The Free-up bins feature helps you clear space in your Pio grid for new inventory or seasonal changes. It identifies bins with a low fill rate and a high number of days to empty.
You can add tasks in the app with the bin layout you need to free up, and the robots will prepare them automatically.
By removing the products from bins with a low fill rate, these bins & compartments will be available for storing new items.
The products removed from bins can be stored back into the grid in smaller compartments or added to shelf locations. It is important to always add these products to a new location in Pio as soon as possible, so they will continue to be available in the Pio inventory.
The Free up bins feature helps you keep your warehouse organized, responsive, and ready for what’s next.
Bin overview
For a full overview of the number of bin layouts and available compartments, select the 'Overview' button in the top menu.
Add a new free-up task
Navigate to Housekeeping > Configure bins > Free up bins.
Select '+ Create new task' to get started, and choose the desired bin layout. The bin layout overview informs how many compartments are currently not in use:
Select 'Next' to view a list of products in bin compartments with low fill rate. Each product is listed with the following details:
- QTY: the quantity available in the specific compartment
- Fill rate: the calculated fill rate, based on the maximum quantity stored it this specific bin layout
- DTE: Days to empty. Estimated based on orders placed the last months.
The list will show the 100 most recommended products to move from bin compartments with a low fill rate.
Click 'Create task' when you have selected the products to clean up.
You can add multiple tasks for the different bin layouts. It is recommended to keep the number of bins per task to a minimum. If you need to free up 100 compartments in 2-split bins, this can also be added as two or more tasks.
Sorting options
The products are by default sorted by 'Recommended'. 'Recommended' is based on a combination of the fill rate of the compartment and the 'Days to empty' value.
If the fill rate is very low, but the 'Days to empty' is in a few days, the product will not be recommended to spend time on free up, as it will probably be sold out in a short time.
The available sort options are:
- Fill rate (high / low)
- Days to empty (high / low)
- Quantity (high / low)
Prepare the bins for picking
As soon as the new free-up task is created, it is sent to the system task queue. Depending on the workload already in the system, the robots will start preparing the bins.
The added tasks are listed in the Free up bins overview.
Depending on the number of bins added to the task, the system may need some time to prepare the bins for picking. Notice the 'Avg. dig depth' for the task. This is an indication of how much digging is required. If the dig depth is high, then the wait time for bins to be presented in the port can be longer.
Normally, the bins with a low fill rate and a high turnover/ days to empty will sink deeper into the grid, and leave the upper levels for the bins with highrunners. Thus, it is advised to leave the system for a while to prepare the bins for the free-up task before starting picking.
Start picking free-up tasks
Select the 'Start' button to begin picking, and follow the instructions on the screen:
A progress bar is available in the header, showing how "1 of 3" bins have been freed up in this example. Hit 'Next' to continue.
Skip this product
When running a free-up task, you may get a bin presented in the Port that can be left as is. Use the skip-button located at the top of the page to skip this bin. A message will ask you to confirm to skip the compartment.
This will close the bin and move to the next in the queue.