Beam uses a hierarchical location structure to mirror the physical layout of your warehouse, store, or storage facility. Understanding how locations work helps you keep items organized and easy to find.
Location hierarchy
Locations in Beam follow a four-level hierarchy, from the broadest area down to the most specific:
- Maps The top level representing an entire physical space, such as a warehouse building, a retail store, or a storage yard.
- Zones Areas within a map, such as aisles, rooms, departments, or sections of a warehouse floor.
- Spots Specific physical locations within a zone, such as a rack, shelf unit, or bin area.
- Shelves Individual levels or positions within a spot, such as the top shelf of a rack or a specific bin on a shelving unit.
Browsing locations
The Locations screen displays your location hierarchy as an interactive tree. You can navigate through your warehouse structure quickly and intuitively:
- The hierarchical tree Shows all levels from maps down to shelves.
- Breadcrumbs at the top Show your current position in the hierarchy so you always know where you are.
- Tap any location To drill down into its children and see what is inside.
- Each location Displays the number of items stored at that level, so you can see at a glance how inventory is distributed.
Creating locations
To create a new location:
- Navigate to the parent location where you want to add the new location (for example, navigate to a zone to add a spot inside it).
- Tap the + button.
- Choose the location type (Zone, Spot, or Shelf, depending on the parent level).
- Fill in the location name and optionally set its capacity.
- Tap Save to create the location.
Editing and deleting locations
You can edit a location to update its name, capacity, or other details at any time. Open the location detail screen and tap the edit icon to modify its properties. To delete a location, open the location detail screen and select the delete option. Deleting a location will also remove any child locations beneath it, so use this action carefully.
Assigning items to locations
There are several ways to assign items to locations in Beam:
- From the item detail screen Open an item and set or change its location in the item properties.
- From the location screen Navigate to a location and add items to it directly.
- Via scanning Scan an item while viewing a location to assign it there automatically.
- During stock adjustments When adjusting stock levels, you can specify the location where the adjustment applies.
Location capacity
Each location can have a maximum capacity set, representing how many items it can hold. When a capacity is set, Beam displays a visual fullness indicator showing how close the location is to being full. This helps you quickly identify locations with available space and avoid overstocking a particular area.