How to Configure Putaway Rules in Odoo 19

What Are Putaway Rules?

Putaway rules in Odoo 19 automatically determine where incoming products should be stored within your warehouse. Instead of manually selecting destination locations for each receipt, you define rules that route products to specific shelves, bins, or zones based on product type, category, or storage capacity constraints.

Prerequisites

• Odoo 19 with Inventory module installed
• Storage Locations enabled in Inventory settings
• Warehouse locations defined with a hierarchy (zones, racks, shelves, bins)

Step 1: Enable Storage Locations

Navigate to Inventory > Configuration > Settings. Under the Warehouse section, enable Storage Locations. This allows you to create sub-locations within your warehouse. Click Save.

Step 2: Create Location Hierarchy

Go to Inventory > Configuration > Locations and create a logical location hierarchy:

• WH/Stock (main stock location)
• WH/Stock/Zone A (zone)
• WH/Stock/Zone A/Rack 1 (rack)
• WH/Stock/Zone A/Rack 1/Shelf 1 (shelf)

Each location has a Location Type (Internal for storage locations) and a Parent Location that establishes the hierarchy.

Step 3: Create Putaway Rules

Navigate to Inventory > Configuration > Putaway Rules and click New:

• When Product Arrives In — The trigger location (typically your main stock location, e.g., WH/Stock)
• Product — Specific product to route (leave blank for category-based rules)
• Product Category — Route all products in this category (e.g., all Electronics go to Zone A)
• Store To — The destination sub-location where the product should be placed
• Storage Category — Optionally match based on storage category capacity rules

Step 4: Configure Storage Categories

Storage categories define capacity constraints for locations. Go to Inventory > Configuration > Storage Categories and create categories:

• Name — e.g., "High Rack", "Cold Storage", "Small Bin"
• Capacity by Product — Maximum quantity of a specific product
• Capacity by Weight — Maximum weight in kg
• Capacity by Package — Maximum number of packages
• Allow New Product — Whether empty, same product only, or mixed storage is allowed

Assign storage categories to locations in the location form. Putaway rules can then target locations by their storage category, automatically finding the nearest location with available capacity.

Step 5: Rule Priority and Matching

Putaway rules follow these priority principles:

1. Product-specific rules take precedence over category-based rules
2. Rules on more specific (child) locations take precedence over parent locations
3. When multiple rules match, the system uses the defined sequence order
4. If a storage category rule is used, Odoo finds the closest location matching the category with available capacity

Step 6: Test Putaway Rules

1. Create a receipt (purchase order or manual receipt)
2. Check the proposed destination location on each move line
3. Verify that products are routed to the correct sub-location based on your rules
4. Adjust rules if products land in unexpected locations

Step 7: Multi-Step Reception with Putaway

For warehouses using 2-step or 3-step reception:

• Products first arrive at Input or QC locations
• An internal transfer moves them to Stock
• Putaway rules apply during the internal transfer, routing products from Stock to their assigned sub-locations

Configure reception steps under Inventory > Configuration > Warehouses via the Reception Steps field.

Best Practices

• Start with category-based rules for broad routing, then add product-specific rules for exceptions
• Use storage categories to prevent over-filling locations
• Label physical locations to match your Odoo location hierarchy
• Review putaway efficiency quarterly by analyzing stock distribution across locations