“We have more somewhere.”
That sentence can send a picker looking through cartons while an order waits. The stock exists, but its location is useful only to the person who last moved it.
Active inventory and overstock need different jobs—and equally clear addresses.
Active inventory is the stock held in the regular picking location. Overstock is additional stock held for replenishment. In this guide, “overstock” means reserve stock, not necessarily excess or unsellable inventory.
The example arrangement keeps active bins within comfortable reach, with suitable overstock locations on shelves above or below. It is one way to organize the work. Your products, shelf capacity, access, and floor layout may call for another arrangement.
Give The Location An Address
A bin is a labeled location. Its address should remain understandable even when the product assigned to it changes.
The setup guide uses T-07-C as an example:
| Part | Meaning In This Example |
|---|---|
| T | Rack lane or aisle side |
| 07 | Bay position along the rack |
| C | Shelf level within the bay |
Overstock (reserve) · T-07-B
Labeled reserve cartons of the same product, stored within safe load and reach limits.
Replenishment — record the move on both sides
Active picking bin · T-07-C
The location a picker reaches from the recorded address, held at a quantity that suits the product’s movement.
The exact letters matter less than the consistency. Choose a numbering direction and shelf-letter direction, then apply them throughout the area.
Walk the route before producing all the labels. Add rack-end signs where they help someone recognize the correct starting point.
Location labels should be readable and placed consistently. Bin barcodes are not required by this example; a location address and a product barcode serve different purposes.
Keep The Picking Location Easy To Interpret
One product per active bin is the recommended starting point in the source guide. It makes the contents easier to distinguish.
Multiple distinct SKUs can share a bin where that suits the operation. Keep them distinguishable and record the correct location for each. Similar packaging deserves particular attention: proximity should not become an invitation to substitute the wrong variant.
Do not pick a universal active-bin quantity from an illustration. Decide how much belongs there based on the product’s movement, available space, and how the team replenishes it.
Give Overstock An Address Too
“Above the bin” is a useful description until there are several cartons above several bins.
Identify the reserve location in the stock record. Keep matching products near their active locations where safe and practical, while respecting shelf loads and access requirements.
Receiving and replenishment are different steps. A newly delivered carton still awaiting checking or a location assignment should not quietly become available overstock simply because it was placed on a shelf.
Record The Move When The Stock Moves
Replenishment changes how much is in each location, even when total stock stays the same.
Hypothetical example: an active bin holds 12 units. Its labeled overstock location holds 48. The team moves 24 units into the active bin.
| Location | Before | Move | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active bin | 12 | +24 | 36 |
| Overstock | 48 | −24 | 24 |
| Total | 60 | 0 | 60 |
This example assumes no other stock movement during the transfer. Nothing was sold or received: 24 units changed location. Recording only one side creates a discrepancy.
The supplied SaleTrail guide calls for recording replenishment moves in SaleTrail. Whatever records support your operation, the physical location and recorded location should agree.
An empty picking bin needs a next action
The picker reaches the right location. The bin is empty. The product still exists somewhere in reserve stock, but the order now waits while someone works out who should find it.
This is a replenishment problem hiding inside a picking problem. Give the refill work a trigger, an owner, and a visible finish.
Refill before empty becomes urgent
Set the active quantity around consumption between refills, available space, and a realistic response time. The useful question is: how much stock must remain when someone notices the trigger so picking can continue until the refill arrives?
Hypothetical example: a product is being picked at 40 units per hour during the relevant work window. A replenishment response may take 30 minutes.
| Input | Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Picking rate in this window | 40 units per hour | — |
| Replenishment response time | 30 minutes | 20 units could be consumed |
| Buffer chosen by the manager | 10 units | — |
| Trigger quantity | 20 + 10 | Refill when 30 units remain |
Those values are illustrative operating choices, not a recommended rate or buffer for every product. If consumption accelerates or the response takes longer, revisit the trigger. Confirm that sufficient reserve stock and safe active-location capacity actually exist.
Decide the refill quantity separately. “Refill when 30 remain” does not mean “add 30.” The target must fit the location, stock available, and the next work window.
Put One Person’S Name Next To The Job
Assign a replenishment owner and a backup. At higher volume, a dedicated replenishment role may be justified. At lower volume, the job can be part of a broader role, provided time is allocated and priorities are clear.
“Everyone helps” should not mean “nobody knows it is theirs.” Pickers need to know whom they alert, where the request is recorded, and when to escalate an unresolved shortage.
Keep the person’s capacity realistic. If they are assigned a full packing workload, their replenishment time has not disappeared.
Give The Signal An Unambiguous Meaning
A business may use an empty-bin flip as a signal. Use that only where the bin remains stable, the product/location identity stays visible, and the action creates no handling hazard. A refill card or clearly marked status holder can serve the same purpose without moving the bin.
- Refill requested — reserve stock exists and the move is owed.
- No reserve stock available — the shortage is a buying or allocation problem, not a refill.
- Stock discrepancy — check required — the record and the shelf disagree.
Those situations need different actions. An upside-down bin without an agreed meaning leaves the next person guessing.
Keep the signal in place until the location is refilled and the transfer is recorded. Resetting it when someone merely starts looking makes unfinished work disappear.
Move The Record With The Units
Confirm the exact SKU and variant in reserve stock. Check condition or date requirements before refilling. Record the quantity leaving the reserve location and entering the active location, then confirm the new balance.
Do not combine different variants because their containers look similar. When the physical quantity disagrees with the record, use the discrepancy process rather than silently adjusting the transfer to make it fit — see Missing Stock Isn’t Always Theft. Here’s How to Find the Leak.
Specify The Rack Before Choosing The Bin
Descriptions such as “24-inch rack” and “48-inch rack” are incomplete purchasing specifications. They describe the rack, not the bin, and must be tied to a stated width, depth, or height. Record all relevant dimensions, usable shelf space, load ratings, and access requirements before choosing containers or refill quantities.
Keep storage stable and access safe; warehouse storage and handling hazards need to be considered in the actual layout. OSHA warehousing guidance.
Use this: replenishment instruction card
| Field | Instruction |
|---|---|
| Product / variant | Exact identity |
| Active location / reserve location | Addresses |
| Trigger | Quantity or observable signal, with its meaning |
| Refill target | Approved active quantity and physical capacity |
| Owner / backup | Names or roles assigned for the shift |
| Response / escalation | Expected process and who resolves delays |
| Required checks | Variant, condition, date, quantity |
| Close the task | Transfer recorded, new balance checked, signal reset |
Try it on one fast-moving product: watch a complete refill from request to reset. If the picker still has to chase three people, simplify ownership before expanding the system.
Intentionally unbinned is different from unassigned
Some products may not justify a dedicated bin. The source guide describes NO_BIN as a SaleTrail designation for intentionally unbinned items, such as a small quantity stored in a designated shared area.
That should be an intentional, findable arrangement. Newly received stock still waiting for a bin assignment is not automatically NO_BIN.
For a team using another system, the same distinction is useful: temporary unfinished putaway and a deliberate storage method are different situations.
Put it to work: choose one product
Select a product held in both active stock and overstock. Ask someone who did not put it away to find both locations from the records.
Then follow one replenishment movement. Can the next person tell what moved, from where, to where, and how much remains in each location?
If they need to find the person who moved it, improve the record or label before expanding the arrangement.
Active Stock And Overstock Check
- Active and reserve locations have clear addresses.
- Labels use a consistent direction and format.
- Shared-bin SKUs are distinguishable.
- Replenishment has an owner and a recognizable trigger.
- Both sides of a stock transfer are recorded.
- Incoming stock awaiting assignment is distinguishable from usable reserve stock.
- Intentionally unbinned items remain findable.
Next: read How Live Sellers Keep Inventory Under Control for the wider stock process, and Follow the Order: Pick → Scan → Pack to connect locations to fulfillment.