February 20, 2020 
The transportation and logistics industry have witnessed a substantial paradigm shift over the past couple of decades and this shift can be attributed to the rapid technological advancements and breakthrough innovations.
Warehouse management has been an essential function for the logistics industry and has evolved with the introduction of robust, efficient and automated warehouse management systems, available in two variants – on-premise and cloud-based.
What is Warehouse Management System?
Simply put, warehouse management systems are software applications that enable efficient and centralized management of the entire warehouse operations, starting with picking up goods to shipping orders to the end customers in the supply chain funnel.
These systems enable the warehouse managers with a holistic view of the warehouse operations backed by data-driven insights. This increased level of visibility goes a long way in ensuring the efficiency and throughput of the warehouse operations. WMSs have become pivotal in ensuring customer satisfaction, business success, as well as growth in the revenue streams.
Leverage a WMS
If you are eyeing to leverage a WMS not only to survive but to thrive in the ever-growing competitive market landscape, we have got your back!
Today, businesses irrespective of their industry, size and dynamics have realized and embraced the warehouse management systems. Despite its popularity and wide-scale adoption, these applications need the utmost strategic thinking, implementation planning and necessary hacks as well as a stringent execution guideline. Without these, any WMS despite its features and advanced capabilities is set to fail.
We have detailed out key aspects to consider while choosing a WMS and then the implementation checklists you must consider. Researches and studies have reinstated the significance of a questionnaire time and again.
So, here, we have jotted down a few key questions you must consider before initiating skimming through the WMS solutions available in the market.
Things to Consider while Choosing a WMS
How is it going to impact your business?
If you are making a transition from the conventional manual warehouse management systems to a robust, automated WMS solution, you must consider the potential impacts of the transit.
Sure, a WMS will ensure greater customer satisfaction by making it easy for them to purchase products from you and get on-time delivery. However, you must make sure that your WMS is free of bugs and is easy to use and navigate. Besides, you also should consider the actual resource investment needed to get the WMS going.
Will the WMS automate and streamline your warehouse operations?
When it comes to warehouse management systems, there are plenty of variants available in the market, thanks to the booming demand.
However, you have to opt for the WMS whose features and capabilities are in alignment with your long-term business objective. You need to analyze, how the WMS is adding value to your existing operations and whether it’s actually worth the real investment.
How user-friendly is your WMS?
The WMS is going to be utilized by your warehouse personnel on a day-to-day basis. Thus, it is highly crucial that your warehouse team is comfortable using it and don’t need to put in several hours in learning how to navigate the system.
A user-friendly tool will actually save you a lot of time, resources and not to ignore aggravations. At the same time, your customers are at the receiving end of your WMS. So, take a look at how your WMS is going to help improve your customers’ shopping experience, engagement and retention.
Now that, you are ready with the critical answers, here is the WMS checklist to start with.
WMS Implementation Checklist
Outline the ultimate objective
The role of having a clear outline of the anticipated activities and resultant impacts can’t be undermined. This is applicable while implementing a WMS as well. Often, businesses consider a WMS to be the answer to all the operational challenges. While it might be true up to a certain extent, there are vital points to be taken into consideration, first.
Any new technologies being launched in the market becomes a buzzword and most businesses are thrilled to include that in their portfolio. However, when it comes to choosing a WMS, businesses must analyze if they actually need a warehouse management system or not.
Some of the other major aspects to consider are the right type of WMS to suit their business objectives that is not too hard for the employees to learn and manage, the anticipated impact of the WMS is going to impact on the efficiency and productivity of the warehouse operations as well as the concerned employees.
Regroup the team
A WMS is going to be leveraged by the senior warehouse management team to have holistic visibility on the operations as well as by the warehouse personnel for carrying out the daily tasks of inputting data points, updating order shipment details, tracking inventory and inventory replenishment needs.
Businesses must identify the internal team who will be responsible for the execution and success of the WMS and thus, set out clear outlines of roles and responsibilities from the beginning to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Time the WMS implementation
Though warehouse management systems are readily available in the market, it should not be an impromptu decision. It rather is a strategic decision that is going to reshape several business functionals in a multi-pronged manner. So, businesses must think a couple of years ahead to chalk out the strategy and timeline for the WMS implementation.
Keep the questionnaire ready
When there are multiple WMS options floating in the market, how can a business make a calculated decision? The answer to this is, they must be aware of the requirements or specific features they are looking for in a WMS. Before interviewing WMS vendors, businesses must do the due diligence upfront.
Allocate time for testing & training
Onboarding any application or system is not an overnight job. Businesses must allocate a reasonable amount of time for testing out the WMS from a usage perspective and also the time required for training and upskilling the workforce.
Often, the WMS service providers offer handholding support both in technical and non-technical fronts during the transit. Businesses must plan on leveraging this as it is highly crucial for the successful onboarding, acceptance and future execution of the warehouse management system.
For further queries on WMS, do turn to the experts at Vinculum, today!
