Bins and bin levels
Bins help you to organize and locate items stored in a warehouse. For a bin location, bin levels specify the part number, owner, the minimum, and the maximum number of parts that can be stored in the bin.
- The bin contains different part numbers.
- The bin contains inventory with different owners.
Each bin can contain inventory with the same part number or can contain part numbers that can be used interchangeably as alternates. Items with the same part number might also be stored in more than one bin. For example, for a frequently used part, you might have one bin close to the issue desk, and another bin elsewhere in the warehouse.
A warehouse can store inventory owned by several organizations, including consigned inventory owned by vendors. For each part number, you can choose to set up one bin with different bin levels for each vendor or owner, or you can use a separate bin for each owner. To optimize your picking route within a serviceable store, you can assign a route order number to each bin location. The route order number can be assigned to each bin location individually, or in bulk.
- Maximum bin level
- This level is determined by the size of the bin. For example, if only three engines can fit into a bin, the maximum level for the bin is three.
- Minimum bin level
- This level is set to zero for most bins. If you have
several bins for the same part number, setting the minimum level to a
different value can help you to distribute the parts evenly across the bins
at different locations within the same airport.
Maintenix does not take any action when the contents of a bin fall below the minimum level. Load balancing requires manual action.
If Maintenix is configured to automatically create and complete put-away transfers (if the AUTO_COMPLETE_PUTAWAY configuration parameter is true), the put-away transfers cannot be automatically completed if bin levels are not specified or if more than one bin level is specified for a part number.
After you set up a new bin level, an unscheduled cycle count is added to the list on the Cycle Count tab with the current date as the Count By Date. You can also manually schedule a cycle count.
Removing bin levels
You can remove a bin level for a part number at a bin location from the Bin Levels tab on the Location Details page or from the Bin Levels tab on the Part Details page.
- If there is no inventory for the part number at the bin location, the inventory count records are marked as historical (in the INV_LOC_PART_COUNT table, the HIST_BOOL column is set to '1'). In this case, the bin location will not appear in the list of inventory to count on the Cycle Count tab.
- If there is inventory for the part number at the bin location, the inventory records are not marked as historical (in the INV_LOC_PART_COUNT table, the HIST_BOOL column is set to '0') and the bin location appears in the list of inventory to count on the Cycle Count tab.
If you no longer want to count inventory for a part number at a bin location, you can manually transfer the existing inventory to another bin.
Viewing a bin's history
You can view the history of a bin location to help investigate inventory count discrepancies. The History tab on the Location Details page for a bin location shows the part number, the manufacturer, the date and time, the expected and actual quantities for inventory counts and recounts, and the user who performed the action.
- A bin level was created.
- A bin level was removed.
- An inventory count was recorded.
- A part number's next count date was updated.
- An inventory recount was requested.
- An inventory recount was recorded.
- Corrections were performed based on inventory recount results.
- A discrepancy for an inventory count was ignored.