The cost of inaccurate locations 

Poor location accuracy affects far more than stock counting. 

• When operators cannot trust the location information available to them, they begin compensating for it manually. 
• They search neighbouring bins. 
• They ask colleagues if they have seen the stock. 
• They check reserve locations. 
• They investigate whether another picker has already moved it. 
• Eventually, what should have been a straightforward pick becomes a stock investigation. 

And once confidence in the system begins to fall, another problem emerges. 

The UK manufacturing landscape – why precision in warehousing matters

Manufacturing remains one of the UK’s most vital sectors — contributing over £220 billion to the economy and employing approximately 2.6 million people. 

Despite the size and importance of the sector, UK manufacturers face considerable headwinds: cost pressures, energy‐intensity challenges, supply-chain disruption and the need to adopt new technologies if they are to remain competitive.

In this environment, warehouse precision and integrated workflows are strategic imperatives. For a manufacturer using Sage 200, the warehouse is central to the business with raw materials arriving, works orders being issued, finished goods being booked back into stock then shipped and stock being tracked — each link in the chain must be efficient and traceable.

Managing high order volumes in distribution can be complex. Many Sage 200 users in distribution, food & drink, components, online retail, and manufacturing are under pressure to fulfil more orders — faster and with fewer errors. The demand for faster order fulfilment and error-free picking has never been higher. Customers expect next-day delivery, retailers demand accurate despatch, and production lines rely on the right parts being delivered on time.

Yet many Sage 200 users still rely on traditional single-order picking methods. This often means:

• Warehouse staff making multiple trips through aisles for each order

• Time wasted searching for products or correcting mistakes

• Errors slipping through to customers, leading to returns, rework, or lost trust

This is where Wave Picking in Datalinx Advanced Warehouse Manager 200 (AWMS 200) can transform operations.

Driven by the change in shopping habits during lockdown, and a need to keep businesses commercially viable, many companies have had to rapidly change their business processes to switch to eCommerce trading, and dispatch direct from their warehouse.

Typically, we have seen the focus move from wholesale, bulk, B2B orders to B2C as people have not been able to shop in-store, so have shifted their spending capability to online shopping, which has led to challenges within our customer base, as they have reacted this shift to meet a different way of fulfilling demand for their product.

According to the UK Office of National Statistics bulletin, Online retail sales in July were 50.4% higher than February’s pre-pandemic levels* and typically within the sector as a proportion of all retailing, online sales now make up 28.9% of all sales.

The language used in the warehouse can a bit confusing! Especially with all the abbreviations, so below are some of the Datalinx team favourites!

3PL: Third party logistics

ADC: Automated data collection

APS: Advanced planning and scheduling

ASN: Advanced shipment notifications are used to notify a customer of a shipment. Often including purchase order numbers, SKU numbers, lot numbers, quantity, pallet or container number, carton number