SCM Architecture & Technical Specs
Wave picking, AI demand forecasting, Z-score safety stock, voice-directed picking, and 7 more services.
1. Warehouse Management (Wave Picking & Route Optimization)
Aeion SCM batches open orders into optimized pick waves, sorts each wave into an efficient walking route, and guides pickers hands-free with voice confirmation.
Wave Picking:
Create a wave from a set of sales orders, work orders, or a manual line list. Each line automatically resolves to a bin location using current stock data, so pickers always get an accurate location — even when the operator didn't specify one up front.
Voice Confirmation Codes:
Each pick line gets a short, voice-friendly confirmation code drawn from a character set that avoids letters and digits that sound alike (I/O/0/1). Workers hear the pick instruction, then simply speak the code back to confirm — no scanning or typing required when voice hardware is in use.
Example codes: "X7K2", "M9PN", "T4BW"
Bin Location Format:
Bin codes follow a simple aisle-rack-level pattern (e.g., A-03-2 = aisle A, rack 3, level 2), so warehouse layout stays intuitive to read and configure.
Route Optimization:
Once a wave is created, Aeion SCM re-sorts the pick list by aisle, then rack, then level — eliminating the backtracking that comes from picking in order-received sequence. Workers walk a single efficient path through the warehouse instead of zig-zagging.
Wave Status Flow:
`
planned → active → in_progress → completed ↓ [Error: unpicked lines]
`
A wave can't be marked complete while any line still has an unpicked quantity.
2. AI Demand Forecasting
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Moving Average | Easy to calculate | Treats old data the same as recent |
| Weighted Moving Average | Recent data weighted higher | Captures trend better |
| Exponential Smoothing | Smooth transition | Requires manual parameter tuning |
3. Procurement (PO Lifecycle)
Aeion SCM manages the full purchase order lifecycle — from creation through receiving — with automatic numbering, line-item totals, and vendor scoring built in.
Purchase Order Creation:
POs are auto-numbered from your configured prefix and sequence (e.g., "PO-1001"), and line totals calculate automatically, including any per-line discount.
Receiving Workflow:
When a shipment arrives, receiving a PO automatically creates the corresponding inventory movement, updates the quantity received on each line, and scores the vendor based on delivery timeliness — no separate manual steps required.
PO Status Flow:
`
draft → sent → partial → received ↓ cancelled
`
4. Vendor Management (Performance Scoring)
Aeion SCM tracks vendor performance automatically from your PO and receiving history — no manual scorecards required.
Vendor Scoring:
Each vendor gets an on-time delivery percentage (POs received by their expected date), a quality score (based on rejection rate at receiving), a cost rank relative to other vendors supplying the same product, and an overall weighted score. Scores update automatically every time a PO is received, so your preferred-vendor list always reflects current performance — not last year's spreadsheet.
5. Inventory (Stock Management)
Stock Level Tracking:
Aeion SCM tracks on-hand, reserved, and available quantity per product per warehouse in real time. Available quantity (on-hand minus reserved) is what's actually sellable — a product with 100 on hand and 30 reserved against open orders shows 70 available.
ABC Analysis:
Products are automatically classified by their contribution to total inventory value:
- A items — top 80% of cumulative value (typically ~20% of items by rank/velocity) — placed closest to shipping
- B items — next 15% of value (~30% of items) — middle locations
- C items — bottom 5% of value (~50% of items) — farthest locations
This classification drives both bin-slotting suggestions and cycle-count prioritization.
6. Supporting Capabilities
Manufacturing:
- Work order management with status tracking
- Material requirements and BOM consumption
- Production scheduling with Gantt views
- Routing and work centers
- Quality control checkpoints
Analytics:
- KPI dashboards (fill rate, stockout rate, lead time)
- Trend analysis with seasonal decomposition
- Forecast accuracy tracking
- Supplier performance comparison
- Cost analysis and optimization
Predictive Routing:
- Carrier selection based on cost, speed, and reliability
- Delivery time prediction
- Cost optimization across multi-carrier shipments
Desktop Bridge Integration:
- Barcode and RFID scanning
- Label printing (shipping, bin, product)
- Real-time inventory sync
- Pick task assignment and tracking
Background Processing:
- Scheduled demand forecasting
- PO reminder notifications
- Analytics aggregation
When you create a pick wave from a batch of orders, Aeion SCM aggregates every line item across those orders, groups lines that share the same product and bin location, and builds a single consolidated pick list with its own voice confirmation codes. The result is one efficient wave instead of workers repeatedly revisiting the same bin for separate orders.
1. The worker's device announces the next location: "Go to Aisle A, Rack 3, Level 2."
2. The worker scans the bin barcode.
3. The device announces the pick: "Pick 5 units. Say confirm code X7K2."
4. The worker speaks the code back: "X7K2."
5. The device confirms and moves to the next pick: "Confirmed. Go to next location."
Confirmation codes deliberately exclude look-alike and sound-alike characters (I, O, 0, 1), which keeps voice recognition accuracy high even on a noisy warehouse floor.
Aeion SCM suggests bin reassignments based on each product's ABC classification and velocity: A items (highest value/velocity) get slotted into bins closest to the dock, C items move to reserve locations farther away, and B items land in between. The result is less walking for your highest-turnover SKUs and better use of prime warehouse real estate.
For each vendor, Aeion SCM compares planned vs. actual delivery time across their full PO history to produce an average lead time, a consistency (variance) score, and an on-time percentage. Vendors with volatile lead times surface clearly, so you know which relationships need a safety-stock buffer and which you can order from just-in-time.
Moving inventory between warehouses creates a linked pair of inventory movements — an outbound movement at the source warehouse and an inbound movement at the destination — so stock is never double-counted and the full transfer history stays auditable.
Aeion SCM continuously compares forecasted demand against actual shipments for every product, reporting Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and forecast bias (over- vs. under-forecasting). A MAPE under 10% is considered excellent, under 20% is acceptable — giving you an ongoing read on how much to trust the forecast for each SKU.