Direct answer
Putaway is the step that decides where received stock lives, and therefore how the whole warehouse is organised. Good putaway rules are plain decisions written in ordinary language: this kind of product goes to this kind of location, for these reasons, and here is what an operator does when that is not possible. A system can then suggest a location from those decisions and record the location the operator actually used.
This page is about defining the rules and the process around them. It does not describe slotting algorithms or automatic optimisation, and it makes no claim about throughput. Those need real data about your goods and your layout and are separate work. For the step that comes before putaway, see warehouse receiving process.
Location types
Start by naming the types of location your warehouse actually has. Each type has a different purpose and different rules about what may be stored there.
- Bulk: larger quantities stored for later, usually not picked from directly
- Shelf: general storage for smaller or mixed items
- Pick face: the location orders are picked from, held stocked from bulk
- Hold: stock that must not be picked, for example awaiting a decision or paperwork
- Quarantine: stock separated because of damage or a quality question, with its own release rule
- Dock, staging and returns areas, if you record them as locations rather than as free floor
Fixed versus flexible locations
A fixed location is assigned to a product: it always lives there. This is easy for people to learn and quick for picking, but it wastes space when the product is out of stock and struggles when the range changes. A flexible location is assigned as stock arrives, so any product can use any suitable place. It uses space better but depends entirely on accurate records, because nobody can find things by memory.
Many operations mix the two, with fixed pick faces for regular lines and flexible bulk locations behind them. The choice is a trade-off between simplicity and space, and it is yours to make. What the system needs from you is which model applies to which area.
Putaway rules as plain decisions
Write the rules as sentences a new operator could follow without a manual. Then check whether each sentence can be expressed in data the system holds. The usual inputs are below.
If a rule cannot be written as a sentence, it is probably a habit of one experienced person and needs to be discussed before it can be built. If two rules can conflict, decide which takes priority and write that down too.
- By product class: for example, items that need controlled conditions go to their own area
- By client, in a multi-client 3PL warehouse: stock of one client stays in that client's zone or is at least never mixed with another's in a single location
- By size and weight: heavy or oversize items to locations that can take them, at a height that is safe
- By handling flag: fragile, stackable or not, or any other attribute you record on the product
- By status: stock on hold or in quarantine goes to hold or quarantine locations, never to general storage
System-suggested versus operator-confirmed location
There are two common models. In the first, the system suggests a location from the rules and the operator confirms by scanning the location. In the second, the operator chooses freely and the system only records the choice. The first gives consistency and makes new staff productive sooner; the second is more flexible but depends on the operator's knowledge.
Whichever model you choose, the operator must be able to override a suggestion, because reality will sometimes differ from the rule. Require a short reason when they do, from a fixed picklist rather than free text, so that the overrides can be reviewed later. A pattern of overrides for the same rule is a sign the rule is wrong, not that the operators are. Confirmation by scanning the location is covered in warehouse barcode scanning workflow.
Replenishment from bulk to pick face
Where you separate bulk from pick faces, stock has to move between them. Treat it as a task workflow: a replenishment task names the product, the source location, the destination and the quantity, is assigned to a person, is completed by scanning both locations and leaves a record.
The decisions to make are when a replenishment is triggered, for example when a pick face falls below a level you define, or on a schedule, and whether a person can request one manually. Do not assume a specific trigger level or frequency; those depend on your order pattern. The system's part is to create the task from your rule and to keep the stock counts right on both sides of the move.
Reviewing where things sit
Over time the range and the orders change, and the layout that made sense drifts. A periodic slotting review is simply a scheduled look at where products sit compared with how they are used, done by people with a report in front of them. It is a process, not an optimisation engine: the report shows facts such as which products are picked most and where they currently live, and the team decides what to move.
Moves that come out of a review are ordinary tasks with an owner, so they leave the same trail as any other movement.
Exceptions
The rules will meet cases they do not cover, and the process should say what to do rather than leave it to improvisation.
If you would like to test how ready your current setup is for rules like these, the WMS readiness assessment is free, and warehouse management system describes what a scoped build covers.
- Full location: choose the next suitable location from the rule, or send it to a defined overflow area, and record the change
- Oversize item: a named location or area for items that fit nowhere else, with a person responsible for deciding
- Mixed pallet: decide whether it is split on arrival or stored as one unit, and how it is recorded either way
- Unknown product or missing data: hold it in a designated area until the product record is complete
Questions
Does the system optimise where stock is placed?+
We do not claim automatic optimisation or slotting algorithms. Where scoped, the setup can propose a location from the rules you write and record the actual one. Improving the layout is a review that your team performs.
Should locations be fixed or flexible?+
It is a trade-off between simplicity and space use, and many warehouses mix both. The system needs to know which model applies to which area.
Can operators override the suggested location?+
They should be able to, with a reason from a short picklist, so overrides can be reviewed and the rules corrected when a pattern appears.
How is replenishment handled?+
As a task with a product, source, destination and quantity, completed by scanning. The trigger rule is defined by the client and not assumed.
What about stock from different clients in one warehouse?+
Write a client rule: a dedicated zone or, at minimum, no mixing of clients in one location, so ownership stays clear.