| Front page › Concepts › Pick order sequence | Search |
At the time a branch configuration is created, it is assigned a pick order sequence. This order has an impact on how items are picked for holds at individual branches, and the order can be customized so that items are picked as effectively as possible. By changing the order, the pick lists can be sorted so they suit the branch’s specific workflow.
In order for IMMS to be able to display the items on, e.g., a pick list in an appropriate order, the system must have information on the order that bookshelves, shelves, item groupings, etc. should be subjected to at the branch. Furthermore, the system must know how the items are arranged within the individual item groupings.
An item grouping is distributed over a number of branch locations. Items cannot be directly placed there. Therefore, the system must be able to come up with a reasonable order covering two types of placements at the branch:
The branch’s locations (bookshelves, shelves, etc.) are designed in a hierarchical structure, (see locations), whereas the branch’s various item groupings do not have any particular structure. When a structure and an order are to be defined that cover both item groupings and locations, it makes sense to base these on the location hierarchy.
This gives rise to an alternative hierarchy for the design of a branch: Placement hierarchy. The placement hierarchy is derived from the location hierarchy by removing locations linked to an item grouping and adding the item groupings in their place. Each item grouping is classified under a location and is assigned a place in the hierarchy along with the location’s sub-locations. The item groupings and locations with chaotic storage can then be displayed in an overall hierarchy that covers all of the branch’s locations.
Classification of the item groupings in the placement hierarchy is automatically carried out based on the linked locations. The item groupings are classified as far down in the hierarchy as possible in relation to the linked shelves. However, the linked locations do not need to be “contiguous” in relation to the location hierarchy. For example, an item grouping can be linked to shelves that are classified into different subjects and mixed display shelves can be assigned to the item groupings. See the example below.
This is an excerpt of a fictional branch’s design of locations. The use of each location is indicated in parentheses (locations without parentheses are not directly used for items):
If the locations used for item groupings are replaced by the item groupings themselves, you get a new hierarchy, where each item can be unambiguously classified:
Please note that the item grouping “Crime G-K” in this example was placed on “Bookshelf 7” because the item grouping is spread over both “Subject 11” and “Subject 12”.
The placement hierarchy provides a reasonably clear picture of the branch’s design - incl. an order. The order between various item placements (e.g., that “Shelf 2” comes before “Crime A-F” for Subject 11) can be freely configured in the web client. However, item placements cannot be moved to another overlying placement since the location hierarchy is the underlying governing structure.
The placement hierarchy (tree structure) is used on a daily basis to select a part of the branch for, e.g., pick lists on the mobile client. The order of the item placements will correspond to surveying the placement hierarchy “from top to bottom”.
It is also possible to specify for an item grouping that the number of the definition (see more information under item groupings), that the item matches will control the sorting. In this way, items that match the first definition will be sorted before items that match later definitions. If an item matches multiple definitions in the item grouping, then the number of the first definition that matches is used. If you do not select sorting by definition for the item grouping, then items are sorted without any consideration for which definition an item matches.
In addition, it is possible to specify for an item grouping that sorting should be carried out according to the item’s classification. If, for example, a definition matches items with a classification in the range of 53-54, then items with the classification of 53.6 will be sorted before items with the classification of 53.7.
If you do not select sorting by classification for the item grouping, then items are sorted without any consideration for the classification of an item. Finally, sorting is always performed according to the alphabetization received from the LMS. Since sorting by definition and classification is optional for an individual item grouping, the following options are available for sorting within an item grouping:
Please note that the order of items placed in a location with chaotic storage is undefined. The rationale is that since these locations are sufficiently small, the task of locating items is not unreasonable.
Order outside of the item groupings
Items will always generally be sorted according to the location’s position in the placement hierarchy. For items placed in the same location, the following applies: