PVX supports all aspects of the warehouse functions shown in the diagrams. This article describes the basic functions and how they fit into the overall management of the warehouse, and then discusses the different ways that each operation can be performed using PVX and why these might be useful to your business.

Functions marked in bold italics with an asterisk (*) are additional options in PVX that can be purchased. Further information on these options as well as the standard functions in PVX can be found by following the links to other articles in the knowledge base. Contact technical support to discuss how extra options can be enabled and configured.

Receive Goods

A warehouse needs product to distribute. This is called inventory (also often known as stock). To use the WMS, the process of receiving inventory should include labelling of product items with barcodes to allow them to be tracked through the warehouse.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Register	Quickly record items received, their quantities and a single storage location.	Use Register to quickly record ad hoc deliveries and new inventory that has just arrived; use Receive to record more details and store items in multiple locations.
Receive by purchase order	Reconcile goods delivered to the warehouse with the respective purchase order, either manually or automatically.	You know what is missing and understand what other items need to be ordered. Auto-reconcile speeds up receiving, while manual reconciling allows a more robust review process where a new PO can be created to reconcile items if needed.
Receive by items	Use the delivery note supplied by the carrier to receive small orders or automatically create a goods-in reference number.	Enables faster receiving of individual items.
Receive by purchase order with item scan	Scan the item to see all POs with that item, then select the correct PO from the list.	Reduces errors in reconciling when items are received without PO labelling.
Receive without scan*	Choose a purchase order and amend ordering quantities to equal those received, then print the exact number of item labels in one print job.	For rapidly processing deliveries when all items need to be labelled with barcodes.

Purchase orders

Purchase orders for new inventory can be imported from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. These can then be used to reconcile goods received from suppliers.

Put-away*

Once inventory has been received, it must be put away somewhere where it can easily be found again when needed. When using PVX, these locations in the warehouse are uniquely identified by barcodes, which are then linked with the barcodes on the items.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Directed put-away*	Direct your operators to put products in bulk locations where they’re currently stored or where they were kept previously before the stock levels were used up. Locations are filled according to the sequence defined in your warehouse layout.	Speeds up put-away operations and stores items logically by removing decision-making from operators.

Replenish*

Inventory needs to be replenished as it is consumed in fulfilling orders. This may involve ordering more items from the supplier, or moving items already received from bulk storage locations in the warehouse to locations where they can be more easily picked for despatch.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Auto-replenish*	Set a minimum quantity of items in a pick location which, when reached, triggers the creation of an action to replenish the items from a bulk location.	Ensures items are always available in pick locations.

Sales orders

Sales orders can be entered manually into the WMS, but more commonly they are sent through an e-commerce platform integration*. PVX has many integrations to common platforms that are available for purchase and ready to use, or a bespoke integration can be created for you using the open API provided.

Allocate

Product items are allocated to fulfill sales orders. There are two ways of allocating items in PVX:

Soft allocation - The total inventory of an item in the warehouse is used to determine if an order can be fulfilled, with no regard for the storage location of the items.

Hard allocation - The WMS looks for the required items in a series of locations along an optimised picking route, and allocates the items using those locations as efficiently as possible.

Both these types of allocation can be set up using the various picking action options available.

Pick

Picking the items needed to fulfill orders is a critical stage in managing the efficiency of a warehouse. PVX supports many ways of managing picking to suit different businesses, but all are based on actions created to tell warehouse operators what items to pick and where they are located.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
1 person picks 1 sales order at a time	Use the WMS to create an efficient route through the warehouse for an operator to pick a single order. If a location is found to be empty, a new route is calculated to minimise delays.	Gives the highest accuracy in picking; useful for large orders containing many different items.
1 person picks multiple sales orders in a batch – orders / items	Allow an operator with a trolley to pick multiple orders at the same time using a single picking route. Picking by order - creates a separate action for each order. Picking by item - creates a single action to pick all items.	Allows you to adjust and optimise the picking process for orders with a wide range of item sizes and quantities.
Single item batch picking	Set up an action for one operator to pick a batch of single-item orders using a single picking route.	Reduces the time needed to pick single-item orders.
Skip reasons	Define and record the reason why an item could not be picked.	Allows you to monitor your pick process and identify issues.
Unpick	Allow items to be unpicked if a reason is recorded.	Enables damaged items or cancelled orders to be handled easily.
Pick for stores*	Create actions to pick items to replenish shops/stores.	Supports operations if your business evolves from a purely e-commerce enterprise to the high street.
Pick and sort to trolley*	Extend ‘1 person picks multiple sales orders’ to include sorting items on the trolley as they are picked.	Useful for orders of several small items; not suitable for large orders of larger items due to restriction of trolley capacity.
Capture serial number*	Record serial numbers in report during picking for serialised inventory items.	Allows individual items to be recorded and tracked to a sales order.

Pack

PVX allows you to configure the packages you use to despatch your items. This enables you to determine the number of packages needed to fulfil an order, which helps when printing labels and placing despatch orders with your carriers. You can also use packages to manage the weights of your despatches, either by selecting the weight of a package and automatically adding this to the weight of the items in the order, or by using the average weight of a full package of specific items.

Print documents

You can manage the appearance, content and printing of all the documents you need to support your warehouse operation, from sales orders and receipts to shipping invoices and labels.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Printers and print queues	Set default printers for each user and manages print jobs.	Helps ensure quick and efficient printing of documents.
Print templates	Select suitable templates from a variety of pre-defined options for all types of warehouse documents, or upload your own.	Keeps documents consistent and uniform in style and content.
Print template rules	Define when a particular template should be used for a specific document type.	Ensures that the documentation needs of different customers or shipping services are easily handled.
Despatch documents*	Design your own print templates.	Allows you to tailor the style and content of your documents precisely to your needs.

Despatch

Despatch operations that get product out of the door need to be as efficient as possible to keep pace with picking. As well as managing the carriers you use and their services, PVX allows you to choose from a number of ways of despatching orders to find the one that best suits you.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Despatch by order/location	Despatch items previously picked and sorted to fulfil a single order, which could be identified by a specified despatch location.	Enables paperless operation without the need to print sales orders.
Despatch by item	Scan an item to find the oldest sales order requiring that item, which then shows other items needed to complete the order.	Allows flexibility in despatching orders in parts as items are available or when items are not suitable for packing together.
Despatch by load	Despatch multiple sales orders for the same customer as a single consignment.	Reduces the administration required to despatch batches of orders, especially if items for the sales orders are spread across different containers.
Quick despatch	Use the sales order number to record a despatch.	Tidy up outstanding sales orders on the system quickly and easily.
Stop ship	Prevent any user from despatching any part of a specific order.	Allows authorised users to handle unexpected issues with an order, such as a customer account on stop.
Despatch by container*	Despatch items in bulk containers using single scan.	Ideal for despatching large quantities of the same item to other businesses or shops.
Mobile despatch*	Use the mobile app to despatch orders rather than the web app.	If the space on your despatch bench is limited or for despatching large containers that won’t fit in the despatch area.
Carrier integration platform*	Send despatch requests electronically from the WMS to your preferred carrier, print the correct labels for the service selected, and receive tracking numbers for each despatch.	Increases efficiency and reduces errors in arranging and tracking despatches. Peoplevox offers integrations with major carriers, or bespoke integrations can be created.

Returns*

Items can be returned to a warehouse under various circumstances.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Returns management*	Record reason why an item was returned and its condition (state), and allocate a location to put the returned items. Inventory levels are automatically updated accordingly.	Enables handling of returned items depending on whether they can be resold or need to be placed under quarantine. Inventory is not updated for quarantined items.

Inventory control

In the real world, things don’t always run smoothly in even the most efficient operation, so there are a number of ways that PVX allows you to control your inventory and deal with life’s trials.

Function	What you can do	Why it's useful
Locations	Define the hierarchy of locations for storing inventory in your warehouse. Also designate locations for specific purposes, such as quarantined items, picking locations or bulk storage.	Critical in maximising the efficiency of your put-away and pick processes and making best use of your warehouse capacity.
Move	Record changes in the locations of items.	Optimises warehouse storage capacity or make items more readily available for picking to suit changing order requirements, such as seasonal goods.
Remove	Use the mobile app to reduce inventory levels and records the reason for doing so.	Allows operators to make adjustments immediately from the warehouse when they find items or packaging damaged.
Stock take (inventory count)	Lock a location to prevent picking while items are counted; produce a variance report between expected and counted quantities which requires review before the location is unlocked.	Allows inventory levels to be accurately monitored and adjusted with full transparency and an audit trail.
Adjustments	Use the web app to edit the quantity of an inventory item in a location, or or remove items altogether.	Allows you to change inventory levels as needed after a stock take or failed pick action. Removals must be given a reason for audit purposes.
Reports and dashboards*	Generate pre-defined or customised reports and graphs to present data on warehouse activities.	Monitor performance of staff and processes and identify areas needing improvement.
Audit trails	Track every action performed in the warehouse through the web and mobile apps.	Valuable to help reconcile discrepancies in inventory levels or identify causes of delays.
Order event tracking	View the complete history of an order from raising to despatch.	Assists customer services when responding to enquiries.
Composite barcode handler*	Allow the WMS to scan barcodes containing the product item identifier and the unit of measure.	Units of measure can help with moving standard quantities of inventory around a warehouse efficiently.

PVX Functional Overview