Label Printing in MSCA/WMS

Labels

Either we can use the existing labels or we can design new labels

Label Types:

There are different label types depending on the different business and requirement with data elements.

Label Format:

A single design of a label that may include fixed data (such as field prompts) and variable data (such as Part Number). A Label Format is associated to a Label Type. It includes a subset of the available data elements from a particular Label Type. A label type can have multiple label formats, however each Label Format belongs to only one label type. Label Formats are registered within Oracle Warehouse Management after you create the label design in the third party software package.

Either you can use the seeded label format or you can design your own label format

We can customize the label as per our requirement with required and customized fields

Printing Modes

Asynchronous:

An integration mode between Oracle Warehouse Management and the third party software supplier that is handled through dropping an XML file into a watched directory. When using this mode, Oracle Warehouse Management has no knowledge of the status of the print request after creation of the XML file.

Synchronous:

Generic:

A real-time integration mode between Oracle Warehouse Management and the third party software vendor that is handled through a PL/SQL API. When using this mode, the third party supplier is able to return success or failure messages regarding the status of the label print request. Oracle Warehouse Management stores those messages in the label print history so label printing problems can be easily identified and diagnosed.

TCP/IP:

A real-time integration mode between Oracle Warehouse Management and the 3rd Party software vendor that is handled through a standard Ethernet TCP/IP connection. When using this mode, Oracle ensures that the printer or print server is listening to the IP and port and has successfully received the message, but no knowledge of the detailed status of the print request beyond acceptance of the XML message is known by Oracle Warehouse Management.

Example Printer vendors like Zebra, Intermec, Cognitive Solutions, Datamax, Toshiba TEC, Printronix and Sato

Printer

·        Define the printer details in Oracle system (Sysadmin) with proper styles and drivers and with unique name

·         Assign IP and Port to printers

Assigning Label Types to Business Flow

Business Flow: An identifiable business process that occurs as part of material handling within Oracle Warehouse Management. Oracle Warehouse Management recognizes a pre-determined list of Business Flows you can set up to include label printing as part of the transaction processing.

Defining Label Format Rules

Creating label format rules is an optional step. Some implementations may require only a single label format for each label type. If this is the case, the system picks the default label format for each type. The system also picks the default if there are no applicable rules. If the implementation requires more than one label format for a label type label format rules are necessary.

Assigning Printer to the Required Level

Printers can be assigned to Site level, responsibility level, user level.

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Labels are an integral part of WMS functionalities.
This will help in easy transaction, clear tracking and using this transactions can be automated.
Oracle provides different types of labels to setup as per your business transactions.
Supplier labeling speeds-up the receiving process by enabling bar code scanning of inbound purchase orders, that results in less receipt processing time, immediate recognition of available materials, and higher receiving accuracy.

Labels can be customized as per customer needs to cpmly with specific business or govt compliances with fields and barcodes.

Even you can print customized documents as labels in case of requirement using label printing api.
Below is the step wise setup with an example for clear understanding

Create an Item

Navigation:
Inventory Super User -> Inventory -> Items -> Master Items

Assign Items to the organization

Tools -> Organization Assignments

Define Label Format

You can use oracle provided standard Labels or you can customize as per your business need

Warehouse Manager -> Setup -> Warehouse Configuration -> Printers & Devices -> Define Label Format

Select label type and entity type, find seeded label format and click on Label Fields and variables to check visible fields. You can define your custom format and select required fields.

Assign Label Format to Business Flow

Setup -> Warehouse Configuration -> Printers & Devices -> Assign Label Format to Business Flow

*Drill down business flow and select Miscellaneous / Alias Receipt. Assign label type at user level

Create Label Format Rule

Setup -> Warehouse Configuration -> Rules -> Warehouse Execution -> Rules

*Create a new Label format rule to satisfy the business condition

Then run Generate All Rule concurrent program

Do A transaction to understand how it works

Do a Misc Receipt Transaction using MSCA 

Check the generated Labels

Navigate to

Warehouse manager -> Inquiry -> View Label Requests

Query by giving your user id or any such specific parameter in the form and you will be able to see the label, its status with details and the XML format of the label.

This labels can be printed in all types of label printers provided by many different vendors like Zebra, etc.

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Please go through the Setup steps, their significance and the navigation to the setup forms.

Define Profile Options
Define Mobile User ID

Navigation:

System Administration>Security>User>Define

Define Warehouse

Navigation:
Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Define Warehouses

Define Warehouse Parameters

Enable WMS attribute

• Serial Control
• Lot Control
• LPN Control
• Crossdocking Information
• Time Zone
• Default Cycle Count Header
• Default Picking Rule
• Default Put away rule
• Cartonization Options
• Default pick task type
• Default replenishment task type
• Default Move Order Transaction Type
• Default Move Order issue Task Type

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Warehouse Parameter

Receiving Options

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Receiving Parameters

Define Subinventory Attributes

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Receiving Parameters

Define Stock Locators Attributes

Units, volume, weight, Dimansions, coordinates

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Stock Locators

Define Dock Door to Staging Lane Relationships

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Dock Door to Staging Lane Assignments

Define Shipping Networks

Define the required shipping networks between different warehouses also attach the shipping method if needed

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Shipping Networks

Define Item Attributes for WMS

Lot, Lot Expiration,Serial controlled, Physical attributes and Material Status

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Master Items

Define Material Statuses

You use this form to setup material status codes that enable you to control the movement and usage of material for portions of on-hand inventory that might have distinct differences

Navigation:

Setup>Transaction Setup>Inventory Transactions>Material Status

Define Lot and Serial Attributes

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Lot/Serial Attributes>Lot/Serial Attributes Descriptive Flexfield>Segments

Define Warehouse Resources

Define all resources here Human, Equipment, etc so that accordingly you can assign tasks to these resources

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Resources>Resources

Define Equipment Items

Equipment, such as forklifts, pallet jacks, and so on are used to perform tasks in a warehouse.  In WMS, you set up equipment as a serialized item and a resource.  

Users sign on to the serial number of the equipment and are dispatched tasks appropriate to that equipment.

• Define the equipment as an item
• Define the item as an equipment type 
• Specify the equipment as serial controlled (predefined)
• Enter the equipment capacity (optional)
• Generate serial numbers for the individual pieces of equipment

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Master Items

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Resources>Equipment

Define Equipment Serial Numbers

Navigation:

Setup>Inventory Management>Material Maintenance>Generate Serial Numbers

Define Departments

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Departments & Resources>Departments

Define Transaction Reasons

Navigation:

Setup>Transaction Setup>Inventory Transactions>Transaction Reasons

Define Label Formats

You are setting up the data fields that you want the system to include on a particular label

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Printing>Define Label Formats

Define Associate Label Formats to Business Flows

Navigation:

Setup> Warehouse Configuration>Printing>Assign Label Types to Business Flows

Assign Labels to Printers

Navigation:

Setup> Warehouse Configuration>Printing>Assign Printers to Documents

Define Cost Groups

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Costs>Cost Groups

Define Account Alias

Navigation:

Setup>Transaction Setup>Inventory Transactions>Define Account Aliases

Define Pick Sliationp Grouping Rules

Setup pick slip grouping rules to specify different ways in which a warehouse might choose to fulfill a group of orders

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Pick Wave>Pick Slip Grouping

Define Release Sequence Rules

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Pick Wave>Release Sequence

Define Release Rules

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Pick Wave>Release Rules

Define Container Types

Before you set up cartonization and container items, you should verify that the appropriate container types exist.  Container types represent the codes that you assign to various containers, such as boxes, bins and pallets.  The WMS system comes pre-seeded with a variety of container types but the system also enables you to set up your own

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Container Types

Define Container Items

Containers can be defined as item

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Master Items

Define Cartonization Groups

Inventory class categories can be defined for this

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Categories>Category Codes

Define Cartonization Category Sets

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Categories>Category Sets

Define Container Item Relationship

Navigation:

Setup>Material Setup>Items>Define Container Item Relationship

Define Shipping Parameters

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Warehouses>Shipping Parameters

Define Task Types

For each unique combination of human and equipment resourses, a new task type should have been defined.

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Tasks>Standard Task Types

Define Task Type Assignment Rules

To define rules for Cost Group Assignments, Label Format, Pick, Put Away and Task Type assignments.

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Warehouse Execution>Rules

Define Warehouse Strategy

A strategy is an ordered sequence of rules that the system uses to fulfill complex business demands. The rules strategy are selected in sequence until the put away or picking task is fully allocated, or until a cost group that meets the restriction is found. When you define strategies, you also specify the date or range of dates on which the strategy is effective. You also specify whether you want the system to execute a strategy, if it can only successfully execute part of that strategy.

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Warehouse Execution>Strategies

Define Warehouse Rules Workbench

Add the strategies here in a sequence with required parameter values to execute in required sequence.

Navigation:

Setup>Warehouse Configuration>Rules>Warehouse Execution>Rules Workbench

Define MWA Personalization Framework

To customize any mobile pages, any fileds in there, you can use this to customize

Navigation:

Setup>MWA Personalization Framework

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Are locators mandatory for WMS ?

Ans. 
Yes, Locators are mandatory in WMS
What setup you do to enable WMS for an inventory organization ?
Ans. 
Organization should be WMS enabled in Organization Parameter form.
What is LPN ?
Ans. 
LPN is License Plate Number. This is an identification of an object/container(logical or physical) which holds Item/Items.
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What is cost group ?
Ans: 
Cost group is a combination of accounts(material and overhead accounts) which are setup at subinventory/organization level. When any transaction will happen, it will hit those accounts. As part of WMS, cost group can be assigned at material level. You can have multiple cost groups with in a subinventory based on different attributes as per your need.
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What are the different rules you can setup in WMS ?
Ans: 
Pick, Put away, Task Type Assignment, Cost Group Assignment, Label Format, Operational Plan selection
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What is pick wave ?
Ans:
Pick Wave is the process of Picking a Group of orders which can be released to different warehouse operator with the use of Pick Release rule WMS Pick rule and WMS Task assignment rule.
Wave picking is a term for a process used in a warehouse management system to describe a process to support managing the work of a warehouse or distribution center. Wave picking is an application of short interval scheduling, to assign orders into groupings (waves) and release them together so as to allow management to coordinate the several parallel and sequential activities required to complete the work.
The individual orders in the wave are dependent on the criteria used to make the selection.[2] The wave data includes the workload by order or function (case picking, repack picking, pallet movement, pick position replenishment, packing, etc.), providing management the information to calculate staff requirements and assign staff by function, with the expectation that the work in each function, within each wave, can be started and be completed at about the same time. There are two basic planning elements and benefits of wave picking.
To organize the sequence of orders and assignment to waves, consistent with routing, loading and planned departure times of shipping vehicles or production requirements, etc., to reduce the space required for shipping dock handling to assemble orders and load; and
To assign staff to each wave and function within a wave, with the expectation that all the work assigned to each wave will be completed within the wave period, providing management with the ability to monitor and manage performance throughout the day, and respond in a timely way to problems that occur, and more effectively utilize the staffing throughout the shift.
Material handling methods and equipment are independent of waving. Each set of method (e.g., order pick, batch pick, bulk pick) and equipment (e.g., conveyor and sorter, ASRS, order picker, pallet jack, fork lift) will yield a different expected productivity rate for management to use in determining the number of staff-hours to assign to each function by wave.

Additional benefits of wave picking include the improved ability to

• measure productivity within a function
• budget labor
• estimate the throughput capacity based on staffing levels
• evaluate the impact of changes in methods and equipment by function
• provide feedback regarding performance
• Better understand the nature of the workload as it changes seasonally, as a consequence of demand, and as a consequence of sales efforts and marketing campaigns

Where do you use multi-level LPN ?
Ans:
Multi level LPNs are used when business needs to pack LPN controlled items into a container which itself LPN controlled.
For example: During Shipping, EACH items packed in BOX and BOX are packed in PALLET.

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Explain put away rules ?
Ans:
Put away rules are defined to direct the picked items to business required staging areas in outbound orders and direct the destination locations for inbound purchase order or RMAs.
Put away rules can be defined with many business restrictions as per the need
What are task management activities you can do in MWS ?
Ans:
Task Management is the activity where warehouse controller will manage different tasks dispatched to warehouse like pick, put away. Controller can assign, unassign tasks to the warehouse resources either to persons or equipment using Warehouse Control Board.
Explain cross-docking feature ?
Ans: 
Cross docking is a process to accommodate the inbound material directly to a staged area for any existing outbound orders.
Supplies are directly tagged to demands and transacted from staging area.
This increases the efficiency of any warehouse operation and order fulfillment process by eliminating the steps of putting supplies into inventory and picking demands from inventory.
Oracle provided cross docking is 2 types

• Planned Cross Docking
• Opportunistic cross docking

In case of Planned crossdocking the pre-allocation is done during Pick Release. In opportunistic crossdocking dynamic allocation is done during material putaway.
How to achieve Cross Dock for partial quantity or Cross docking for 1 Sales Order and not for other Sales order?

What is bulk picking ?
Can WMS support over picking ?
What is express picking ?
Explain the cartonization features ?
What is warehouse control board ?
Can we use MSCA without WMS ?
What is MSCA ?
What are warehouse management strategies ?
Difference between physical and Cycle Count?
Why can’t we do physical Count as Cycle count?
How we can assign the tasks to employees automatically?
How to query in Warehouse Control Board?
How to Auto Print WMS label for one item and not for other?
How XML label data sent to printer? I.e. its not printing as shown in XML therefore so how printer print labels?
I want to display all 3 thing say item, LPN and Sub inventory in same line. How to achieve that?
What are basic setups to use MSCA or WMS?
How machines assigned to a particular task? is machine is also a resource or only person is a resource? if machine is not a resource how we assign it to a person or task?
Type of Label in WMS?
Type of label formats in WMS?
Can a LPN created in one organization be used in a different organization?
Ans: Yes it can be used using API WMS_CONTAINER_PUB.REUSE_LPNS provided the current LPN context is Issued Out Of Store and there is no pending transaction on that LPN.

Questions will be Answered soon. Meanwhile you can post more questions in the comment also you can answer to above questions in the comment.
Please help me to rectify if any of the answers are not correct.

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Difference between Oracle Inventory and WMS

Both Inventory and WMS modules are used to hold the inventory and do transactions like receiving and picking goods but WMS is more expensive then inventory coz WMS has got some important premium features which is not there in Inventory module.

So to explain the differences are

Inventory without WMS is basically small in size and where the granular level management and information are not required like labor cost, resource cost, etc. For example small shops or small manufacturing units who basically holds the stocks and ship it to their customer where not much of resources involved from warehouse point of view, they can simply fulfil their business requirement by using the Inventory module but if you will consider big transportation companies like UPS, DHL or big retail or FMCG manufacturing companies who manufacture thousands of products and they have their warehouse worked by number of resources, machines maintained by various departments and spread across large locations, they cannot fulfil their business requirement by simply with Inventory module, they need bit more detailed analysis of warehouse resources, cost, efficiency, effectiveness and want to track the time and labour to fulfil the customer demand in a more efficient and cost effective ways then need to go with Warehouse Management System which comes with all these features.

These are the basic features which WMS provides but not in Inventory

• WMS comes with rule workbench which makes warehouse management lot easier and efficient by defining different rules, pick rules, putaway rules, label printing rules.
• WMS provides cost involved in granular level in different tasks like shipping, picking, fuel costs by machine, labour costs, etc.
• From finance or accounting point of view, suppose business maintains a line of products (more than one number of products but in one line, suppose a health care company in its hair care product line makes different products like 100 ml, 200 ml bottles, 10 ml sachets) stores in one subinventory but want to get valuation accounting details for each product. It is not possible by Inventory as in inventory all products are comes under one accounting which is defined in subinventory but the same can be derived in WMS by using cost group rule.
• So in Inventory module, accounting details canot be given down the subinventory level but in WMS it can be derived in many different levels, in locator level, lot level, supplier level, etc.
• Lot more features are there like operation management, task dashboard where warehouse manager can check each and individual resources and how much they are occupied, according he can assign the task to complete in timely and cost effective way which is lacking in Inventory.
• From technology point of view, Mobile devices enabled with RF can be used with WMS, so that means you can do transaction in real time on the go when you do physical movement, you can do the same in system and also get the required label printed on the go. But in Inventory these are two different tasks, you have to physically do the transaction then need to come to the machine and do the transaction in system. In big warehouses where everyday thousands of transactions are happening, this is not a cost effective or efficient solution. But with WMS, all these things will be ease.

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New and Changed Features in Oracle WMS in R12 Release

Oracle WMS automates and optimizes material handling processes to reduce labor costs, improve facility utilization, increase order accuracy and provide innovative services to customers. Oracle Warehouse Management supports inbound, outbound, and reverse logistics, finished, raw and work in process materials, manufacturing and distribution environments and advanced value-added services such as kitting and cross docking.

Oracle Warehouse Management is part of the Oracle Supply Chain Execution solution and integrates seamlessly with other Supply Chain Execution products, including Oracle Order Management, and Oracle Transportation Planning.

Features

Distributed WMS Deployment

Customers interested in using WMS to manage warehouse operations now have much more flexibility in choosing the deployment mode. Prior to this release, WMS can be installed only as an integrated module within the E-Business Suite instance. With this feature, it’s possible to deploy WMS in a distributed environment that is physically decoupled from the E-Business Suite instance. This feature also comes with a predefined integration based on Oracle Data Integration (ODI) tool. The ODI maps can be used to interface master data and transaction information between distributed WMS and host system.

This feature makes it possible to leverage the latest features in WMS R12.1.1 with an EBusiness suite installation that is on an older application release e.g. 11.5.10. Distributed WMS can potentially also be used with a non-EBS host system.

Distributed WMS also ensure greater availability of WMS instance. Since WMS will be a physically distinct deployment, any patching or maintenance activity on the host EBusiness suite will not impact WMS.

Advanced Wave and Task Planning

Warehouses that fulfill a large number of small orders can streamline their execution process using Wave Planning. Wave Planning offers a flexible and powerful tool to group order lines into waves. The planning features include tools to check stock and labor availability prior to releasing the wave to the warehouse floor. Wave Dashboard provides full visibility and monitoring of waves in real time from release to shipment.

Wave Planning also comes with an exception engine that can be configured to generate exceptions whenever wave execution deviates from acceptable standards. These exceptions allow warehouse management to take corrective action in a proactive mode.

Wave Planning also includes task planning features that can be used to group and dispatch tasks based on execution criteria.

Forward Pick Replenishment

Forward pick area replenishment is an important activity in a warehouse. By replenishing a forward pick area, a distribution center disaggregates material stored in reserve or bulk area and moves it into a pick area that is optimized for unit picking. In this release the following replenishment features are available for use:

• Pull Replenishment: This type of replenishment is useful for items with high uniform demand in forward pick area. A replenishment suggestion will be auto-created as soon as a shortfall is detected during order release process.
• Push Replenishment: This type of replenishment is useful for items with irregular demand in forward pick area. Using push replenishment, the aggregated future demand for an item is replenished to a forward pick area for future order picking activity.
• Dynamic Execution: The dynamic replenishment execution feature orchestrates the warehouse tasks in such a way that pick tasks to a forward pick area will be dispatched only when replenishment has been completed. Similarly a replenishment task will be dispatched only when a forward pick area has enough capacity to receive the replenished material.

These features provide tremendous productivity benefits to a warehouse engaged in distribution activity. Replenishment to forward pick area will allow distribution center to reap the benefits of bulk procurement and optimized storage in a reserve area as well as optimized picking for order profiles with smaller quantities.

Mobile User Interface Personalization

A major benefit of Warehouse Management’s mobile data entry capability is to ability to record a material movement at the point of usage. Data entry at the point of usage enhances inventory accuracy and records real time information. Mobile personalization goes one step further by providing the user with the flexibility to record data that is most relevant for the transaction without compromising the accuracy of transaction. In addition, mobile personalization can record additional use defined data in flex fields for specific transactions. Using this feature a warehouse can immediately realize the following benefits:

• Improve transaction execution speed by hiding or defaulting fields on a mobile transaction form.
• Improve transaction accuracy by defaulting a value in field using a user defined logic.
• Allow recording of additional data on a mobile transaction form using flex fields.
• All the above changes to a mobile transaction form can be made using a user friendly configuration screen without resorting to code changes that are expensive to complete and difficult to maintain.

Extensibility Enhancements

Task Extensibility features provide tremendous implementation flexibility in the execution of WMS tasks. This feature will deliver a public API to modify, update, split and cancel a WMS task. Using these features, WMS task functionality can be extended for customer or industry specific needs. The following list of business scenarios illustrates the applicability of this API:

• A user defined application that dispatches tasks to warehouse workers. Task API will be used to modify task status from unreleased to pending
• An extension that assigns a task to a warehouse operator based on a customer specific logic
• An extension to the cartonization algorithm that can split a task and assign a cartonized LPN to tasks
• An extension that supplements the warehouse control system layer to allow the warehouse automation system (for example and automated storage and retrieval system) to enable the automation system to drive updates to the lots, serials or quantities picked

Dock Scheduling and Load Sequencing

Organizations leveraging both Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Oracle Warehouse Management (WMS) can now make use of additional integrations between the two products to drive distribution efficiencies. OTM can schedule shipments to dock doors and sequence the loading of trailers at the doors based on time required, door availability and stop sequence for drop offs. With this feature, the dock doors, the dock door appointments and sequence of loads into a trailer can be synchronized with WMS.

WMS will use this additional information to plan outbound activities such as:

• Release of shipments for pick execution based on dock door schedule
• Sequencing of drops in the staging area for a multi-stop shipping itinerary
• Sequencing of tasks for picking when a multi-stop shipping itinerary is being used

LPN Status

Even in the most efficient manufacturing and distribution networks, quality issues may arise. Packages may arrive damaged from transportation; defects may be detected in manufacturing long after the product has left the production center; or quality issues may affect only some of the LPNs produced in a manufacturing batch. With this feature, the material status model has been extended to provide License Plate (LPN) level holds.

This will enable warehouse users to:

• Put individual pallets, cases or totes on hold without impacting the rest of the lot or the batch.
• Place holds on material that is neither lot nor serial controlled without moving that material to a quarantine location for speedier intervention when issues are discovered.
• Separate the physical movement of material and changes to the material status into different responsibilities, which will prevent the accidental change of material status when material is moved.

UCC-128 and Case Picking Enhancements

In consumer packaged goods industry, its common requirement to have the goods packed into containers with UCC-128 labeling. While the ability to print UCC-128 label already exists in WMS R12, this feature makes it easy to manage varied compliance needs of customers in consumer packaged goods industry based on customer’s ASN preference e.g. pallet level ASN or case level ASN, order type e.g. bulk order, store order, etc. This feature will also allow printing of sequential carton count on label e.g. “1 of 3”, “2 of 3”, etc. and also allow generation of ITF-compliant (I 2 of 5 labeling standard) labels with shipping information.

This feature also introduces support for efficient “Case Picking”. The case labels printed at order release can be assigned to pick operators. The operator can now perform case picks and either perform “Pick to Belt”or “Pick to Pallet” by scanning multiple case labels.

Over-Allocation Using WMS Rules

This feature is useful to pick items that are difficult to fulfill in exact order quantity.

Examples of such items are: Metal strips, Gas cylinders, fluid containers, paper rolls, wire bobbins, etc. Such items are typically stored or packed in non-standard quantities in the warehouse. Over shipment is a very common business practice for such items since it’s not cost effective to cut, split or unpack the items in order to ship the exact ordered quantity.

In this feature WMS rules can be configured to over allocate containers that are within over shipping tolerance and at the same time closest to the requested quantity on the order. In this way WMS operators are directed to pick containers that require minimal material handling without entering any pick exception codes even though the pick quantity may be greater than requested quantity.

LPN Over Allocation during Pick Release

Certain industries and business situation require that an Order can not be fulfilled in the exact quantity. A good example is primary metal where an order for an item such as steel sheets can not be exactly fulfilled because it’s expensive to cut a steel sheet to match the exact order quantity. In such situations, over allocation or under allocation is a normal business practice. This feature in Oracle WMS facilitates over allocation of an entire LPN provided it’s within over shipment tolerance defined on the Order Line.

Directed Putaway of Reserved LPNs

In a made to order manufacturing environment, the finished material is often packed into LPNs at manufacturing completion. In order to ensure that the manufactured material is fulfilled correctly, the entire LPN is reserved to the sales order. However it’s a common business scenario to putaway the LPN within the warehouse prior to its eventual shipment to the customer. This feature allows a reserved LPN to be transferred or putaway within the warehouse while retaining the reservation for the customer. The reservation guarantees the supply for the order line while the system enables you to move reserved lots within an LPN throughout the warehouse.

Reusing LPNs

The REUSE_LPNS API enables you to reuse LPNs and to review an LPN history. This API enables you to physically re-use returned containers after their contents have been issued out of stores, or returned using an RMA (return materials authorization).

Cluster Pick by Label

One Step Pick and Pack Process i.e. picking of products directly into a shipping carton offers huge productivity gains as no downstream packaging is required. Oracle Warehouse Management System currently supports One Step Pick and Pack Process using cartonization and “pick by label” picking. This feature makes it possible to pick one or more orders (the cluster) directly into their respective shipping cartons (pick by label). With this feature it’s now possible to get further productivity boost using one step pick and pack for several orders at once.

With cluster pick by label, labels are printed at pick release and manually distributed to operators based on criteria such as cart capacity. An operator scans multiple labels, and WMS facilitates interleaving of picks from several orders in one pass of the warehouse.

Distributed WMS Deployment

Distributed WMS deployment is an added feature delivered as a patch on R12.1. Until now Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) Warehouse Management System (WMS) required the transaction source systems like Purchasing and Order Management and execution systems like WMS reside and operate within the same instance. With Distributed WMS deployment, it’s possible for WMS to be installed on a separate physical instance that is independent from remaining applications of E-Business Suite such as Order Management, Purchasing and Financials. This feature gives powerful choices to customers to deploy WMS either as an "integrated" as a module within EBS or as a "distributed" and independent solution installed on a separate instance. Customers who want the latest WMS features in R12.1 can have WMS deployed on a separate instance without upgrade of the entire application suite. This feature also makes it possible to use Oracle WMS for warehousing operations along with an EBS or non-EBS host system. In addition, Warehouse with network connectivity issues can also consider a distribute WMS installation for an "always on" WMS solution.

The feature also ships with an integration framework based on Oracle Data Integration (ODI) tool

Advanced Wave Planning

Advanced Wave Planning is also being released as a patch on R12.1. Advanced wave planning provides advanced Pick Wave management functionality over and above what currently exists in pick release. Wave Planning is particularly useful for warehouses that fulfill a high volume of small order lines. Wave planning makes it easier to manage large order volume by grouping orders into waves and subsequently releasing them for execution and monitoring.

Using advanced Wave Planning warehouse managers can select order using simple criteria and group them into pick waves. In addition, advanced filters similar to WMS rules engine can be used to select orders for waves as well as create waves by constraining them to be within certain line count, weight, cube or value. Wave planning provides preview of lines and tasks, expected completion, fill rate and labor needs prior to release of the wave. Advanced wave planning also comes up with Wave Dashboard that can be used to view wave progress and drill down to detailed line or task status. The exception engine in wave planning can be configured for specific business case to proactively look for exceptions such that corrective action can be taken. For example, a severe exception can be triggered if 80% of the lines in a wave are not loaded to the trailer 30 minutes prior to dock appointment end time.

The other advanced wave planning feature is task planning. The task planning criteria can be used to configure the conditions under which tasks will be released automatically for execution.


Source: Oracle

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