Question: Why can’t I create or print a pick demand?
Answer: There are many validations to ensure that pick demands are only created and printed correctly. The following table describes the program logic steps that occur when creating/printing a pick demand for sales orders.
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Step |
Description |
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Ignore certain line items |
Drop ships, special orders, and configuration kits are ignored. |
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Check order line conditions are met |
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Check order conditions are met |
|
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Calculate pick demand quantity |
The pick demand quantity equals the quantity sales order allocated minus open pick demand quantities. |
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Pick from a speed bin first |
If the product is stored in a speed bin, it picks from the speed bin first. |
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Pick according to pick rules |
The software first determines if the order class has a pick rule. If it does not, then it uses the pick rule stored in the product location. |
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Pick upward or downward if allowed |
If picking does not result in the desired pick unit of measure, then try to pick a larger unit of measure or a smaller unit of measure if the product location record and bin allows this to occur. |
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Pick from the primary bin |
Pick from the primary bin first, then other bins in bin sequence/bin name sort order. |
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Allocate to inventory levels 4, 5 and 6 |
Allocate to inventory level 4, the unit of measure level, then level 5, the bin/unit of measure, and then level 6 (if applicable), the bin/lot number/unit of measure. |
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Aggregate all pick demand lines with bins in the same zone to create a pick demand |
Pick demands are created by zone. |
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Check for open, unprinted pick demands |
For the same order, check for open, unprinted print demand. If one is found, add these new pick demand lines to it. |
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Create new pick demand |
Create new pick demand if no open, unprinted print demand can be found. |
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Print a pick demand alert report |
Print an alert report and display sales order allocated line items that did not have pick demands created. |
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Print pick demand for the specified zone(s) |
Print actual pick demands. |
Question: What must match on orders for the orders to be consolidated into a single pick demand?
Answer: If the Create Consolidated Pick Demands check box is selected on the Options tab for a customer in Customer Maintenance, then pick demands for the customer can be consolidated. Pick demands are consolidated for orders if the following all match:
Customer code
Payment terms
Order class
Billing customer code
Paying customer code
Bill-to address
Ship-to address
Currency
Currency exchange rate
Sales representative 1
Sales representative 2
Credit card approval code
Shipper ID
EDI trading partner
Vendor number
Picking rules for zones still apply (separate pick demands are created for products in different zones).
NOTE The customer purchase order number is not one of the fields that controls whether orders are consolidated. A single pick demand will only produce a single invoice. For this reason, pick demand consolidation should not be used if the customer requires separate invoices by purchase order number. This is relatively common when using EDI.
Question: When I attempt to confirm a pick demand, an error occurs, and I cannot proceed. The pick demand is not displaying as locked in Record Lock Tracking Utility. How can I resolve this situation?
Answer: This may occur if a user is disconnected in the middle of confirming a pick demand. In this situation, the system marks the pick demand as partially updated. To proceed, the same user must enter the pick demand number in Pick Demand Confirm. The user is then asked if they want to recover data. The user should click Yes, and close the Pick Demand Confirm window. The pick demand can then be confirmed by any user.
Question: When I create and print pick demands, I receive an alert, and the printed pick ticket does not include all the products that should be on it. If I resolve the cause of the alert and print pick demands again, a second pick ticket is printed. How can I avoid having multiple pick tickets in this scenario?
Answer: To avoid printing multiple pick tickets for orders that generate alerts, create and print pick demands separately. First, create pick demands only by clearing the Print Pick Demands check box on the Print Options tab in Pick Demand Create and Print. You can then resolve all alerts before selecting that check box, and printing a single pick ticket.
Question: What are the reasons why a pick demand cannot be confirmed in Batch Pick Demand Confirm?
Answer: A pick demand cannot be confirmed if any of the following are true:
The pick demand was voided.
An invoice was already created for the pick demand.
An EDI form 856 was already created for the pick demand.
The pick demand only includes service items.
The pick demand is for a fully invoiced order.
The pick demand is for a voided order.
The pick demand is for an order on manual hold.
All orders for the customer associated with the pick demand were stopped.
The pick demand is for an order on margin hold.
Inventory was already adjusted for the pick demand.
The pick demand record is in use by another user.
The pick demand includes drop-ship products.
Manual shipment consolidation must be completed.
Wireless Warehouse pick demands are still open.
The pick demand includes catch weight products.
The shipper is invalid.
The pick demand includes products for which sales are tracked by lot.
The pick demand includes products for which sales are tracked by serial number.
The pick demand includes products without recommended bins.
The pick demand includes lot-tracked products.
The pick demand includes serial-tracked products.
The pick demand includes a product for which inventory is not available.
The pick demand is on routing hold.
Question: What are possible reasons why a product would not be included on a pick demand?
Answer: There are many reasons why products may not be included on pick demands. If a product is not included on a pick demand, answer the following questions:
Are you running pick demands for a specific zone? If so, does the zone contain a sufficient quantity of the product?
Does the product exist in a pick group? Are you running pick demands for a specific pick group in which the product is not set up?
Is the inventory in a pickable and breakable bin?
Is the unit of measure on the product a pickable unit of measure?
Is the proper break-to unit of measure defined on the Units of Measure tab in Product Location Maintenance for the product? Generally, the break-to units of measure should cascade. For example, case100 breaks to case50, case50 to case25, case25 to case 5, and case 5 to each. The each or smallest unit of measure on a product should never have a break-to unit of measure. At least one unit of measure needs to break to the product unit of measure, which is entered in the Product U/M field on the General tab in Product Maintenance.
If Pick Demand Create and Print appears to be hanging for a long time, there could be a problem with parent unit of measure keys. Parent unit of measure key problems occur if the um-key equals the parent-um-key on the inventory table. This causes an infinite loop. If the pick demand process is hung for a long time (over several hours) then contact the Apprise Software, Inc. Support team. If the um-key is blank and it is not the highest unit of measure, then it will not pick. For example, you have an each, a 3pk, and a 6pk. The each parent-um-key should equal the 3pk um-key, the 3pk parent-um-key should equal the 6pk um-key, and the 6pk parent-um-key should be blank (as it is the highest unit of measure).
Is the pick group defined on the order line item?
Is there a blank level-key 2, 4, 5, 6, or 7 on the inventory record if it should be populated? Most commonly this occurs for level-key-4s and level-key-5s.
Is there an open physical inventory count for the product?
Is there an open physical inventory count for the specific bin the product you are picking is in?
Is the sales order locked? Does the order show up in the Unlock Order Utility? Can you edit the sales order without problems?
Is the order status set to Error?
If you are generating pick demands for a specific bill of lading, does the bill of lading have a future bill of lading date? If so, keep in mind that pick demands for a bill of lading can only be generated if the current date is after or equal to the bill of lading date (defined in Planned Bill of Lading Management).
Is the unit of measure in the Product U/M field on the General tab in Product Maintenance the base unit of measure (lowest unit of measure) for the product? It must be the base unit of measure for the product. On the Unit of Measure tab in Product Maintenance, review the break-to sequence, and verify that the unit of measure in the Product U/M field on the General tab is the lowest unit of measure (it should not break to another unit of measure).
Are there any line items on the order with a future quantity, or is the order on future credit check hold? To create a pick demand, products must be allocated.
Is the order on credit hold?
For an EDI order, has the order been released in EDI Order Release Management?
Review if the product's break-to unit of measure is a pickable unit of measure. For example, a product is stored in a Case 24 unit of measure, which is a pickable unit of measure. The product is also set up with an Inner 6 unit of measure, which is not pickable, and an Each unit of measure, which is pickable. The Case 24 breaks to an Inner 6. The Inner 6 breaks to an Each. The product is ordered in Eaches. The product only has Case 24 currently in inventory. This would need to break to an Inner 6, which cannot be done because it cannot be picked (Inner 6's are not pickable). It cannot then break those Inner 6's to Each. In this scenario, you must either change the Case 24 to have its break-to unit of measure be an each or make the Inner 6 pickable.
Review pick alerts for more specific reasons - many of the above scenarios will result in pick alerts, which will inform you of the issue.