The Warehouse Control System (WCS provides an automated method of inventory and robot fleet control.

The WCS is synced with customers Warehouse Management System (WMS) (or similar ordering system) on current and future orders.

The system uses this information to schedule inventory picking, using robots to optimize and complete the required orders.

In addition, the WCS assists in replenishment, cycle count activities, and warehouse optimization, including consolidation of BINs in the warehouse.

The WCS uses two types of robots to perform these activities:

• Lift Robot.
• Cart Robot.

At the start of the day and at the end of it, the operator enters the warehouse to power on/off all robots. Additionally, in some earlier versions, the operator will connect robots to their charging stations and disconnect them.

WCS Modes of Operation:

The WCS has five standard modes of operation:

• Replenishment
• Replenishment is initiated by a warehouse employee who scans new products and places them on the replenishment shelves. Scanning new items can be managed through WMS or alternatively through Caja UI if the customer lacks a WMS. The WCS determines when robots are available for replenishment activities. The replenishment station also performs consolidation of warehouse BINs. This requires transferring products from one BIN to another in order to maintain the desired inventory levels within the BINs.
• Picking
• After receiving orders from the customer source system, the WCS assigns frames in the put wall to an order, and then assigns robots to pull BINs from the warehouse robot area to complete the order.
• Recall
• An SKU that has reached its marketing date will be marked as "expired". Expired items or items that the customer wishes to remove from storage will be called for "Recall". Once the items/related BINs are called for recall, the system will schedule an operation to remove the BIN. In cases where the BIN contains not only items for recall but also available ones, the system will keep prioritizing the available items for completing orders created in the current released orders' wave (based on the setup). The recall will be scheduled based on the set-up parameter set by Caja or manually.
• Recall can also be initiated from Caja UI by user and carried out per account, per SKU(s) or per BIN(s).
• Consolidation
• Consolidation is performed in order to merge several partially filled BINs into one full load. BINs are called for consolidation zones, combined and picked up by robots and stored back into Caja.
  Consolidations are performed in one of the following methods:
• Managed by WMS: consolidation request is received from the WMS.
• Managed by Caja’s system: Caja’s system detects what BINs can be consolidated.
• Manual: operator manually initiates a consolidation procedure in the web UI.
• The robots bring relevant BINs to the consolidation zone.
• When two BINs from the same request arrive in the zone, the screen will display the request, and the light tag will illuminate the source BIN.
• Cycle Count
• A cycle count is conducted to confirm the quantity of stock held in storage. The cycle count can be performed in the picking stations. The BIN content is updated by cycle count, and the WMS is notified upon each cycle count result.
  

Optimization

Storage Optimization is performed by Lift and Cart Robots. BINs are transferred from upper frames (above shelf 2) and from locations far from the Picking Stations to lower frames that are close to the Picking Station. WCS determines when to perform optimization based on the current picking orders in queue and services currently activated. After a BIN is picked, and the Picking Station is cleared, it is moved to a new location. The new frame location for the BIN is sent to the WMS as a reference.