Over the recent years, the supply chain has met dramatic changes in different ways that can be strenuous for some business owners to keep up with. This led to several enterprises facing challenges regarding the cost and quality of labor throughout the supply chain.
Using a good Warehousing Management System has helped businesses overcome these hurdles. And it can help your business too! Whether you’re running a retail chain, an eCommerce site, a distributor, or a manufacturer, software such as this can bring you improved controls on inventory, labor, and transportation.
So, if you’re still using the traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Order Management System (OMS) systems, it is time for you to ditch it. With the WMS platform’s increased functionality, you no longer have to deal with high operational and deployment costs. Learn more about the several features and benefits of a well-designed WMS below:
Warehousing Management System: An Overview
Warehouse Management Systems are software applications that control and manage all operations in your warehouse. It can either be a constituent of the ERP system or a standalone system. Now that consumers want to buy anything and return those things anywhere, your business should be able to respond to their demands quickly.
This is when the software comes functional in optimizing your warehouse’s fulfillment capabilities. As it manages functions and activities across the place, it can provide you better control in managing labor to enhance levels of efficiency.
The software also makes it easy for you to track shipments, improve inventory visibility, perform cycle counts, and monitor expiration dates. You can check www.fishbowlinventory.com for more details. For now, here are the features that you need to look for in a good Warehousing Management System software:
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Inventory Tracking
Source: aranet.com
A Warehousing Management System platform helps track inventory data from radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and barcode readers. It gives real-time updates for all the information logged into the software’s dashboard. The software also assists in ensuring that goods and products can be easily found and accessed when it needs to be moved.
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Warehouse Design
Most, if not all, warehouses are always in chaos, wasting more space, leading to a stretched pick-and-pack process. But with a reliable WMS, you can design your warehouse to have an optimized inventory allocation that accounts for seasonal inventory needs.
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Picking and Packing
Using a Warehousing Management System, you can optimize all batch picking, wave picking, and zone picking. It might also offer you warehouse task interleaving and lot zoning functions that direct pick-and-pack processes efficiently.
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Put-Away
This software can help quicken inventory retrieval and put-away using pick-to-voice (PTV) or pick-to-light (PTL) technology. With PTL, there are light displays installed in storage racks and shelving units at every pick location. As for the PTV, a digital voice guides pickers to the location and instructs how much goods are to be picked up.
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Labor Management
Source: icepts.com
With a WMS, you can monitor the performance of your workers by using the platform’s key performance indicators. This feature will indicate who is performing below or above your business’ standards.
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Yard and Dock Management
The WMS software can help your truck drivers enter your warehouse by directing them to the loading docks for large-scale operations. WMS functions like cross-docking and inbound and outbound logistics can also be utilized to upscale your business.
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Reporting
By generating automatic reports, the WMS software can help your managers analyze the overall performance of your warehouse operations, employees, and many more. Through this function, you can easily anticipate future problems and look for areas to improve.
Advantages of Warehousing Management System
Warehousing Management Systems may slightly differ among companies. It will depend on your business’ industry, requirements, size, and many other factors. Nevertheless, below are some of the advantages of utilizing WMS software in running your business:
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Improves Inventory Visibility
Source: resourcelabel.com
One of the essential components that every Warehouse Management System should have is inventory visibility. This function provides your business with real-time inventory data through serial numbers, RFID tagging, and barcoding. All those methods will allow managers to document each good and its movements as it enters your warehouse.
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Streamlines Customer and Warehouse Service Procedures
Open communication is crucial between you, your customer service department, and your warehouse workers. If not done well, this may result in wasted time and miscommunication. But with WMS, your customer service department and warehouse are provided transparency through a centralized system.
This function allows both teams to have a real-time update on tracking orders, shipping procedures, fulfilling times, and customer feedback. By utilizing the platform, you can now avoid human error, bottlenecks, and confusion that might disappoint your clients.
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Reduces Operating Expenses
A well-designed Warehousing Management System can help reduce operating expenses in many ways. This particular system determines how you can efficiently use your space and labor, resulting in waste reduction. The software can also assist you in determining what products, materials, and equipment you should keep to improve the flow of your warehouse.
Advanced WMS has floor simulators, letting you create warehouse floor plans in the software. Simulators such as these allow you to install shelves, pallets, and other equipment that can improve the workflow in your warehouse.
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Faster Fulfillment of Orders
Consumers nowadays demand immediate order fulfillment, which makes expedited shipping even more essential. Several studies have shown that the delivery timeframe must take no more than three days unless it’s a customized product.
So, if you want to compete against Walmarts and Amazons of the industry, you should utilize the features of a well-designed WMS. Working with barcode and RFID scanners can enable your staff to prepare orders way faster, avoiding latency in fulfillment and processing times.
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Enhances Warehouse Security
Source: losi-gangi.com
Most WMS software will require your employees to have individual user accounts and use them when making transactions. This can then create a trail of audit that connects employees to transactions, improves accountability, and reduces the risk of theft. It also introduces you to many training opportunities that can improve the practices of your employees.
Takeaway
Warehousing Management Systems can do wonders for your business in terms of accuracy and efficiency. And, if you use the features and advantages mentioned above wisely, you will definitely end up reaping rewards you never even saw coming!
