The NCAS requires that two areas be defined for each warehouse: a staging area and a receiving area.

The staging area is the site where goods are stored after they are picked for a specific order and before they are shipped. The staging area is the first area that must be defined in the NCAS.

The second warehouse area that must be defined in the NCAS is the receiving area. The receiving area is the site where goods are received into the warehouse.

The NCAS also allows the warehouse manager to define a storage area if necessary. A storage area is the location where goods are stored between receiving and shipping. If a storage area is not defined, the system will record the goods as being stored in the receiving area until they are shipped. The warehouse manager can establish none, one, or many storage areas. If a warehouse manager attempts to define a storage area on the NCAS before defining the other warehouse areas, the system will automatically establish the staging and receiving areas for the warehouse online. However, this practice is not recommended. The warehouse manager should always establish all of the areas for his or her warehouse manually.

The Warehouse Area Entry (WHAE) screen is used to define all staging, receiving, and storage areas.