The concept of system directed putaway was discussed briefly in the article What is a
WMS? This article explains system directed putaway in more detail; what it is and how it
works. The goal of this article is to help the reader understand the concepts and
terminology of system directed putaway.
Locating inventory (putaway) is a key capability of a warehouse management system
(WMS). Putaway is normally thought of as the process of moving received inventory
from the dock, kitting area, or production department to a storage bin. The putaway
process is also used to relocate inventory within the warehouse and to replenish dedicated
storage bins with inventory from a reserve storage bin. Any time inventory is being
placed in a storage bin it is being put away. System directed putaway is when the WMS
chooses the destination storage bin rather than the operator.