Kanban bin in the Production area is best handled with Put-Pick bins a low Bin Ranking

This is what happens in the video

If you run a production environment with kanban bins in Business Central, you have probably hit a small but annoying problem: the same item can sit on several different bins for different work lines, and when you create a warehouse pick, the system always suggests the bin with the highest ranking. That is usually your normal outbound pick bin, not the kanban bin you actually want to pick from for production.

The good news is that it is doable. By keeping a low bin ranking on your kanban bins, you can pick the right item from the right bin without disturbing your normal sales and outbound flow. This works on directed put-away and pick locations, which is the only location type that uses bin ranking.

The practical answer is to let the system suggest the high-ranked outbound bin by default, and then manually change the bin code on the warehouse pick for the items you use as kanban items. To see all the bins where the item exists, you may need to clear the zone code on the pick line first. Set up your bins so the normal outbound bin always has the highest ranking, and let production change the bin on the inbound side instead of changing anything on the outbound side.

Why kanban bins and bin ranking conflict on warehouse picks

In a production environment using kanban bins, you often have the same item placed on many different bins, one for each work line. That makes picking tricky. When you work in production and need to pull an item for an assembly or production order, you want it from the correct kanban bin, but the system does not automatically know which bin that is.

This is especially relevant when the item is also something you sell. The same item then exists both in your normal outbound pick bins and in your kanban bins, and the warehouse pick has to choose one.

How bin ranking decides which bin the pick suggests

Bin ranking only applies to directed put-away and pick locations. When you create a warehouse pick from a released production order, the system looks at the bins where the item exists and suggests the bin with the highest ranking, which it treats as the fastest bin to pick from.

In a typical setup, that high-ranked bin is your normal outbound pick bin. For example, bin 11.02 in a bulk zone is the bin your warehouse employee would normally pick from for sales orders and other outbound picks. So when you make a warehouse pick for production, the system defaults to that bin instead of your kanban bin.

How to change the bin on a warehouse pick to use a kanban bin

To pick from the kanban bin instead, you change the bin code directly on the warehouse pick. Here is how it works in practice:

• Create the warehouse pick from your released production order and open it.
• The pick line will show the default bin, which is the highest-ranked bin in the zone, for example bin 11.02 in the bulk zone.
• If you look up the bin code at this point, you will only see the bin that was set as default on that zone code.
• To see every bin where the item exists, delete the zone code on the line. Now you can choose from all the bin codes that hold the item.
• Select your kanban bin and pick from there instead.

If you use different zone codes for your kanban bins, you will want to change the zone code on the line as well as the bin code.

Why you should keep the highest ranking on the outbound bin

The reason to set it up this way, with the normal outbound bin as the highest-ranked bin, is about who does the work. It is more common for the production people, or the warehouse people picking into production, to make the bin change on the inbound side than it is for someone to change the bin on the outbound side.

So the sensible default is to let the normal outbound bin keep the highest ranking. Sales orders and outbound picks then run smoothly without any manual change. Production handles the exception by switching to the kanban bin on the warehouse pick.

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