Optimizing the Work of Resources

You can use semi-system-guided processing within system-guided processing. This is useful for source storage bins that have more than one HU. In system-guided processing, the system proposes one particular HU to the user for processing. Finding this particular HU can prove time-consuming. If the source storage bin contains multiple HUs, it is more efficient if the system instructs the warehouse worker to go to a particular source storage bin and remove any HU.

To use this function, you set the queue to semi-system-guided processing. When selecting a WO, the system checks if a queue has been set to semi-system-guided processing. If it has, the system sets the session to semi-system-guided. This affects processing in the following ways:

• The user verifies the source storage bin only.

• The HU field is empty. The user scans the next HU which is accessible.

After scanning, the system checks whether:

• The scanned HU is available in the specified storage bin.

• An open warehouse task exists for this HU.

• The reported resource is allowed to process the HU.

Where is semi-system guided processing relevant? Assume a truck where several pallets (=HUs) where unloaded and all these HUs are now standing in the goods receipt area (which is probably only one bin). The system does not know the location of the individual HUs in this bin.

The semi-system-guided processing screen contains a button that allows you to activate the display of available HUs. You can also trigger other queries for the HU, such as a queue or a storage bin.

The aim of task interleaving is to minimize not utilized resources through an optimized distribution of the warehouse tasks, and to reduce the travel times in the warehouse. For example, after putaway, a forklift does not return empty to the goods receipt area. Instead, it is given a new task before returning to that area, such as a stock removal order.

With Task Interleaving

After completing a WO, the system immediately assigns a new warehouse order to the warehouse worker, which is from a different queue.

Interleaving Using Radio Frequency

You set RF interleaving for resource types. You assign each interleaving-relevant queue to a queue type and to a queue sequence.

RF Interleaving	Standard RF Function
1. The resource processes a warehouse order from a queue.	1. The same queue is processed until it is empty.
2. The subsequent warehouse order comes from another queue, based on the defined queue type sequence.	2. The next queue is processed according to the defined queue sequence.

Caution

This function is only available within system-guided processing.

A warehouse zone is a physical or logical area in a warehouse that groups together storage bins for advanced interleaving. In most cases, a warehouse zone groups storage bins in the same aisle. You can define one of the storage bins in the warehouse zone as the reference storage bin, which represents the physical location of a warehouse zone.

You can use the warehouse zone as an organizational aid for automatic warehouse order (WO) assignment to a resource. The system assigns the next closest WO based on the travel distance between the warehouse zone where the current resource is located and all the other warehouse zones with open WOs.

To use warehouse zones, you do the following:

• Define warehouse zones and assign storage bins to these zones.
• For each warehouse zone, assign one storage bin of the corresponding warehouse zone as the reference storage bin.
• Calculate the travel distance between warehouse zones.
• Activate the use of warehouse zones.

The BAdI Warehouse Order Selection (/SCWM/EX_RSRC_PROC_SEL can be used to define your own logic to influence the WO selection.

When the system creates a warehouse order for warehouse tasks, it is not known yet which resource is to process the warehouse order. This means that the limit parameters in the warehouse order creation rule must be modeled to fit the smallest resource of all the resources working in the same activity area. This leads to unsatisfactory assignments in other cases, where a resource, which can handle a bigger load or a higher number of HUs, is not fully utilized.

The BAdI /SCWM/EX_RSRC_REBUNDLE can be used to group warehouse tasks of existing warehouse orders into a new warehouse order to be processed next by a resource. The example implementation /SCWM/CL_EI_RSRC_REBUNDLE determines the capacity of a resource type and then the corresponding handling unit (HU) warehouse tasks that need to be grouped into new warehouse orders.