Warehouse Operations

WMS ASN Receiving Process

by: Lincoln E. Bittner

During our discussion of the receiving process I mentioned the receipt of an Automatic Shipping Notice (ASN). Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are set up to receive these ASN’s and provide a way for the receiving clerk to manage them. Not all WMS’s are set up alike, but the following sequence of events depicts the common procedures you will need to follow.

Your receiving clerk can check for ASN receipts on a schedule that you set up. Once an ASN has been received, you can start the Automatic Receipt Data Entry Process that I mentioned before. The receiving clerk enters the BOL number(s) and accepts AutoReceive from the ring menu.

At this point the system determines whether the ASN matches the Auto Data Entry conditions given by management for use with ‘Trusted Vendors.’ If the answer is no, the system displays a warning message. The clerk then acknowledges the discrepancy on the screen and proceeds on to the Full Screen Data Entry process.

If the answer is yes then the WMS automatically provides vendor information in a pop-up window and determines whether the vendor is approved for Auto Data Entry. If the answer is no then the clerk is prompted to follow the Full Screen Data Entry process. If the answer is yes then the WMS automatically completes the data entry process.

At this point the WMS determines whether there are any @ or & location assignments listed in the database for this shipment. If the answer is yes then the PO is reopened and the clerk is prompted to complete the Full Screen Data Entry process. If the answer is no then the WMS determines whether there are labels to print, and whether they can be automatically printed. If the answer is that there are labels to print but they cannot be automatically printed, then the clerk is prompted to print them manually. If they can be printed automatically, then the WMS sends the labels to the printer.

Once the labels are printed, the clerk attaches them to the paperwork generated by the WMS and places the packet in the designated location awaiting the arrival of the trailer.

This procedure is just one example of many possible scenarios that a warehouse or distribution center may use. Depending on the complexity of the center, additional steps may be added, or some of these steps may not be used at all.

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