First-Time Setup
Chapter 1 — Base Configuration

Customizing your inventory

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LESSON INFO

Audience

  • Facility admins
  • Operations supervisors
  • Implementation team members supporting go-live and change control

Prerequisites

  • You can log in to Themis-Trace.
  • You have permissions to maintain facility and inventory configuration.

Skills you’ll build

  • You can configure inventory locations.
  • You can validate that locations behave correctly in downstream workflows.
  • You can set up the minimum tag-printing capability needed for scanning.

LESSON OUTLINE

Concept

Configuring Inventory Locations gives users the ability to:

  • Establish consistent item identity.
  • Ensure item locations in Themis-Trace match their facility’s physical layout.
  • Ensure operators can scan and resolve locations reliably.

Inventory Locations can either be Structured or Unstructured.

  • Structured locations:
    • Structured locations represent a physical storage layout using a consistent hierarchy of fields (commonly Bay → Row → Position → Level).
    • Use structured locations when you need precise, repeatable, and scalable identifiers (for example, when many unique storage “slots” exist).
    • A structured location describes where something is in a way that can be validated and scanned consistently.
  • Unstructured locations:
    • Unstructured locations represent broader areas that do not require a full coordinate breakdown.
    • Use unstructured locations when the operational need is to capture an item’s general area without tracking a specific slot.
    • Unstructured locations support two patterns:
      • Bay-wide unstructured (named area at the Bay level):
        • The Bay itself is treated as the named area.
        • Row, Position, and Level are not used for the location.
        • Conceptually: “This item is somewhere in Trucklane.”
      • Unstructured within a footprint (named area under a Bay, using Row as the name):
        • The Bay anchors the area, and the Row value is used as the named area within that Bay.
        • Position and Level are not used for the location.
        • Conceptually: “This item is somewhere in Bay B’s Receiving Cradles area.”
    • An unstructured location allows for faster setup and simpler scanning when precision is not required.
  • Key difference:
    • Structured = a precise, coordinate system for storage.
    • Unstructured = a general, named area for storage.

Create an Inventory Location

  • Understand structured vs unstructured location patterns
    • Inventory Locations support both structured and unstructured configurations.
  • Procedure

    1. Go to Administration → Facilities Maintenance → Inventory Locations.

    2. Select New.

    3. Fill the necessary fields:

      • Facility
      • Bay
      • Row
      • Position
      • Optional Level
      • Optional Description

      Note: To create an unstructured Inventory Location, simply type a new name into the Bay or Row field (e.g. Trucklane or Manual). In this case, subsequent fields such as Position are not required.

    4. Select Save & Close and confirm the location is Active.

Validate inventory item movement

  • Baseline web validation
    1. Find an existing inventory item.
    2. Confirm the item shows the expected location.
  • Scanner validation (if Scanner App is deployed)
    1. Use Find Item to confirm the item resolves.
    2. Use Update Item → Location to set a new location.
    3. Re-run Find Item to confirm the new location.

Printing and tags

  • Tags are printed from operational workflows (e.g., receiving, shipping, inventory operations).
  • Minimum validation:
    1. Print a tag from a workflow that supports tag printing.
    2. Confirm the barcode scans reliably.
    3. Confirm the printed Item ID matches what the system expects downstream.
    4. If your implementation supports selecting different printers, confirm the correct device is selectable.

COMMON ISSUES

    • Likely cause: Wrong facility context, or the location is deactivated.

    • Checks:

      • Confirm you are working in the correct facility.

      • Confirm the location is Active.

    • Fix: Switch to the correct facility context or activate the location.

    • Likely cause: The structured hierarchy (Bay/Row/Position/Level) does not match the intended location design, or the selection behavior is constrained by implementation rules.

    • Checks:

      • Validate the Bay/Row/Position/Level hierarchy with the Select Inventory Location behavior described in the Inventory Locations spec.

      • Capture the specific mismatch (what you expected vs what the system allows or displays).

    • Fix: Correct the structured location hierarchy to match the intended design. If the behavior is implementation-specific, align the configuration to the spec for your site.

    • Likely cause: Barcode quality, label alignment, or content mismatch (printed value is not the Item ID expected by downstream scan).

    • Checks:

      • Validate barcode quality and label alignment.

      • Confirm the printed value matches the system’s Item ID.

    • Fix: Adjust printer/label settings to improve barcode quality and reprint. If content is wrong, correct the source data or tag template and reprint.

    • Likely cause

      • The facility does not have a label printer registered and associated to it, so tag printouts cannot be routed to a physical device.

    • Checks

      • Confirm the workflow you are using supports tag printing (Receiving Orders, Inventory Items, Shipping Orders).

      • Confirm a Zebra label printer is enrolled and reachable on the network.

      • Confirm the printer is registered in Zebra’s device list and that you have the correct Device ID / printer serial number recorded for the customer.

      • In Themis-Trace, open the Facility edit form for the facility where tags are supposed to print and confirm the printer serial number is entered (and matches the registered device).

      • If a facility-based default printer selection exists in your implementation, confirm the printer is explicitly associated with the facility you are working in.

    • Fix

      • Register the printer and record the Device ID (serial number), then have a facility admin enter that serial number on the Facility record so printing can be enabled for that facility.

      • Re-run a low-risk test print of 1–3 tags and confirm output routes to the intended printer.