How to use routes and pull or push rules to supply a location

A route is the path goods follow between locations, and it is built from rules. A pull rule creates a transfer when a location needs goods; a push rule creates a transfer when goods arrive in a location. Viindoo creates the routes of each warehouse for you. Read them in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouse Management ‣ Routes, and use Resupply From on a warehouse to let it pull goods from another warehouse.

Who	Users with the Inventory Administrator access right.
App	Inventory ‣ Configuration

Before you start

• Install the Inventory app.

• Turn on Multi-Step Routes in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings. It also turns on Storage Locations and shows the Routes and Rules menus.

• If you also install the Sales and Purchase apps, rules with the action Buy create requests for quotation, and the route can be chosen on sales order lines.

What are pull rules, push rules and routes?

Pull rule

When a location needs goods, Viindoo looks for a pull rule that supplies it and creates a transfer from the rule’s source location to that location. If the source cannot supply the goods, the rules of the source location apply in turn, until the goods are available.

Example: a customer orders a product. The customer location needs it, and a pull rule takes it from the stock location of the warehouse.

Push rule

When goods arrive in a location, Viindoo looks for a push rule on it and creates a transfer to the rule’s destination location.

Example: in the three-step receipt flow, goods that arrive in the input location are pushed to the quality control location, then to the stock location.

Route

A group of rules that Viindoo can apply to a product, a product category, a warehouse or an order line. Warehouses come with routes such as Receive in 2 steps (input + stock) or Deliver in 1 step (ship).

How do I read the rules of a route?

1. Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouse Management ‣ Routes. The list shows the routes of every warehouse.

2. Open a route, for example Deliver in 2 steps (pick + ship) of a warehouse. Its Rules tab lists the rules with their action and locations. Tick Product Categories, Products, Packagings or Warehouses under Applicable On to choose where the route can be used.

3. Open a rule from the route, or go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouse Management ‣ Rules, to see its details.

Field	Effect	If wrong or empty
Action	Pull From, Push To or Pull & Push: when Viindoo applies the rule.	The rule never creates the transfer you expect.
Operation Type	The type of transfer created, for example Receipts, Delivery Orders, Internal Transfers, Pick.	The transfer gets the wrong sequence and default locations.
Source Location and Destination Location	Where the goods come from and go to.	Viindoo reserves goods from the wrong place.
Supply Method (pull rules)	Take From Stock takes goods only if the source has them. Trigger Another Rule does not check the stock and applies the next rule. Take From Stock, if unavailable, Trigger Another Rule tries the stock first.	Goods are not supplied from the place you expect.
Route (Applicability)	The route the rule belongs to.	The rule is never used.

How do I resupply a warehouse from another warehouse?

This example uses a pull rule and only needs Inventory. The warehouse Kho Hà Nội is resupplied from Kho Bình Dương.

1. Open the receiving warehouse in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouse Management ‣ Warehouses. On the Warehouse Configuration tab, tick the supplying warehouse under Resupply From and click Save. Viindoo creates the route Supply Product from … with two pull rules through the inter-warehouse transit location.

2. Open a product that the supplying warehouse has in stock and click Replenish. Choose the receiving Warehouse, the Quantity and, as Preferred Route, the route Supply Product from …, then click Confirm.

3. Go to Inventory ‣ Overview. Viindoo has created a Delivery Orders transfer in the supplying warehouse (Ready) and a Receipts transfer in the receiving warehouse (Waiting Another Operation). Validate the delivery order, then the receipt.

You should now see the receipt Done and the goods in the stock of the receiving warehouse.

Common errors

Message	What to do
No rule has been found to replenish “…” in “…”. Verify the routes configuration on the product.	No pull rule supplies the location. Tick a route on the product, or choose a Preferred Route that supplies it.
Rule … belongs to … while the route belongs to …	The rule and its route belong to different companies. Use the same company on both.

Next steps

• How to move goods between warehouses with an internal transfer

• How to organize cross-docking in a warehouse

• How to configure putaway rules in a warehouse

• How to choose which goods leave first with removal strategies