Jul 30

Written by: Pam Burnham
7/30/2008 

For organizations that need to closely track the location of their inventory and may need to move inventory regularly, we typically recommend taking advantage of multi-bins in Dynamics GP. I am often surprised at how may times I am asked what it even means to have multi-bins enabled, so I thought this would make a good blog topic.

Various default bins can be assigned both on the site and the item level. For example, a default receiving bin can be set up for the site or on the item level.

First lets take a look at what a site may be used. In a tradition inventory tracking system, site would refer to a physical location or a warehouse in general. Another example may be an identification of a truck which may move inventory. For organizations tracking consignment or vendor managed inventory, sites may include customer location. (I will be adding a blog on consignment and vendor managed inventory soon for those interested in this topic.) There are other ways sites may be used. For example, a site may be a "virtual" location to represent a specific status for inventory. For example, a site may be set up for inventory that is being held for quality checks or representing various work areas or manufacturing station. The general guideline we like to follow is that a site is not used to define areas within a physical location or warehouse. This is typically the job of bins.

Even if multi-bins are not enabled in GP, a bin assignment can be made to an item for each site. Enabling multi-bins allows the set up of multiple bins for a site. Most often, a bin will represent a targeted position within a site. Let's use the example of a warehouse which is identified as the site. In that warehouse, there are several areas that can be defined. For example, there may be several dock doors for loading and unloading inventory. Each dock location would be identified as a unique bin location. It can be as simple as Dock 1, Dock 2, Dock 3. When inventory is received, it would be received to one of those bin locations for the dock. Taking it to the next level, perhaps Dock 1 is the designated receiving location. That bin can then be set up as the default bin for receiving transactions. Next, inventory would typically be stored in various locations throughout the warehouse. These locations or bins may be represented by an aisle, row and position, for example. Aisle 1, Row 2, Position C may be represented as 0102C for this example. When going to pick inventory for an order, the specific location of the inventory within the warehouse can be identified. Other examples of bins include specified work areas or manufacturing stations.

Using multi-bins allows the ability to identify exactly where inventory is located within each site. Additional inventory management tools also become available. Inventory bins can be assigned along with a specified bin priority. Minimum and maximum quantities can be set up for those bins. As mentioned earlier, default bins can be assigned on both the site and the item/site level.

There are various ways to set up bins. Bins may be a combination of a zone, aisle, row, position, etc. Bin locations should be assigned in a way that makes sense to the warehouse workers. It is important to clearly mark bin locations. Rack labels, aisle markers, floor labels, and hanging signs are some of the options. 

Click to view these examples:

 

I would include more information on the various labeling options, but that would take up a full blog on its own. If you would like more details on the various options for labeling your bin locations, contact us. We can assist you or point you to the best resources.

Multi-bins allows us to build in additional flexibility for our mobile solution. Since a bin "groups" inventory together, our mobile solution can be set up to move the group of inventory as a single unit. Bins can be expanded to a pallet for example. This can be especially useful for organizations that track their inventory by serial number.

Hopefully this gives you some additional understanding of sites and bins and why you may potentially want to consider using multi-bins to manage your inventory.