What Is a Warehouse Management System (WMS)?

A Warehouse Management System (WMS) is software that provides better enterprise resource planning and manages the operations of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the warehouse. It's as well the inventory control that is needed to ensure everything is organised in the best possible way.

Our services include warehouse system development for advanced workflow management. We can build any workflow and picking logic optimisation modules and related custom software to help you control the warehouse workflow, including the inventory, batch-tracking and delivery commitments.

Custom warehouse management system development with Magora, UK

A Guide for Automation

  • The implementation of WMS is a great step ahead in monitoring inventory turnover for advanced analysis.
  • Reporting as a part of warehouse software functionality provides data about the best and worst sellers, saving you time and money spent worrying about out-of-stock goods or picks and highlighting unsellable stocks.
  • Delivery route mapping, provides quick and effective optimisation of your logistics costs.

This Allows you to:

  • Organise inventory automation.
  • Optimise the warehouse space capacity and the stock items rotation.
  • Plan and control the stock resources.
  • Manage all the goods distribution on the shop floor and control the FIFO, LIFO principles and the shelf-life time.
  • Picking, packing and third-party logistics orders.
  • Track and improve overall warehouse performance.

A warehouse system is an automated tool used by most high-growth retailers for their supply chain management.

Clients

unilever
yandex
danone
cisco
trivago
mandara
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5 Qualities of a Good WMS

Not all warehouse management solutions are the same, and the right WMS can help save time and money and ultimately increase customer satisfaction.

The Right Features

The first thing you should find out about a WMS solution is what it can do for your business.

When analysing WMS solutions, ask yourself: "Will the WMS streamline our business processes?" For example, if your company has difficulties in measuring employee productivity, a good WMS solution would prove useful. The WMS must be able to track the tasks performed by employees (and where they are performed), providing direct visibility of employee productivity.

A WMS can help you do more with fewer features in many other ways. From this particular point of view, a good tool can maximise what it can do for you, thus minimising your work.

In short, can a system WMS do more with fewer resources? If so, it can be a good candidate.

Ease of Use

If the WMS is easy to use, it will reduce the amount of time you spend in training – from scavengers to senior managers to all employees. Well-designed WMS allows users to spend less time configuring and monitoring daily operations so they can quickly adapt to new requirements.

When choosing a system, look for easy-to-understand menus and help screens to increase usability. For example, make sure the WMS allows for simplified data entry and the creation of model reports and graphs. Similarly, panel display (automatic real-time update) provides users with a single location to access all the most important data.

All in all, does your potential WMS seem easy to use?

Complete Transaction Management

A good WMS lets you manage everything door-to-door – from receipt to display.

Look for a WMS that provides detailed information about everything – products, employees and transactions – at every step along the way.

Here are some steps that should be traced:

  • Received goods
  • Packing
  • Choice of orders
  • Transportation
  • Inventory Audit

When you can keep track of everything that happens in the warehouse, from people to mobile devices and products, you can conduct expert analysis to help you get smarter and more stocked products more efficiently.

So as you look at the WMS solution, ask yourself, "Is this WMS software helping me manage all my resources?"

Flexibility

WMS solutions need to be able to scale as the business grows and adapt to future needs. WMS that fails to do so cannot be considered a long-term solution.

Another measure of flexibility concerns hardware. WMS must be compatible with other versions of the following tools:

  • Scanner / RF terminal
  • Label Printer
  • Forklift Radio Terminal

Finally, how flexible is your potential WMS when it comes to different types and sizes of business? A good WMS should achieve significant success in wholesale and industrial distributors of all sizes.

If your business is successful, it will grow and continue to grow. Your investment should be able to grow with your business. That's why the flexibility of WMS is important – so make sure the potential WMS is suitable for many ERP, brands, types of hardware, business models and scales.

Useful, Easy to Read Indicators

Data is important, but so is data representation. It's one thing to have metrics that help you track the performance of your warehouse operations, but understanding the data is another matter.

Good software should offer you the option to easily create reports and graphs, letting you keep on top of how the warehouse is running. For example, well-designed program can track the organisation-wide performance of warehouse employees in real-time and allows management to compare groups of employees (receivers, morning pickers, night pickers, etc.) and operational branches (Western, Eastern, and so on.). You want to invest in a WMS that measures each employee's performance based on criteria, including speed and accuracy.

Top Ready-to-Use Warehouse Management Software Systems 2018

Growing companies are increasingly investing in IT systems to automate and streamline business processes. In general, shelf systems are produced to meet the perceived needs of a particular market or industry. In fact, they apply to all common functions, so finding a system that meets all your needs isn’t easy. Nonetheless, here are the top 3 warehouse management systems to consider.

Zoho Inventory is cloud-based inventory management software that helps you create and manage sales and purchase orders and track inventories. You can integrate it with online sales channels like eBay, Amazon and Etsy and shopping carts like Shopify.

NetSuite's stock and inventory management software allows you to integrate your system with an inventory control solution. With NetSuite's stock control software, you can efficiently manage every step of the product life-cycle as well as your different business lines. You can manage inventory levels and strengthen control over inventory operations.

This solution enables warehouses to grow their business, increase operations and meet the needs of all customers. As the most popular cloud-based WMS on the market, this software provides full EDI integration, automated billing management, global visibility, innovative packaging and shipping methods and mobile barcode reading capabilities.

What to Look for in the Warehouse Management System

The right management tool depends on every aspect of your workflow and business needs – but here are the top things that large and medium retailers need to consider when deciding:

  • Organisation of the warehouse – Store the exact location of each SKU and drive it via the best route on foot to this location in the warehouse.
  • Digital barcode operation – Use scanners and moving barcodes to minimise paper requirements and optimise accuracy when buying, packaging and reserving new inventories.
  • Expected integration – The system can be integrated with all stores, markets, shipping partners, number of warehouses and anything else unique to your company.
  • Ease of use – an easy-to-operate platform suitable for all existing, new and temporary team members.
  • Integrated solution – Other important management areas concerning retail operations, including orders, inventory and shipping.
  • Reporting – Track and save the history of each operation in the warehouse and which team member is performing (high-level KPI reports and employee accountability).

Cloud Warehouse Management Systems

Companies invest in warehouse management software to optimise and automate inventory fulfillment processes while controlling costs. Dynamic and easy to set up, a powerful WMS system can leverage the cloud for quick and cost-effective deployment with the following benefits:

  • Improve operational efficiency – Warehouse management software manages cloud service operations, while the supply chain can view inventory and operations in real-time and understand how customers use relevant procurement technologies.
  • Lower Total Cost of Ownership – Implementing a cloud-based warehouse

    management system helps control costs because companies no longer need to pay for expensive maintenance and upgrades.
  • Improve customer experience – Faster customer service means a better customer experience and a better deal. Customers can shop anytime, anywhere. A cloud-based WMS helps companies meet the demands of the realities of the market.

Our Achievements:

322 App Development Projects
413 Mobile Applications
75 Enterprise Software Solutions

How to Choose the Right Tool for Your Business

Proper WMS can save time and money and ultimately increase customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the wrong WMS can actually undermine customer service and company reputation, reducing productivity because by adding costs.

Custom software can play a key role in a company’s development and efficiency – for example, by helping to introduce automation to ongoing working processes without breaking any of the corporate functionality rules that come with a ready-made solution.

Custom software plays a key role in the development and efficiency of the enterprise, as it allows for the introduction of automation to already working processes instead of breaking corporate rules based on the functionality provided by the ready-made program solution.

Here at Magora, we have a wealth of experience that proves that creating tailor-made products is better for business growth and prosperity.

If you’re looking for a warehouse management system – one that's appropriate to your needs instead of trying to squeeze itself into the limitations of ready-made warehouse software systems – contact us today to discuss your project.

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