Warehouse Management System
TermiKnowledge - Supply Chain, Procurement and Inventory Terminologies
A warehousing management system (WMS), also known as enterprise resource planning (ERP), is software designed specifically for warehouse management. By using a WMS, you have complete visibility into real-time inventory levels and total storage, employee productivity, demand forecasting, as well as order fulfillment and cross docking workflows inside a warehouse. A common use of this technology is for supply chain management. The purpose of supply chain management is the management of the flow of raw materials from manufacturing facilities to the point of sale. In other words, supply chain management aims to maximize the throughput or rate at which raw materials are acquired and used in manufacturing operations.
The efficiency of supply chain management depends on several factors. One such factor is the accuracy of the warehouse database. The WMS will take care of all the necessary inventory information such as current and historical stock levels, average transit times between shipping locations and the point of sale. It also takes care of detailed records of current stock levels, historical stock level information, as well as cross-docking activities. Another factor that affects the efficiency of WMS is the ability of the software to provide accurate inventory information by the means of barcodes or RFID tags. In short, it will help you improve your warehouse efficiency by enabling you to obtain useful information in the form of easily readable barcodes and RFIDs.
Another factor in warehouse efficiency involves the WMS software's ability to provide solutions for the WMS supply chain pick and pack fulfillment process. If the warehouse has an efficient pick and pack fulfillment process, the storage location will also have a lower labor input. In short, by using a WMS, you can improve the efficiency of the entire warehousing operation. This is because the system will be able to provide real-time inventory and sales reports, and it will also help you determine which storage locations are most in need of additional inventory.
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