This is what happens in the video
On warehouse locations that use directed put-away and pick in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can work with different units of measure and let the system create break bulk lines automatically. Break bulk happens when you don’t have enough of the small unit in stock, but you have a larger unit that can be split. For example, you can pick a box of 84 pieces, split it, return 80 pieces to the bin, and move the 4 pieces you need to the shipment bin.
The warehouse pick guides the employee through this split step by step. The first lines tell the worker to pick the box and place the surplus back, and the final line moves the required pieces to the shipment bin.
You control whether break bulk is allowed through a setting on the location card.
Working with units of measure on directed put-away and pick locations
When a location has the directed put-away and pick checkmark enabled, you can work with different unit of measure codes. This is what makes it possible to create break bulks in the warehouse activities.
The idea is simple. If a customer orders a small quantity in pieces, but you only have the goods stored as boxes, the warehouse needs to break a box open to pick the right number of pieces. Business Central handles this directly in the warehouse pick.
An example of break bulk in a warehouse pick
Take a warehouse shipment prepared on the location WMS Center. The shipment is set to ship four pieces, with the unit of measure code set to pieces.
When you create a warehouse pick activity from the shipment and open it, the pick has four lines instead of the two you might expect:
- The first line says to pick one box on bin code 107.
- The next line says to place 80 pieces on the same bin.
- The final line says to take four pieces and put them in the shipment bin.
The first two lines are a consequence of not having enough loose pieces in inventory, but having a box that can be split. The warehouse pick tells the employee to split the box, leave the 80 pieces behind, and pick the four pieces that the shipment needs.
Controlling whether break bulk is allowed
You decide whether break bulks are allowed on each location. The setting sits on the location card, so you can enable it where it makes sense and turn it off where you don’t want boxes to be split.
Q&A
What is break bulk in Business Central warehouse management?
Break bulk is when the warehouse splits a larger unit of measure, such as a box, into smaller units, such as pieces, to fulfil a pick. It happens when you don’t have enough of the small unit in stock but have a larger unit that can be split.
Why does my warehouse pick create extra lines?
When break bulk occurs, the pick adds lines to guide the split. One line picks the box, another returns the surplus pieces to the bin, and a final line moves the required pieces to the shipment bin. That’s why you may see four lines instead of two.
Where do I enable or disable break bulk?
You set whether break bulks are allowed on the location card. You also need the directed put-away and pick checkmark enabled on the location to work with different units of measure this way.