Receiving and putaway technology

Receiving and putaway technology should show what arrived, what can be used and where the goods went. Follow the record from the receiving dock to a confirmed storage location. A receipt entered on a device is only one step; damage, quantity differences and unfinished putaway work still need owners.

Keep four decisions visible

Keep the supplier-stated quantity, purchase order quantity and physical count distinct. An advance shipment notice or packing slip is an expectation, not proof of what arrived. Likewise, a suggested destination is not proof that goods reached it.

Choose the receiving route

Receiving workflows can create putaway work for another worker or let a worker process work created by another process. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management documents both types of mobile-device menu item. These are configurable Dynamics 365 options, not features to assume in every WMS. An inbound load can also be used to plan an arrival and track its progress through warehouse operations.

Choose a route that identifies the goods clearly and shows the worker the unit being entered. If a supplier ships cartons while stock is held as individual pieces, confirm the approved conversion before registration. For batch- or serial-tracked stock, establish when the physical identifier must be captured and how an unreadable or unexpected value is handled.

Key Steps in Receiving and Putaway Workflow

Keep unsuitable stock out of ordinary work

Receiving staff need to separate sound and damaged units while preserving the count. In a configured Dynamics 365 flow, a disposition code can affect inventory status and the putaway route; its use on purchase order receipts is optional. Check the result of the proposed configuration. A damage note is insufficient if the affected quantity remains available for ordinary allocation or picking.

Putaway rules determine candidate destinations; see the dedicated article on putaway-rule design. The worker still needs to confirm the physical destination. If no suitable location is found, leave the exception visible for a supervisor rather than placing goods in an unrecorded area.

Pros and Cons of Using Disposition Codes in Receiving

Separate registration, putaway and product receipt

In Dynamics 365, arrival registration, putaway and product receipt posting are distinct events. Product receipt posting marks products as Received so purchase order lines can proceed for invoicing. Registered goods may go through other processes, including quality management, before product receipt posting. Define which event changes usable stock and which event purchasing or accounting relies on.

Make receiving states auditable

Preregistration can capture supplier information before the delivery arrives. An Advance Shipment Notice (ASN) may record the expected quantity and shipping date, and may include batch or serial numbers. Treat these as advance details: the receiving record still needs to show what workers register at the dock.

Workers can register items at the dock using a hand-held device or an arrival journal; the purchase order's Registration action is another option. Keep the registration record and product receipt posting history available for audit.

Goods may pass through quality management between registration and product receipt. Dynamics 365 supports quality orders, which can temporarily block products through a reservation during inspection, or quarantine orders, which move goods to a separate quarantine warehouse. Make the inspection state and the responsible next step visible in the receiving record.

Check the hand-offs

For each receipt, another worker should be able to find the original expectation, counted quantity, stock condition, open work and confirmed location. Identify who can correct an entry and what history the correction leaves. The workflow is complete when each received quantity is stored, held or visibly awaiting action.

Configure device work for hand-offs

A mobile-device menu can either create warehouse work or let a worker process existing work. In Dynamics 365, set the menu item's Mode to Work to create work; set Use existing work to Yes when workers will carry out work created by another process.

Use an Indirect menu item for an activity or inquiry that does not create warehouse work. For example, a worker can use a location inquiry to look up items and quantities in a location, or reprint a licence plate label. These functions support checking a record or its identification without treating that check as confirmation that a movement has been completed.

An inbound load record can give logistics staff a shared view of a planned arrival and its contents. It represents a vendor shipment that may include quantities from one or more order lines and is expected as a physical transport unit, such as a truckload.

The order must exist before the load record can be created, although it does not have to be confirmed. Loads can be created manually or automatically from order data or an ASN.