for container processing.

Item	Quantity	Volume in container	Pick category group
Item_1	5	30%	PCG1
Item_2	10	40%	PCG2

For the above example, two containers are generated for the order because different pick categories have been configured for the ordered items.

Example 2: Item consolidation sequence – Customer order 2

In order to meet company and customer requirements to reduce the number of containers in case of separate picking, an Item consolidation sequence can be defined in the item/warehouse definition. This field is used to sort the items picked by consolidation sequence. Once the items have been sorted, the container assignment function checks if there is still room in the last container for a specific consolidation sequence. If so, the container assignment function will assign the next picked item to the last container that has a different consolidation sequence.

Item	Quantity	Volume in container	Consolidation sequence
Item_1	5	10%	CG1
Item_2	2	5%	CG1
Item_3	10	40%	CG2
Item_4	2	5%	CG2

In the example above one container is created for both consolidation sequences (CG1 and CG2) because the volume of the items picked can be stored in one container.

The container assignment routine starts to process the first item that is to be picked on the basis of a consolidation sequence. Once an item with a different consolidation sequence is encountered, the container assignment routine checks the last available container used for the previous consolidation sequence to see if there is still enough room for the new item with a different consolidation sequence. If so, the item will be assigned to that container regardless of its consolidation sequence.

Example 3: Clean containers (i.e. get containers which only contain items of the same consolidation sequence) – Customer order 3

In a second step, an optional feature of the container assignment functionality can check if there is the possibility to clean the containers, i. e. to get containers which only contain items of the same consolidation sequence. This cleaning process will only be performed if a separation of the assigned items will not lead to a higher number of containers.

The Clean container field can be defined in the Warehouse table. When this flag is set to YES, the additional optimization routine will be performed. This process checks all the containers assigned to the pick list and reassigns items with a deviating consolidation group to an available container with items of the same consolidation group. This process will never add an additional container but will only reassign items which had previously been assigned to a “mixed container” (i.e. one which contains items of more than one consolidation sequence) to produce as many clean containers as possible.

Item	Quantity	Volume in container	Consolidation sequence
Item_1	15	30%	CG1
Item_2	4	10%	CG1
Item_3	10	40%	CG2
Item_4	16	40%	CG2

After container assignment

Item	Quantity	Volume in container	Consolidation sequence	Container number
Item_1	15	30%	CG1	001
Item_2	4	10%	CG1	001
Item_3	10	40%	CG2	001
Item_4	16	40%	CG2	002

ITEM_3 with consolidation sequence CG2 was assigned to container 001. The optimization routine will perform the following steps:

Starting from the last, check all the containers to see if they contain items with different consolidation sequences (in this case container 001).
Identify items with a deviating consolidation sequence (in this case ITEM_3)
Find an available container that contains items with a corresponding consolidation sequence (in this case container 002).
Move the item from the original container to the available container found in the last step (in this case ITEM_3 will be moved to container 002).

After optimization routine to clean containers:

Item	Quantity	Volume in container	Consolidation sequence	Container number
Item_1	15	30%	CG1	001
Item_2	4	10%	CG1	001
Item_3	10	40%	CG2	002
Item_4	16	40%	CG2	002

In many cases this optimization routine yields only clean containers or at least as large a number of clean containers as possible.