# Why the warehouse has five levels

Why the five-level structure exists and how it enables automatic purchasing and precise restocking across multiple sites.

Source: https://support.toolingmetrics.com/en/inventory/overview/warehouse-hierarchy/
Updated: 2026-10-29

Most inventory systems track stock at the level of a location name — "Shelf A3" or "Cabinet 2." Tooling Metrics goes five levels deep, and the reason is that tooling operations in a machining shop are genuinely more complex than a single location name can capture.

## The five levels

**Organization** is the top level, representing your company. This level supports multi-site deployments: different factories or buildings each have their own warehouses, but share the same product library, item database, and reporting.

**Warehouse** is a physical building or storage facility with a delivery address. The warehouse level is important because purchase orders are addressed to a warehouse — when a PO is confirmed, the system knows which building the goods will arrive at and routes the receipt accordingly.

**Warehouse Access Point (WAP)** is the workstation where inventory operations happen — picking, receiving, returning, and counting. WAPs exist to minimize movement: by dividing a warehouse into multiple WAPs, each machine is assigned to its nearest WAP. When the system generates a pick list, it prioritizes items from the machine's assigned WAP first; only when that WAP has insufficient stock does it expand to other WAPs in the same warehouse or from a parent warehouse. Operators walk to the closest point, not across the whole building. A WAP can be linked to a dedicated computer running the **ToolingMetrics WAP** desktop application — a touchscreen interface designed for the shopfloor, guiding operators step-by-step through every warehouse task. The WAP's 3D model is assembled automatically from each Storage Device's parametric model — the system generates the device geometry from its configured parameters (device type, dimensions, module count) rather than requiring a STEP file upload — positioned at each device's configured X/Y/Z coordinates. The result is a spatial visual map that lets anyone navigate to the exact physical address of any storage location without memorizing the layout.

**Storage Device** is the physical object that holds storage slots — a modular drawer cabinet with tool holder trays, an open rack, a rotary carousel, or an automated dispenser. Each type has a different physical structure and is modeled by its own parameter set; the system generates the 3D geometry automatically from those parameters so the on-screen layout mirrors the actual device and guides operators to the right slot.

**Storage Location** is the atomic unit of inventory. Every location has an address, dimensions, and a 3D position. When the system tells an operator to pick an item, it gives them the full path: WAP → Storage Device → Module → Location.

## Why this granularity

The reason this level of detail matters is that it enables *guided operations*. Rather than telling an operator "the drill is in Cabinet 2," the system can say "go to Warehouse Access Point 1, open the Tool Drawer Cabinet, pull out Drawer 3, pick from Location Row 2, Column 4." No searching, no guessing, no errors from picking the wrong item.

This same precision is what makes automatic restocking possible. When a stock rule specifies a storage location, the system generates a restock document that directs the controller to the exact physical spot where the item should be placed. The warehouse digital twin turns stock rules from abstract policies into concrete operational instructions.

## Why a separate WAP level

The WAP level exists because optimization requires grouping devices by proximity to machines, not just by physical containment. A single WAP might hold a tool crib cabinet, a drawer unit, and a vending machine that together serve a cluster of nearby machines. When a machine is assigned to a WAP, the scheduler fulfills demand from that WAP's stock first — minimizing the distance tools travel from storage to spindle. The 3D model also works at WAP scale: too coarse at the warehouse level, too fine at the device level. The WAP is both the right unit of physical access and the right unit of operational assignment.