February 14, 2020 
Clients prioritize keeping track of their inventory throughout the supply chain when they choose any warehouse to store their products and fulfill orders. They always look for a better solution to optimize the order fulfillment process. That is why warehouse management functions systems permit inventory to be carefully monitored during the supply chain and improve the order fulfillment process.
A warehouse management system comes to your help when you prefer the accuracy of your inventory, address common challenges of changing supply chain requirements, and create a trusted, real-time warehouse environment. E commerce SaaS-based warehouse solutions help organizations simplify and manage daily warehouse activities efficiently.
Advancements in tech and digital platforms reshape industries. Logistics, including Warehouse Management Systems, evolves for global business growth. These innovations are pivotal for efficient logistics and supply chain management.
What is Warehouse Management System?
A warehouse management system functions is fundamentally a software application that monitors and controls warehouse operations on a day-to-day basis.
It essentially includes a broader spectrum of actions that initiate from auditing and tracking the materials since it is received in the respective warehouse to the moment they are being stored and finally reaching the end customer as the final step of the supply chain process.
With the assurance of inventory-related data transparency, a WMS reduces manual errors and looks after the stock control management. A WMS application allows the users to have a centralized system where different Warehouse Management System tasks are managed through a unified interface that, in turn, ensures the ease of usage and efficiency of warehouse operations.
functions of warehouse management
Despite warehouse management systems’ wide-scale adoption and popularity, businesses might still be hesitant regarding their applicability and alignment to their core business objective.
To effectively understand the suitability of a wms functions, businesses must understand the myriad of functional aspects and use case scenarios of a wms functions.
Here, we have elaborated on some of the critical function of warehouse management system.
Tracking Stock
1. Keeping track of stock inflows in the warehouse is one of the primary functions of the Warehouse Management System. It gives warehouse managers the perfect insights to understand the availability of stock, stock processing, and stock replenishment needs.
2. A WMS enables warehouse managers to gauge the demand vs. supply of their goods to replenish the stock in the right amount at the right time.
3. The conventional challenges of over or under stocking can be effectively eliminated with a robust WMS in place. Besides, it plays a pivotal role in warehouse space optimization. A WMS ensures that stocks are well distributed to ensure a smooth warehouse management system.
Picking & Shipping Inventory
1. Picking inventory and shipping them respectively to the intended customer base is the second most important functions of warehouse management.
2. Conventional warehouse systems had several challenges, such as missing data and inventory tracking, leading to inefficient and erroneous inventory shipping.
3. However, an efficient WMS ensures that the right product is picked based on your business rules, such as Last In First Out (LIFO) or First In First Out (FIFO). This will be a seamless, robust, and cost-effective solution. There are no more incurring costs on the wrong stocking up of orders and shipping to its mismatched customers.
Efficient Inventory Management
1. As a business scale, the product portfolio expands results and, similarly, the need for more warehouse space for storing the inventory.
2. At such a juncture, efficient space management in the warehouse is highly critical for businesses and is often the topmost priority of warehouse managers. While acquiring this efficiency manually may seem daunting, an automated WMS solution is an absolute choice to combat these challenges.
3. A robust Warehouse Management System enables the warehouse personnel to store the inventory in the warehouse depending on the current demand and product weight.
4. Keeping heavier products or products that have a faster turnaround rate closer to the door ensures effective inventory management and saves the workforce unnecessary usage of time and resources.
Tracking & Visibility
1. Inventory tracking is one of the vital functions of warehouse management system.
2. A WMS enables convient and efficient tracking of inventory and order-related information like lot details, expiry dates, serial numbers, and UPC. This helps quickly resolve the inventory movement challenges by reducing additional costs and improving real time customer experience with efficient order tracking and management.
3. A WMS allows businesses to do periodic cycle counts without interfering with day-to-day operations. This entails greater labor visibility and optimization.
Paper-less Inventory Documentation
1. Gone are the days of paper-heavy inventory documentation. A warehouse management system enabled by automated processing eliminates the need for paper-based documentation.
2. A WMS offers a single-window view of the entire inventory process. With an anytime, anywhere accessibility feature, WMS enables warehouse personnel to have the requisite data and information at their fingertips to do their job.
Robust Customer Service
1. Customer satisfaction has been the ultimate objective of businesses. Thus, businesses strive to deliver seamless, custom, and personalized customer experiences by optimizing their processes.
2. In logistics and supply chain management, customer service is of utmost importance. A WMS ensures that the right products are delivered to customers at the right time.
3. WMS plays a pivotal role in ensuring customer satisfaction for existing customers while attracting new prospects and converting them into loyal customers.
Reporting & Analytics
Data-driven and actionable insight is the backbone of a business’s strategic decision-making process. A WMS offers robust, accurate, actionable insights on inventory-related operations and helps track inventory inflow and outflow efficiently; KPIs allow the warehouse management system functions team to plan their future course of action effectively.
Now that you have understood the myriad of functionalities of a WMS take the next step by choosing to leverage the right cloud-based warehouse management software for your business. Request a demo or connect with the experts to learn more about Vinculum’s Vin eRetail WMS NOW!
