The three different types
- Central
- Where we receive inventory from our co-mans (and maybe also suppliers), and then either replenish satellite warehouses from or directly fullfill sales channel demand. Those are essentially distribution centres. In case kitting/packing happens here, it can also be tied to a supplier to mark it as it’s production site.
- Example: 3PL locations or your own distribution centers
- Where we receive inventory from our co-mans (and maybe also suppliers), and then either replenish satellite warehouses from or directly fullfill sales channel demand. Those are essentially distribution centres. In case kitting/packing happens here, it can also be tied to a supplier to mark it as it’s production site.
- Satellite
- Warehouses which are not replenished directly from the co-mans, but through a distribution center first. Stock is per default not rebalanced to any other warehouse anymore after it arrives here, but solely used to fullfill sales channels.
- Example: Amazon FBA
- Warehouses which are not replenished directly from the co-mans, but through a distribution center first. Stock is per default not rebalanced to any other warehouse anymore after it arrives here, but solely used to fullfill sales channels.
- Buffer
- In case those are tied to a supplier, they are considered a production site and the supplier is considered a co-man (see Suppliers section). Those are then used to hold FG inventory after production before the goods get shipped to the central warehouses, or to hold component / RM stock before its consumed in a production.
- Example: Say “Johnny M Goods Inc.” is a co-man, then you might also have a “Johnny M Goods Inc.” location in your ERP which we would treat as a buffer and explicitly tie it to the supplier in order for the system to know it’s a co-man
- If not tied to a supplier, those are just considered buffer and if there is stock in those, its auto-allocated via transfer orders to the central warehouses as needed.
- Example: an overstock location
- In case those are tied to a supplier, they are considered a production site and the supplier is considered a co-man (see Suppliers section). Those are then used to hold FG inventory after production before the goods get shipped to the central warehouses, or to hold component / RM stock before its consumed in a production.