Storage Zones & Locations

Storage Zones and Locations let you organise equipment within your warehouses using a flexible hierarchical structure. By defining zones from broad areas down to individual bins, every piece of equipment has a precise home address — making picking faster, put-away more accurate, and stocktakes far simpler.

Accessing the Locations page

To open the Locations page, click Warehouse in the left-hand sidebar and select Locations. The page displays an interactive tree view of all storage zones within the selected warehouse. If you have multiple warehouses, use the warehouse selector at the top of the page to switch between them.

Zone types

NexusRMS supports seven zone types, each representing a different level of physical storage granularity:

1. Area — The broadest division of a warehouse, such as “Audio Store” or “Lighting Bay”
2. Aisle — A walkway or corridor between storage structures
3. Bay — A vertical section within an aisle, typically one shelving unit wide
4. Rack — A freestanding or wall-mounted shelving structure
5. Shelf — A single horizontal shelf within a rack or bay
6. Bin — A container, box, or tote on a shelf used for small items
7. Floor — An open floor space used for large or heavy items that do not fit on shelves

Zone hierarchy

Zones follow a parent-child hierarchy. A typical warehouse structure might look like this:

• Warehouse: WH-MAIN (Main Depot)
  • Area: Audio Store
    • Aisle: Aisle 1
      • Bay: Bay A
        • Rack: Rack 1
          • Shelf: Shelf 1
          • Shelf: Shelf 2
  • Area: Lighting Bay
    • Floor: Open Floor (for flight cases and heavy fixtures)

You do not need to use every level. A small warehouse might only use Areas and Shelves, while a large depot may use the full hierarchy down to individual Bins.

Zone codes

Every zone is assigned an auto-generated zone code based on its position in the hierarchy. Codes follow a compact format such as A1, A1-B2, or A1-B2-S3, where each segment represents a level in the tree. Zone codes are unique within a warehouse and appear on QR labels, packing lists, and stock reports. You can also set a custom name for each zone (e.g., “Speaker Shelf”) for clarity.

Zone fields

Each storage zone stores the following information:

• Zone Code — Auto-generated identifier (e.g., A1-B2-S3)
• Name — Human-readable label (e.g., “Small Parts Bin”)
• Type — One of the seven zone types listed above
• Parent Zone — The zone one level up in the hierarchy (blank for top-level areas)
• Barcode — A scannable identifier linked to the zone, used for QR label generation
• Capacity — Maximum number of items this zone can hold
• Current Count — Number of items currently stored in this zone (calculated automatically)
• Notes — Free-text notes about the zone (e.g., “Temperature-controlled” or “Heavy items only”)

QR code generation

Every zone supports QR code generation. Click the QR icon next to any zone in the tree view to generate a printable label. Labels include the zone code, zone name, and a scannable QR code. Print these labels and attach them to shelves, racks, and bins so that warehouse staff can scan a location to instantly view its contents, or scan during check-in to assign equipment to the correct zone.

You can generate labels individually or in bulk by selecting multiple zones and clicking Print Labels.

Capacity tracking and utilisation

If you set a capacity value on a zone, NexusRMS displays a utilisation percentage calculated as: (Current Count ÷ Capacity) × 100. The utilisation is colour-coded for quick visual assessment:

• Green (0–49%) — Healthy, plenty of space remaining
• Blue (50–74%) — Moderate, space available but filling up
• Orange (75–89%) — Nearing capacity, consider redistributing stock
• Red (90%+) — Critical, zone is at or near full capacity

Utilisation colours appear next to each zone in the tree view, on the Locations page summary cards, and in warehouse reports.

Creating a storage zone

To create a new zone, click Add Zone at the top of the Locations page, or click the + icon next to an existing zone to add a child beneath it. Fill in the zone name, select the type, optionally set a capacity, and save. The zone code is generated automatically based on the zone’s position in the hierarchy.

Editing and deleting zones

Click any zone in the tree view to open its detail panel. From here you can edit the name, type, capacity, and notes. To delete a zone, click Delete in the detail panel. A zone can only be deleted if it contains no equipment and has no child zones. Move or reassign equipment first if the zone is not empty.

Moving equipment between zones

To relocate equipment from one zone to another within the same warehouse, open the source zone and select the items to move. Click Move, choose the destination zone, and confirm. The system updates the storage location on each item and logs the movement in the zone’s activity history. For moves between different warehouses, use a Warehouse Transfer instead.

Permissions

Creating, editing, and deleting storage zones requires the can_manage_warehouse_locations permission. Users without this permission can view the zone tree and scan zone QR codes but cannot modify the structure.

Tips

• Keep your hierarchy consistent — Decide on a standard structure (e.g., Area → Aisle → Rack → Shelf) and apply it uniformly. Inconsistent structures confuse staff and slow down picking.
• Use descriptive zone names — Codes like A1-B2-S3 are efficient for labels, but names like “Audio – Aisle 1 – Rack B – Shelf 3” help new staff find locations without memorising codes.
• Set capacity on high-traffic zones — Zones that frequently reach capacity benefit from utilisation tracking. This prevents over-stocking and makes redistribution decisions easier.
• Print and laminate QR labels — Warehouse environments are harsh. Laminated labels resist dust, moisture, and handling damage far better than plain paper.
• Review utilisation monthly — Zones consistently in the red may need expanding, while zones always green may be wasting space. Rebalance your layout periodically.

Next steps

Continue to the next article to learn about the Equipment Check-Out process, where you will scan and record equipment leaving the warehouse for projects.