In today’s dynamic omnichannel fulfillment market, connected customers want the ability to buy and return from anywhere. In order to facilitate that desire, companies require software and processes to oversee and govern warehouse operations to meet and exceed such high customer service expectations. They should be able to track the items or materials efficiently, from when they enter the warehouse until they are shipped. Modern-day companies use Warehouse Management Software (WMS) that improves fulfillment capabilities to satisfy such needs.
What is a Warehouse Management Software (WMS)?
A warehouse management system (WMS) is a software solution that automates and enables exceptional inventory visibility and handling. It aids supply chain fulfillment activities and improves the product flow from the distribution center to the shelf.
By coordinating and managing resources, workforce, and material movements, Warehouse Management systems (WMS) also assist companies in maximizing their labor and space consumption and optimizing equipment investments. In addition, WMS systems are specifically intended to meet the demands of global supply chains, encompassing distribution and manufacturing in asset-intensive or service industries.
Cloud WMS
Like other enterprise systems (for example, an ERP), warehouse management systems started as systems that ran on an organization’s on-premises servers. As companies discover the benefits of hosting systems in the cloud, this approach is evolving. As a result, today, cloud-based WMSs are becoming increasingly widespread.
The fundamental difference between a cloud-based WMS and a typical on-premises system is that the cloud-based WMS vendor or a cloud service provider hosts and manages the software remotely. This relieves the IT department of the task of implementing, administering, and upgrading the system.
Cloud-based WMSs are more popular among SMBs since they are easier to set up and administer. Larger companies frequently utilize on-premises WMS because they demand highly tailored solutions that fit their business’s needs and can manage the IT infrastructure.
Supply chain advantages of a modern warehouse management system
An efficient warehouse management system will help businesses expand. A well-designed Warehouse Management System (WMS) is the most efficient way to boost a company’s performance and profitability quickly. The following are some of the most critical advantages of a modern warehouse management system.
Warehouse Space Optimization
A warehouse may save operating expenses by determining the best locations to keep commodities, supplies, and equipment. The warehouse management system optimizes warehouse flow by identifying the optimal space allocations based on workload and material characteristics. When employing a WMS, excessive material movement, time-consuming placement, and retrieval will all be reduced.
Inventory Visibility
Inventory visibility is one of the most significant advantages of warehouse management systems. WMS software provides real-time inventory data via barcoding, serial numbers, and RFID tagging. Users can follow each item as it enters the warehouse, its movements on the warehouse floor, or when it is shipped to another location. This kind of agility and visibility is essential to generate demand predictions, which provide insights like which items are most popular with customers throughout the year. These insights aid in forecasting and help supply chain planners decide which products to invest in and which are likely to lose market share.
Solutions for Integrated Shipping
Several modern-day warehouse management systems (WMS) connect seamlessly with new-age transportation management systems (TMS) to improve supply chain operations. Inbound and outbound planning may be easily controlled with a WMS that can manage inventory and equipment movements. Due to the data availability of arrival of products, the particular day and time may be optimized, considering the available workforce and storage capacities. Both receiving dock doors and outgoing shipping docks may be planned using WMS. All such possibilities eliminate waste and non-value-adding activities.
Additionally, thanks to inventory tracking and packing choices, customers may receive early information on shipments and how things are arriving when TMS and WMS are integrated.
Reduced Errors
A modern WMS considerably enhances transparency. This transparency ensures that human mistakes are minimized when paired with additional automated checks. When each piece of inventory is scanned and automatically verified against an order, theft and picking errors are almost impossible. Because WMS keeps track of all the customer orders, there are no errors in the everyday WMS operations like picking list errors, duplication of orders, or shipping errors. This saves a lot of money, and the WMS pays for itself quickly by reducing such costly mistakes, let alone increasing efficiency.
If you are looking for great Collaborative TMS solutions that integrate easily, Turvo is the right partner. Turvo provides the world’s leading Collaborative TMS application designed for the supply chain. Turvo connects people and organizations, allowing shippers, logistics providers, and carriers to unite their supply chains, deliver outstanding customer experiences, collaborate in real-time, and accelerate growth. The technology unifies all systems, internal and external, providing one end-to-end solution to execute all operations and analytics while eliminating redundant manual tasks and automating business processes. Turvo’s customers include some of the world’s most considerable Fortune 500 logistics service providers, shippers, and freight brokers. Turvo is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in Dallas, Texas, and Hyderabad, India.
