[Tutorial] Work pick line overview

Introduction

Work pick line overview is a feature that is currently in Public preview, and will become generally available in one of the upcoming Dynamics 365 SCM releases.

It provides the flexibility to experienced warehouse workers to change the work picking route on the spot, based on the current situation the system is unaware of. 

For example:

• some of the goods on the order might need to be rushed out the door, to make the delivery truck departure time
• system is not configured to suggest an optimal picking route that takes into account item dimensions, weight, etc.
• worker is inhibited in some way, for example, cannot carry larger items right now, so would like to pick the smaller ones first, and then come back for the larger ones with a forklift, etc.

Using the work pick line overview feature, the worker can get all of the work lines to show up in a list on the mobile device, allowing the worker to order them based on the data displayed. This way, he can quickly choose the work line that he will pick next. 

This is a lot more convenient compared to the existing Skip button functionality, where the worker could skip one line after another until he reaches the one he would like to pick next.

Configuration

As I mentioned, the feature is in Public Preview as of writing this post, so you need to first enable it through the Feature management dashboard, as shown below:

Work pick line overview feature

Enabling the feature adds a new option to the Mobile device menu items of type "Work - use existing work", like shown below. 

Mobile device menu item configuration

The 4 options available for selection in the Show work list list option are described nicely in our article about the feature on docs.microsoft.com:

• Show only upon request – Workers can choose to view the pick line list by selecting the Skip to button in the warehouse app.
• Show at the start of every pick – Workers see the list every time that they start or finish a pick line. They can also view the list again by selecting the Skip to button in the warehouse app.
• Show at the start of the first pick only – Workers see the list every time that they start new picking work, but not after each line. They can also view the list again by selecting the Skip to button in the warehouse app.
• Never show – The standard Skip button appears in the warehouse app, and display of the work line list is turned off. The Skip button lets workers cycle through the lines one at a time, in a fixed order. They can also cycle through the list as many times as they require, until all lines have been processed.

Selecting one of these options also make the Field list configuration button available. In the form that opens the superuser can configure the work list fields that should be visible on the mobile device. 

Note You can configure to display not only table fields, but also display methods, allowing for a much more flexible setup

Work pick line overview field list configuration

Demo

To demonstrate, how the work pick line overview can be used, I've create a small sales order with 4 lines, as shown below:

Sales order lines

Upon releasing this order to the warehouse, the following work order was created:

Work order lines

Using the new Warehouse management app (you can read more about it in my previous post), we can now navigate to this work order, using the newly created mobile device menu item, as shown below:

Work picking flow, step 1

In my example, I have configured not to trigger the pick line overview to appear automatically, meaning that the worker would need to manually select the Skip to button from the ribbon

Select Skip to button in the ribbon

This will bring up the work pick line overview screen, where the worker can see all the work lines in one or more columns, depending on the device form factor. 
All the selected fields and their respective values are shown on the cards, and tapping either of them will take the worker to start performing the pick actions for that work line.

Work pick line overview

To speed up the selection process, especially in cases where many work lines are displayed at the same time, the worker can use the ordering options available above the cards, for example, to show the heaviest items first, as shown below.

The ordering selections will also be preserved for whenever the pick line overview is opened next time, simplifying the picking process further.

Work pick line overview showing heavy item first

Demo recording

If you prefer watching demos with voice-over over reading, please check out the YouTube video I made for this feature:

View on YouTube

Conclusion

As you can hopefully see by now, the Work pick line overview is a powerful feature than can help your business find further cost reductions in the warehouse by allowing more flexibility on the floor.

We love feedback, so don't be shy and let us know if you have issues with the feature, or have further ideas on how this can be improved!

[Ann] Warehouse management app for Dynamics 365 SCM is in Public Preview

The day has come when we are ready for Public preview of the reworked Warehouse management app. 

Summary

The Warehouse Management app is a complete remake, using the “frontline worker” visual style, as seen in Production floor execution and HoloLens Guide. The new design concepts are based on extensive usability studies including a broad worker population. The solution is designed to help workers be more efficient, productive, and better able to complete work accurately.

The new solution provides the following benefits and capabilities:

• Faster task execution
• “Spinner” for fast quantity input
• Buttons easy to hit with gloves
• Clear text on dirty screens
• Buttons in best corner for user’s grip
• Easier ramp-up of temp workers
• Title and illustration per step
• Full-screen photo to verify product
• Solves top user pain points
• Menu hard to use
• Gray text hard to read
• Hard to learn what step means
• Settings sync’ed from FnO
• Instruction per task step, company can edit
• Great foundation for next steps
• Meets WCAG 2.1 accessibility with focus on situational disabilities
• Scales text to 400%
• Scales buttons to 200%
• Scaling to fit any device type
• Based on resulting sizes of elements
• Swaps parts
• Changes layout sequence

Demo

You can watch a quick overview of the new app in below video recording (by Markus Fogelberg, our PM):

Or go in for a more in-depth look at some of the scalability / user configuration features available in the new app (also recorded and voiced over by Markus):

Documentation

Available on Microsoft Docs

Feedback

There's still work to be done to iron out the kinks here and there, but we are proud of what we've been able to build here, and would love to hear your feedback on it, so please don't be shy :)

The best way to reach us for this is through Yammer - if you are not familiar or do not know how to connect, reach out to me in the comments or through other community sites, and I'll set you up!

[Tutorial] Piece by piece receiving process with Advanced Warehouse Management in Dynamics 365 SCM

Introduction

In a recent post (Piece by piece picking process with Advanced Warehouse Management in Dynamics 365 SCM) I described the configuration necessary to allow performing picking in the warehouse by scanning each SKU one by one aka "piece by piece". I suggest you familiarize yourself with this post as I will be re-using the master data setup here. 

In this post, we will be receiving a purchase order with 4 lines, all for DemoShoe product, with similar variants (Size and Color) and quantities, as in the prior example with a sales order. Below you can see the PO lines in full:

Purchase order with 4 lines for DemoShoe

Standard receiving flows like Purchase order item receiving, load item receiving and similar, which receive one purchase order line at a time do not support the piece by piece item entry. 

But there is one mobile device receiving flow that does. It is Mixed License Plate receiving, and below you can see how I have configured it in the application - pretty much a default configuration:

Mixed LP receiving mobile device menu item

Mixed LP receiving is meant for receiving a pallet with mixed items, as described in more detail in our team's blog post. As you can read in the blog post, the initial feature was built with a slightly different purpose, but can be used as well as described in this post.

As before, and very important, we need to configure the bar codes for scanning for all the variants. Exactly the same as in the previous post:

Product variant bar code setup for DemoShoe

Flow

1. We start by scanning in a license plate. This will be the license plate we are going to use for putaway, and as such will be set as the target LP on the created work order.

Enter License Plate

2. As Mixed LP receiving allows receiving items from multiple purchase orders, we then need to enter the PO number we are going to be scanning items from. 

Enter Purchase order number

3. Now we have reached the page where we can start scanning in the barcodes. That's exactly what we are going to do, by scanning in 38White, corresponding to 1 unit of the DemoShoe product variant of size 38 and color White.

Scanning the first product variant

4. After scanning the item we do not see any confirmation, but are presented with the same screen, allowing us to scan the next variant barcode, in this case, 38Black.

Scanning the second product variant

5. At any point in time during the process, we can view the list of items already scanned, change PO number to receiving another purchase order, or complete the scanning for current LP, in our case, when it's full and we want to commence putaway operations. 

LP Complete is what we are going to select below, after having scanned a few more items

Mixed LP receiving - Available actions

6. When completing a license plate, we are first presented with an overview of all the items, and we can still edit the list by adjusting the quantities or removing some of the items from the list. 

(Note. Similar activities can be performed from the web client)

Preview of the scanned items before completing LP

7. When we confirm the list by selecting the checkmark action at the bottom of the page, work will be generated for all the scanned purchase order lines with the respective quantities. This will use the same location directives and work templates as when scanning items in the "standard" way.

Note, that this can take some time, more than it does for a single line receipt, as this will be doing the same action N times, for each PO line we scanned. 

Maybe In future versions of Dynamics 365 SCM we will allow you to configure this process to run "deferred", so that the receiving clerk can move on to the next pallet / purchase order

While the process is running, the app will be blocked and the standard progress icon will display, as shown below:

Progress of creating receiving work

8. Once the process is complete, we will be directed to proceed with scanning the next license plate / purchase order information.

We can review the created work order in the Dynamics 365 SCM web client. 

Nothing unusual here, just a regular work order, as you can see below:

Work order for purchase order

Summary

Now you are familiar with "piece by piece" scanning operations on both inbound and outbound side.

In one of the following blog posts we will review the options available when doing inventory counting operations. 

As for now, let us know if this feature is useful for your business. What's missing? 

Anything else that you would like to see described?

Thanks

[Tool] Display contents of an X++ container from SQL database field

Almost 15 years ago AndyD from AxForum blew me away with a post that was giving a glimpse into how the X++ containers are stored in the database. 

Ever since then I had a TODO for myself to write a blog post explaining this in detail and covering the various types that can be stored, basically allowing to review the contents of the container from DB without writing X++ code.

Luckily, today is the day! As they say, 

A colleague of mine, Maciej Plaza, has written a stored procedure, that shows the contents of a container stored in a database field. 

Some inspiration was taken from the following blog post too: http://abraaxapta.blogspot.com/2011/06/accessing-dynamics-ax-containers-from.html

Here's an example of how you could use this to see the batch task's infolog message contents:

declare @bin as varbinary(max);

select top(1) @bin = info from batch where recid = <recid>

exec ##PRINT_CONTAINER @bin

Here is how the output looks like:

Browsing the X++ container contents in SQL

Here is the stored proc (Also available as a file in OneDrive):

CREATE PROCEDURE ##PRINT_CONTAINER @container VARBINARY(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @pos AS int;
SET @pos = 1;
DECLARE @offset AS int;
DECLARE @indent as int;
set @indent = 0;
declare @result as varchar(max);
IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 2) = 0x07FD
	BEGIN
	set @result = '<container>' + char(13);
	set @indent = @indent + 2;
	SET @pos = @pos + 2;
	WHILE @indent > 0
		BEGIN
			IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x00 --STRING
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<string>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					declare @string as varchar(max);
					set @string = '';
					WHILE SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2) <> 0x0000
						BEGIN
							SET @string = @string + 
								CHAR(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2)) AS binary(2)))
							SET @offset = @offset + 2;
						END
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset + 2;
					set @result = @result + @string + '</string>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x01 --INT
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<int>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @int as int;
					SET @int = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) AS binary(4)) as int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 4;
					set @result = @result + cast(@int as varchar(max)) + '</int>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x02 --REAL
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<real>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @temp as binary(8);
					SET @temp = CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 8)) AS binary(8));
					DECLARE @val bigint;
					SET @val = 0;
					DECLARE @dec AS int;
					SET @offset = 1;
					WHILE (@offset <= 8)
						BEGIN
							SET @val = (@val * 100) +
								(CAST(SUBSTRING(@temp, @offset, 1) AS int) / 0x10 * 10) +
								(CAST(SUBSTRING(@temp, @offset, 1) AS int) % 0x10);
							SET @offset = @offset + 1;
						END
					WHILE @val <> 0 AND @val % 10 = 0
						SET @val = @val / 10;
					SET @dec = (CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int) + 0x80) % 0x100;
					declare @real as real;
					SET @real = CAST(@val AS real);
					WHILE @dec >= LEN(CAST(@val AS varchar)) + 0x80
						BEGIN
							SET @real = CAST(@real AS real) * 10.0;
							SET @dec = @dec - 1;
						END
					SET @dec = (CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int) + 0x80) % 0x100 + 1;
					WHILE @dec < LEN(CAST(@val AS varchar)) + 0x80
						BEGIN
							SET @real = CAST(@real AS real) / 10.0;
							SET @dec = @dec + 1;
						END
					IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) = 0x80
						SET @real = 0 - CAST(@real AS real);
					SET @pos = @pos + 10;
					set @result = @result + @real + '</real>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x03 --DATE
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<date>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @year char(4);
					DECLARE @month char(2);
					DECLARE @day char(2);
					SET @year = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) + 1900;
					SET @month = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) + 1;
					SET @day = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 1) + 1;
					IF LEN(@month) < 2
						SET @month = '0' + @month;
					IF LEN(@day) < 2
						SET @day = '0' + @day;
					declare @date as date;
					SET @date = CAST(@year + '-' + @month + '-' + @day AS date);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @result = @result + convert(varchar(max), @date) + '</date>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x04 --ENUM
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<enum>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @enum as int;
					SET @enum = CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @result = @result + @enum + '</enum>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x06 --DATETIME
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<datetime>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @year2 char(4);
					DECLARE @month2 char(2);
					DECLARE @day2 char(2);
					DECLARE @hour char(2);
					DECLARE @min char(2);
					DECLARE @sec char(2);
					SET @year2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) + 1900;
					SET @month2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) + 1;
					SET @day2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 1) + 1;
					SET @hour = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 3, 1) + 0;
					SET @min = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 4, 1) + 0;
					SET @sec = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 5, 1) + 0;
					IF LEN(@month2) < 2
						SET @month2 = '0' + @month2;
					IF LEN(@day2) < 2
						SET @day2 = '0' + @day2;
					IF LEN(@hour) < 2
						SET @hour = '0' + @hour;
					IF LEN(@min) < 2
						SET @min = '0' + @min;
					IF LEN(@sec) < 2
						SET @sec = '0' + @sec;
					declare @datetime as datetime;
					SET @datetime = CAST(@year2 + '-' + @month2 + '-' + @day2 + ' ' + @hour + ':' + @min + ':' + @sec AS datetime);
					SET @pos = @pos + 12;
					set @result = @result + @datetime + '</datetime>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x07 --CONTAINER
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<container>' + char(13);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @indent = @indent + 2;
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0xFF --CONTAINER END
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					set @indent = @indent - 2;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '</container>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x2D --GUID
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					declare @guid as uniqueidentifier
					SET @guid = CAST(CAST(
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 4, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 8, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 12, 4)
					) AS binary(16))AS uniqueidentifier);
					SET @pos = @pos + 16;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<guid>' + cast(@guid as varchar(80)) + '</guid>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x30 --BLOB
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) AS binary(4)) AS int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 4;
					declare @blob as varbinary(max);
					SET @blob = CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, @offset) AS varbinary(max));
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<blob>' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(max), @blob, 2) + '</blob>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x31 --INT64
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @bigint as bigint;
					SET @bigint = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 8)) AS binary(8)) AS bigint);
					SET @pos = @pos + 8;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<int64>' + cast(@bigint as varchar(max)) + '</int64>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0xFC --ENUMLABEL
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @value int;
					DECLARE @name varchar(40);
					SET @value = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1);
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					SET @name = '';
					WHILE SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2) <> 0x0000
						BEGIN
							SET @name = CAST(@name AS varchar(40)) + 
								CHAR(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2)) AS binary(2)))
							SET @offset = @offset + 2;
						END
					declare @enumlabel as varchar(max);
					SET @enumlabel = CAST(@name + ':' + CAST(@value as varchar(3)) as varchar(44));
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset + 2;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<enumlabel>' + @enumlabel + '</enumlabel>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE
			begin
			declare @errormsg varchar(max);
			set @errormsg = 'Unexpected type ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(1000), SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1), 2);
			throw 50000, @errormsg, 1;
			end
		END
	END
print @result
END

Hope this helps!

[Tutorial] Piece by piece picking process with Advanced Warehouse Management in Dynamics 365 SCM

Introduction

We are often asked - is it possible to configure the system to require the workers on the floor to scan each item they are picking, to ensure a more accurate picking operation where multiple same/similar items need to be picked. This is, for example, very common in the Retail industry, or in smaller distribution centers dealing with apparel or footwear. In this blog post I will demonstrate exactly that, so read on.

Let's quickly go over the setup required.

Setup

In this walkthrough, I will be picking a single sales order (This works just as well for Transfer orders), which has 4 sales lines, each for a different quantity of a product variant varying by size and color. For this example, I've chosen to use a product, which represents a box of shoes. Here is how the order looks:

Sales order with 4 lines

DemoShoe is a product master with Size and Color product dimensions, which has the different product variants defined, and is configured to use Advanced warehouse management.

It has sufficient inventory, some in BULK locations, and some in FLOOR locations. The only difference for this example is whether or not the locations are license plate controlled, and does not have any impact on the core scenario.

On-hand availability for DemoShoe

Now, the important bit - since we plan to be scanning in the products one by one, we need to properly define the bar codes for the different product variants. This is shown below:

Product variant bar code setup for DemoShoe

Obviously, you want to define a different bar code for each product variant.

You also need to set the Quantity/Unit pair according to the picking process - in our case, since we want to be picking one box of shoes with each scan, it will be 1 ea. 

And, very important, you need to enable this bar code for scanning, so that it'll get used when we scan in the value on the mobile device. 

Note. The Scanning field is usually shown on the General tab, I've personalized the page to show it in the grid just for convenience of the screenshot.

After we release the sales order to warehouse (the configuration for this is not relevant for the demo), we get the following work order generated.

Work order for DemoShoes

For processing this work, we will use a standard User directed mobile device menu item. It is configured to generate the target license plate, but that's irrelevant for the demo. 

Mobile device menu item for sales order picking

What is important however is to configure the work confirmation for this menu item, enabling the Piece picking option, as shown below.

Here, I have specified that a maximum of 4 piece picking scans will be required, but if I need to pick more, I can just enter the remaining quantity in full instead. 

I have also enabled location confirmation, and product confirmation is enabled automatically with piece picking (the product confirmation field is the one used to scan in each product variant bar code).

Work confirmation for Pick operation

Flow

1. We start by scanning in the ID of the work order

1. Work ID

2. We are asked to pick the first work line, and start by confirming we have indeed reached the needed location, FL-015

2. Location confirmation

3. As FL-015 is a License plate tracked location, we need to scan in the license plate we are picking from, in this case, LP_Demo_01

3. License plate scan

4. Now is when we reach the product confirmation screen, and where the magic starts. 

We scan in the bar code for the correct variant, 38 Black

4. Picking first shoe box

5. We are brought back to the same screen again, asking us to scan in the product. 

However, if we go to the details tab, we can see something has changed. 

We have now 1 of 2.00 confirmed

That means our input was in fact registered, and we just need to keep scanning the next variant of the 2 required.

5. Piece picking in action - qty confirmed

6. We scan in the second box of 38 Black shoes, and are directed to specify the Target LP we are going to move the items on. In this case, it's automatically generated based on menu item setup, so we just confirm.

6. Target LP

Now, you might have noticed, that the data shown on the main screen wasn't super helpful for us, as we did not immediately at a glance see how many items we have already scan-confirmed. Maybe not an issue, but for the purpose of the demo, let's adjust it, so that the piece picking quantity confirmation is more prominent. 

We can do this by modifying the display priority of the corresponding fields in the Warehouse app field priority form. An example is shown below

Mobile app field priority higher for piece pick qty

I have kept the item description and product dimensions high enough to help visually confirm the size and color of the product being picked.

7. With that out of the way, let's re-enter the picking flow and observe the updated main screen information, when picking the second work line. I've skipped location and license plate confirmation screens

7. New visual for piece picking

8. Now we've reached picking from a non license plate tracked BULK location. The process is exactly the same, minus the scan of the license plate to pick from.

8. Piece picking from a BULK location

9. You might have noticed that the last work line was for a total quantity of 5 pairs of 41 White shoes. 

This exceeds the maximum set during work confirmation, meaning that I am redirected to a different screen after scanning 4 pairs, where I need to enter the remaining quantity using a standard quantity field instead.

Now, 4 is an arbitrary number I set as maximum for this demo. In reality, most will probably have this higher, only to account for certain really larger volume picks.

9. Remaining picking quantity exceeding max piece picking qty

10. Once the remaining quantity is entered (in our case it was just 1 remaining item), all the picks are complete, and we are directed to do the Put of all 10 pairs of shoes we picked.

10. Put to Baydoor

Note that at any point in time in the process, we could switch to the Details tab and manually enter the picking quantity by selecting the little edit icon next to Qty

This is in a way a back door, so I do not recommend that you use it, but thought I would mention it, also to get feedback on how useful this is, and if that's something your company uses on a frequent basis.

Backdoor - Edit Qty field

Summary

That's it. Now you're a master of piece by piece picking in shipping operations when Advanced Warehouse management is used. 

Does this functionality meet the mark? Let us know how you use it and if anything is missing!

In the next post we'll discuss what options are available for piece by piece scans in the receiving warehouse process.