Independent IFS Cloud practice · Warehouse design
Model the warehouse from the floor, and every pick, count and move gets cheaper
The IFS Cloud warehouse structure is the hierarchy of warehouse, bay, row, tier and bin that defines where stock can be stored, and it is decided once, before the first part is put away. That decision shapes every pick, count and move for years. A model that is too coarse sends the operator walking the floor to find stock. A model that is too fine turns each transaction into a chore, and the effort is paid on every transaction, every day.
Key takeaways
- The IFS Cloud warehouse structure runs from site and warehouse down to bay, row, tier and bin. The team decides how many of these levels it actually uses on the floor.
- The right level of detail is found on the floor: watch a pick, count the touches, then model.
- Route order sets the sequence in which locations are visited, so naming the levels in walking order saves a later correction.
- Put-away rules set at a higher level apply to the levels below unless a lower level overrides them.
- Naming convention, bin meaning and the levels you will never rename are settled before locations are migrated.
1.What does the IFS Cloud warehouse structure consist of?
An inventory location in IFS Cloud sits in a hierarchy: a site contains warehouses, and a warehouse contains bays, rows, tiers and bins. The IFS documentation on inventory locations and warehouse structure describes the levels and how an inventory location maps to the bin. The table gives the physical meaning of each level.
| Level | What it usually stands for on the floor |
|---|---|
| Site | An operational location, such as a plant or distribution centre, belonging to a company |
| Warehouse | A building, a hall or a separate storage area with one set of rules |
| Bay | A section of racking or floor, often an aisle or a block of racks |
| Row | A line of positions within a bay |
| Tier | A vertical level, from floor to the highest shelf |
| Bin | The smallest addressable position, where stock is counted and moved |
The page on entering inventory locations describes how a location is created. The team decides how many levels it actually uses on the floor: a warehouse can be modelled as one open area or down to the individual shelf.
2.How fine should the location model be?
The location model should be as fine as the operator needs in order to find stock without asking anyone, and no finer. Two failures mark the ends of the scale.
- Too coarse: stock is “in the warehouse”. The system says the part is on hand, and the operator searches for it. Counts become approximate because the count unit is a whole hall.
- Too fine: every shelf is its own bin and every move needs a scan, a transaction and a check. The transactions are correct and the floor stops following them.
The method to find the right level has four steps:
- Walk the floor with the warehouse team from goods receipt to dispatch.
- Watch a pick from the pick list to the packing area, and note each point where the picker hesitates or searches.
- Count the touches for one typical receipt, one pick and one stock count under a coarse model and under a fine model.
- Model the level at which the extra detail removes a search and stop where it only adds a scan.
Fast-moving parts and slow-moving parts are not equal here. The pallet in the corner shows what slow stock does to prime picking space, which is a layout question as much as a master-data one. The receipt side of a poor model, where goods arrive and cannot be placed, is covered in goods receipt, inspection and put-away in IFS Cloud.
3.What does route order do, and why does a careless order hurt?
Route order sets the sequence in which locations are visited; check its default and where it is maintained in your release before you rely on it. A pick list built on route order follows that sequence, so the picker’s path is only as good as the order of the IDs.
The order hurts when IDs were chosen for another reason: the order in which racks were bought, a number from the old system, or a label that makes sense to the person who typed it. The sequence then no longer matches the way a picker walks, and every pick list zigzags across the floor. The cure is to decide the walking order first, name or number the levels to match, and correct the route order where the floor has an exception such as a one-way aisle.
Shop order pick lists can be grouped by warehouse, bay, row, tier or bin, as the IFS documentation on shop order pick lists describes. The level you model therefore also decides how pick lists can be split between pickers. The setup of picking strategies themselves is a separate topic.
4.How do put-away rules inherit down the structure?
A put-away rule set at a higher level of the structure applies to the levels below it, and a lower level can override it. The IFS documentation on inventory put-away describes this inheritance. A rule defined on a bay therefore covers its rows, tiers and bins, and one bin in that bay can have its own rule.
The design consequence is to set the general rule high and exceptions low. A rule repeated on every bin is hard to change, and a rule scattered at random levels is hard to read. When the structure is built, copying a bin layout saves typing for repeated rows, and it also repeats any mistake in the original, so check the first row before you copy it.
What stagnant stock costs once it is stored is the subject of the anatomy of stock aging.
5.Which decisions come before the migration of locations?
Four decisions come before locations are loaded, because a loaded location is hard to rename once stock sits in it.
- Naming convention: how bays, rows, tiers and bins are numbered, and whether the walking order can be read from the name.
- Location groups: which locations share a purpose, such as picking, bulk or quarantine, so that the team can treat them as one when it designs put-away and counting.
- Bin meaning: what one bin number stands for, a shelf, a pallet position or a block, and what happens when a shelf is split in two.
- Stable names: which levels will never be renamed, because other systems, labels or scanners refer to them.
Counting depends on the same decisions. A count schedule works on the locations you define, so a model that groups unlike stock together produces variances that are hard to trace, as described in cycle count variance reconciliation. A multi-site layout adds its own question of which warehouses belong to which site, treated in site cluster functionality.
6.How do you test the model with the people who use it?
Test the location model with the operators who will use it daily, on a mock-up of the real floor, before the data is migrated. Give a picker a pick list and ask them to walk it on a floor plan. Give a receiving clerk three deliveries and ask where each goes. A stock controller gets a count list and says whether it matches the way the shelves are laid out.
Each point at which the operator asks “where is that?” is a defect in the model, not in the person. Record it in the test log, adjust the structure, and repeat. Posting consequences of these movements are a finance topic; see posting control in IFS Cloud for how location and transaction design feeds the ledger.
7.What does a location model checklist contain?
A location model is ready for migration when each of these checks has evidence.
| Check | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Level of detail agreed per warehouse | A walked floor plan with the touch count, signed off by the warehouse lead |
| Naming convention written down | One page with three example locations |
| Route order matches the walking order | A pick list walked on the floor plan without backtracking |
| Put-away rules set high, exceptions low | A list of rules with the level at which each one is defined |
| Location groups defined | Each group has a purpose and a rule owner |
| Stable names identified | A list of levels referenced by labels, scanners or other systems |
| Model tested by operators | Test log with every “where is that?” question and its fix |
8.Frequently asked questions
Are bay, row, tier and bin mandatory when creating an inventory location in IFS Cloud?
The warehouse team decides how many levels it actually uses on the floor. A warehouse in IFS Cloud can be modelled as one open area or down to the individual bin, so the level of detail is a design decision, taken by walking the floor.
What is route order in IFS Cloud and where do I change it?
Route order in IFS Cloud is the sequence in which warehouse locations are visited when stock is picked. Check its default and where it is maintained in your release before you rely on it. Setting it to match the physical walking order keeps pick paths short.
How do put-away rules inherit from bay to bin?
A put-away rule defined on a bay in IFS Cloud applies to the rows, tiers and bins below it. A lower level can carry its own rule that overrides the one inherited from above. The practical pattern is a general rule at bay level and exceptions at bin level.
Should every shelf be its own location?
A shelf deserves its own location in IFS Cloud when the operator would otherwise search for the stock on it. Decide by walking the floor: if the extra detail removes a search, keep it, and if it only adds a scan, merge the shelves into one bin. The answer differs between a fast-moving picking zone and a bulk store.
Can I change the warehouse structure after go-live?
A restructuring of the warehouse in IFS Cloud after go-live needs a plan, above all where it touches locations that hold stock. Before you change anything, test the change in a non-production environment with a copy of real stock, check the IFS documentation on inventory locations for the location you are changing, and agree a stock count before and after the move.
9.About the author
Dariusz Myśliwiec: 18 years hands-on with IFS, including IFS Cloud. Based in Kraków, delivering remotely across Europe and globally through an independent practice. You talk to the consultant who does the work, not a sales layer.
IFS is a registered trademark of IFS AB; this practice is not affiliated with IFS AB.
Does the team work around the location model?
If the model came from go-live and the floor has learned to ignore parts of it, a review from the floor shows which levels to merge, rename or reorder. The warehouse team sits in the room.
Book a location-model review Read about goods receipt and put-away