Consolidation is the process of bringing material from various parts of the warehouse together for the purpose of packing and shipping. Consolidation can occur at one or more points during the outbound flow of material. Most warehouses perform consolidation of picked material so it can be packed prior to shipment. Some warehouses perform subsequent consolidations such as building pallets of packed items and then shipping the pallets.

Oracle Warehouse Management allows eight types of system-directed consolidation based on the following key factors:
• Should material be consolidated in a consolidation locator or directly in a staging lane?
• Should consolidation occur at the LPN level?
• Can material from different deliveries be consolidated based on the operation plan while upholding the consolidation rules such as no loose material is allowed in the outermost LPN?

1. LPN Based Consolidation in Staging Lane Within Delivery
This is the default consolidation method. This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material for a single delivery directly to an LPN in a staging lane. The system suggests the last LPN that is dropped off for delivery in the staging lane.

2. Direct Consolidation in Staging Lane Across Deliveries
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material across deliveries in a staging lane. In this consolidation method, you do not consolidate material in a consolidation LPN within the staging lane. The system does not suggest a drop into LPN for the material.

3. Direct Consolidation in Staging Lane Within Deliveries
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material for a single delivery directly in a staging lane. The system does not suggest a drop into LPN for the material.

4. LPN Based Consolidation in Consolidation Locator Across Deliveries in Staging Lane
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material across deliveries into a consolidation LPN in a consolidation locator. After you consolidate the material, you can use the mass move functionality to move all the material to the staging lane.

5. LPN Based Consolidation in Consolidation Locator Within Deliveries in Staging Lane
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material within a delivery into a consolidation LPN in a consolidation locator. After you consolidate the material, you can use the mass move functionality to move all the material to a staging lane.

6. LPN Based Consolidation in Staging Lane Across Deliveries
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material across multiple deliveries into a consolidation LPN directly in the staging lane.

7. Locator Based Consolidation in Consolidation Locator Across Deliveries in Staging Lane
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material for each delivery in a separate consolidation locator and then consolidate material for multiple deliveries in the same staging lane.

8. Locator Based Consolidation in Consolidation Locator Within Delivery in Staging Lane
This consolidation method enables you to consolidate material for a delivery in a consolidation locator and then move the material to a staging lane.