Warehouse

Management
Systems
Warehouse
management
system

Definition
• Manage inventory, space,
material handling equipment,
labor, and transportation
resources in real time to assure
timely, error-free fulfillment,
delivery, and visibility of order
status throughout the supply
chain
• Matching material and
information flow
Warehouse
management
system

• Definition 2
• Manages warehouse inventory,
space, equipment, and labor
resources to direct the flow of
materials and information from
receiving and putaway to light
assembly, order picking,
value-added processing and
shipment
 Warehouse management system

CONTEMPORARY WMS CHECKS LABOR AND A WMS DIRECTS AND TRACKS EACH MOVE
EQUIPMENT RESOURCES FOR RECEIPTS WITHIN THE FACILITY TO SPEED MATERIAL
PROCESSING, CROSS DOCKING, STORAGE, FLOW AND GUARD INVENTORY INTEGRITY.
PICKING, VALUE ADDED PROCESSING,
STAGING AND SHIPPING.
The key to success in warehousing lay with speeding the
flow of materials from receiving through storage to picking
and shipping.

Clearly that’s part of the solution -- but what about the

other part, VISIBILITY?

How do we know that we’re speeding the flow of the right

materials in the right quantities at the right time to the right
destination?
 WMS Components

WAREHOUSE TRANSPORTATIO YARD INTERNATIONAL

AND LABOR N MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT TRADE
MANAGEMENT LOGISTICS

SUPPLY CHAIN
VISIBILITY
THE SYSTEM HIERARCHY
ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
Customers Customers
Suppliers
ADMIN/FINANCE MANUFACTURING PLANNING Suppliers
Carriers Purchasing MRP Carriers
Demand Mgmt
Order Management MES APS
EDI / EDI /
WEB Enterprise Network WEB

LABOR
MANAGEMENT
WMS TMS
YARD
MANAGEMENT

Inventory Order Picking Staging Shipping Task

Receiving Storage
Mgmt Process Replen Loading Mgmt

Local Area Network

Data Entry Devices Material Handling Device Control

• A properly configured warehouse with a finely-tuned WMS, solid
labor management - and yard management, if appropriate - will
support error-free order fulfillment - assuming inventory availability
• But that’s just the beginning - and the basis for our contention that
users today must look further as they fashion their plans for
enhancing overall logistics performance.
• That doesn’t mean that the warehouse is not critical to supply
chain performance.
• Indeed, unless the warehouse is equipped to meet its targets for
throughput and accuracy, the chain will break.
• “The company must ensure that the WMS is complemented with
the other tools necessary for meeting customer requirements from
order placement to final delivery”.
 WMS Functions

Picking and
Receiving Put away
Shipping
• -Manual or • Dedicated put • Pick by Order,
automatic away system Batch, Wave
receiving to monitor the • Pick
• -Comparison received goods Confirmation
with the • Location • Shipping
invoice Selection: Check Lists
• -Difference System or • Manifests, Bills
from the Operator of Lading
invoiced • Put
quantity Confirmation
 WMS Differentiators

Unit of Location
Order Planning Inventory
Measure Management /
& Scheduling Allocation
Conversion Slotting

Lot & Serial

Shelf Life
Number Cartonization Cycle Counting
Monitoring
Tracking

Replenishment Task
Reverse Scalability &
& Assignment &
Logistics Configurability
Consolidation Monitoring

Upgrade
Support
WMS Setup
• Product Files
• Descriptions
• Dimensions
• Units of Measure
• Bills of Material
• Substitutions
• Location Files
• Numbering / Sequencing
• Dimensions / Capacity
• Equipment Files
• Employee Files
Workload
Management

• With tables based upon the

profiles and user-configurable
rules based upon business
priorities, the WMS facilitates
workload planning and task
assignment on the basis of
anticipated receipts and shipments
• Equipment Profiles
• Material Profiles
• Location Profiles
• Operator / Equipment Matrices
• Operator / Task Priorities
• Labor Standards
Material
Handling
Interfaces

• Conveyor
• Sortation
• Palletizer
• AGVs
• Pick (Pack)-To-Light
• AS/RS
Systems
Interfaces

• Purchasing
• Order Management
• MRP
• Labor Standards / LMS
• Load Planning
• Freight Rating / TMS
• Slotting
 Purchase Order Receiving

Carrier Appointment Scheduling

Pre-Tagged Receipts

Receiving Blind (Unanticipated) Receipts

Load Tagging/Labeling

Quality Assurance

Returns
 Trailer Scheduling / Processing

Staging Location Management

Staging Staged Load Confirmation

and Door / Truck Verification

Shipping Shipping Labels

Bills of Lading

Shipment Confirmation
CARRIER SCHEDULING
Storage and
Putaway
• Location Selection
• Override
• Location Confirmation
• Crossdocking
• Relocation
• Consolidation
Inventory Management

• Lot, Date Code, and Serial Number Tracking

• Shelf-Life Monitoring and Rotation
• Routine and Exception Cycle Counting
• Full Physicals

• Additionally, some WMS permit lot and serial number

tracking and allocation to orders and monitor shelf life to
eliminate or reduce obsolescence.

• Finally, the ability of the WMS to update inventory status

by location anywhere within the facility as transactions
occur precludes the need for facility shutdown for
physical inventory taking. Indeed, many users have been
able to use the WMS’ cycle counting capability to
eliminate full physicals altogether.
WMS Cost Breakdown

COMPONENT % TOTAL COST

Computer 6
Radio frequency scanners 24
Bar Code Label Applicators 9
Hardware Subtotal 39
WMS License 8
WMS Enhancements 10
Host Interface 6
Other Software Licenses 4
Software Subtotal 28
Location Labels 6
WMS Installation Services 21
Project Team Costs 6
Implementation Subtotal 33
 • Potential Improvements in: • Potential Reductions of:
WMS • Inventory accuracy and
turns
• Damage/Shrinkage
• Lost stock
Benefits • Space utilization, stock
rotation
• Safety stock
• Search times and
• Order, lot and serial deadheading
number tracking
• Paperwork
• Backorder handling
• Human error
• Crossdocking
• Physical inventory
• Resource planning and taking
scheduling
• Labor, equipment
• Labor and equipment and utility costs
productivity
• Courier/Delivery
• Performance costs
measurement
• Outside warehousing
• Customer service