Setting up your Exact Online warehouse: the complete guide
A well-organized warehouse in Exact Online is the foundation for efficient inventory management. When your warehouse structure is set up correctly, you always know exactly where products are located, you can pick faster and errors are minimized. In this article, we guide you step by step through setting up your warehouse in Exact Online.
Creating warehouses
In Exact Online, warehouse setup begins with creating warehouses. A warehouse is the physical location where you store goods. This can be a building, a hall, or even a specific zone within a larger complex. Common examples include:
- Main warehouse: The primary storage warehouse where most of your inventory is located.
- Receiving warehouse: A temporary location where incoming goods are checked before being moved to their final location.
- Shipping warehouse: The area where outgoing goods are prepared for transport.
- Quarantine warehouse: For products that still need to be inspected or approved.
- Returns warehouse: Specifically for returned products that need to be inspected.
It is important to think carefully about your warehouse structure in advance. Do not create too many warehouses, as this makes management unnecessarily complex. But do not create too few either, as you will lose insight into where products are exactly located.
Configuring storage locations
Storage locations are the specific places within a warehouse where products are stored. Think of shelves, bins, pallet positions or drawers. Using storage locations offers great benefits:
- Faster picking: Employees know exactly where a product is, without having to search.
- Fewer errors: By placing products in fixed locations, mix-ups are prevented.
- Efficient putaway: During goods receipt, the app can immediately indicate where the product should be stored.
- Better stock counting: You can count per location instead of the entire warehouse at once.
Good naming of storage locations is essential. Use a logical structure, for example: A-01-03 (Aisle A, Rack 01, Bin 03). This makes it intuitive for employees to find the right location. Print barcode labels for each storage location so employees can scan the location when storing and picking products.
Setting preferred locations
A preferred location is the default place where a particular product is stored. When you set a preferred location for an item, the Barcode Scan App automatically knows where to store the product upon receipt. This significantly speeds up the putaway process.
You can set and change preferred locations via the Barcode Scan App. The app automatically shows the preferred location during goods receipt, so the warehouse employee immediately knows where the product should go. This is especially valuable for new employees who do not yet know the warehouse well.
Setting up workflows
A good workflow ensures that every goods process is followed in the correct order. The most common workflows are:
Incoming goods workflow
- Receive goods in the receiving warehouse
- Check for correctness and quality
- Scan barcodes to register receipt in Exact Online
- Put away products to the correct storage location (putaway)
Outgoing goods workflow
- Receive sales order and generate pick list
- Pick products by scanning barcodes at the storage location
- Collect scanned products in the shipping warehouse
- Confirm delivery and generate packing slip
Transfer workflow
- Scan product at the current location
- Scan the new location
- Transfer is automatically registered in Exact Online
Best practices for warehouse setup
Based on our experience with hundreds of warehouses using the Barcode Scan App, we share the following best practices:
- Start simple: Begin with a basic structure and expand as needed. It is easier to add locations than to remove them.
- Label everything: Make sure every storage location has a clearly readable barcode label. This speeds up the scanning process and prevents errors.
- Place fast movers up front: Products that are frequently picked should be in easily accessible locations, close to the shipping area.
- Use zones: Divide your warehouse into logical zones, for example based on product category or turnover rate.
- Evaluate regularly: Analyze your pick routes and adjust the location layout based on actual goods flow.
Managing the warehouse with the Barcode Scan App
The Barcode Scan App makes managing your Exact Online warehouse easy. With the app you can:
- Book goods receipts with automatic putaway to preferred locations
- Pick sales orders with location information on screen
- Move products between warehouses and storage locations by scanning
- View real-time inventory per location
- Perform stock counts per location
By setting up your warehouse properly in Exact Online and combining it with barcode scanning, you lay the foundation for an efficient, error-free warehouse process.