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Wave Templates

A wave is a group of orders that is released to the pickers together. A wave template is a saved recipe for building waves: which orders belong in it (owner, order type, carrier, zones …), how big a wave may be, and what happens if a pick face is empty. On the Waves screen you choose a template, preview the plan and release it.

Where: Master Data → Wave Templates

From orders to a wave​

Waves are released by a person on Outbound → Waves: choose the template, look at the plan preview, then release. Orders that do not match the template are held back with the reason.

The list​

Wave Templates
Wave Templates
  1. New Template — create a template.
  2. Owner — whose orders it takes (Shared = any owner).
  3. Release — the release mode the template is designed for: Manual, Scheduled, Cutoff-driven or Auto-threshold (see the note below).
  4. Pick method — how the work is meant to be picked: Single-order, Batch, Cluster, Zone, Wave, Discrete or Pick-and-pass. It is recorded on every wave released with the template.
  5. Replen — what to do when a pick face does not have enough stock:
    • block — hold the order back until the pick face is replenished;
    • partial — release the order and create a replenishment task;
    • short — release the order without a replenishment task.
  6. Cap (orders) — the maximum number of orders in one wave.
  7. View, Edit and ⋯.

Look inside a template​

Click a template to open it.

A wave template — Selection
A wave template — Selection
  1. Selection — which orders the template takes.
  2. Grouping & Caps — how orders are grouped (e.g. by route, then ship date) and the limits per wave: orders, lines, units, weight, volume, plus pickers and pick rate for balancing the work.
  3. Triggers & Replen — the release mode and the replenishment rule.
  4. Simulate wave — try the template on live orders (next section).
  5. Order selection filter — order types, channels, priorities, carriers / service, owner, ship-date window, zones, order size, allocation state, maximum weight.
  6. Edit — change the template. Every change creates a new version (v6); History shows them all.
Release modes

The Scheduled (with a cron time), Cutoff-driven and Auto-threshold settings are used by the wave simulator to show when a wave would be due. PrismaWMS does not yet release waves automatically — someone releases them on the Waves screen.

Simulate a wave​

Simulate wave runs the planner over the live open orders of the template's warehouse. Nothing is released.

Simulate wave on live orders
Simulate wave on live orders
  1. Simulate wave tab.
  2. Order pool — how many open / allocated orders exist in the warehouse right now.
  3. Results — orders that are eligible, how many waves the planner would create, how many orders are held back, and how many replenishment tasks would be raised.
  4. Explanation — here 4 of 4 orders filtered out by selection criteria: none of today's orders match this template (for example a different order type or carrier).
  5. Pipeline — the steps the planner ran, the pickers and pick rate used, and the latest release time (release-by) before each carrier's pickup.
No eligible orders?

Open Selection and compare it with your real orders. The most common reasons are an order type or channel that is not ticked, a carrier / service that differs, or a ship date outside the window.

Good to know​

  • Only Active templates can be used to plan and release waves.
  • A wave can also be released without a template on the Waves screen (a manual wave).
  • A template can belong to one warehouse or cover several. Duplicate (⋯ menu) copies one to start a similar template.