Preferred Zones

Table of Contents

• What are Preferred Zones
• Prerequisites
• How to add Preferred Zones to a Product
• How to add Preferred Zones in bulk using Export and Import
• Preferred Zones rules and import errors

What are Preferred Zones

A Warehouse Zone is a label, for example Bulk, Cold Store or Pick Faces, that groups Warehouse Locations together. Zones are created on your Warehouse Locations.

Preferred Zones tell CartonCloud which Warehouse zones a Product prefers to be stored in. You set Preferred Zones for each Product, in each Warehouse the Product belongs to. When you put stock away using Directed Putaway, CartonCloud looks up the Product's Preferred Zones for the Warehouse you are working in and ranks the Warehouse Locations in those zones higher using the In Zone Location Selection Method.

You can add Preferred Zones in two ways:

• One Product at a time using the Preferred Zones tab on the Product page.
• Many Products at once using the Preferred Zones export and import file.

Use cases

• Store chilled Products in the Cold Store zone and bulk pallets in the Bulk zone.
• Direct fast-moving Products to zones close to dispatch to reduce pick travel.
• Keep the same Product organised consistently across several Warehouses, each with its own list of preferred zones.

Benefits

• Warehouse operators receive put-away suggestions that match where each Product belongs, which reduces misplaced stock.
• Zone preferences are managed per Product and per Warehouse, so multi-site operations stay consistent.
• Bulk import and export lets you set up hundreds of Products in one file.

Prerequisites

• You have the Administrator role. Only Administrators see the Preferred Zones tab and the import and export options.
• Your account has access to the Warehouse you are setting zones for.
• The zones already exist on Warehouse Locations in that Warehouse. Preferred Zones can only be chosen from zones that exist. To create zones, see Zones in the Related pages section.
• The Product belongs to the Warehouse. A Product belongs to the same Warehouses as its Customer.
• Your account is enabled for Directed Putaway to use the zones during put-away. To check the Directed Putaway requirements, see Directed Putaway in the Related pages section.

How to add Preferred Zones to a Product

Use the Preferred Zones tab to set zones for a single Product. Each Warehouse you have access to, and that the Product belongs to, has its own zone selector.

• Navigate to the Products page, Warehouse > Products.
• Search for the Product and click the Product name to open the View Product page.

• Click the Preferred Zones tab.
• Find the Warehouse you want to set zones for.
• Click the zone selector for that Warehouse and select a zone from the drop-down list. The list shows the zones that exist on Warehouse Locations in that Warehouse.
• Repeat to add more zones. You can select up to 10 zones per Warehouse.
• Repeat for any other Warehouse listed on the tab.
• Click Save.

The Preferred Zones are saved against the Product for each Warehouse.

How to change or remove Preferred Zones on a Product

• Navigate to Warehouse > Products and open the Product.
• Click the Preferred Zones tab.
• To remove a zone, click the remove icon next to the zone name in the Warehouse's zone selector. To add a zone, select it from the drop-down list.
• To clear every Preferred Warehouse Zone for a Warehouse, remove all zones from that Warehouse's zone selector.
• Click Save.

How to add Preferred Zones in bulk using Export and Import

Use the Preferred Zones file to set zones for many Products at once. This file is separate from the Products export and import and works in the same way as the Replenishment Settings export and import. Each row is a Product and each Warehouse column holds that Product's Preferred Zones.

Step 1: Export the Preferred Zones file

• Select the Warehouse you want to work in from the Warehouse drop-down menu in the top right of the screen.
• Navigate to the Products page, Warehouse > Products.
• Apply any filters to limit the Products you want to export. Skip this to export all Products.
• Click More > Export Preferred Zones.

• Click the bell notification in the top right corner, then click Download Here to download the file.

Step 2: Update the file

Open the file in a spreadsheet application. Each row is a Product. The file contains the following columns:

Update the Warehouse columns using the following rules:

• Separate multiple zones with a comma, for example Bulk, Cold Store.
• If a zone name contains a comma or a double quote, wrap the zone name in double quotes and type any double quote inside the name twice. For example, "Cold, Dry", Bulk imports as two zones: Cold, Dry and Bulk.
• Type each zone exactly as it appears on the Warehouse Location, including upper and lower case. Bulk and bulk are different zones.
• Spaces before and after each zone name are removed automatically.
• A cell with zones replaces the Product's existing Preferred Zones for that Warehouse.
• An empty cell clears the Product's Preferred Zones for that Warehouse.
• Leave the cell empty for any Warehouse the Product does not belong to.
• Delete a Warehouse column to leave that Warehouse unchanged.
• Enter a maximum of 10 zones per cell.

Save the file.

Step 3: Import the file

• Navigate to the Products page, Warehouse > Products.
• Click More > Import Preferred Zones.
• Click Choose file, select the updated file and click Upload File.
• Click the bell notification in the top right corner, then click View Results Here to review the updated rows and any errors.

Preferred Zones rules and import errors

The following rules apply when you save the Preferred Zones tab and when you import the file. A validation error names the affected Warehouse so you can find and fix the problem.