Releasing Orders to the Warehouse

Releasing orders to the warehouse initiates the outbound processing of orders for fulfillment using wave transactions. It enables you to select and prioritize the orders or order lines you want to include in a wave. When you release a wave, the orders become available for picking or staging through the mobile app.

NetSuite WMS provides the following options for releasing orders:

• Creating Wave Transactions

• Creating a Wave Release Schedule

• Picking of unreleased single orders – When you pick an unreleased order through the app, NetSuite WMS automatically generates the wave and its pick tasks. See Picking Items for Single Orders.

• Re-releasing Lines with Backorders

Watch the following video on creating waves with orders for release to the warehouse:

NetSuite WMS provides the following records for order release:

• Wave – Wave transactions contain the list of orders you want to release and their associated pick tasks. For more information, see Creating Wave Transactions.

• Pick Task – Pick task subrecords display picking details, including quantity, status, and pick assignment. It records picking details gathered through a mobile device.

  You can generate pick task subrecords only from wave transactions. For more information, see Pick Task Assignment.

The following diagram illustrates the sequence of tasks involved when you release orders to a warehouse that uses bins:

In a sample scenario, you create a wave with orders to be delivered by a shipping provider along a specific route. Narrow down the list of orders based on priority or ship date. From a wave, NetSuite WMS generates the pick tasks, which you can assign to warehouse operators or pickers. You can manage both the list of orders for release and pick tasks on a wave transaction.

Pickers that you assign to one or more tasks can update their progress on the mobile app. Any picker can access and process unassigned pick tasks. Based on pick task updates, NetSuite WMS updates the status of the associated wave. It also generates items fulfillments for completed pick tasks. On both wave transactions and pick task subrecords, you can track the progress as soon as you release the orders to the warehouse.

Limitations

Note the following limitations for waves and releasing orders to the warehouse:

• You can create waves only for sales and transfer order transactions.

• The following preferences or settings do not apply when fulfilling released orders:

  • Fulfill Based on Commitment – Non-committed item quantities cannot be included in waves. Using NetSuite WMS, you can release and fulfill only fully or partially committed items. See Fulfillment.

  • Allow Overage on Item Fulfillments – For released orders, you cannot pick more than the quantity on the pick task. See Picking Orders.

  • Use Item Cost as Transfer Cost – Even with this preference enabled for transfer orders, you can release and fulfill partially committed items. For more information, see Transfer Order Preferences.

• Sorting of picks through FIFO (first in, first out) and LIFO (last in, first out) are both not supported. For more information, see Pick Task Sorting for Released Orders.

• Refer to other limitations and conditions in the following topics: Creating Wave Transactions and Creating Custom Wave Criteria Templates.

General Notices