One of the criteria for efficiency and at the same time increasing competitiveness in modern business is automation. The more processes you can trust in computer control, the more time people have to solve problems. WMS-systems are solutions that, due to their functionality, are quite capable of assisting Russian enterprises in terms of increasing the level of automation of business processes. What are the distinguishing features of such products?
Definition
First, a small digression into the subject of the main question. WMS-warehouse management systems are designed to automate and optimize the functions performed by employees of objects of the corresponding purpose at enterprises (or companies whose activities are focused on providing services related to storage and accounting of goods). In practice, WMS are hardware and software platforms that are also adapted to work in distributed warehouse networks. Typically, the capabilities of these systems include topology management, maintaining the inventory of goods, operations planning, logistics, etc. The main goal of introducing the WMS-system for managing the warehouse and enterprises is to increase the turnover of the respective structural units or the main resources of the company.
WMS Features
WMS-system - what are these, varieties of ERP-solutions or an independent class of software and hardware products? Most experts agree that it is more fair to talk about the second option. Of course, WMS and the same ERP have some common points, as well as with CRM and other solutions designed to automate business processes at various levels. For example, ERP-systems are generally associated with the planning of production resources. It is clear that the warehouse is also a kind of production resource. And therefore, some experts admit it is possible to consider WMS systems as a highly specialized subspecies of ERP.
However, in practice, typical ERPs do not have many resources for managing specific warehouses. And therefore, IT specialists stand out, as a rule, in a separate category of solutions. CRM-systems, in turn, have a significantly greater dissimilarity with WMS - they are focused on the aspect of the relationship of the company with customers. Of course, a warehouse is an example of a structural unit of an enterprise that interacts with counterparties quite actively, accepting goods or shipping them. But the tasks as a whole are set somewhat different from those typical for CRM - maintaining and expanding the customer base, increasing sales dynamics, improving the level of service, etc. Thus, WMS-systems are a rather narrow-profile type of software and hardware products.
Of course, “hybrid” solutions are also possible in the aspect of those that we have listed. In this case, a software manufacturer may release a product that will be designed to perform several groups of tasks at once. An example is the warehouse management system SAP WMS, SAP EWM. As a way to save money, in the form of an alternative to the installation of individual, narrow-profile distributions, the introduction of such solutions is an entirely appropriate option. Many enterprises prefer complex software products from one IT brand.
WMS Features
The general description of the warehouse management system that we provided at the beginning of the article, as well as the distinctive features of WMS noted by us, will be useful to supplement by listing the key functions of such systems. Of course, depending on the solution from a particular supplier, their spectrum will vary. But, according to experts, most modern WMS-systems can do the following:
- manage the main warehouse operations (such as acceptance, inventory, picking, posting, shipping, etc.);
- to simulate the packaging scheme of goods, taking into account their dimensions and conditions of transportation;
- keep document flow (both internal and in terms of interaction with external structures of the company);
- effectively manage labor resources;
Many WMSs are also equipped with other useful functions, such as, for example, modeling of traffic flows - both within the warehouse, and within the entire enterprise and even beyond.
In some cases, WMS modules can be supplemented with solutions designed to manage orders and sales. First of all, WMS is an automated warehouse management system . And therefore, its functions in one way or another imply the high autonomy of the software complex regarding decisions made by people.
Advantages of implementing WMS systems
Apart from the intensification of the warehouse, what other advantages are there from introducing the systems in question? Of course, much in this aspect will depend on the specifics of the enterprise. However, there are some common points. Let's call them.
Firstly, WMS warehouse management systems, as a rule, provide the highest accuracy of information on the quantity of available goods, as well as tools for monitoring the movement of material assets. This is achieved mainly through the synthesis of two mechanisms - address storage and statistics.
Secondly, the obvious advantage that the WMS warehouse management system provides is the automation of the warehouse. That is, the employees of the corresponding division of the company or profile company spend much less time on the relevant calculations, and therefore work more efficiently.
Thirdly, the systems in question, as a rule, are able to optimize warehouse resources as much as possible, to distribute the distribution of goods so as to use the available space in the most useful way. Many WMS are able to simulate the location of objects and calculate their optimal placement based on their height, width, length, mass, etc.
If a person, as a rule, places goods on the basis of approximate calculations, then WMS systems use highly accurate "formulas" in this process.
Fourth, many WMS can reduce operating costs for warehouse equipment. The systems calculate the optimal routes of the corresponding machines involved in loading and distribution of goods, distribute the load on each of the types of units. As a result, depreciation costs are reduced, fuel and electricity are saved.
Typical tasks
What kind of typical tasks do WMS warehouse management systems solve? Experts call the following:
- prompt (often in real time) reporting on operations performed at the warehouse;
- optimization of the use of warehouse space and other resources;
- increase the economic efficiency of resource use (for example, the allocation of unused space that can be rented out);
- selection of optimal areas of the premises, based on the properties of a particular product (sensitivity to humidity, temperature, dimensions, etc.);
- statistics, data archiving, recording and documentation of information for accounting;
- tracking the correctness of the information in circulation among the warehouse personnel and the enterprise structures interacting with it;
- organization of the work of a team of employees through software and hardware solutions;
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of tasks that the corresponding systems solve. There are WMS, concentrated in some separate areas. For example, it often happens that the main area within which the WMS warehouse management system operates is warehouse logistics. Or, as an option, accounting. However, almost always WMS provides at least the minimum from the point of view of functionality means for solving each of the above problems, even if the purpose of the system is to be narrow.
Areas of use
In which business sectors can warehouse management information systems be used? The range of WMS usage areas is very wide. This can be trade - both wholesale and retail: WMS will be especially useful for warehouses that are far from the main points of sale, or distributed. This may be the provision of warehousing services in the form of outsourcing (just that option when the company has the appropriate profile of activity - the main one). WMS are very productive when used in food industry enterprises, factories producing electronics, clothing, household chemicals and other consumer goods.
When is the need for a WMS system?
A reasonable question arises: how to determine that a company needs a WMS system? Such solutions are quite expensive. For example, a WMS warehouse management system 1C in some versions can cost several hundred thousand rubles. As a rule, the expediency in introducing such solutions arises in medium and large retail chains, in the production warehouses of large factories from which goods are shipped for distribution.
Some experts divide consumers of WMS solutions into two main categories - these are users of logistics services and providers of related services. The first include businesses whose activities are the sale of goods of their own or third-party production. The logistic function in this case is auxiliary. In turn, service providers are firms whose activities, due to their core profile, are focused on logistics. The main services they provide are safekeeping, as well as warehouse processing.
Key consumers of WMS solutions
Consumers of WMS solutions of the first category, as a rule, feel the need to implement appropriate systems as warehouse areas grow and the scale of the business as a whole. If we talk about specific figures, the company, which is a consumer of logistics services, usually serves 300 or more nomenclature items, the area of its warehouses is 2000 sq. m and more, the dynamics of the turnover of goods - 30 days or more. Of course, in some cases it is possible to outsource the management of warehouse issues. In this case, the company does not need to take into account many of the costs that are characteristic of a process such as the introduction of a WMS warehouse management system - employee training, for example. However, the specifics of many businesses may not at all lead to the conclusion of the corresponding functions for outsourcing. This may be due, for example, to a trade secret or to the specifics of a product sold by a factory.
The main factors that can become an incentive for the implementation of a WMS system are the occurrence of practical difficulties in paper (or semi-automatic - using Excel spreadsheets, etc.) document management and a team of specialists, moving the warehouse to a more complex architecture and a large area . There are companies whose management, in principle, may not be aware of such solutions as a WMS system, what it is. Seeing the presentation of such a software and hardware product and realizing that this is what you need, top managers of an enterprise or organization, immediately may want to implement it in their organization.
System architecture
We studied how useful a WMS warehouse management system can be. The implementation of a WMS program, as we have found out, is a process that is more predetermined by objective factors - business growth, increase in warehouse space, etc. The next aspect of learning WMS that is useful to understand is the architecture of these systems. What can be part of the relevant decisions? As a rule, a three-level principle is observed here.
Regarding the first level, we can say that it has a user interface, that is, an application window on the monitor screen in which the warehouse employee performs basic operations, enters and modifies data, interacts with other specialists, and receives the results of automatic miscalculations of warehouse operations.
At the second level, the main server of the system works, where data is stored and processed. In modern versions of WMS, it is usually cloudy. The server, receiving commands from the first level, makes the appropriate entries in the database, managed as part of a special algorithm.
The third level involves the use of program code that builds the so-called "business logic" of the system. Here, the data received from the server is processed and returned in the form of the desired algorithm, which is ultimately displayed on the first level.
The main types of WMS
What are the main classification criteria for WMS, apart from their functionality? Experts identify the following common types of systems.
Firstly, this is an entry-level WMS designed to manage the warehouses of small firms and stores, in which there is not a very diverse range of goods.
Secondly, these are the so-called “boxed” platforms for managing warehouses of medium and large areas (up to 10 thousand square meters) and a diverse range of products, but for which the dynamics of goods turnover is relatively low.
Thirdly, these are the so-called "adaptable" platforms. They are used by large businesses, the main profile of which is logistics, as well as distribution centers.
Fourth, these are “configurable” platforms. They are designed to manage warehouses with a large area, a diverse range of products and high dynamics of goods turnover.