Sales Order Picking/Shipping with Basic WMS in Microsoft Dynamics AX

Editor's Note:  This article is drawn from Scott's recent book Warehouse Management using Microsoft Dynamics AX: 2016 Edition, and its abbreviated version of an Essential Guide for basic warehouse management.  A previous article described the series of Essential Guides. 

Sales order picking/shipping activities often represent some of the most critical warehouse management processes within manufacturing and distribution companies.  Some scenarios only require basic warehouse management capabilities to support simple order-based picking/shipping, while other scenarios require advanced capabilities.  The two options of basic and advanced warehouse management are both supported by the currently available software versions - Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and the new AX.  A previous article focused on the Advanced WMS capabilities for sales order picking/shipping, whereas this article focuses on the Basic WMS capabilities.  The two options involve different conceptual models to support variations in business processes.

For explanatory purposes, it is easiest to start with a simple yet typical business process and explain the related life cycles, reversing transactions, and key constructs.  The basic process provides a baseline for identifying major variations.  These topics are reflected in the following sections within the article.