February 18, 2020 
Technological advancements and breakthrough innovations are disrupting the industry substantially, bringing out substantial changes in the way most of the business functions are being carried out.
Be it manufacturing or operations or managing communications, both internally as well as externally, the tech trends are set to reshape the entire business landscape. Among these technological advancements and trends, cloud technology claims a rather massive space.
Why Cloud Technology?
Cloud technology is paving its way into most of our personal as well as professional lives as we prefer cloud as the best, safe and secure storage medium for both personal and professional data and carry out the daily operations.
As most of the business functions are welcoming the shift from legacy systems to cloud-based software and platforms, the popularity of such cloud-based or alternatively referred to as SaaS-based systems are going to soar to new scales.
On-premise WMS vs Cloud WMS
Warehouse management is one of the crucial business functions that play a critical role in deciding the success of business operations and ultimately ROI.
With the introduction of automated and sophisticated systems, businesses are left with two options: on-premise and cloud-based Warehouse Management Software.
- On-premise warehouse management systems are hosted on their own servers and involve license purchases that can lead to huge initial capital investment. Maintenance associated with the on-premise WMS and disaster and recovery tasks also adds up.
- Cloud-based WMS is hosted on a remote server, preferably belonging to the third-party WMS service provider. The cloud-based WMS eliminates the hassles of purchasing predefined licenses as businesses have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of customization subscription plans.
Many businesses held the notion that SaaS WMS solutions might not be apt for execution-intensive business functions like warehouse management. However, there has been a shift in the thought process with the improvements in technology and prototyping of various deployment options for cloud-based WMS.
The cloud-based WMS solutions have taken accessibility to the new level as these can be accessed from anywhere, anytime, with an internet-enabled device of choice. This has enabled the management team to have visibility on inventory, work tasks and performance of individual workers through user-friendly WMS interfaces.
4 key reasons why business should opt for cloud-based WMS
While Cloud WMS is gaining ground when it comes to warehouse management, businesses must decide the need and feasibility of this system.
Here are some of the top-notch reasons that depict why a business may select a Cloud-based WMS over a traditional on-premise WMS software.
Scalability
As businesses are going global and eyeing to expand their operations across the geographical boundaries, the product and operations portfolio is sure to expand and so does the warehouse and inventory management capacity.
At such juncture, a cloud-based WMS is an absolute solution as it ensures optimal scalability. Conventional on-premise or manual warehouse management has several challenges in terms of severe bottlenecks with the proliferation of SKU. However, a cloud-based WMS eliminates the risk of such bottlenecks being raised.
Thus, businesses irrespective of their size, dynamics and SKU transaction volume must apprise the feasibility of a cloud-based WMS.
Security
With almost everything being done online comes the onus of cyber security threats. While businesses plan to expand their warehouse capacity, ensuring the data they store on the WMS is pivotal.
The cloud-based warehouse management systems require an unmatched level of cyber security that is critical to garnering customer support in building brand value. Cloud-based WMS being located on the remote online servers are highly prone to cyber security threats and attacks.
Thus, by leveraging the best WMS solution, businesses can effectually take advantage of cyber security initiatives and protocols without actually incurring any development costs of implementing cyber security measures in your enterprise.
Hassle-free Solution
Another reason why most of the businesses prefer a cloud-based WMS revolves around the information technology aspect.
Since the responsibility of the cloud-based system management lies with the third-party service provider, the internal IT resources necessary for the management and upkeep of the warehouse management system can be substantially brought down. The in-house technical expertise can rather be directed towards sharpening core competency skills.
Cloud-based WMS equips the supply chain leaders and managers with the opportunity to focus more on customer service and gauge the real-time performance. Thus, a cloud-based WMS is essential to improving the efficiency of business operations and ROI.
Harness Expert Capabilities
Given the ever-increasing competition, globalization and associated challenges are insisting businesses revisit their core competencies and encouraging to outsource time-consuming and redundant daily operations or activities that might not need strategic involvement.
By relying on cloud-based WMS software, businesses stand the chance to harness a great wealth of technology talent that specializes in the creation, deployment and support of the WMS system.
How can we help you?
Now that we have navigated through the major reasons for opting for a cloud WMS, let’s have a look at why Vinculum’s Vin eRetail WMS has secured a place in the Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems. When it comes to B2B warehousing or B2C fulfillment needs of high-growth brands, Vin eRetail has become a popular choice! Here’s why.
- Vin eRetail WMS offers capabilities such as inventory serialization, batch management of inventory, virtual bundling and efficient logistics management backed by shipping rules and guidelines.
- It aims at ensuring the accuracy, speed and profitability of warehouse operations for businesses by offering an integrated inventory serialization that is scalable across the entire warehouse.
- It allows the warehouse users to print bar codes in multiple formats based on the product category or vendor. It’s seamless compatibility with ZPL/EPL supported printers eliminate the need for third-party or paid printing platforms.
- It employs batch and wave picking methodology for inventory to enhance the accuracy of inventory management, productivity, streamlines processes and aids in space optimization.
As businesses scale up their operations and inventory portfolio, dealing with multiple suppliers or vendors is common. This may often lead to mistakes concerning the product bundling or customer returns. This aims at ensuring flexibility in managing product variants in an omnichannel sales environment.
If you are looking for an easy, scalable and robust cloud-based WMS, do get in touch with the Vinculum experts, today!
