Plan a warehouse structure graphically

Use the warehouse layout editor to build a physical warehouse directly on the canvas. Storage areas, constraints, racks, storage bins, and standard load carriers are stored as the same tenant-bound records shown in the warehouse lists.

Use the domain terms consistently

• A warehouse is the operational and spatial context of the editor.
• A storage area is a structural part such as a building, storey, hall, room, outdoor area, aisle, rack, or level.
• An area type describes its business meaning. Your organization can add tenant-specific types.
• A structural kind controls the stable hierarchy. The server derives it from the selected area type.
• A storage bin is a concrete, addressable inventory location.
• A constraint is blocked or restricted space, not a storage area.

Prerequisites

• Open a physical warehouse and select Warehouse structure > Warehouse layout.
• Publish a storage-bin class revision with geometry before creating racks.
• You need warehouse-layout read and plan permissions, plus activation permission when releasing a layout.

Build the warehouse

1. Select Draw storage area, choose the area type in the properties panel, and drag the required area. Dimensions use millimetres and snap to the grid. An area of 4,000 × 4,000 mm is 4 × 4 m.
2. Draw constraints for columns, fire lanes, no-storage zones, or safety clearance inside a storage area. Choose Rectangular for square columns and areas or Round for round columns before drawing.
3. Select Place rack, a published storage-bin class, and the bay and level counts. Workspace creates the rack, levels, and storage bins atomically.
4. Drag standard objects into free storage space. The catalog includes EPAL pallets and box pallets, CP1–CP9, VDA R-KLT, ISO footprints, and ISO containers.
5. Select a rack and open Front view to inspect levels and storage bins. Use Top view for the complete structure.

Create new storage areas in the warehouse layout. The Storage areas tab shows the resulting hierarchy and master data, but does not create areas without geometry.

Edit elements

Drag editable storage areas, constraints, and free planned objects to move them. Edit position, rotation, and the dimensions of resizable areas in the properties panel. Enter width, depth, and height in millimetres for storage areas and rectangular constraints. Round columns use diameter and height. Standard objects such as EPAL pallets retain their standard dimensions.

Right-click an element to open the standard context menu. You can edit its properties, focus its size fields, or remove an empty planning element. Active areas, occupied bins, and objects linked to handling units remain protected.

If another user saves the element first, Workspace reloads the current revision instead of overwriting it.

Complete missing geometry while stock is present

Missing drawing data does not make otherwise valid warehouse master data unusable. Operational readiness and spatial completeness are checked separately. Stock does not need to be removed to document the existing physical arrangement.

Select Complete missing geometry from the toolbar or its More actions menu. Select the affected areas and bins, enter missing dimensions and positions, and give a reason. Existing values are protected. Check preview validates bounds, neighbors, and revisions. Only Apply checked geometry saves the entire change atomically.

If a published bin class lacks geometry, a published successor copies its operational rules. Only explicitly selected bins switch to it. Bin IDs, statuses, stock, and the inventory journal remain unchanged. Use the separate remodeling workflow for actual physical changes. After a revision conflict, load the selection again and check a fresh preview.

Extend or remodel an operating warehouse

Create an additional warehouse in warehouse master data and assign it to a facility. Existing warehouses can remain operational.

Active and planned elements can coexist. New areas and bins can be planned inside an active parent when its geometry is complete and the proposed arrangement passes validation. New elements remain in planning until activated.

Select the affected area. The toolbar displays the Change scope; no selection means the whole warehouse. Activate and Return to planning apply to that area and its descendants. Selecting a bin scopes the action to its area.

A physical remodel requires the affected scope to be free of stock and open operational references. Returning to planning reports remaining stock positions, reservations, handling units, movements, replenishment tasks, and count lines. Independent active areas can keep operating. Validate and activate the changed area after remodeling.

Immediately before saving, deleting, or applying an import, Workspace checks the affected scope again. If the assessment is stale, incomplete, or does not unambiguously match that scope, the change is not sent and the layout must be reloaded.

Exchange layouts with CAD and BIM applications

Use JSON, DXF, or IFC to export the complete warehouse layout. JSON contains the full versioned Workspace exchange contract. DXF represents the supported 2D geometry in millimetres on separate layers. IFC creates spatial rooms and building-element proxies with the Pset_NucleusWarehouseLayout property set.

After editing a Workspace DXF or IFC export in your CAD or BIM application, select Import. Preserved exchange metadata matches existing elements. The preview lists updates, additions, and findings before Workspace applies every valid change atomically. Elements missing from the imported file are never deleted automatically.

For foreign files without Workspace metadata, explicitly map every DXF layer or IFC element to a storage area, storage bin, standard object, constraint, or skipped content. Choose existing classes and catalog definitions for storage bins and standard objects. Workspace does not approximate unsupported polygons, curves, or free rotations. It lists them as findings and requires an explicit decision to skip them. DXF import accepts ASCII DXF. Save a binary DXF file as ASCII DXF in your CAD application before importing it.

The source file is processed locally in the browser and is not stored on the server. A DXF or IFC file may be up to 50 MiB; the normalized exchange document is limited to 20 MiB and 20,000 elements. Imports additionally require warehouse_layouts:import. Storage-bin changes continue to use the existing create and update permissions.

Validate and activate

Select Validate. Workspace checks the hierarchy, parent bounds, geometry, collisions, and constraints on the server. Then select Activate to move areas, storage bins, and constraints from planning into operations together.

Returning to planning is blocked while inventory, active handling units, open movements, replenishment tasks, or count work refer to affected storage bins.

Configure navigation per warehouse

Open the Configuration group in the warehouse details. Select a navigation mode and a grid size in millimetres:

Workspace derives the navigation graph from the active layout for every request. Active blocking constraints remove nodes and connections. A smaller grid represents routes more precisely but creates a larger graph. A fixed node limit rejects graphs that are too large; increase the grid size or divide the traversable areas into smaller business areas in that case.

The read-only route POST /api/v1/pim/warehouses/{warehouseId}/layout/route connects two active storage bins in the same tenant and warehouse. Its response binds waypoints and distance in millimetres to the applied spatialRevision. Use this point-to-point route for general route planning or as one leg of a picking route. Multi-pick sequencing, TSP/VRP optimization, vehicle profiles, traffic rules, and persisted routes are outside this first contract.

Integrations can use the format-neutral contract directly through GET /api/v1/pim/warehouses/{warehouseId}/layout/exchange, POST /api/v1/pim/warehouses/{warehouseId}/layout/exchange/preview, and POST /api/v1/pim/warehouses/{warehouseId}/layout/exchange/apply. The two write operations accept warehouse-layout-v1 with the current spatialRevision; DXF and IFC files are not uploaded to these endpoints.

Integrations can place their own exchange data under extensions by using a distinct namespace such as example.com/my-data. Values may contain any valid JSON, so they cannot collide with future core fields. Workspace validates unknown extensions but does not interpret them as domain data or retain them for a later fresh export. They therefore do not change geometry limits, authorizations, or warehouse behavior.

Represent physical obstacles as active blocking constraints and place storage bin origins at reachable access points. Otherwise route calculation returns a business error instead of assuming a path through unknown or blocked geometry.

Addressing and previous codes

Under Addressing, define how storage-bin codes are composed from the warehouse, hierarchy, and a sequence. Review the preview before applying new codes. When a bin is renumbered, Workspace keeps its previous code. Scanners continue to accept that code and resolve it to the current storage bin.

The editor does not post inventory or move handling units. Operational movements remain in Inventory workflows.