Warehouse Locations Management with Shipsidekick

Understanding Warehouse Locations

Warehouse locations are the foundation of organized inventory management. Every physical space where you can store a product needs a unique identifier in your system. Think of locations as the addresses for your inventory, telling you and your team exactly where each item lives.

Without a proper location system, you're essentially storing products randomly and hoping you can find them when orders arrive. With Shipsidekick's location management, every product has a designated home, making inventory tracking accurate and order picking efficient.

Multi-Warehouse Management

Shipsidekick's warehouse feature allows you to manage one warehouse or multiple facilities from a single system. This flexibility supports businesses as they scale from a single location to a distributed fulfillment network.

Each warehouse in Shipsidekick operates as a distinct entity with its own locations, inventory, and operations. You can transfer inventory between warehouses, view inventory levels across all facilities, and manage location configurations independently for each site.

For 3PLs managing multiple client warehouses or ecommerce businesses with fulfillment centers in different regions, this multi-warehouse capability provides centralized control while maintaining location-specific operations. You see the complete picture of your inventory and operations across all facilities without juggling multiple systems.

Location Types in Shipsidekick

Shipsidekick supports different location types to match the various ways you use space in your warehouse. Understanding these types helps you configure your system to match your physical operations.

General Locations

General locations are standard storage spots for inventory. These represent shelves, pallet racks, floor spaces, or any area where you keep products long-term. Most of your warehouse locations will be general locations.

General locations are where inventory lives between receiving and picking. They're the permanent or semi-permanent homes for your products, organized according to your slotting strategy.

Bin Locations

Bin locations represent smaller subdivisions within a larger storage area. If you have a shelving unit divided into multiple compartments, each compartment is a bin location. This granularity allows you to store different products in close proximity while maintaining precise tracking.

Bin locations are particularly useful for small items where a single shelf might hold dozens of different SKUs. Each bin gets its own location code and barcode, enabling accurate picking and inventory management at a very detailed level.

Tote Locations

Tote locations are mobile containers used during picking and receiving operations. When a picker scans a tote at the beginning of a Mission, that tote becomes a temporary location holding picked items until they reach the packing station.

Tote locations move through your warehouse as work progresses, unlike general and bin locations which are stationary. The system tracks which items are in which totes, maintaining accuracy even as products move between fixed locations and mobile containers.

Location Attributes

Each location in Shipsidekick has specific attributes that control how it functions and how inventory behaves when stored there.

Location Name

Every location needs a unique, descriptive name that follows your naming convention. This might be something like "A-12-05-C-01" following the zone-aisle-bay-level-bin format discussed in warehouse organization best practices.

The location name is what appears on pick lists, receiving documents, and inventory reports. Make it meaningful so your team can navigate the warehouse efficiently. Consistency in naming is critical, so establish your convention and apply it uniformly across all locations.

Location Barcode

Each location has an associated barcode that can be scanned using mobile devices. These barcodes enable fast, accurate location verification during receiving, putaway, picking, and cycle counting.

When creating locations in Shipsidekick, you can generate barcode labels to print and affix to the physical locations in your warehouse. Scanning locations rather than manually entering them eliminates typos and ensures workers are at the correct spot before picking or putting away inventory.

The barcode and location name are typically the same value to maintain simplicity. When a worker scans location "A-12-05-C-01", the system knows exactly which location they're at.

Sellable Status

The sellable status controls whether inventory in a location is available for customer orders. When a location is marked as sellable, products stored there count toward your available inventory and can be allocated to orders.

Locations marked as not sellable are useful for quarantine areas, damaged goods storage, or quality control holds. Inventory in these locations still exists in your system and counts toward total inventory, but it won't be assigned to customer orders.

This control prevents accidentally selling inventory that shouldn't be sold, such as products awaiting quality inspection or items with hold tags from customers.

Pickable Status

The pickable status determines whether a location appears in picking routes and Missions. Even if inventory is sellable, you might not want pickers going to certain locations for specific reasons.

For example, you might have bulk storage locations that are sellable but not pickable, with corresponding forward pick locations that are both sellable and pickable. Pickers work from the forward locations, and when those deplete, you replenish from the bulk locations through a separate process.

This separation keeps pickers in optimized zones rather than sending them to distant or inconvenient bulk storage areas for every order. It's a powerful tool for managing pick efficiency while maintaining accurate inventory availability.

Zone Assignment

Zones are logical groupings of locations based on physical areas of your warehouse or product categories. You might have zones for different product types, temperature requirements, customer inventory, or operational areas like receiving and packing.

Assigning locations to zones enables zone-based operations like zone picking, where different workers pick from different zones for the same order batch. Zones also help with reporting and analysis, allowing you to understand inventory distribution and activity patterns by warehouse area.

In Shipsidekick, you define zones based on your operational needs and assign locations to appropriate zones during setup. A location can belong to only one zone, so choose zone boundaries that make sense for your workflow.

Sequence Number

The sequence number is a critical attribute for pick path optimization. This number determines the order in which locations appear in picking routes and Missions, directly impacting how efficiently pickers move through the warehouse.

Assign sequence numbers that follow a logical path through your warehouse. If your picking typically starts at location A-01-01-B-01 and moves sequentially through aisles, assign sequence numbers incrementally: location A-01-01-B-01 gets sequence 1, A-01-02-B-01 gets sequence 2, and so on.

When Shipsidekick generates pick Missions, it uses sequence numbers to order the picks, minimizing backtracking and creating efficient pick paths. A well-designed sequence numbering system can reduce pick travel time by 20 to 40 percent compared to random ordering.

If you reorganize your warehouse or change your picking strategy, you can update sequence numbers to match the new layout. The flexibility to modify sequences means your system adapts as your operations evolve.

Product Assignments

Locations can hold one product or many products, depending on your warehouse practices and location size. Shipsidekick tracks which products are stored in each location and maintains accurate quantity information.

For dedicated slotting where each location holds only one SKU, you might assign a specific product to a location. For shared locations where multiple products coexist, such as in bin storage or mixed pallet locations, multiple product assignments are supported.

The system maintains a detailed record of what's in every location, enabling precise inventory tracking and quick location lookups when you need to find where a specific product is stored.

Creating an Efficient Location System

Setting up locations in Shipsidekick is straightforward, but thinking through your location strategy before creating hundreds of location records saves significant time and rework.

Plan Your Location Structure

Before creating locations in Shipsidekick, map your physical warehouse. Document aisles, racks, shelves, and zones. Decide on your naming convention following best practices like zone-aisle-bay-level-bin formatting.

Determine which areas will use bin locations versus general locations. Small item storage typically benefits from bin locations, while pallet storage uses general locations. Identify how many tote locations you need based on simultaneous picking operations.

Plan your zone structure considering how you'll use zones operationally. Will you pick by zone? Store different customers in different zones? Group product categories by zone? Your zone strategy affects how you assign locations to zones.

Assign Sequence Numbers Strategically

Walk through your warehouse following your typical picking path. As you move through aisles and locations, note the order you'd want pickers to visit locations. This physical walkthrough informs your sequence numbering.

Start with location sequence 1 at the beginning of the pick path, typically near receiving or packing stations. Increment sequence numbers as you move through the warehouse, following the most efficient route.

Consider creating sequence number blocks for different zones. Zone A might use sequences 1000-1999, Zone B uses 2000-2999, and so on. This blocking allows you to insert new locations within a zone without renumbering everything.

Configure Sellable and Pickable Status

For most active picking locations, both sellable and pickable should be enabled. These locations contain products available for sale and are included in picking routes.

For bulk storage or reserve locations, enable sellable but disable pickable. This configuration makes inventory available for orders but directs pickers to forward pick locations instead.

For quarantine, damaged goods, or quality control areas, disable sellable but you might keep pickable enabled if you need to retrieve items from these locations for returns or special handling.

Generate and Apply Barcode Labels

Once locations are created in Shipsidekick, generate barcode labels for each location. Print these labels on durable material that withstands warehouse conditions. Thermal transfer labels on synthetic material work well for longevity.

Affix barcode labels to physical locations at a consistent height and position. If labels are always in the same spot, workers scan faster because they know exactly where to look.

Use large, clear fonts on labels. Include the human-readable location name below the barcode so workers can verify they're at the correct location even without scanning.

Managing Inventory Across Locations

Shipsidekick's location system enables precise inventory tracking with location-level accuracy. You always know not just how many units you have, but exactly where each unit is stored.

Location-Level Inventory Visibility

View inventory by location to see what's stored in any specific spot. This visibility helps with space planning, picking optimization, and troubleshooting when physical counts don't match system records.

Search for a product and see all locations where it's stored along with quantities in each location. This multi-location view is essential for products stored in multiple spots, showing primary pick locations and bulk storage quantities.

Moving Inventory Between Locations

As you optimize slotting or replenish forward pick locations, you'll move inventory between locations. Shipsidekick tracks these movements, maintaining accurate location-level records.

Use the mobile app to scan the source location, the product being moved, and the destination location. This three-scan verification ensures inventory movements are recorded accurately without manual data entry errors.

Location transfers update inventory quantities in real-time, so pick lists and inventory reports always reflect current location information.

Replenishment Triggers

Configure replenishment rules based on location quantities. When a forward pick location depletes to a minimum threshold, Shipsidekick can generate replenishment tasks to move inventory from bulk storage.

This automated replenishment ensures pick locations stay stocked without manual monitoring. Workers receive replenishment tasks as Missions, just like picking tasks, creating a unified workflow for all warehouse activities.

Optimizing Pick Routes with Locations

The combination of location sequence numbers and Shipsidekick's Mission system creates optimized pick routes that minimize travel time and improve productivity.

How Pick Route Optimization Works

When creating a pick Mission, Shipsidekick looks at all items that need to be picked and identifies which locations contain those items. It then orders the picks based on location sequence numbers, creating a route that flows logically through the warehouse.

The picker sees locations in sequence order, so they move through the warehouse without backtracking. First location A-01-01-B-01 (sequence 100), then A-01-05-B-01 (sequence 104), then A-02-03-C-01 (sequence 208), following the ascending sequence numbers.

This optimization happens automatically with no manual route planning required. The system does the thinking, and pickers simply follow the guided path on their mobile device.

Zone-Based Picking Routes

If you use zone picking where different workers pick from different zones, Shipsidekick can generate zone-specific Missions. Each picker gets items only from their assigned zone, and sequence numbers control the route within that zone.

Zone picking works well for large warehouses where sending a single picker through the entire facility is inefficient. Multiple pickers work simultaneously in different zones, then totes consolidate at the packing station.

Batch Picking Optimization

For batch picking where multiple orders are picked in a single pass, Shipsidekick creates a consolidated pick list ordered by location sequence. The picker visits each location once, picks all items needed from that location for all orders in the batch, and moves to the next location.

This batch optimization multiplies the efficiency gains from good sequence numbering. Instead of making three trips through the warehouse for three orders, you make one trip picking for all three simultaneously.

Best Practices for Location Management

Maintain Location Accuracy

Your location system is only valuable if it's accurate. When inventory is in location A-12-05-C-01 according to the system but physically sits in A-15-02-B-03, chaos ensues.

Enforce scan verification for all inventory movements. Don't allow team members to move inventory without scanning source and destination locations. These scans maintain the system accuracy that makes everything else work.

Conduct regular cycle counts to verify location accuracy. If discrepancies appear, investigate root causes. Are workers putting inventory in wrong locations? Are locations poorly labeled? Fix systemic issues rather than just correcting individual errors.

Keep Location Master Data Updated

As your warehouse changes, update locations in Shipsidekick. If you add new racking, create new locations immediately. If you renumber aisles, update location names and sequence numbers to match.

Don't let physical reality diverge from system configuration. This divergence creates confusion and errors that compound over time.

Use Descriptive Zone Names

Zone names should clearly indicate what the zone represents. "Zone A" is less helpful than "Apparel Pick Zone" or "Bulk Storage West". Descriptive names help workers understand where they're going and make reporting more meaningful.

Review Sequence Numbers Periodically

As you optimize slotting and warehouse layout, review sequence numbers to ensure they still represent the most efficient pick path. A sequence that made sense two years ago might not match current operations.

Walking a pick route occasionally and checking if sequence numbers flow logically helps identify opportunities for resequencing. Update sequences when you notice obvious inefficiencies in pick paths.

Document Location Conventions

Create documentation explaining your location naming convention, zone assignments, and how sequence numbers are structured. This documentation is essential for onboarding new team members and maintaining consistency as your operation grows.

Include examples showing how to interpret location codes and how to determine the correct location when receiving or putting away new inventory. Clear documentation prevents location errors that undermine inventory accuracy.

Common Location Management Mistakes

Don't create locations haphazardly without a consistent naming convention. Inconsistent naming makes locations hard to find and creates confusion about warehouse organization.

Avoid reusing location names after removing locations. Once a location identifier is used, it should remain unique permanently. Reusing names can create historical data confusion and reporting errors.

Don't neglect to assign sequence numbers thinking you'll add them later. Sequence numbers are critical for pick route optimization and should be part of initial location setup.

Never allow inventory to exist without a location assignment. Every unit of inventory should be in a specific location at all times. "Somewhere in the warehouse" isn't a location.

Don't create unnecessary locations. While granularity is good, creating individual bin locations where a single general location would suffice adds complexity without benefit. Match location granularity to actual operational needs.

The Bottom Line

Shipsidekick's location management system provides the foundation for organized, efficient warehouse operations. By supporting multiple warehouses, different location types, and configurable attributes like sequence numbers and sellable status, the system adapts to your specific operational needs. Well-designed locations with logical naming, strategic sequence numbering, and accurate real-time tracking enable optimized pick routes, precise inventory visibility, and scalable operations. Taking time to plan your location structure before implementation and maintaining location accuracy through disciplined scanning practices ensures your location system remains a powerful asset that improves efficiency rather than creating administrative burden. When locations are managed properly in Shipsidekick, you always know where your inventory is and how to get to it most efficiently.