Lesson 1: Introduction to warehouse management (WMS) | D365 WMS module configuration course

Summary

In Dynamics On-Demand's lesson on the Dynamics 365 Warehouse Management System (WMS) module, viewers are introduced to the intricacies of warehouse management versus inventory management. The lesson outlines how WMS supports operational efficiencies through processes like item receiving, internal movement, and space management within the warehouse. It also covers key integrations with other Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (SCM) modules and delves into specific warehouse operations—from inbound and outbound material flows to quality management and packing operations. The lesson aims to set up foundational knowledge for configuring and optimizing WMS modules essential for streamlining warehouse processes.

Highlights

• Exploring the significant distinctions between inventory management and warehouse management. 🤔
• WMS module's comprehensive integration with SCM—enhancing process efficiency from receiving goods to shipment and delivery. 🚚
• Describing foundational terms that are crucial for understanding and managing warehouse operations effectively. 📖
• Deep dive into inbound and outbound processes, unveiling the flow of goods through the warehouse. 🔄
• Detailed overview of essential configurations necessary for effective WMS deployment and customization. 🔍

Key Takeaways

• Warehouse management and inventory management serve different purposes but work together to streamline business operations. 📦
• The WMS module in Dynamics 365 integrates with various SCM modules for optimized warehouse operation. 🔄
• Understanding the terms like shipment, wave, work, and load is crucial as they represent the building blocks of the WMS module. 📚
• Core configurations and setups are essential for tailoring WMS modules to your business needs. 🔧
• The lesson provides a foundational understanding to enable further exploration and customization of the WMS module. 🌟

Overview

In this introductory lesson on the Dynamics 365 Warehouse Management System (WMS) module, we begin by differentiating between warehouse management and inventory management. While they operate closely, each has distinct functions; with inventory management focusing on stock levels and warehouse management handling the operational processes within a warehouse. This differentiation is key for businesses to streamline their supply chain processes efficiently.

The discussion further delves into the integrations of the WMS module within the broader Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management framework. From procurement cycles to transportation management and production controls, the WMS module plays a critical role, ensuring that various processes from raw material acquisition to finished goods shipment are smoothly executed. This integration helps companies finely tune their operations within the supply chain.

Lastly, the core processes of WMS are unpacked, explaining terms such as 'shipment', 'wave', 'work', and 'load'. These are seen as the backbone of warehouse operations, and understanding them is vital for anyone looking to configure or optimize their Dynamics 365 WMS module. The lesson sets the stage for more detailed exploration of these processes in subsequent modules, providing a strong foundation for users aiming to custom-fit the WMS to their specific business needs.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Overview of Warehouse Management In the first chapter titled 'Introduction and Overview of Warehouse Management,' the lesson introduces the configuration course for warehouse management modules. It covers several key areas, including an introduction to the warehouse management module itself, an overview of the typical process flow within the warehouse, a review of common rules applicable in the warehouse, and an examination of the main terms frequently used in warehouse management. These elements are described as the foundational components or building blocks necessary for understanding the warehouse management modules.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Difference between Inventory Management and Warehouse Management The chapter discusses the difference between inventory management and warehouse management. It starts by posing a question about whether these two are the same, clarifying that they are not. Inventory management involves keeping track of company stock, ensuring correct quantity and value levels, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring sufficient safety stock for either manufacturing or sales processes. Although inventory management and warehouse management run side by side to ensure business continuity and streamline supply chain processes, they have distinct functions.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Dynamics 365 Warehouse Management Module The Dynamics 365 Warehouse Management Module chapter discusses the critical role of warehouse management in decision making related to replenishment of products and purchasing of materials. It emphasizes the importance of processes such as item receiving, internal movements, picking, and packing operations, as well as managing warehouse space, including racks, levels, and bins. The chapter distinguishes between general warehouse management and specific logistical strategies within Dynamics 365.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Inbound and Outbound Processes This chapter focuses on 'Inbound and Outbound Processes' in the context of inventory and warehouse management. It discusses the differences between inventory management, which tracks stock levels in terms of quantity and value, and warehouse management, which involves tracking processes within the warehouse itself. The chapter emphasizes how the warehouse management module in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management aids organizations in optimizing and streamlining day-to-day warehouse processes, starting from the receipt of goods at the warehouse to their dispatch.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Internal Operations and Processes The chapter titled 'Internal Operations and Processes' focuses on the integration of various SCM (Supply Chain Management) modules. It details how the warehouse management module interacts with the inventory management module to handle internal movements, stock adjustments, replenishment, and cycle count operations. Additionally, it describes the role of the product information management module in defining item handling, unit of measures, and reservation hierarchy. The chapter also touches upon the procurement cycle, specifically during the purchase and receiving processes.
• 07:30 - 09:00: Core Terms in Warehouse Management This chapter covers core terms and modules in warehouse management, including advanced shipping notes (ASN), load receiving, and landed cost for processing goods in transit. It also touches on sales management related to order picking and packing operations, production control, and the manufacturing process. Additionally, it discusses transportation management in the context of load management. Emphasis is placed on the synergy between these elements to enhance warehouse efficiency.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Release to the Warehouse Process The chapter titled 'Release to the Warehouse Process' discusses driver check-in and check-out activities. It highlights the warehouse management module's functionalities designed to maintain optimal warehouse operations. The chapter also categorizes the main topics within the module into commonly utilized groups, noting that while these terms are specific to Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, they mirror real business terminologies. The course aims to complete the core configurations and prerequisite setup of the warehouse.
• 12:00 - 15:00: Summary and Conclusions This chapter delves into the intricacies of warehouse management, focusing on two primary processes: inbound and outbound material flows. The inbound material flow is initiated through a typical purchase order process. It starts with receiving goods at the incoming dock and concludes by moving the inventory to their designated final locations. The chapter hints at further details on the outbound process flow, but it ends abruptly, suggesting a continuation in subsequent discussions.

Lesson 1: Introduction to warehouse management (WMS) | D365 WMS module configuration course Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello and welcome to lesson one in the warehouse management configuration course decision is an introduction to the warehouse management modules in this session we'll have an introduction about the warehouse management module then an overview about the typical process flow in the warehouse then we'll review the common rules in the warehouse and then we'll review some of the main terms that are usually used in the warehouse management module and that considered as the building blocks of the warehouse management modules
• 00:30 - 01:00 me first ask a question do you believe that the inventory and warehouse management are the same the answer is no however posts running side by side to ensure the business continuity and streamline the supply chain management process but indeed they have some differences so the inventory management involves keep tracking of the company stock impose quantity and value levels also maintaining accurate inventory records and ensuring sufficient safety stock either for the manufacturing or for the sales process
• 01:00 - 01:30 indeed this will help the decision makers to know when the time to replenish the product or buy more materials to satisfy the demand but the warehouse management refers to the various process related to maintaining and controlling the warehouse operations like item receiving internal movement picking and packing operations in addition to that managing the warehouse space like the racks levels and bins so basically we can say the difference between the warehouse management and
• 01:30 - 02:00 inventory management in another channel that the inventory management involves tracking of the stock levels in quantity and amount however the warehouse management involves tracking the process and the warehouse itself the warehouse management module in dynamics 365 supply chain management helps the organizations to optimize and streamline the day-to-day warehouse process from the moment when the goods are received at the warehouse till the moment they will leave our house management module is fully
• 02:00 - 02:30 integrated and has lots of integration points with the other scm modules so here we can see for example not as account the warehouse management module involves with the inventory management module while processing the internal movement transfer stock adjustments replenishment and the cycle count operations then in the product information management module where you can define the item handling unit of measures and the reservation hierarchy then in the procurement cycle while processing the purchase or the receiving
• 02:30 - 03:00 and put away and the asn or the advanced shipping notes and the load receiving then with the landed cost module while processing the goods and transit orders then with the sales management while processing the order peaking and packing operations then with the production control module and the manufacturing process where you can process the raw material consumption and the finished goods and put away works last but not least with the transportation management module while processing the load management and the
• 03:00 - 03:30 driver check in and out activities as you can see the warehouse management module has a wide range of functionalities to support the warehouse facility at an optimal level i summarize the main topics in the warehouse management module into the blue groups that are commonly used day by day these terms are indeed in dynamics 365 supply chain management terms however somehow this is almost the same terms that are used in the real business in this course we're going to complete the core configurations and the prerequisite setup of the warehouse
• 03:30 - 04:00 management module then in the warehouse management process course we're going to demonstrate each process in detail the first process is the inbound material flow and basically the inbound material flow is the way where the materials are probed into the warehouse a typical inbound flow is the purchase order process where the process begins by receiving the goods at the incoming box then to move the inventory to the final put away locations the outbound process flow the goats are
• 04:00 - 04:30 leaving the warehouse a typical outbound flow is the sales order process where the process begins by picking the items from the warehouse location then moving them to a staging area where it's going to be packed then it will be loaded into the trucks to be shipped to the customers in the manufacturing company you can also process the raw material consumption and the finished goods put away this is somehow also part of the inbound and the outbound flow then we have some internal operations
• 04:30 - 05:00 like the internal movement between the locations or transfer across the warehouses and inventory adjustments in and out if required then we have the replenishment process and this is the process where you can replenish or increase the on hand of the picking locations or any other locations from the bulk locations then we have the quality management or the qms process then the packing operations and this is the step where the items will be backed before shipping to the customers in dynamics 365 supply chain management
• 05:00 - 05:30 there are two kinds of backing operations the first one is the manual packing through the back station and the second one is more automated and it's called containerization then we have the cross docking and the cycle count operations typically many users are involved in various phases of the warehouse management process all users should be assigned to rules in supply chain management by the administrator users could to control the access to the system
• 05:30 - 06:00 these are the standard rules of warehouse management module however this is still could be extended by granting or evoking permissions to match the company requirements before working or implementing the warehouse management module you should be aware of those important terms personally i'm considering those terms as the building blocks of the warehouse management modules the first term is the shipment the shipment is a single delivery to the same customer and the same destination
• 06:00 - 06:30 the shipment could be one or multiple sales orders then we have the waves the wave is one or more shipments that represent the group of order lines that should be released to the warehouse at the same time for picking then we have the work and the work is the transaction that performed by the warehouse workers to complete a specific business process so for example you may have a work for the purchase order receiving or another work for the sales picking process then we have the load the loot can have
• 06:30 - 07:00 one or multiple shipments where a shipment can have one or more sales orders that group together and typically they are going out on a single truck so we can see the load is the object that have the items and where the shipments will be carried into the customer like physical container parcel or a truck now let's talk about the release to the warehouse process so the shipment the wave the work and the load these documents are either created or processed with this type of
• 07:00 - 07:30 release to the warehouse the release to the warehouse is the process where the orders will be sent to the warehouse for processing now let's connect the dots together and see a simple one-to-one relationship between the sales order shipment wave load and a work and after that we'll map each document with the required configurations the process of release to the warehouse might be valid from a company to another so this example triggers by the release to the warehouse option and decides
• 07:30 - 08:00 order form so the process starts with the release to the warehouse action the release to the warehouse action could be triggered in different ways so this could be for a specific sales order from the sales order form using the release to the warehouse action or this could be for a specific load from the load form and using the periodic job of automatic release the sales order to the warehouse we're going to cover these options shortly when the option is released a new
• 08:00 - 08:30 shipment will be created or consolidating to an existing open shipment the fact that a new shipment should be created or consolidating to an existing open shipment is managed by the shipment consolidation policies the shipment here represents the single delivery of the sales order then a wave will be created to process this shipment in order to create the load and the picking work this could be also a new wave or a wave that will be added to an existing open wave
• 08:30 - 09:00 the load and the work will be created when the wave is processed and the fact that when the wave will be processed and if it should be added to an existing wave is managed by the wave template after the wave is processed then a work and a load will be created normally the work will have two lines the first one is to pick the items from a specific picking location so the user can easily identify where to pick the items and the second one is the put line with instructions where to place the picked
• 09:00 - 09:30 items the work is managed by the work template and instructions on where to pick or to put the items are managed by the location directives then there will be a load like a truck the load will be used to deliver the items to the customer using the load template you may define the equipment or the objects that will be used to deliver the items to the customer so we can understand from this process that the core configurations or the
• 09:30 - 10:00 building blocks of the warehouse management module are the shipment consolidation wave templates work templates location directives and the load templates and these the configurations that we're gonna cover in the next couple of slides now let's recap what we discussed end decision so first we had an introduction about the warehouse management process and how is different compared to the inventory management process and how the wms module is important for the business then we discussed from high level the
• 10:00 - 10:30 integration points between the wms module and the scm modules then we discussed the process of release to warehouse so it will make sense later on when we came across these terms in the next lessons and finally we had a high level summary about the core configurations of the warehouse management module that we're gonna discuss in the next lessons thank you for watching and your time please reach out if i can help take care and good luck