Key Features of a Warehouse Management System (WMS)

A warehouse management system (WMS) is an essential tool for e-commerce, third-party logistics, manufacturing, distribution centers, and retailers companies that want to optimize their supply chain and logistics operations. In an increasingly complex business environment and changing consumer preferences, it is essential to have advanced technology that ensures a smoother workflow, from the acquisition of incoming goods to delivery in the order fulfillment process.

A modern WMS should provide a connected experience both within a warehouse and across multiple warehouses. It should also help warehouse workers eliminate manual and spreadsheet-based processes, automating recurring daily tasks to improve warehouse operations.

In this article, we will discuss the key features and capabilities of a modern WMS that drive excellent warehouse execution and efficient, accurate order fulfillment.

1. Single Point of Control

A modern and powerful WMS should serve as a single control tower to visualize all activities in the warehouse and take necessary actions. This involves connecting activities, warehouse labor and all types of mobile devices and robots that are used. From assigning the right picker and packing station to managing tasks performed by sorters and automated mobile robots (AMR), a modern WMS should be able to handle it all. It should promote collaboration between these assets and facilitate both simple activities such as rule-based storage and more complex activities such as cross-loading and downloading.

2. Real Time Data

One of the biggest challenges warehouse managers face is the lack of real-time visibility. In fact, more than 71% of warehouse managers surveyed considered lack of visibility and lack of timeliness of activities to be a major factor in poor decision making. Today's warehouses require continuous, real-time input of data from multiple data points. This includes operational tasks, quality control, devices and robots, and software integrations such as ERP, shipping management services, and e-commerce platforms. This involves having up-to-date data on all orders, real-time inventory reconciliation, shipping status, and a record of all activities completed regarding a particular order.

3. Personalization Based on Low or No Coding

Simplicity of use is one of the fundamental characteristics of a WMS and is key in modern business software. The same goes for warehouse management systems. A modern WMS should allow your customers the ability to make modifications to workflows, automatically assign tasks to different pickers and packers, and create specialized rules for certain order/SKU categories. Warehouse managers must be able to make these changes and customize their processes in minutes, if not hours. Similarly, most current WMSs should allow users to add new integrations to their existing workflows and seamlessly transfer data between services. Gone are the days when integrations took days and months to deploy and test.

4. Continuous Transmission of Orders

Order management systems (OMS) must be closely linked to the warehouse management and fulfillment system. This helps simplify the fulfillment process and provide intelligent, data-driven recommendations on order grouping optimization, picking route optimization, assigning pickers and packers to each order, and prioritizing certain orders. OMSs must provide recommendations to warehouse associates based on historical data on warehouse activity volume and order fulfillment workflow.

Order management systems must also optimize time and costs by performing waveless picking optimization, where orders are allocated and allocated as a continuous activity rather than combining and releasing batches of orders in waves. The latter practice reduces warehouse productivity by creating up-and-down situations, which can increase the likelihood of inaccuracies and make it difficult to fulfill timely orders during peak sales periods, such as the holiday season.

5. Intelligent Inventory Management

Inventory management is the most crucial feature of a WMS, as it becomes more challenging as consumer demand continues to shift and supply chains remain disrupted due to the pandemic. A modern WMS should make the most of every inch of the warehouse and guide a warehouse manager in acquiring and maintaining optimal inventory levels.

Automation is crucial in the inventory management process and a WMS must be able to automate the ordering process, where the software automatically places an order for the replenishment quantity when the inventory falls below the set limit. The inventory management suite must also analyze past inventory performance data and make stock quantity recommendations to avoid overstocking and understocking, both of which can have serious consequences on the company's financial performance and image. brand. Should an overstock event occur, a WMS should also be able to identify clearance opportunities as needed.

In the modern era, a WMS must also provide various inventory management planning services such as kit assembly, batch tracking for perishable products, container management, returns and receipt reconciliation, etc. Additionally, another important capability desired by warehouse managers is demand forecasting. Any modern WMS should be able to intelligently assign stock levels to periods of high or low demand and also make data-driven predictions about demand during different periods of the business cycle.

6. Ready-to-Use Integrations

Each warehouse and logistics department uses a series of tools and technologies that work together to ensure the proper functioning of the logistics process. Today's WMSs must come with out-of-the-box integrations spanning ERP, accounting tools, shipping management software, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, etc. to provide a comprehensive warehouse management software user experience and minimize the time required to implement and add integrations. Additionally, a WMS must be interconnected with all hardware devices, such as mobile devices and robots, used in the warehouse, such as conveyors, sorters, AMRs, scanners and printers, to track all activities in real time. that are carried out.

7. Performance Analysis and Real-Time Reports

Last but not least on the list of features of a warehouse management system is performance analysis. Data is of utmost importance for any warehouse management system. Business decisions increasingly rely on analytics and performance metrics, so a WMS in 2022 must provide real-time metrics on multiple fronts, such as order delivery times, picking efficiency, inventory levels, worker performance, compliance time, use of space, among others. The reporting and analytics suite should also allow these metrics to be broken down and categorized by SKU, customer order, country, and individual worker. Reporting modules should also offer customization so that each warehouse associate can create custom reports and dashboards and also easily track the metrics most relevant to them.

P4 Warehouse: The Solution to Warehouse Management Challenges

P4 Warehouse offers an advanced set of warehouse order management, inventory management, workforce management, and warehouse IoT intelligence modules to solve the biggest challenges facing warehouse managers today. P4 Warehouse is designed to improve warehouse performance and productivity and minimize errors caused by manual, spreadsheet-based processes. The platform helps warehouses optimize their space, have a single point of control, and optimize their entire fulfillment cycle, including picking, packing, and shipping processes.

Schedule a demo today to understand how P4 Warehouse's AI-powered WMS can help you supercharge your warehouse operations and remove any obstacles in your warehouse management process.