Picking problems

Sometimes a picker arrives at a bin location and cannot pick what the pick list asks for: the bin is empty, or the stock has expired. Instead of skipping the line and leaving the problem for later, the picker reports a problem for that pick list line in the picking app. Boxture then blocks the affected stock and pick lists, and creates a problem ticket with tasks to resolve it.

Problem reasons

When reporting a problem the picker chooses one of these reasons:

Reason	Use when
No inventory during picking	The product is not (or not sufficiently) on the bin location.
Inventory to pick has expired	The stock on the bin location is past its expiry date.

Reporting a problem requires the right to put the pick list on hold, which pickers, warehouse associates and admins have. How to report a problem on the scanner is described in Mobile picking.

What happens when a problem is reported

When a picker reports a problem for a line (a product on a bin location), Boxture does the following at once:

1. Pick lists on hold. The picker's pick list, and every other open pick list (pending, assigned or picking) that has a line for the same product on the same bin location, is put on hold. Pickers can no longer pick them.
2. Inventory on hold. For a product that is kept in inventory, all inventory items of that product on that bin location that are available, allocated or being picked are put on hold. For Inventory to pick has expired only the expired items are put on hold. Held inventory is not used for new allocations.
3. Order items on hold. The order line items that were allocated to that inventory (or, for products without inventory, the items of the orders on the pick list) are put on hold. The affected orders show items on hold.
4. Ticket. A problem ticket is created, linked to the bin location and to every affected order. It appears under Tickets › Problems.

The picking app then continues with the next pick list.

INFO

Because all pick lists for the same product and bin location are held, one report protects every picker in the warehouse from walking to the same empty bin.

The problem ticket

The ticket contains tasks for each object it was created for. See Problems for how to work with tickets and tasks in general.

Tasks on the bin location

Task	What it does
Reallocate all orders	Reallocates every affected order that still has items on hold (see Reallocate order below). Orders that cannot be reallocated are left as they are.
Undo no inventory picking problem	Only for No inventory during picking. Reverses the problem: the held inventory items and order line items get their state from before the hold back, and pick lists that no longer have held items return to their previous state.

Tasks on each order

Task	What it does
Reallocate order	Allocates the order's held items to other inventory. The held items are released and unallocated, the inventory on the problem bin location stays on hold, and the order is allocated again, so different inventory is chosen. It fails with no items on hold when nothing of the order is on hold, or no inventory allocated when no other inventory could be found.
Cancel order	Cancels the order instead, when it cannot or should not be fulfilled. See Cancelling.

Resolving a problem step by step

The stock was there after all

For example, the items were on the wrong shelf and have been put back.

1. Make sure the inventory is physically on the bin location and correct in Boxture (see Adjusting inventory if not).
2. Open the ticket and perform Undo no inventory picking problem on the bin location.
3. The pick lists come off hold and can be picked again.

The stock is missing or expired

1. Count the bin location and correct the inventory: adjust missing quantities, or deal with the expired stock (for example with a scrap order).
2. Open the ticket and perform Reallocate all orders, or Reallocate order per order, so the orders get inventory from another bin location.
3. If an order cannot be reallocated (no stock left), it stays with items on hold; either wait for stock and reallocate later, or perform Cancel order.
4. Put reallocated orders on a new pick list (see Pick lists). Pick lists that only contained held items of reallocated orders can be cancelled.

TIP

Check the held inventory under Inventory holds and releases: it shows exactly which items on the bin location were blocked by the problem.

Skipping versus reporting a problem

	Skip	Problem
Effect on the line	Moved to the end of the route; offered again.	Pick list goes on hold.
Effect on other pick lists	None.	Every pick list with the same product and bin location goes on hold.
Effect on stock	None.	Inventory on the bin location is put on hold.
Follow-up	None needed; the picker comes back to it.	A ticket under Tickets › Problems.

Skip when the stock is probably there but temporarily unreachable; report a problem when the stock really is not available.