WMS warehouse management system is the key to achieve cost reduction and efficiency increase in the distribution industry

It's been decades since US retail giant JCPenney created the first real-time warehouse management system (WMS) in 1975. Since then,WMS systems have become more and more powerful. Today, while most distributors understand the importance of an efficient ERP system, it is still unclear whether they are making the most of their available resources.

WMS is a cloud-based tier 1 warehouse management system that can greatly improve the efficiency of distribution center and warehouse operations, helping to streamline warehouse operations, reduce costs and improve customer service. Infor believes that the use of WMS systems can bring a number of advantages to distributors.

The WMS system can effectively improve inventory visibility and fulfillment accuracy for distributors

First, the WMS system improves inventory visibility and fulfillment accuracy. With better visibility and fulfillment accuracy, businesses can ensure customers receive the right shipment on schedule. While improving revenue, it can also enhance customer satisfaction, improve customer stickiness, and expand long-term customers.

With the support of the WMS system, enterprises can track inventory in real time and quickly locate items in the warehouse. With increased visibility, companies can ensure that their current inventory is always at the right level, and reduce out-of-stock and overstock and the resulting high costs. In addition, with increased real-time visibility of inventory, customers can also order based on more accurate data, and the cost of controlling inventory will be reduced.

As a modern warehouse management system,WMS can greatly improve distribution operations and operations

The "cycle count" feature of the WMS system enables companies to ensure that any position in the factory can be counted around the clock, which greatly improves the accuracy of real-time inventory. After the warehouse management system is deployed, enterprises no longer need to manually enter data. This also reduces human error to a certain extent and improves accuracy. Optimizing the warehouse operation process can reduce labor costs and improve efficiency. Through process automation, businesses can reduce the time required to complete tasks, improve cargo throughput, meet customer needs in a timely manner, and reduce business operating costs.

For example, after the port or terminal where the goods are received has the capacity of directed delivery, the system will notify the delivery driver to place the goods into the designated warehouse as required. But in a manual warehouse, the delivery driver must understand the limitations of the size and weight of the goods, as well as the type of warehouse in which the goods are stored. They then have to find that type of warehouse to release the goods and manually enter the warehouse address into the system. These additional steps not only increase the error rate, but also the time cost and delivery steps.

For products in the warehouse that have expired or are about to expire, the WMS system supports various methods of "adjusting the shipment time of the warehouse". For example, a variety of methods can be used to ensure the correct exit strategy, so that the inventory is always in the right state, such as FIFO, LIFO and FEFO. In the event of a product recall, it is critical for businesses to be able to track shipments by lot number and coded date.

Adaptive WMS systems contribute to efficient business operations

Wave and task management is one of the key characteristics of warehouse productivity, which is the ability to prioritize tasks and alternate tasks. Highly configurable task publishing and upgrade rules that help optimize turnaround times and balance workloads. View unfinished work with flexible graphical queries. This can maximize employee efficiency and accomplish a lot of work in a short period of time. For example, a WMS system might instruct a picker to bring a shipment to the dock on the way to the next pick. But in the past, pickers did not know which goods could be transported by route and were not rewarded for saving travel and improving efficiency. This "task interleaving" process allows tasks to be completed through different functions to improve the overall efficiency of the process.

In addition, the functions of the WMS system also include receiving and merchants, inventory management, sorting and replenishment, 3D visual warehouse, value-added services, 3PL billing and so on.

At the same time, the WMS system can help distributors strictly meet the requirements of compliance and regulations. By automating the process,WMS systems can quickly and accurately identify and track shipments, helping distributors comply with industry regulations and avoid penalties for violations.

As warehouses and distribution centers continue to play an increasingly important role in supply chain management and distribution,WMS offers considerable value to any distribution business. Emerging technologies will continue to shape the vision of the warehouse of the future, prompting distributors to incorporate WMS into their long-term supply chain strategies to optimize workflows, improve product sorting and delivery accuracy, improve inventory management, optimize employee efficiency, enhance customer service, and more. It is also a key link in the future assessment of corporate profitability, supply chain efficiency and overall business success.