How Warehouse Management Software Enhances your Supply Chain Process?

Many organizations have found that efficient warehouses and streamlined supply chains could be differentiators that help them win with new customers and retain existing ones in their markets. How is that possible? Because such frictionless operations offer an unparalleled customer experience that will define future leaders. A successful supply chain process must be fast, responsive, and flexible enough to support new customer experiences. These outstanding, relevant, and personalized experiences are essential to serve customers and keep their liquid expectations.

Organizations that rely on outdated technology such as paper inventories are at a distinct disadvantage. Efficiency is crucial in warehouses and supply chains, especially in retail, where a business thrives on instant gratification. How can a Warehouse Management System improve your supply chain and offer a competitive advantage in this ecosystem? But first, what exactly is a WMS?

A Warehouse Management Software (or system) allows business owners to see a birds’ eye view of what is happening on their business floor and helps track everything from inventory to sales trends. Setting up such a system is simple, and once it is in place, you can follow any item that enters your warehouse from the moment it enters your warehouse to the time it exits. Now, on to the next question — how can it improve your supply chain?

While manual tracking and paperwork were enough for businesses in the past, the pace of the logistics and distribution industry has increased manifold. Same-day delivery requests and e-commerce purchases require a seamless warehouse inventory management software that can provide a complete picture of products in real-time.

Barcode and RFID based Warehouse Management Software

Hence, when a warehouse management system is paired with a barcode and RFID solution, tracking items in real-time becomes child’s play. Over-time, this increases efficiency as the time searching for an item is almost nil when an order comes in. Additionally, a well-designed solution can predict future needs that can help optimize customer service.

Let us look at all how a sound warehouse management system can change the hub of your business — the warehouse.

1. Real-time access to quality data leading to on-the-go order management system and a more effective problem solving
2. Improves efficiency of labor allocation and reduces costs through comprehensive reports on all activities within the warehouse
3. Improves efficiency of labor allocation and reduces costs through comprehensive reports on all activities within the warehouse
4. Improves workflow efficiency and allows smoother warehouse operation from inbound to outbound
5. Allows optimization of the warehouse by examining the layout and improves ease-of-access
6. Reduces human errors and increases responsiveness to sudden shifts or upheavals
7. Improves safety and security of the warehouse as there is a lower margin for inaccuracy. Also, an efficient WMS helps to identify missing stock immediately and prevents theft
8. Mitigates risk in a supply-chain process with the assistance of the collected real-time information by calculating the demand-supply ratio accurately

Consequently, a warehouse inventory management system also improves customer service levels and supplier relationships by avoiding last-minute panic that so often plagues businesses. Critically, the implementation of a warehouse management system reduces overheads. This is quite contrary to the popular belief that investing in such a system increases costs wherein, in reality, it reduces expenditure on various fronts such as labor, storage, and inventory.

While an excellent warehouse management solution significantly improves the supply chain process, the process can be further enhanced by adding an AIDC solution to the package. Barcode printers, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), mobile computers, and wireless LANs can efficiently monitor the flow of products. As data is collected at various points across the warehouse, there is a batch-synchronization or a real-time wireless transmission that collates data into a central database.

Warehouse Inventory Management Software

Now that we have seen a synopsis of the warehouse management system and its importance in a supply-chain process, let us look at the essential features.

Picking

All warehouses are different — some house large products, some store small packages, some have high ceilings, while others have several racks. Similarly, materials in a warehouse also differ in terms of size and shape. Many times, products are stored in bulk or pallets. Orders differ. Additionally, the velocity of picking also changes across companies — as some allow picking a single-SKU pallet while other ship only in bulk. Hence, each warehouse will need a different picking style, and good warehouse management software ensures that it can incorporate several picking functionalities.

One way to judge a sound warehouse management system is to check if it has some of these picking styles — wave, batch, product, one scan, and scanner picking. Additionally, a warehouse picking system can offer numerous benefits such as

1. Multiple picking for a single order
2. Single picker for multiple orders
3. Password protection for skipping picks or shorting them
4. A configurable window for entering the bin, pack size, and carton
5. Generating packing slips
6. Assigning orders to specific users
7. Possesses repacking ability
8. EOL workflow controls

Receiving

A Warehouse Management Software assists in the transition from a paper-based receiving process to a digital one. Let’s look at what happens after receiving an order

1. The purchase order is entered into the ERP system and transferred to the Warehouse Management System
2. The receivers, who wait for the shipment are equipped with mobile computers integrated with Barcode Scanners
3. The WMS software receives items accurately into your warehouse. It reconciles the load against the original purchase entry that was given in your ERP system. Additionally, it can be done without traditional physical receipts, and instead, purchase orders can be tracked on the mobile computer by displaying the receipts related to the purchase order
4. A state-of-the-art WMS system allows for counting down items directly from the container as it validates the shipment with multiple purchase orders and updates the ERP system
5. As the receipt is generated instantly, the stock can be transferred immediately to a bin location. The bin location assignment can be automatic (if there is a low-stock alert), or the stock can be transferred to a temporary staging location, as well

A few benefits of an efficient warehouse management system include

1. Sequentially receive orders without paperwork
2. Scan products with Barcode scanners seamlessly
3. Print IDs with barcode printers and printing supplies as and when the orders are received
4. Receive multiple shipments, put them away or forward them to other locations

Warehouse Inventory Software

Counting

Ideally, a WMS software should support Cycle counting and physical inventory counting. Despite several organizations opting for physical inventories, it usually wastes time as there are several inaccuracies. The three standard methods usually employed are

1. Random selection
2. Geographic selection
3. Rank-based selection

Additional functionalities could include — Inventory count and recount, configurable workflow prompt for the bin, create adjustments for supervisor review, and many more.

Stock Locator or Tracking

This feature provides visibility into the location of goods within the warehouse. Several functionalities can be included in the WMS software

1. Ability to enter incidents through a handheld or mobile computer
2. Reserving stock/ moving the stock ahead
3. Restricting consolidation of stock concerning expiry dates or FIFO logic
4. Lot/ serial number tracking
5. Capture at receiving with a Barcode scanner or RFID scanner to capture serial numbers from barcodes

Warehouse Control and Management

These tools allow you to run the warehouse on the fly as you can respond to orders as they come in. Cross-docking is one such important feature that will enable you to route goods before they are shipped.

Order Allocation

Orders can be placed from anywhere –using a B2B business, e-commerce websites, or even remote sales. Sales orders are typically into your ERP system through the WMS sales order entry function, and the WMS software is updated immediately, which then takes over order management activities. Warehouse allocation is also responsible for the reservation of products for sales orders.

Group or wave planning

This feature helps create bespoke picking strategies to meet demand and adjust orders according to their priority. A decent WMS comes with sorting options and customizable configurations based on shipments.

Kitting

In this feature, you can combine several SKUs into a single one. You can build new kits according to the order and stock availability through kitting functions on the mobile computer.

Directed Putaway

This feature helps optimize warehouse layout and helps handle unique product requirements such as freezer storage or hazardous materials.

WMS and Supply Chains of the Future — A Tiny Peep

While each functionality that we have discussed are found in the best WMS solutions, several software solutions also allow customizations according to your needs. Purchasing such a product will help your organization to streamline your supply chain and rule the market for several years to come. While the future of WMS looks promising with the advent of smarter technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, augmented reality, smart wearables, and further leveraging the potential of the cloud, the end result would be a more flexible, elastic, transparent, scalable, and manageable supply chain that would put you on the front ahead of the competition.

However, to get there, today, you must first invest in a comprehensive warehouse management software that can modernize and mechanize procedures, accomplish complex processes, improve productivity, and offer control with greater agility. From shipping to inventory, a comprehensive WMS is the face of the future, especially for the supply chain and logistics industry. Are you willing to be a leader in tomorrow’s market, or are you hesitant to invest in a solution that can positively transform your supply chain? If it is the latter, you will spend a long time catching up to competitors instead of investing time in finding newer and better ways to serve your customers.