Bins and levels

Why it matters

Real racking is rarely uniform. The bottom level holds heavy drums, the top three hold cartons, one end of a row holds long goods. Bins and levels let you say exactly what each part of the racking holds, and the platform checks every opening.

In plain words

A bin is one opening in the racking: one bay, one level. Every bin has an address, written like a postal address from big to small:

ROW-A01 / B03 / L2
  row      bay  level

Row A01, bay 3, level 2. Bays and levels count from 1, and level 1 is the floor.

You assign load types in two layers:

1. A level default: "every level 1 in this storage system holds drum pallets".
2. Exceptions: "but bays 1 to 4 of row A07 hold long-goods frames", or "this bin is deliberately empty".

The default covers most of the racking. Exceptions cover the rest.

In Warehouse Studio

On Storage & Equipment, click Bins & levels.

• Left: each storage system with its rows, as a little map. Click a row to show it, or All rows to stack every row.
• Middle: the row's elevation, as seen from the aisle. Each rectangle is a bin.
• Right: three tabs, Assign, Levels and Summary.

Select bins

To select	Do
One bin	Click it.
A range	Click one, then Shift+click another.
A block	Drag a window.
Common picks	Select… offers quick choices, such as a whole level, with how many bins each would take.
Everything on screen	Ctrl+A.
Nothing	Esc or Clear.

Hold Space to pan. Press F to fit.

Assign a load

On Assign, pick the Load type, then Wide (how many side by side, or Auto), High (stacked), Gap and Turn 90°. Click Assign to selection. Clear to default removes the exceptions. Mark empty keeps a bin deliberately empty.

Every assignment can be undone with Ctrl+Z.

Change level heights

On Levels, change the beam heights of the spec, or add a level. The platform re-checks the headroom. Heights are a property of the spec, so the panel says how many storage systems share it before you change it.

Colour by load or by fit

The toolbar's Load / Fit switch colours the bins by what they hold, or by whether it fits:

Fit	Means
fits	Comfortable.
tight	Fits, but with less than 75 mm at the side or 100 mm above.
fails	Too wide, too tall, or too heavy for the beam. The reason says how many do fit, or which pitch would clear it.

A load deeper than the frame overhangs into the aisle or the flue, and the platform reports how much aisle that costs.

How this changes capacity

With no load types assigned, capacity is geometric: positions per bay × levels. Once you assign loads, capacity counts what the loads say, by load type, and reports the unassigned positions separately. The 2D plan draws level 1's loads; the section and 3D views draw every level.

Try it

In the demo, assign your load type to level 1 of the whole Reserve system. Then select a few bays on level 4 and Mark empty. Switch to Fit colouring and look for anything tight.

Words you just learned

Bin · address · level default · exception · elevation · pitch · overhang.