Business Central warehouse management that fits your floor

The levels of Business Central warehouse management

You switch on warehousing per location through a handful of settings. With none of them, stock is received and shipped straight from the purchase and sales order. Bin Mandatory adds a shelf address to every movement. Require Put-away and Require Pick add inventory documents. They tell a worker what to store or collect.

Require Receive and Require Shipment add warehouse receipts and shipments. They let you handle several orders together. You then break them into put-aways and picks. At the top sits Directed Put-away and Pick. There, zones, bin types and bin ranking let the system propose the bin. Each location can sit at a different level.

How to choose the right level

More control means more transactions. A two-person stockroom with a few deliveries gains little from separate receipt, put-away, pick and shipment documents. A building with dedicated receivers and pickers usually does gain. So does one that ships many orders together and spreads stock over hundreds of bins. The right level is the lowest one that answers your real problems.

We ask practical questions. Do pickers know where things are, or do they search? Next, do they pick orders one at a time or in batches? Also, is the same item stored in several places? The answers point to a level. Then we explain the daily workload each option creates.

How we set up Business Central warehouse management

We design bins from your floor plan. We use a code pattern a person can read: aisle, rack, level, position. For directed locations, we add zones and bin types for receiving, put-away, pick and shipping. We also add rankings, so fast movers are picked from the easiest faces. Put-away templates say where incoming goods should go.

Next, we assign warehouse employees to their locations. We load default bins for items that live in one place. Opening stock goes in through a warehouse item journal or physical inventory. So bin contents are right from the first morning. Finally, we rehearse a full inbound and outbound day in a sandbox.

Handheld scanning and what is standard

The standard product runs warehouse documents on any browser, tablet or the mobile app. A worker can confirm quantities on screen. It does not include a purpose-built barcode scanning screen for rugged handhelds. Companies that want scan-to-confirm on every pick add a warehouse mobility product. Several are available as AppSource apps for Business Central.

We help you decide if scanning is worth it now or later. A sound bin structure and working documents come first. A scanner only speeds up a process that already works. When you choose an add-on, we install it in a sandbox. Then we test with real labels.

What changes on the floor, and what to avoid

Receivers post against a warehouse receipt and get put-away instructions. Pickers work from pick documents sorted in walking order. Shipments show what is picked and ready. Movement worksheets refill pick faces from bulk. Cycle counts run by bin. Office staff see bin contents and order status without walking to the dock.

The main pitfall is choosing directed put-away and pick because it sounds complete. Then the team cannot keep up with the paperwork. The second is changing location settings after stock exists. Starting one level lower and moving up later is nearly always the safer route.

Business Central warehouse management questions

Is Business Central warehouse management included in Essentials?

Yes. Essentials includes bins, inventory picks and put-aways, warehouse receipts and shipments, and directed put-away and pick. You need Premium only if you also use manufacturing or service management. Warehouse workers who post documents need the right user licenses.

Can different locations use different warehouse setups?

Yes. Each location has its own settings. So a main distribution center can run directed put-away and pick. A small branch stockroom can ship straight from the sales order. Transfer orders move goods between them, whatever level each one uses.

Does Business Central support barcode scanners out of the box?

A scanner that types into a field works anywhere. The mobile app can also scan with a device camera in some fields. A full scan-driven workflow for rugged handhelds is not standard. An AppSource add-on normally provides it.

Can we start simple with Business Central warehouse management?

Yes, and we often recommend it. Beginning with bins and inventory picks builds good habits. You can move to warehouse receipts and shipments, or to directed put-away and pick, later. However, it needs a planned changeover that empties or converts bin contents. That is why Business Central warehouse management works best in steps.

How does picking work for production or assembly?

You can pick components for production, assembly and project orders with the same warehouse documents used for sales. The location settings decide if the system creates an inventory pick or a warehouse pick. Then it moves components to the bin the order consumes from.

Related warehouse and stock services

A warehouse project builds on item data and often leads to scanning and tracking. These pages cover the services that come before and after the bin setup for Business Central warehouse management. Start with the page closest to your own next step. Then ask our consultants how it fits. For the product detail, see Warehouse management overview for Business Central on Microsoft Learn.