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Master Data in Warehouse Management 239

MASTER DATA IN WAREHOUSE
MANAGEMENT

The key master data in warehouse management are material master and stor-
age bins. We examine these data types in this section.

MATERIAL MASTER

We have previously discussed the material master in the context of several
other processes. In these discussions we have explored several views, including
basic, purchasing, and sales. If a company stores a material in a storage location
that is associated with a warehouse, then it must include additional data in the
master record for that material. These data are included in the warehouse
management view of the material.
Recall that master data are typically defi ned for specifi c organizational
levels. The organizational levels relevant to the warehouse management view
of master data are warehouse, plant, and storage type. A warehouse is required;
that is, materials must be defi ned for each warehouse. However, plant and stor-
age type are optional and are included only when the warehouse data for the
material are different in different plants or storage types. Three types of data
are relevant to the warehouse management view:
• Basic data
• Data used in defi ning stock placement and removal strategies
• Data regarding the storage bins where the materials will be stored
Basic data are relevant to all processes, as we discussed in Chapter 2.
Some of these data, however, are redefi ned for WM. An example is the ware-
house management unit of measure, which can be different from the base unit
of measure discussed in Chapter 2. For example, a material can have a base unit
of measure in single units (e.g., one helmet) but be managed in larger quanti-
ties (e.g., box of dozen helmets) in the warehouse. Data related to placement
and removal strategies indicate priorities and sequences in which the storage
types, storage sections, and picking areas are to be searched. Bin-related data
indicate which bins are to be used to store materials as well as the minimum
and maximum quantities allowed in the bins.

Demo 7.4: Review WM view of material master

STORAGE BINS
Storage bins are the smallest unit of space in a warehouse. They are the
areas where materials are physically stored. Storage bins can vary in size from
small containers (for nuts and bolts) to large areas for bulky materials (pallets
of soft drink cases). They can be containers on shelves or designated spaces
on a warehouse fl oor where pallets of materials are stored. Storage bins have
unique addresses that identify their location in a warehouse. These addresses
are frequently based on a coordinate system. In a shelf storage environment, for
example, a bin address can include a row (or an aisle) number, a stack number,
and a shelf number. Consider a library that has rows of shelves that hold books,

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