Order in a large warehouse: how to implement address storage and speed up order picking

When a warehouse contains hundreds or thousands of items, knowing only the quantity of goods is not enough. An employee needs to know exactly where the required item is located. Location-based storage is used for this purpose: each location in the warehouse receives a name or code, while Torgsoft stores the link between the product and its actual physical location.

The additional option «Product Storage Location» allows you to create storage locations, assign barcodes to them, link products to them, and display the location during sales, shipment, and warehouse operations. For full use of the feature, Torgsoft documentation recommends using the mode with multiple storage locations for one product.

This is especially useful for wholesale warehouses, hardware stores, online store warehouses, auto parts stores, and any business where employees cannot physically remember the location of the entire product range.

What is location-based storage

Location-based storage means that the warehouse is divided into clear physical locations, and these locations are represented in the software.

For example, the following location names can be used in a warehouse:

• Rack 01, shelf 03;

• Zone B, row 04, shelf 02;

• Bin C-12;

• Section «Fasteners», rack 07;

• Area 2, row 5.

Torgsoft allows you to create a storage location and specify its name, barcode, and accounting center. Storage locations are configured separately for each accounting center. When multiple storage locations are enabled, the same product can be stored on different shelves or racks.

Employees no longer need to remember where a box was moved a month ago. They find the product in Torgsoft and see its location.

When location-based storage becomes necessary

The additional option becomes useful when searching for products starts taking a noticeable amount of warehouse working time.

Typical signs include:

• one SKU can be stored in several locations;

• the product range occupies many racks or several rooms;

• one employee does not know the location of all products;

• a new warehouse worker needs weeks to memorize the warehouse;

• while picking an order, an employee constantly asks colleagues where a product is located;

• products are regularly moved because of new deliveries;

• the warehouse handles online store orders or wholesale orders containing dozens of items;

• salespeople spend time looking for stock in the warehouse.

For a small store where all products are visible from one workstation, location-based storage may be unnecessary. In a large warehouse, it turns the physical location of goods into part of the inventory data.

First, create a warehouse location system

Before adding storage locations to Torgsoft, it is worth defining a single naming rule.

A poor approach:

• «near the door»;

• «top shelf»;

• «old rack»;

• «behind the boxes»;

• «at Vasyl’s place».

Such names depend on the memory of specific employees and quickly lose their meaning.

It is more practical to use a permanent structure: zone, row, rack, shelf, bin. The warehouse determines the required level of detail.

For example, for a building materials warehouse, it may be sufficient to divide the space into sections, racks, and shelves. A warehouse for small spare parts may require an address down to a specific bin.

The main rule is that each location must clearly identify the physical place for the employee.

How to create storage locations in Torgsoft

After activating the «Product Storage Location» option, the corresponding warehouse mode becomes available in Torgsoft.

The documentation provides two ways to manage storage:

1. one storage location for a product;

2. multiple storage locations.

For a large warehouse, Torgsoft recommends using multiple storage locations. In this mode, a separate location directory, location barcodes, temporary locations, and extended search capabilities are available.

A practical implementation process is as follows:

1. The administrator defines the naming system.

2. Physical warehouse locations are created in Torgsoft.

3. A barcode is generated for each location.

4. Bins, shelves, or racks are labeled.

5. Employees link products to their actual locations.

6. Several areas are checked by test scanning.

7. After verification, location-based inventory management is extended to the entire warehouse.

You do not have to convert the entire large warehouse in one day. You can start with the zone containing the largest number of items or where employees spend the most time searching for products.

Why shelves and bins need their own barcodes

A barcode can be assigned not only to a product. Torgsoft also allows you to create a barcode for a storage location.

This reduces manual location entry.

An employee approaches a rack, scans the location code, and can then work with the products stored in that zone. In Torgsoft mobile mode, you can search for a storage location or product by scanning the corresponding barcode. You can also view available and occupied locations and move products between them.

For labeling racks, it is convenient to use a thermal printer capable of printing sufficiently large labels. For example, Xprinter XP-420B WIFI prints on media up to 108 mm wide, so it can be used both for standard product labels and larger warehouse labels.

For a fixed network connection, there is also the Xprinter XP-420B USB+LAN.

One product can be stored in several locations

This is an important feature for a large warehouse.

For example, part of a popular product may be stored in a fast-picking zone, while the remaining stock of the same item is kept on an upper rack. Or one batch may already be placed on a rack while a new delivery is temporarily stored in the receiving area.

With multiple storage locations enabled, Torgsoft can handle this structure. Employees can see where the product is stored and, when necessary, move it to another storage location.

This allows you to change the physical location of stock without changing the product card itself.

How an employee finds a product

The storage location can be used directly during everyday operations.

In the sales form, the employee selects a product and opens the «Product Storage Location» action. The Alt + G shortcut is available for quick access. Torgsoft displays the product name, accounting center, storage location, and product photo if one has been added to the product card.

This is useful in a hardware store. A customer names the required product, the salesperson finds it in the software and immediately sees which rack it is stored on.

A new employee no longer needs to memorize the locations of several thousand items before starting full-time work. They only need to learn how to find a product in Torgsoft and correctly read the warehouse location system.

How to use storage locations when picking orders

For a wholesale warehouse, the main benefit of location-based storage becomes apparent during order picking.

Torgsoft can display the storage location in documents used by the warehouse worker. The field is available for sales with invoice creation, and the accounting center and product storage location can be added to invoice, delivery note, and warehouse worker receipt templates.

So instead of a list such as:

• screw 4×35 — 20 packs;

• wall plug 8×60 — 10 packs;

• 125 mm cutting disc — 15 pcs.;

• gloves — 30 pairs,

the warehouse worker can receive a document where the storage location is specified next to each item.

This is especially useful for orders containing dozens of items. The employee can see where to go for each product and depends less on colleagues’ memory.

Important clarification about the «route sheet»

For the «Product Storage Location» option, the current documentation confirms that storage locations can be displayed in the invoice, delivery note, and warehouse worker receipt. I did not find a separate automatic route sheet in the documentation for this option that would automatically optimize the order in which warehouse locations should be visited. The term «route sheet» is also used in Torgsoft’s production module for a different process.

Therefore, in this article it is more accurate to refer to picking an order using a document that specifies storage locations.

If Torgsoft introduces separate warehouse picking route optimization in the future, that will represent a different level of functionality.

Scenario for a wholesale warehouse

Imagine a warehouse containing fasteners, power tools, and consumables.

A manager creates a large order. The document may contain several dozen items. The warehouse worker receives a picking document with storage locations.

The employee checks the location of each item, finds the product, and picks the required quantity. If a product has been moved to another shelf, its location is updated in the system.

This provides several benefits:

• a new warehouse worker can start working faster;

• employees do not need to memorize product locations;

• identical or similar products are easier to distinguish;

• the employee sees the actual location while picking;

• product relocation is recorded in the system;

• the warehouse depends less on one experienced employee who «knows where everything is».

Scenario for a hardware store

A hardware store has a different challenge: products are often located both on the sales floor and in a large warehouse.

A customer asks for a specific paint, fastener, power tool, or component. The salesperson finds the item in Torgsoft and checks its storage location.

If the product is on the sales floor, the salesperson immediately sees the required section. If the main stock is stored in the warehouse, the employee sees its warehouse location.

Torgsoft documentation directly cites a hardware store as an example of a business where employees need to see product locations because of the large product range.

Scenario for an online store warehouse

In an online store, the customer does not physically see the product. After an order is placed, the warehouse must find every item and prepare it for shipment.

With a wide product range, the time between placing an order and handing the parcel over for delivery depends significantly on how picking is organized.

Location-based storage gives employees a specific location for each item. If products are frequently moved, the location change is recorded in Torgsoft.

This is especially important for a warehouse that handles both offline store and online orders: both channels work with the same physical stock.

How to organize product movement between bins

Location-based storage works only when changes in physical location are also recorded in the system.

If an employee moves a box from rack A-03 to B-11, the location must also be changed in Torgsoft.

In storage location mode, an employee can select a product and a new location and perform the transfer. Moving products between storage locations is also supported in mobile mode.

A simple internal rule is required here: products must not be moved without updating their location in the system.

Otherwise, after several weeks the software will show the old shelf and employees will once again have to search for products manually.

Permanent and temporary locations

There are situations in a warehouse where a product is temporarily placed outside its main storage location.

For example:

• a new delivery is still being received;

• an order has already been picked and is waiting for shipment;

• the product has been prepared for an internal transfer;

• seasonal boxes are temporarily stored in a separate zone.

When multiple locations are used, Torgsoft supports temporary storage locations, including during internal transfer operations.

This allows you to keep the permanent warehouse structure unchanged when products are moved for a short period.

Which scanners are convenient for a large warehouse

Warehouse employees constantly move between racks, so the cable of a handheld scanner can often limit their working area.

For standard linear barcodes, you can use the wireless Netum W6-X. It works as a wireless 1D scanner and has a barcode storage mode. The model is designed, among other uses, for warehouse environments.

If you also need to scan QR and other 2D codes, consider the Netum C750. It is a compact wireless 2D scanner that can be used for warehouse operations and inventory counting.

When choosing between them, consider the types of codes, operating distance, warehouse conditions, and connection method for the specific workstation.

What equipment is required to get started

For a basic location-based warehouse, you need:

The «Product Storage Location» option is purchased separately. For Torgsoft Start and Torgsoft Ultra, licensing is tied to workstations; for Torgsoft Terminal, the option is licensed for the server. It is best to check the current price directly on the option page.

How to implement location-based storage without stopping warehouse operations

You do not have to reorganize the entire large warehouse in a single shift.

It is more practical to implement the system gradually.

1. Define location rules

Establish the same naming principle for all zones. An employee should be able to understand where to go from the location name.

2. Label one area

Start, for example, with the area containing small items or the most frequently handled products.

Create locations in Torgsoft, print labels, attach them to racks, and test them with a scanner.

3. Link the actual products

An employee walks through the area and specifies in Torgsoft which products are stored in each location.

4. Test the search

Another employee who did not arrange the products receives several items to find and searches for them using only the data in Torgsoft.

This quickly reveals unclear location names, incorrectly attached labels, and product assignment errors.

5. Test picking a real order

Take a regular customer order and check whether the warehouse worker receives enough information to pick it.

If necessary, add the storage location field to the print template.

6. Extend the system to the rest of the warehouse

After checking one section, you can gradually label the others.

This approach allows you to continue receiving and shipping goods during the transition.

A new employee should navigate the warehouse using the system

Location-based storage has a particularly noticeable effect on onboarding new warehouse employees.

Without a location system, a new employee has to remember:

• which products are stored in each section;

• where reserve stock is stored;

• where a new delivery was moved;

• who to ask about a rarely requested item.

After implementation, the main knowledge required is the warehouse workflow: how to find an item, how to read a location, how to scan a storage location, and how to record a product relocation.

The experience of a particular employee still remains important. At the same time, the key information about product locations is stored in the system and is available to other employees.

If the label printer works through RDP

With Torgsoft Terminal, the printer can be physically located in the warehouse while the software itself runs on a remote Windows server.

Windows supports redirecting local printers to an RDP session. If printer redirection is enabled, the local printer should appear inside the remote session. Windows usually identifies such a device as (redirected N). For a redirected printer to work, its driver must operate correctly on the local computer.

If Torgsoft does not print a label through RDP, check the following in order:

1. Whether the printer prints a test label locally without RDP.

2. Whether printer redirection is enabled in the remote connection settings.

3. Whether the printer is visible in Windows inside the server session.

4. Whether this exact printer is selected in the Torgsoft print settings.

5. Whether the label size in the driver matches the actual label roll.

6. Whether the label sensor is calibrated correctly.

Microsoft separately states that redirection can be blocked by Remote Desktop Services policies. Therefore, if the printer works locally but is not available in RDP, the client and server settings need to be checked.

Why the printer prints blank labels or skips labels

This behavior is not necessarily related to Torgsoft.

In Torgsoft technical support practice, blank labels have occurred because of incorrect printer calibration. After calibrating a specific model using its service utility, the problem could disappear.

Therefore, if labels are skipped, check the following separately:

• the actual label size;

• the page size in the driver;

• the media type;

• the gap between labels;

• sensor calibration;

• print orientation;

• local test printing;

• only after that, printing from Torgsoft.

The Torgsoft knowledge base even provides separate troubleshooting scenarios for blank labels, print misalignment, and RDP Redirect issues.

What the manager should monitor after implementation

Location-based storage requires discipline. The software stores the location, but people physically move the boxes.

After implementation, the manager should periodically check:

• whether the storage locations in Torgsoft match the actual physical locations;

• whether there are any products without an assigned location;

• whether employees record product relocations;

• whether new bin names are clear;

• whether labels remain readable after several months;

• whether different locations have confusingly similar names;

• whether warehouse workers use storage locations during picking.

If physical product movements are not recorded, the location system will gradually lose accuracy. Therefore, updating storage locations should be part of the standard warehouse workflow.

Where to start in an operating warehouse

For the first stage, it is enough to choose one problem area of the warehouse where employees most often spend time searching for products.

Create storage locations for it, activate the «Product Storage Location» option, label the racks, link the products, and give another employee several items to find.

If they can find the required products using Torgsoft data without asking a colleague for help, the location structure works. After that, it can be extended to other warehouse areas.