Warehouse Management Systems: Definition, Features And Benefits

Essentially a software application, the WarehouseManagement System or WMS helps to optimize the functionality of the warehouse and support proper management of the distribution center. Hence in order to achieve the same, WMS facilitates management in the:

• Daily planning and organization of the warehouse,
• Proper placement of the staff at different work areas,
• Directing, controlling and proper utilization of the resources available,
• Storage of materials within the warehouse,
• Movement of products in and out of the warehouse etc.

Features of WMS

Essentially it works with the help of a database configured in a way that operations of the various Warehousing Companies in India can be effectively supported. Thus they contain details pertaining to many different standardized elements of warehousing like:

• Individual SKUs: These pertain to the handling and storage of stock keeping units or SKUs which are generally inventoried individually on the basis of lot code, manufacture date, etc. The SKU can refer to anything from basic raw materials to fabricate parts, assembled products, finishes goods related to both the consumer and industrial sectors, etc.
• Storage locations within the warehouse: This is of extreme importance since organizing the placement of the products stored by grouping them into specific locations which can be identified by either the location number, type of use or storage, picking sequence, storage restrictions if any, location capacity and size, etc.
• Dock doors: This pertains to areas of the warehouse from where goods stored in it are either loaded onto vehicles for transportation or unloaded from vehicles for storage.
• Labor productivity management: This deals with the management of the warehouse workforce where work allocation, activity tracking, etc., can be effectively controlled and workers paid accordingly. Tracking their work progress also enables proper utilization of the workforce thus increasing the functionality and profitability of the warehouse.

Daily management of the warehouse includes efficient planning and proper execution of functions like:

• Planning: This is perhaps the most important daily function of a warehouse and can be successfully carried out by:
• Ensuring a hassle-free dock receiving activity,
• Selecting and allocating work orders which need to be processed during the day or night,
• Estimating labor and vehicle requirements,
• Sending notifications to carriers so that loading, departing, and delivery can be done on time.
• Organizing: This deals with the sequencing of orders that need to be processed on a particular  day.  This can be effectively managed by:
• Minimizing the space needs for dock staging by ensuring that order arrive in a trailer load sequence at the shipping docks and
• Creating an order flow so that the progress of the same can be monitored throughout the day.
• Staffing: Work allocation of the daily staff for proper management of the workflow.
• Directing: This enables proper documentation of procedures and processes followed by the Top Warehousing Companies in India and embedding them within the WMS.
• Controlling: This basically includes setting daily targets so that the management can monitor the progress made during the workday, enable problems to get addressed in a timely manner and provide data to analyze the performance of the warehouse.

Thus it would not be wrong to say that WMS is essentially a tactical tool which is purchased by business and used to cater to the unique demands and requirements of the customers both in their supply and distribution chains. This is achieved with the help of spreadsheets since the inventory concerned and the workload needed to handle the same too large and to be manually handled.