The number of companies without a robust WMS is shocking?
Owning a business is a tough task. It is full of new challenges every day. From production to delivery, everything has to be taken care of. The warehouses need special attention as all the goods are stored here. The current situation with the Coronavirus Pandemic where a large number of people cannot gather at the workplace is testing our systems and potentially dangerous.
The pandemic show us the importance of software to help businesses navigate challenging situations and have to ability to compete with such giants as Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, etc.. One such management software that is essential for the healthy and smooth growth of a business is the warehouse management system (WMS). Along with workforce safety, warehouse managers also have to look after the daily processes surrounding inventory, shipping, returns, demands and security. To balance it all, many businesses are outsourcing developers and turning towards WMS or the warehouse management system. 78% of the businesses feel positive about software outsourcing, as per the latest software outsourcing stats.
But did you know the number of companies without a robust inventory management system is shocking? 46% of North American companies either don't track their inventory or still use a manual methods. If you are in the 46% bracket : then it's high time to find the best software development company and get your personalised warehouse management software implemented.
Why? Well here are 7 justifications for why you need a warehouse management system.
Top Warehouse Management System Software Benefits.
1. Enhanced Inventory Visibility
Inventory visibility is one of the most important and essential features provided by a warehouse management system software. With this, the tracking of inventory becomes way more comfortable. It provides real-time data on the stock through the barcoding, serial numbers and RFID tagging.
All of these enable the user of the application to document the item as it enters the warehouse quickly. It also tracks all of its movement on the warehouse floor as well as its movement during transportation of goods from one location to another.
You must be wondering why this kind of visibility is essential? This kind of visibility is necessary to create demand forecasts, which provide insight into which products are popular among the customers and during which time of the year.
All these forecasts are helpful for the leader in deciding which product to invest in and which ones are losing their place in the market. Increased traceability of your inventory as one of many related to warehouse management software advantages is also extremely helpful in the event of a recall.
2. Accelerating and Fine-Tuning Order Fulfilment
For any Supply Chain Management system to succeed in the foundation of the Distributed Order Management System (DOM) needs to be laid firmly. These are essential for the successful performance of a Warehouse Management System software.
The best WMS suites are integrated into Order Management systems. The advantage of having a tightly integrated and highly functioning order and warehouse management system is that orders can be quickly possessed, fulfilled and shipped with the entire process being handled electronically within the warehouse.
The software development company can help you come with the best warehouse inventory management system providing on-time delivery, order fill rate, order accuracy, line accuracy, order cycle time and perfect order completion.
3. The Just-in-time Inventory
Another great advantage of having a warehouse management system software is Just-in-time(JIT) which refers to an inventory management practice. In this practice, the stock levels are kept low, and the product moves quickly through the warehouse.
Instead of holding an inventory for a long time, your warehouse receives it "just-in-time" to fill an order. We know this process might be a little tricky, and practising it will make you perfect but achieving a balanced JIT inventory is a breeze with the right warehouse management system software.
The first and foremost thing needed for Just-in-time inventory is accurate demand forecasting. A WMS provides forecasts which are then used to generate optimal inventory levels to meet the demands of the market without exceeding or underestimating it.
The use of this practice is that it helps in reducing safety stock and related carrying costs. For instance, if your materials are used in manufacturing, just-in-time warehousing can help you reduce waste and scrap related to all the perishable items.
4. Increasing Warehouse Productivity.
Getting more done in less time is a challenge every business faces these days. To increase productivity within a warehouse, you need to start with a streamlined approach. This streamlined approach starts with pick-and-pack and then progresses to fine-tuning order fulfilment.
At the centre of the warehouse, productivity is the need to ensure pick-and-pack performance is keeping up with every other process going on in the warehouse. One of the most effective approaches to continually increasing warehouse productivity is to keep a check on the insights of the company from a series of metrics. These may include the orders per hour picked, lines per hour picked and fulfilled, items per hour, and cost as a percentage of sales.
5. Enhanced Security
Many of the warehouse management programs require employees to use individual user accounts when entering transactions. This creates an audit trail that connects the specific employees to specific operations hence improving accountability and reducing the risk of theft and other issues.
On the other hand, user-based access levels prevent unauthorised access to the reports and analysis. This only allows the amount of information as much is needed for the particular user and their work. You don't have to worry much about the company secrets as they are safe now.
6. Reduces Operating Expenses
A well-designed warehouse management system reduces operating expenses in a variety of ways. This type of system shows us the most effective use of labour and space, reducing waste of time.
If you hire software developers who are experts in their work, they can help you with a software which can determine where to keep materials, products and equipment to optimise the flow of your warehouse.
Certain warehouse owners invest in their warehouse a lot. They have some advanced systems where the warehouse floors have simulators, enabling users to create potential floor plans within the system. These simulators allow you to place pallets, shelves and other equipment you would need to accommodate for in your warehouse.
7. Inbound and Outbound Optimisation
Just as users can optimise the location of inventory and equipment, they can also optimise how it will be moved around the warehouse. The moment you plan on receiving inventory, the benefits of a warehouse management system provides inbound planning tools such as scheduling and put-away management.
The software tools allow you to determine the most appropriate date and time to receive a shipment based on the labour and equipment available.
Warehouse management systems also help the user to determine their routes when it comes to pick and pack for outbound operations. The software of WMS is so well designed that it supplies a variety of algorithms to determine the best route for picking materials.
Also, depending on the size and nature of the product, users can select zone, batch or wave picking to reduce warehouse and other holdups. These algorithms are designed to take employee location into account, which allows staff to focus on the task closest to them first.
Final TakeAway
Owning and running a business successfully is a tough task, but it is not impossible. With small tips and tricks and some smart investments, you can boost your business. Learn to invest in software as they help in better management of the business. Just like warehouse management system software. It helps the warehouse manager in many ways and also benefits the company by saving time, costs and unnecessary expenditures.
If you are still running your business without a WMS, then it is the right time to take a step forward with so many options available to you. Get in touch with the best software development in your area to get your personalised WMS software. Only an expert can help you with the best possible solutions.
FAQs:
Q1- What is the difference between WMS and Inventory control systems?
A1- An inventory control system holds more summarised information, whereas a WMS holds a piece of more detailed information about the inventory. A WMS optimises all the activities going inside a warehouse-like picking, receiving, put-away and replenishment. All this is not possible for an inventory control system.
Q2- What is required to implement inventory management software?
A2- Integration, data quality and training of how to use the software are the areas that require attention.
The management system must be integrated into the existing ERP system only. But before you do that, you must evaluate different service provider's capabilities to combine or transfer data to your ERP and the warehouse management system.
