Making WMS a success
June 1st 2004

An efficient warehouse management system is key to the success of a companys logistics operation. Stephen Cross managing director of specialist WMS company, ATMS, looks at what makes a good system and discusses the new developments in the field Growth in warehousing continues at between three and five per cent each year as we consume more, demand more variety, require immediate availability and last, but by no means least, lead times lengthen as we import more and more to satisfy customer demand. The latter point also means that with longer lead times, more safety stock is needed. After all, holding stock is often cheaper than the cost of lost orders and lost customers. As warehousing becomes increasingly important, it also becomes increasingly complex as it forms an integral part of a rapidly changing supply chain. The clever move is to seek solutions before you have problems and also to seek solutions that provide you with a competitive edge. This is where warehouse management systems come into their own. Supply chain control is vital to the success of modern businesses and is the key to excellent customer service and operational efficiency. The right WMS can be one of the most significant management tools a business possesses. It must, though, be chosen wisely and meet carefully set criteria if it is to be the success it should be. Selecting a WMS In addition to any personal criteria you may have, set out below are 12 simple tips to help identify the WMS that is right for your business. Summarise your business requirements on a sheet of A4 and estimate the cost of not implementing a WMS. Think about what your warehouse and supply chain will look like 5 years hence and 10 years hence, and look for a WMS supplier who shares your vision. Look for a supplier with expertise in your industry and your type of warehouse it is important that the supplier can relate to you and that their software has the features that may be specific to your industry and your type of warehouse. Look for a supplier that is warehouse and logistics focussed; more generalist companies will often change strategy and reduce their focus on warehousing as their fortunes change. Look for a supplier with a strong team of warehousing specialists, otherwise you will be training the supplier in warehousing or at best will be reliant on one or two individuals. Make sure that help desk and support cover is available during your working hours 24/7 if necessary. Look for a WMS that has been specified by warehouse and logistics professionals, rather than programmers and analysts. Make sure the product is relatively new, but with a sound track record and uses the latest software technology. Make sure the product is being developed on an ongoing basis to meet future warehousing and supply chain needs. Ensure that you can have small but important changes made to the system to meet your very specific needs without compromising the package upgrade route. Look for relevant reference sites. Have an in depth demonstration of the WMS. Make sure that potential users of the system go along. Ensure that the WMS is easy to use and related closely to your operation. Full potential An example of a company utilising a WMS to full potential is afforded by Dimensions Corporatewear, the UKs leading supplier of corporate clothing and careerwear, which has installed ATMSs StockTrackPLUS, a stock tracking and data collection system. The system helps monitor and control stock at Dimensions 85,500ft2 warehouse at Castle Donington, from where it supplies some of the UKs leading companies including Argos, ASDA, Compass, Lunn Poly, Sainsburys and Tesco. The warehouse handles the despatch of over 3-million garments worldwide every year and clothes over 700,000 employees. StockTrackPLUS enables the rapid movement of high volumes of garments and, at the same time, provides detailed tracking by means of a unique barcoded label attached to each item. As well as ensuring complete pick accuracy, the systems allows Dimensions to track the history of every garment and helps companies optimise their investment in corporatewear. Dimensions Corporatewear Logistics Director, Steve Cassapi, comments: Stock Track PLUS was chosen because it had the flexibility to meet the service requirements of our business. We provide a wardrobe service tailored to the individual employee and that means picking and packing has to be 100% accurate. Stock Track PLUS allows us to achieve this and has the added bonus of providing real time information which helps us to respond quickly to changing situations. The system links to a sophisticated forecasting system which enables us to accurately maintain correct stock levels. Sri Lanka connection Stock Track PLUS has now been extended to the companys manufacturing base in Sri Lanka to provide full visibility of stock throughout its shipment to Dimensions in the UK. The use of electronic advanced shipping notification and pre-labelled consignments has dramatically improved the goods receipt process. The next phase of the system is to introduce a refined pick and pack operation to assist with the high volumes of late and same-day order picks and to enable Dimensions to interface with its couriers system to send timely and accurate pre-advice detailing orders awaiting collection. New developments The latest developments in WMS include the provision of graphical representation of system data for easy assimilation, increasing the ability of warehouses to be dynamic and responsive. Space can to be viewed, highlighting areas of possible congestion, and the status of items and processes illustrated for a better understanding of what can be achieved through the creation of warehouse rules and configurations. RDTs with character screens are being replaced with mobile devices that have more familiar Windows-based graphical interfaces and although relatively new and expensive, touch screens are set to reduce user interaction with keyboards. Still in the early stages of development in this country, voice activated processes will enable both hands to be used for lifting during picking and for writing and moving items when checking stock. Voice activation will allow product codes to be read even if barcodes are not scanable and it will reduce language, terminology and local accent problems. Web services are becoming accessible via a hosted hub. Scanning a product code can retrieve information from source systems and dynamic information can be obtained to reduce set-ups and static data holding. Updates, patches, help files, data fixes and set-ups will be pulled directly from the Internet. Automation and user controlled defaults are taking more and more of the mundane tasks away from users and guarantee consistent application of business rules. Interfaces between machines (mixers, packers and robots) and the system ensure data flow and reduce inaccuracy. Smarter systems will learn by repetitious events and high/low triggers to dynamically adjust their own data sets to make the warehouse operate more efficiently by reducing time, effort, overheads and costs. Fast moving items will be automatically allocated to easy access locations and space recovered by consolidating like product. Closer interaction with other systems controlling various sections of the supply chain will improve throughput and reduce errors and paperwork. WMS will order or transfer stock from external systems, shipping information will pre-advise the system to allow space allocation and planning days/weeks in advance and customer managed inventory will mean that customers can request stock for despatch directly or via EDI. RFID will mean that walking past a collecting station will identify individual items, even in multiple-mixed cages of 30-40 items. Zero user interaction will be required and a tag will carry the complete history of an item without the requirement for labelling and paperwork. Vital decision Having briefly looked at all these latest advances, the most important thing to stress is the importance of working with a WMS provider who can turn this new technology to your advantage. Installing the wrong system can be a costly mistake. Making the right decision can make life a whole lot simpler.

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