Warehousing (INVENT)¶
The purpose of this page is to provide product specific tailoring guides for workflows related to Warehousing (INVENT component).
In the workflows mentioned below, it is important that the users configure the Application Events/Custom Events using effective filter conditions to avoid unnecessary execution of the workflows.
Interactive Displays in Warehousing Example Content¶
Interactive Displays Example Scope¶
IFS Cloud, has been enabled on the inside to use Interactive Displays. Included are Interactive Display example integration workflows. These show simple examples to extend on the outside with API calls to 3rd party interactive display hardware.
Use the examples as a starting point, but change them based on the capability of the chosen hardware and the targeted business processes in your facilities.
Below example cases cover a limited scope which can be used as starting points to design your own workflows.
- Update of interactive display label content for Handling Unit & Inventory Location
- Light an LED when an inventory location is locked for counting
- Update of interactive display label content to include a red X over the label when an item is quarantined or expired
- A simple example lighting an LED when a customer order pick number is found in the content label values
Interactive Displays Workflows¶
The events of these workflows are disabled by default upon install.
- Attach & Update Interactive Display on a Handling Unit
- Attach & Update Interactive Display on a Inventory Location
- Detach Interactive Display from Handling Unit or Inventory Location
- Nightly Expiration Interactive Display Update
Interactive Displays Overview¶
Relevant information on labels create many value added benefits. However, the physical tasks associated with labeling inventory locations and handling units are a non-value-added cost. This cost increases as labels are updated when information changes or items are quarantined.
Interactive displays can include information in a format like a paper label but also allow for more frequent automatic updates from the centralized data in IFS Cloud.
Consider the value and cost comparison of labeling below. Interactive displays reduce the non-value-added (cost) activities by automating updates and reusing the displays within the facility.
| Value Added | Non-Value Added |
|---|---|
| Increased situational awareness by automatically updating data to match IFS Cloud | Printing & materials |
| Accurate state of inventory in the location or handling unit that is quarantined by show a red X on the label | Worker movement throughout the facility to attach & relabel |
| Draw attention to locations locked for counting by blinking the attached light |
Linking Interactive Displays using the IoT Device Map¶
The device map is used to link interactive displays with Inventory Locations & Handling Units. Device Ids will be the same for inventory locations & handling units. The LU Name and key ref will be different.
These linkages will be referenced by the workflows.
| Device Id | LU Name | Key Ref |
|---|---|---|
| This will be an alpha numeric value located on the interative display as a barcode. | HandlingUnit | Handling Unit ID |
| This will be an alpha numeric value located on the interative display as a barcode. | InventoryLocation | Combination Key of Contract & Location Number |
Setup Attach and Update Interactive Display on a Handling Unit¶
Steps to follow:
-
[ ] Navigate to workflow id InteractiveDisplaysHandlingUnit
-
[ ] Clone the workflow to a new version
-
[ ] In the script block that includes your 3rd party API variables and modify the variables for the specific 3rd party IT infrastructure setup
RestApiBaseURL APIAuthKey VendorStationCode Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the hardware implementation on the API server -
[ ] Confirm & enable projection actions
Projection Name Entity Set Name Workflow Type Workflow Timing Create Read Update Delete DeviceMapHandling IotObjectConnectionSet Validation After yes no yes no -
[ ] Confirm & enable event actions
Event ID Event LU Name Workflow Type Workflow Timing Event Enable Action Enable Event Type HANDL_UNIT_DISPLAY_INFO_CHANGED HandlingUnit Validation After yes yes APPLICATION
Setup Attach and Update Interactive Display on an Inventory Location¶
Steps to follow:
-
[ ] Navigate to workflow id InteractiveDisplaysInventoryLocation
-
[ ] Clone the workflow to a new version
-
[ ] In the script block that includes your 3rd party API variables and modify the variables for the specific 3rd party IT infrastructure setup
RestApiBaseURL APIAuthKey VendorStationCode Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the hardware implementation on the API server -
[ ] Confirm & enable projection actions
Projection Name Entity Set Name Workflow Type Workflow Timing Create Read Update Delete DeviceMapHandling IotObjectConnectionSet Validation After yes no yes no -
[ ] Confirm & enable event actions
Event ID Event LU Name Workflow Type Workflow Timing Event Enable Action Enable Event Type INVENT_LOC_DISPLAY_INFO_CHANGED InventoryLocation Validation After yes yes APPLICATION
Setup Interactive Displays Detach¶
Steps to follow:
-
[ ] Navigate to workflow id InteractiveDisplaysDetach
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[ ] Clone the workflow to a new version
-
[ ] In the script block that includes your 3rd party API variables and modify the variables for the specific 3rd party IT infrastructure setup
RestApiBaseURL APIAuthKey VendorStationCode Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the hardware implementation on the API server -
[ ] Confirm & enable projection actions
Projection Name Entity Set Name Workflow Type Workflow Timing Create Read Update Delete DeviceMapHandling IotObjectConnectionSet Validation Before no no yes yes
Setup Nightly Scheduled Expiration Label Update¶
Steps to follow:
-
[ ] Navigate to workflow id InteractiveDisplayExpirationLabel
-
[ ] Clone the workflow to a new version
-
[ ] In the script block that includes your 3rd party API variables and modify the variables for the specific 3rd party IT infrastructure setup
RestApiBaseURL APIAuthKey VendorStationCode Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the IT infrastructure Specific to the hardware implementation on the API server -
[ ] This workflow is scheduled with the database scheduler.
- Once per day an entry is made into a scheduler table that will trigger the workflow.
- Special considerations should be taken to determine the exact times & frequencies this workflow should run