Some of the terms used in the PVX warehouse management system have very specific meanings that need to be understood when using the system. Other items in this glossary refer to concepts that are widely used in warehouse management, but sometimes are known by different names.
Action: A task that is created and assigned using the web app and performed by operators using the mobile app. These are usually picking actions to fulfil sales orders. Other types of action can also be performed using PVX including receiving goods, moving or putting away items and despatching orders.
Adjustment: Changes to the inventory level of a location based on the result of a stock take or a failed picking action.
Allocation: The process of assigning inventory to fulfil a sales order. Can be one of two types:
Soft allocation: A quantity of the available inventory is assigned to fulfil a sales order without specifying the locations of the actual items to be used. (This is normally done in the early stages of planning to ensure orders can be met.)
Hard allocation: A quantity of inventory items and their precise location is assigned to fulfil a sales order. (This is normally done shortly before the items are picked.)
Application programming interface (API): A software tool that allows data to be exchanged between PVX and other software platforms through integrations. The PVX API can be freely used by software developers to create integrations for new software partners.
Carrier: A company that your business uses to send orders to customers (sometimes called a courier or shipping agent).
Container: A moveable object in the warehouse that holds inventory items (for example, a pallet or roll cage). Defining containers in PVX allows large amounts of stock to be quickly moved around the warehouse.
Customer: The person or location to whom items are despatched in fulfilment of a sales order.
E-commerce platform: An online sales platform accessed through a website from where customers can order and pay for your products.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP): The integrated management of the critical processes of a business, usually through a dedicated software package. An e-commerce business may use an ERP system such as Netsuite or Microsoft Dynamics to manage functions such as financial accounting, order processing, supply chain and human resources.
Fulfilment: The life cycle of an order, starting at the point of sale and ending when the product is delivered to the customer.
Integration: An interface set up between PVX and a third-party software platform to manage a specific task such as receiving sales orders. PVX has an open-access API that can be used to create integrations, as well as a library of integrations to existing partners.
Integration template: A comma-separated value (CSV) file that a client can use to define how their data (sales orders, items, etc.) maps on to the available entries in the WMS.
Inventory: The contents of the warehouse that are available for sale and the locations where they are stored; sometimes also called stock.
Item: Each unique product in the warehouse is called an item and is identified by an item code and a barcode. Items are often called stock-keeping units (SKUs).
Location: A defined, physical area of the warehouse (usually a space on a shelf or a fixed container in which the items are directly placed) identified by a barcode where inventory (single or multiple items or SKUs) is stored.
Location groups: A hierarchy of the location types by which the warehouse locations are organised, giving a ‘map’ of the locations in the warehouse. For example, item X held on shelf E (a location group) in bay 3 (a second group) of the red aisle (a third group) of site A (a fourth group).
Location storage type: The physical structures used to organise inventory in the warehouse (other than the boxes of items themselves) such as zones, aisles, bays, shelves and slots.
Location type: A description of the purpose of a location, which determines whether it contains items that can be picked to fulfil orders. Four location use types exist in PVX:
Bulk – a location (often less accessible) for storing bulk inventory that is used to replenish pick locations (items in bulk locations still count as available inventory).
Pick – a location for storing items available to be picked to fulfil orders (sometimes called a pick face).
Quarantine – a location for storing items that are not available for sale or picking, often because they are damaged or faulty.
Despatch – a location for storing items that have been picked and are ready for packing and shipping to customers.
Package: A container used to despatch items from the warehouse. By defining packages in PVX you can control the size and weight of despatches and ensure the correct labelling is available.
Picking: The process of retrieving product items from their locations in the warehouse to fulfil a sales order. Various picking methods are available in PVX, such as single-item batch picking which organises single item, single quantity orders into batches for efficient picking depending on the locations of the items in the warehouse. Items can also be picked to a container or trolley for more efficient despatching.
Purchase orders: Orders raised by an e-commerce business to its suppliers for product items that are to be resold to customers.
Put-away: In general, the moving of received items from Goods In to a storage location. In PVX, put-away is a structured operation where the software suggests the optimum locations for items so that they can be quickly and easily stored and retrieved when needed. (Move and Register are other actions available in PVX for putting items away quickly without considering their retrieval.)
PVX: The warehouse management system produced by Peoplevox, which comprises a web app for managing the overall process and a mobile app for operators to use when completing tasks in the warehouse.
Receive: The process of taking delivery of items from a supplier and entering them into the warehouse inventory. Various methods can be used depending on how the items are received, such as Receive and Print for items that are not labelled by the supplier and Receive Without Scan for items that can be reconciled with an advanced shipping notice.
Reconcile: The process of comparing what has been received from a supplier with what was expected, and highlighting any discrepancies.
Register: A simpler and faster version of Receive, suitable for very busy periods where many goods are being delivered to the warehouse. Ordered items are brought into the warehouse management system and shown as being available for sale, but are not reconciled with a purchase order.
Replenish: The process of moving items from a bulk location to a pick location so they are available to fulfil sales orders.
Returns: The process of receiving previously-despatched items back into the warehouse from customers and the adjustment of the inventory so the items are shown as being either available for sale or quarantined.
Role: A combination of permissions that controls the access and administration rights in PVX of any user assigned with that role.
Sales order: An order received for product (inventory items) to be picked and despatched, either to customers or to other parts of the business (for example, shops or other warehouses). Also sometimes called a customer order or just ‘orders’.
Site: A property where you want to record the storage of inventory. Sites can contain single or multiple warehouses, and are the highest level in the hierarchy of location categories.
Stock take: The process of recording the number and type of items in a specific location to check that the tracking of inventory in the warehouse is accurate.
Storage type: An object in which a known quantity of inventory items (or packages of items) can be stored. Dimensions and maximum weight can also be defined. Using storage types in PVX helps with putting away items when received, and allows you to know the capacity of your warehouse.
Suppliers: Manufacturers or resellers of product items who supply inventory for the warehouse through purchase orders.
Unit type: The standard packing configurations for an item (for example, inner box, outer box, pallet). Defining these in PVX allows you to apply units of measure.
Unit of measure: The standard quantity of an item that fits inside a given unit. Defining these in PVX allows you to handle multiple items more rapidly by picking a standard box of known contents.
User: A person with access to PVX via a username and password. Each user is also assigned a role to control the functions that they can perform in the software.
Warehouse management system (WMS): A software application that supports day-to-day operations in a warehouse and manages tasks such as tracking inventory and organising despatches.
Zone: A defined area or group of locations in a warehouse where specific operations are performed, such as where goods require special equipment for moving or where access is restricted. Also useful in organising operations in large or multi-floor warehouses.