In retail and wholesale trade, as the product range expands and the number of orders grows, physically locating goods in the warehouse often becomes chaotic.
The location-based storage and transfer control mode is a tool that allows you to know exactly which shelf or bin contains a specific unit of goods, even if it is temporarily reserved or being prepared for dispatch.
"How can I see exactly where the goods are stored?",
"How can a warehouse employee pick an order quickly without returning to the same rack several times?",
"How can I track goods that have been picked for a customer but have not yet been dispatched?",
"How can I control goods that are physically in transit between our stores?", and
"How can I easily move goods from one shelf to another without unnecessary write-offs?".
The answers to these questions lie in properly organizing logistics with the help of inventory management software.
1. Organizing the physical space: racks and storage bins
To help businesses know the exact location of their goods, Torgsoft offers the additional "Product Storage Location" option. Its logic is based on flexible management of the warehouse's physical space.
The system allows you not only to enter a shelf name but also to generate storage locations automatically according to a specified pattern. For example, you enter the rack name, the number of shelves and their prefix, as well as the number of bins on each shelf. The program automatically creates a range of locations, such as Rack No. 2 shelf_1row_A, Rack No. 2 shelf_1row_B, and so on, and generates a unique barcode for each bin.
The key benefits of this approach are:
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Static and dynamic storage. You can define fixed locations for the permanent product range and use dynamic bins for items ordered on demand.
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Multiple storage locations. The same product can be stored in several locations or bins at the same time within each accounting center.
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Mobility. Using the mobile application, a warehouse employee can scan a product and immediately see where it should be placed, or easily move it from one shelf to another by removing it from one location and adding it to another.
2. Controlling prepared shipments: temporary storage
When entrepreneurs ask how to track orders that have already been picked but not yet dispatched, temporary storage locations provide the solution.
When preparing an internal transfer between warehouses or processing a customer order, goods can be assigned a temporary storage location.
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The system allows you to specify a storage period or end date, after which the goods are considered to have exceeded the permitted time in the transit area.
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If a warehouse employee attempts to place an order in a bin that is already occupied by another customer order on the current date, the program displays a warning but leaves the final decision to the user.
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For visual control, the system provides special icons: goods in permanent storage locations are marked with one icon, while temporarily stored goods, such as items picked for an order or prepared for transfer, are marked with another. This helps prevent confusion in the warehouse.
3. Transit area: tracking "Goods in Transit"
To control goods while they are physically moving between stores, when they have already left but have not yet arrived, a level-three buffer warehouse called "Goods in Transit" is used.
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How it works. An internal transfer delivery note is created at the sending location. The goods are removed from the sender's main warehouse, but they are not immediately received into the recipient's warehouse. Instead, they are transferred to the "Goods in Transit warehouse".
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Logistics. Each accounting center can see which goods are physically on their way to it in the "Goods in Transit" mode and group them by sender or expected delivery date.
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Receiving a shipment. When the vehicle arrives at the receiving store, the warehouse employee opens the delivery note and performs a physical check by scanning the barcodes. Only after the actual quantity has been confirmed and the delivery note has been closed are the goods officially recorded on the receiving party's shelves. If a shortage or surplus is identified, the program can automatically create adjustment delivery notes.
4. Optimizing the warehouse employee's work: shipment picking logic
The most common optimization question is:
"How can goods picking be accelerated?".
If a warehouse employee is given a standard delivery note, they may pick goods in a random order. Torgsoft addresses this by sorting goods according to their storage locations.
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Sorting in documents. In the "Sales with Invoice" mode, the "Invoice Items" tab displays a column containing the storage bin address, which can be used for searching.
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Route planning. When picking multiple goods for dispatch, the warehouse employee filters or sorts the list by storage location. This allows them to plan an efficient route through the warehouse: they approach one rack and collect all the goods stored there for different shipments at once, instead of returning to it several times.
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Printing warehouse documents. Information about the accounting center and the specific bin or shelf can be printed in the "Goods Issue Note for Warehouse Employee" or the "Warehouse Employee's Receipt".
Implementing location-based storage, using temporary transit bins, and correctly working with buffer warehouses such as "Goods in Transit" completely eliminates blind spots in the logistics of a trading business. The owner can always see the physical location of the goods, while warehouse employees follow a clear and efficient picking route.
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