eCommerce
January 19, 2022

Warehouse Management Systems: The Basics

Like most software solutions for several other business processes, warehouse management systems are the software solutions designed to handle and optimize warehouse operations and resources. The distribution center management carries out activities such as planning, organization, staffing, directing, allocating fulfillment centers, managing stocks, updating the inventories, warehouse-keeping, controlling, and utilization of the resources available. Such activities cannot be handled with traditional methods or spreadsheets. 


This is where potential warehouse management system software comes to the rescue. Business processes need optimization and visibility throughout the business process. If you have already faced challenges in such scenarios or are willing to ramp up your supply chain system or integrate your point of sale with the rest of the business processes, a warehouse management system is the solution. A warehouse management system should address your challenges; know your challenges before you decide to invest in a warehouse management system.


What Are The Common Challenges?

Managing the eCommerce sector includes several challenges as they include several intermediate processes. Some of the significant challenges are improper visibility, labor shortage, equipment investment, resource optimization, handheld device operation, managing inventory, handling different selling channels and into new markets, and adjusting stock levels.


The Warehouse management system is placed between the manufacturing processes and supply chain processes to manage both sides efficiently. Therefore the warehouse management system can offer higher visibility for the business and inventory staff at any given time and location. Inventories have been deployed with advanced tracking labels such as RFID in recent years. The data collected from these RFID and other sensor labels are updated in the inventory management module, synchronized with the ERP system that handles the invoices and the WMS. This way, the business operator doesn't have to check on different modules.


What Are The Perks Of Investing In Novel Warehouse Management Systems?

Cloud technology offers quick access to the data anywhere and anytime and can be operated with intelligent devices. The backup facility and the protective protocols are some of the best features you can benefit from. Such features also reduce downtime and enhance the productivity of the overall business processes. As it allows the ground staff and user to operate via smartphone or browser, the productivity increases eventually. Updates and operations are very similar to mobile applications. Therefore the operability is more effortless as well.

Reasons Why You Need A New Age Warehouse Management System

Some of the crucial daily routines of the warehouse management system include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, etc. These can be carried out efficiently with the new age warehouse management system. The e-commerce platforms include intensive planning from receiving the dock activities, selecting the workload up until calculating the labor estimates and vehicles required for shipping. Appropriate notifications have to be sent to the departments.


Right after planning comes the organization according to the demand and objective. Putting the orders in the correct sequence based on the user's needs and not simply in the line as they were received is essential. Assigning the staff to the work functions, updating every process, documenting them, and maintaining consistency with the requirements are critical operations that can be carried out efficiently. 


If you are thinking of expanding your business or setting up inventories in different locations to meet the customer requirements, a new-age warehousing system with the feature of scaling up and down according to the condition and business needs is a must. This also helps the seller set up inventories in different regions and ship at lower costs, as the products are shipped from the local warehouse. In such cases, multi-location cloud warehousing systems should be considered.


Conclusion

If you are looking for a software solution to help you optimize your warehouse operations, then it is time that you consider the benefits of warehouse management system software. Such systems can handle all aspects of warehousing activities and resources in an efficient manner with reduced costs. With such tools at the ready, there’s no excuse not to make better use of your warehouses and distribution centers. Wanting more information on how these solutions work? Get in touch today!


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