How to enable advanced warehousing in an existing location. Even if there is inventory in it

You went live with #businesscentral with a basic setup in your location, but now you are thinking of all the missing features. You cannot use put-aways, automatic bin replenishment and consolidated picks because such features are not enabled.

If so, keep reading because, in this article, I will show you how to turn an existing location into a warehouse with full WMS capabilities in Business Central, even if you have inventory in it.

1 - Prepare your location

The first step to enable full warehousing in your location is to do some initial prep setup.

Create the bins

Firstly, you need to create the bins. You don't need the entire list at this stage, but I strongly recommend you go through this process now. Your bin list might include hundreds if not thousands of bins. If so, it might be a good idea to use the Edit in Excel function to bulk update a large number of records.

For advanced warehousing to work, you need at least one "virtual" bin in addition to all your actual bins, which is an Adjustment Bin.

The adjustment bin is not a real place in your warehouse. The system uses this bin to balance warehouse journals when you adjust inventory when your location is set up with directed Put-aways and Picks (AKA Advanced Warehousing in Business Central). Don't worry about this bin being used by your team by mistake. If the setup is correct, goods cannot transfer to the adjustment bin by mistake. Nor can users receive, pick or put-away items in this bin.

Create Zones

Directed Put-Aways and Picks require your warehouse to be divided into zones. A zone is an area of your warehouse that contains bins. One zone can contain multiple bins, but a bin can only be in one zone. You can choose a simple setup and have just one zone in your location. Although, if your company needs advanced warehousing, you might have many zones.

Zones should be a logical arrangement of your warehouse, not just a mandatory code for your bins. Below is an example of a warehouse divided into zones.

In the picture below, I have five zones:

1. Receipt/ Put-away: In this zone, I will have my receipt bins and maybe a quarantine bin
2. Storage: This zone contains palletized items. In this zone, I will put items away after the receipt and replenish the picking area from here.
3. Storage/ Picking: Here, I have my items in boxes and single units. The bins in this zone are replenished from the Storage zone. This is where the orders are picked.
4. Assembly: I have my assembly input and output bins in this zone.
5. Ship/ Cross-Docking: This warehouse area is where goods are placed after the picking in preparation for shipping. I use this zone for cross-docking too.

Create Bin type codes

Bin types are Tags that you need to apply to your bins. These tags tell Business Central what kind of operations you can or cannot perform with the bins. Bin types are not just blocks, however. These codes are critical if you want Business Central to return the correct bin code when you receive, put away, replenish or pick items.

For example, Business Central will use a bin set up with a type where put-aways are allowed as a suggested bin when you put away items. Likewise, if the same bin type does not allow picks, another bin will be the default when you create a picking note.

Important! You cannot assign zones and bin type codes to your bins yet. A location with a basic setup in Business Central cannot have bins linked to zones or bin types. If you try to apply a zone or a bin type code to a bin, you will get an error. Zones and bin types must be used in the bins only after advanced warehousing has been enabled and before moving inventory in those bins, which I will cover in Step No. 7.

2 - Run a Stock-take

Seriously, you need a stock take. And even if you believe you don't, you do.

A stock take is essential at this stage of the process. A stock take is a basis for points 7 and 8. Failing to run through a stock take at this stage means you might struggle to reconcile your inventory after the advanced warehouse management feature is enabled in your location.

3 - Run the job Create Warehouse Location

Now you can run the functionality and enable advanced warehousing in your location. Find "Create Warehouse Location" and select the link.

You will be asked to confirm the location code and the adjustment bin

You will get a warning if you select OK. The warning is about negative inventory. Business Central does not allow negative stock in a location with advanced warehousing. If the routine finds negative stock, the process will be cancelled, and you need to fix your negative inventory before proceeding.

Once the process is complete, you will be notified that the setup at your location will look different.

All the fields that control advanced warehousing are turned on. Now the location is set up. But you still need to complete a few steps before using your location.

4 - Update the Bins setup

Now you can update the bins with zones and bin type codes. Important, don't skip this step because you cannot change zone and bin type if a bin contains inventory.

NOTE: You might be tempted to complete the setup on the adjustment bin, too, but you will get an error if you try. That's because the adjustment bin contains inventory, which cannot be changed. We will do that after the stock has been moved out of the bin.

5 - Setup the warehouse employees - including yourself

You need to set yourself up as a warehouse employee before you can let your team use the new locations' features. I usually recommend setting yourself up as a warehouse employee and completing the setup before setting up the other warehouse employees.

6 - Create Warehouse templates

There are two types of templates, a few templates and batches that you need to configure before you can move inventory to the right bins and start using the locations:

• Warehouse Journal Templates:

You need at least two journal templates: A Warehouse Item Journal Template and a Warehouse Physical Inventory Journal Template. Search for Warehouse Journal Template and select the link to create the new templates. The screen below shows what you need for your location to work fine.

Each of your templates must have at least one batch. It is common for large teams to set up more than one batch. Usually, one batch for each supervisor/ manager.

Select Related, then Template and click on Batches

A standard batch should look like the one in the picture below. You should see only the new location if it's the only one with advanced warehousing enabled. If not, you will see one batch per location, like in my example.

• Warehouse Worksheet Templates:

The same logic described before applies to the Warehouse Worksheet Templates. You should have three worksheets: A movement, a Pick and a Put-Away worksheet template. Each template must have its batch for the new location.

7 - Create a warehouse item journal

After the templates and batches are set up, you can move inventory to the bins.

A common misconception about this part of the process is that this step requires a movement between bins. This is a warehouse item journal, not a warehouse movement.

You need to process a Warehouse item journal because your inventory is in the adjustment bin. The adjustment bin is not a regular bin but a virtual bin used by the system when you journal items in and out of the actual bins. Therefore, you cannot move inventory from and to the adjustment bin with a regular movement.

I have seen locations in Business Central with their database compromised by users who forced the setup on the adjustment bib through a configuration package. Please, don't do that.

You need a simple warehouse item journal with one line per item-to-bin movement. Business Central will automatically handle the balancing movement that will take stock from the adjustment bin. If your numbers are correct (remember my advice about performing a stock take?), your warehouse item journal will balance your adjustment bin, and you will find all your inventory in the right place.

There are two options to create the warehouse item journal:

Option 1 Update the journal lines manually

You can type the lines in your journal if the lines are just a few. Search for Warehouse Item Journal, select the link, and choose the correct batch if you have more than one. This is how your journal should look like

Option 2 Use a configuration package.

If you have hundreds of lines, manual data entry might not be an option. With a configuration package, you can import multiple lines in your journal.

You need to create a new package, exclude configuration tables and select table 7311

There are almost 60 fields in the table, but you only need a few:

• Journal Template Name
• Journal Batch Name
• Whse. Document No. (I prefer using OpBal as a document number)
• Location Code
• Line No.
• Registering Date
• Item No.
• Quantity
• Bin Code
• Unit of Measure Code

If your items are tracked, you also need Serial No. Lot No. Expiration Date

Your Excel file might look like the one below

8 - Register the journal

Once all the lines are populated, it's time to register the journal. If there are no errors on the items, your journal will move items from the adjustment bin into the actual bins.

9 - Complete the setup of the adjustment bin

Remember your adjustment bin? It was the only bin without a zone or a bin type. Now that the bin is empty, you can set up a bin type and a zone.

10 - Enjoy the features of the new location

Your location is now enabled with advanced warehousing capabilities, and you can use all the features of a powerful Warehouse Management System in Business Central.

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