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What is a Warehouse Management System (WMS)?

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What is a Warehouse Management System (WMS)
Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) offer solutions to warehouse managers and businesses of every size, inviting companies to embark on their digital transformation to elevate operations and stakeholder experiences. Here at PackemWMS, we know how the right technological solutions can bring a business to the next level.

In 2023, two of the main challenges businesses will face include supply chain security and elevated customer expectations, according to Forbes. These joint forces promise to place stress on many small to medium-sized businesses that lack the infrastructure of global corporate giants.

In this article, we will dive deep into everything there is to know about what a WMS is, how it can help you manage your warehouse, and the best features we offer with our services.

Warehouse Management System? WMS?

Better known by its acronym, WMS, a Warehouse Management System is software that helps businesses in retail and manufacturing industries with their operation.

A WMS works to ensure accuracyefficiency, and streamlined processes across a company’s operations by offering solutions to track inventory, materials, and goods as they are received, palletized, stored and shipped.

Inventory Management Software

Think of it as a warehouse inventory management system, a tool that tracks a product lifecycle and display on-hand and available quantity.

A WMS allows teams to easily visualize the available quantity of an item, locate items in different bins, and eliminate surprising and unforeseen stock shortages that will leave customers frustrated.

Instead, with a birds-eye-view of everything in the warehouse, managers will know when they are running low and be able to communicate with suppliers before it’s too late.

Employee Efficiency

Working with the inventory, employees can easily locate products during picking, and avoid labor-intensive tasks that cause delays, overtime, and errors. McKinsey estimates that companies worldwide spend around $350 billion on warehousing each year.

This investment proves that it is more essential than ever to make the most of operational organization and efficiency at a time when demand continues to increase and storage costs swell. 

A good warehouse management software should allow operators to pick products using FIFO (first In first Out), LIFO (last In first Out), FEFO (First Expired First Out), or LQFO (lowest quantity first Out).

In addition to smart picking, WMS should manage items with low stock and trigger smart replenishment for the picking locations to avoid delays and improve overall employees moral.

The Main Types Of WMS Platforms

  • Integrated: This type of WMS is often part of a package from a company’s overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software which also may handle payments, accounting, and more. These are generally very large and expensive products. SAP or NetSuite are some of the more popular examples.
  • Standalone: In this case, the WMS is independent of any of the other features of a comprehensive ERP and may offer more detailed services in relation to warehouse needs but won’t include add-ons for other areas of your business.
  • On-premises: With this format, your company is responsible for hosting all the software and hardware with the system, granting you full access to every element but also little support in the way of security, bugs, and maintenance. Legacy applications are still being hosted on-premise and can create cost and maintenance overhead.
  • Cloud-based: These services are offered as a subscription and are hosted by an external company that will provide support whenever there is a feature upgrade and will cover any maintenance and servicing. This is the recommended option, using a month-to-month WMS software to ensure you have all your bases covered.

5 Reasons Having A WMS Is Essential For Successful Business

The right WMS and inventory management software can prevent your business from falling behind and will ensure that you are prepared for any challenges that may lie ahead.

1. Satisfied Customers

With increasing customer demand, companies must maintain an exceptional order-fill rate. In order to succeed, companies must guarantee efficiency and real-time visibility at the warehouse level in their backend operations.

A WMS can support this effort, ensuring your order demand and inventory are aligned and synched. With PackemWMS, you will benefit from real-time inventory management for e-commerce, as we make our platform compatible with Shopify and other platforms to guarantee our customers can keep up with their business demand on all platforms, leading to long-term success with their stakeholders.

2. EDI Integration For Fast Data Exchange

A smart warehouse management software should use EDI standards to communicate with retail stores and vendors to receive purchase orders and submit shipping notices.

It can help you understand your inventory levels in real time by tracking individual items, their movement, and their destination. Using the data provided by this detailed tracking, you can forecast your inventory needs, predict shortages, and ensure you are striking the right balance of in-house stock while remaining accountable for every item that enters and leaves the warehouse.

3. Smart Picking

The benefit of using software to manage warehouse operations is to recommend the best and most efficient locations to pick products from. Supervisors can configure allocation methods using FIFO, LIFO, FEFO, LQFO, and WMS will direct the operators where to pick items from.

4. Make The Most Of Your Team

With live views of demand and inventory, you will have better insight into which staff and teams you need present and when. You can more accurately delegate tasks and work to reduce bottleneck areas by balancing your workforce accordingly. As a company deeply committed to customer service, we focus on working directly with our customers to ensure their operational leads are fully trained in the software and WMS tech best practices to prevent issues down the road.

5. Cut Costs

This final benefit is a culmination of the previous four and represents the driving force for many companies adopting a WMS. With a thorough understanding of inventory, labor, and order fulfillment, you can ultimately cut costs by reducing waste and eliminating errors that add up and cause delays, expenses, and reputational damage.

Experience the simplest inventory management software.

Are you ready to transform how your business does inventory?

PackemWMS will help you manage your warehouse more effectively

We take pride in offering tailored support to each of our customers, providing each company with its own contact, so you know we have your back. Take advantage of what our Warehouse management software can offer your warehouse and bring your business operations to the next level.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our warehouse management system developers.

Aditi

Aditi Nischal

I am a seasoned professional in the field of warehouse management, with years of hands-on experience optimizing operations for businesses of various scales. My journey into the world of logistics began with a fascination for streamlining processes and maximizing productivity.

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