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Feature - WMS Inventory Move Import

← Multi-Bin / Warehouse Management
Release Date: 5/16/24
Version: 8.5 and Above

Introduction
While Elliott has a built-in WMS solution, Elliott WMS does not support integration with third-party machinery. On the other hand, Elliott also supports integration with third party WMS or 3PL. See the following KB article: https://support.elliott.com/knowledgebase/articles/2007413-feature-elliott-3rd-party-wms-or-logistic-suppor  The assumption is that the third party WMS will handle the multi-bin and Elliott will not.  If you do not use Elliott for multi-bin tracking, then you do not need this feature.

On the other hand, if you want Elliott to support multi-bin with the third party WMS playing a lesser role (e.g., handling shipping only,) then this feature is crucial to allow Elliott to work with the third party WMS to track the bin information.

This feature supports moving inventory to and from a staging bin via a CSV file import. This includes movement of inventory from a stocking bin to a staging bin due to picking inventory for a customer order or performing an internal inventory transfer. The staging bin is the intermediary location of the item during the transfer.  For better understanding, you can consider the "staging" bin as the "isle." For example, moving an item from one bin to another requires two steps -- a let-down operation transferring inventory from the stocking bin to the staging bin and a put-away operation transferring inventory from the staging bin to the new stocking bin. The two steps are two separate transactions processed via this WMS Inventory Move Import. Picking an item for a customer order is a let-down operation. The let-down operation transfers inventory from the stocking bin to the staging bin. However, the billing process moves the inventory from the staging bin to the shipping bin for shipment processing.

Setup

New options to support this feature are available from Global Setup-> Add-Ons-> 3rd Party WMS Interface.



11. Inventory Move Processing Bin - Enter the staging bin to be used when transferring inventory via the WMS Inventory Move Import.
12. Move Import File to This Archive Folder - Enter the path where WMS Inventory Move Import files (IM*.CSV) will be moved to after a successful import.
13. Move Import File with Errors to This Folder - Enter the path where WMS Inventory Move Import files (IM*.CSV) will be moved to if errors are encountered.
14. Inventory Move (IM) Result Folder - Enter the path where the WMS Inventory Move Import Result files (IMRESULT*.CSV) will be moved after interfacing.



15. Inventory Move (IM) Default Import Filename - Enter the default filename for the WMS Inventory Move Import. The field will default to IM*.CSV.
Note: The file name cannot start with an asterisk.
16. Inventory Move (IM) Transfer Bin - Enter the transfer bin to be used when transferring inventory not associated with a customer order processing order via the WMS Inventory Move Import. If no value is entered, the default of TRANSFER will be used when interfacing transactions.
17. Import Good/Ignore Bad Move And Archive? - Default value is N. Enter Y if records with errors should be skipped during the interface and only good records are imported.


A new application is available from Customer Order Processing-> Processing-> Order Billing-> Mass-Billing-> WMS Inventory Move.



Menu options are available if you are licensed for the third party WMS Interface and are using the Multi-Bin Enhancement.

There are three menu options available from the application: Pre-Interface, Interface, and Layout.



The Layout screen shows the expected layout of the CSV file that is imported.



The following CSV fields are required for this application.

Field#

Field Name

Sample

Max Length

Explanation

1

Order Number

123456

6

Order number – required when validating line item information and updating bin information. Not required if performing bin-to-bin transfer not related to an order.

2

Sequence Number

001

3

Order line sequence number. Required when order number is provided and the item number is not provided.

3

Item Number

1234-6789-12345

15

Item number – Optional if order number and sequence number are provided. Otherwise, it is required.

4

Quantity

1

13(9.3)

Qty to transfer – Must be a positive or negative whole number. For serialized items it must be 1 or -1.

5

Serial Number

 

15

Serial number – required for serialized items. Serial number must be on file at the location of the order and must belong to the item number being processed.

6

From Location

LA

2

Warehouse location – required for a let-down operation (positive quantity) and no order number is specified. Note: Both to and from locations cannot be provided on the same transaction. This feature cannot be used to transfer inventory between two locations.

7

To Location

 

2

Warehouse location – required for a put-away operation (negative quantity) and no order number is specified.  Both to and from locations cannot be provided on the same transaction. This feature cannot be used to transfer inventory between two locations.

8

Bin Number

H13-1456

8

Bin where the item resides or will be transferred to – required for non-serialized items and the location is a multi-bin location. Not required for serialized items or items at a non-multi-bin location. If the order number is provided and the bin number is provided, the bin must be a stocked bin. This is either a from bin (when the quantity is positive) or a to bin (when the quantity is negative). The other bin will be the staging bin as defined in field 11 of  third party WMS Interface Global Setup.

Here is a sample of this CSV file. The header row is optional:  

ORDER,SEQ,ITEM,QTY,SERNO,FROMLOC,TOLOC,BIN
,,EU390616,-1,T63XX-23FF02933,,BR,H16-03-1
3CH151,0,SFHCP9379BOMG23,1,BXXXX201,,,G38-03-2
3CH151,0,SFHCP9379BOMG23,1,BXXXX202,,,G38-03-2

 The Pre-Interface mode will process the files found in the 3PL Export directory and print a report with any errors encountered. The Interface code will process each matching file and will update inventory if there are no errors found in the import file.

 

 1. Import CSV File Path & Name: -  Enter the import file name. The field will default to the 3PL Export Path (field 2 in the third party WMS Interface Global Setup) plus the Default Import Filename (field 15  in the third party WMS Interface Global Setup).

2. CSV File Contains Header Row ? - Default is Y. Enter N if the CSV files do not contain a header row.

Here is an example of a successful import.



Here is an example of an import with errors.


Possible Error Conditions

Below is a list of possible error conditions that can be encountered when importing.

Error#

Message

1

Order No Exceeds Maximum Length of 6

2

Must Be O Type of Order

3

Order Status Must Be Complete

4

Order Cannot Be On Hold

5

Order In Staging Verification. Process Through Staging Verification

6

Order Not Found

7

Line Item Posted Or Selected

8

Line No Exceeds Maximum Length of 3

9

Order No Must Be Provided If Line No Provided

10

Line No Must Also Be Provided If Item Not Provided

11

Order Line Not Found

12

Item # Must be Entered If Order Is Not Provided

13

Item Number Exceeds Maximum Length of 15

14

Item Number Not On File

15

Quantity Cannot Be Zero

16

Qty Must Be Less Than 999,999,999 and Greater Than -999,999,999

17

Qty Must Be A Whole Number

18

Qty must be 1 Or -1 For A Serialized Item

19

Serial No Must Be Provided For Serialized Item

20

Item Not Serialized. Serial No Should Be Blank

21

Serial No Exceeds Maximum Length of 15

22

Serial No XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Allocated

23

Serial No XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Not On File

24

Unable To Determine Serial No Location

25

Either From Or To Location Must Be Provided

26

From Location Must Be Provided For Let Down With No Order

27

From Location Must Not Be Provided When Order No Is Provided

28

Cannot Provide Both From And To Location

29

From Location Exceeds Max Length of 2

30

From Location Not Found

31

Item Must Exist at From Location

32

To Location Must Be Provided For Put Away With No Order

33

To Location Must Not Be Provided When Order No Is Provided

34

To Location Exceeds Maximum Length of 2

35

To Location Not Found

36

Item Must Exist at To Location

37

From Bin Exceeds Maximum Length of 8

38

Bin Not Present at this Location

39

Bin Must Be A Stock Bin

40

Bin Must Be Provided For Non-Serialized Item At Multi-Bin Location

41

Item Not Found At This Location and Bin

42

Item # Or Line # Must be Entered If Order No Provided

43

Bin No Must Be Provided For A Put Away At A Multi-bin Loc

44

Input Item # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Not Equal to Order Line Item #

45

Unable To Determine Bin Location

46

IMBINFIL Bin File Record Is Locked

47

Bin Inventory Record Locked At Another Workstation

48

Bin Inventory Record XXXXXX Locked At Another Workstation

49

Serial No Locked At Another Workstation

50

Order Line Locked At Another Workstation

51

Unable To Determine Warehouse Location
When the interface option is chosen, the import will also create a CSV file with the original CSV data that was processed and a Status and Message column. The Status column will contain a zero if there were no errors and the Message column will contain "OK." If errors are encountered during the import, the Status column will contain the error number from the first issue encountered for the import line and the Message column will contain the corresponding error message.

Here is the format of the IMRESULT*.CSV that is created during the import process.

Column

Field Name

Explanation

A

Order Number

Order number

B

Sequence Number

Order line sequence number

C

Item Number

Item number

D

Quantity

Qty to transfer

E

Serial Number

Serial number

F

From Location

Warehouse location

G

To Location

Warehouse location

H

Bin Number

Bin where the item resides or will be transferred to

I

Status

Zero for no errors or the number of the first error encountered

J

Message

OK or the error message

Processing Scenarios

Let Down of Order (Standard Process)


When you process a normal IM transaction, it will have following data:
123456,1,RU1022RB,1,0023-47840,,,B13-04-1
The system will check the following:
1. If order# 123456 is valid,
2. If line# 1 exit and if the item# is RU1022RB.
3. System, will check if serial# is 0023-47840 exist and is not allocated.
4. System will check if Bin# B13-04-1 is valid.
5. System will not insist on if serial# 0023-47840 is stocked at B13-04-1

The system will transfer the serial number 0023-47840 from bin B13-04-1 to the staging bin defined in Global Setup. If the system thinks the serial number 0023-47840 was actually stocked in a different bin, it will use the bin specified in the serial database and ignore the supplied bin B13-04-1.

Put Away for Order (Reverse of Standard Process)


If we want to reverse the standard let-down process for an order, we can send the IM data with negative quantify for an order. It will have following data:
123456,1,RU1022RB,-1,0023-47840,,,B13-04-1

The system will transfer the serial number 0023-47840 to bin B13-04-1 from the staging bin defined in Global Setup. If the system thinks the serial number 0023-47840 was actually stocked in a different bin, it will use that bin and ignore the presumptive STAGING bin.


Generic Put-Away Process


For a generic put-away process, you can send the following IM data with negative quantity:
,,RU1022RB,-1,0023-47840,,,B13-04-1

In this case, there’s no order number and line-item sequence number, which implies it is an inventory movement not associated with an order. Since the quantity is negative, this is considered a “put-away” operation instead of let down. In this case, the system will transfer this item inventory and serial number from the transfer bin defined in Global Setup to B13-04-1.


Generic Let-Down Process


Similar to the Generic Put-Away Process, you can send the following IM data with positive quantity:
,,RU1022RB,1,0023-47840,,,B13-04-1

In this case, there’s no order number and line-item sequence number, which implies it is an inventory movement not associated with an order. Since the quantity is positive, this is considered a “let-down” operation instead of put away. In this case, the system will transfer this item inventory and serial number from the transfer bin defined in Global Setup to B13-04-1. 

Event Support

This application supports two events.

The following event will be triggered for every error that is encountered during the Pre-Interface or Interface modes.

PROGRAM: CPMOVIMP
Type: IMMOVERR 
File Name: IMITMFIL

Description: WMS Inventory Move Error
Var 1: Item Number
Var 2: Item Description 1 + Item Description 2
Var 3: Order No
Var 4: Qty
Var 5: Location
Var 6: Serial No.
Var 7: Bin No.
Var 8: Error File Path & Name
Var 9: Error Message

The following managerial event will be triggered for every import file that is processed.

PROGRAM: CPMOVIMP
Type: IMMOVRSL 
File Name: COMPFILE

Description: WMS Inventory Move Result
Var 1: Record No
Var 2: Number of Errors
Var 3: Number of Records
Var 4: Total Qty Moved
Var 5: Total Let Down
Var 6: Total Put Away
Var 7: Import Filename
Var 8: 1st Error  (will be blank if no errors)
Var 9: Result Filename 

Programs Modified: CPORDLIN.FD, CPINVLIN.FD, NSCTLFIL.FD, NSCTLFIL.W35, NSCTLFIL.W39, NSCTLFIL.W40, NSCTLFIL.W41, NSCTLINI, NSCTL3PL, CP0300, CP0305, CP0111, CPMASUNS.PL
Programs Added: CPMOVIMS, CPMOVIMP

CLS

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