Branches & Warehouses Basics
Use branches, warehouses, locations, and bins to describe where work happens and where stock is stored.
A clear operating structure helps AWRA show the right records to the right users. Branches describe business areas or sites. Warehouses describe places where stock is stored or controlled. Locations and bins describe the smaller physical positions inside a warehouse. These choices affect receiving, transfers, POS sales, stock counts, scanner lookup, reports, and user visibility.
Basic Structure
A business unit, store, office, campus, depot, department, or operating location.
A stock-holding area such as a store room, main warehouse, shop floor, vehicle store, or field depot.
A more specific storage point such as a shelf, aisle, rack, room, zone, cabinet, or slot.
The link between users and the branches or warehouses they are allowed to work with.
Setup Guidance
- Start with the real places your teams already use.
- Use names warehouse, finance, procurement, and sales teams all understand.
- Keep the first structure simple enough to maintain accurately.
- Add locations or bins when your team is ready to record stock at that level of detail.
- Assign users only to the branches and warehouses they need for daily work.
- Run one receiving, one transfer, one checkout, one count, and one report to confirm the structure works.
Example Naming Pattern
| Level | Example | Good Use |
|---|---|---|
| Branch | Nairobi HQ | Represents the business site or operating branch. |
| Warehouse | Nairobi HQ - Main Store | Represents the controlled stock area. |
| Location | Aisle 2 / Shelf B | Represents the exact position inside the warehouse. |
| Assignment | Inventory team assigned to Main Store | Controls what the team can view and update. |
Common Mistakes
- Creating duplicate warehouses for the same physical place.
- Using unclear names such as Store 1, Store 2, or Main without context.
- Creating too many bins before users are trained to maintain them.
- Receiving stock into one warehouse but selling or transferring from another by mistake.
- Forgetting to update user assignments after staff move teams or sites.
Need help with this topic?
Capture the module, record number, branch or warehouse, user, visible message, and what you expected to happen before contacting support.