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Version: 6.0

Locations (warehouses and zones)

Purpose​

A location is a directory entry that describes where goods are physically stored. The system stores all of them as a single Location entity organized in a parent–child tree of arbitrary depth — there are no separate "warehouse" / "zone" / "bin" classes. The role of a given node is just how your organization decides to use it; typically:

  • top-level nodes represent warehouses;
  • their children represent zones;
  • the leaf nodes represent bins (addressed storage).

Where it is used​

Locations are used in almost all Inventory documents:

  • receipt — where goods are received;
  • shipment — where goods are shipped from;
  • transfer — where goods are moved from and to;
  • scrap — where goods are written off from;
  • adjustment — where inventory counting is performed.

Location structure​

Locations are organized hierarchically via a single Parent field that points to another location. Any node can have children, so the depth is arbitrary; the typical pattern is two or three levels:

  • top level — warehouse;
  • inside — zones;
  • inside zones — bins.

The system also shows a Tree view next to the list view, which is the easiest way to navigate the hierarchy.

Recommendations:

  1. If bin-level storage is not used, it is enough to create locations at the "warehouse" level.
  2. If bin-level storage is used, create zones and bins so that users can conveniently select them in documents.

Optionally, the Prohibit multiple root locations setting can be enabled in Inventory → Configuration → Settings. With this setting on, the system rejects attempts to leave more than one location without a parent — the first (root) location can still be created without a parent, but every subsequent location must be attached to the existing tree.

Other fields on a location​

In addition to Name, ID and Parent, a location has:

  • For internal use — flags purely-internal nodes (for example, transit zones).
  • Archived — hides the location from the default list (the list filter "Active" is on by default).
  • Owner (company) — the company that owns the storage.
  • Address / City / State / Postcode — addressing fields. If they are empty on a child node, the system uses the values inherited from the nearest filled-in parent (canonical address).

Typical rules​

  • When selecting a location in a document, make sure it matches your process (for example, a shipment should not be done from a "receiving zone" if it is disallowed by your procedures).
  • If a document cannot be posted because of a missing location, check that the location in the document header is filled in.
  • A location cannot be deleted while it has child locations.