A WMS that sees the Past, Present and Future
Warehouses can be transformed into sources of profit by improving their operational efficiency and adding value to business.
In a two-part series in the Supply Chain Digest, Infosys’ expert discusses how the performance of a warehouse can be enhanced through metrics –
Dock-to-stock time
Reduced dock-to-stock time enables faster availability of merchandise for sale and accelerates conversion of inventory to cash.
Stock-to-dock time
Reduced stock-to-dock time ensures customers receive faster shipments. It earns goodwill and improves customer satisfaction.
Rate of short picks
Damaged inventory placed on hold eliminates order cancellation due to incorrect inventory.
Kitting accuracy
Warehouses can delight customers with personalized value-added services by blending information systems with a trained workforce.
Our expert designs a Warehouse Management System (WMS) with the ‘power’ to drive revenue:
- Power to see the future: Visibility into incoming inventory and outgoing orders enables effective cost management. Accurate Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs) help warehouse operatives scan containers into inventory without breaking pallets or opening cases.
- Power to see the past: A log of significant events and activities helps trace the root cause of backorders.
- Power to be in the moment: The WMS must be able to update inventory in real time across the value chain, from Order Management System to Customer Relationship Management system, to serve customers better.
- Power of flexibility: The WMS must be able to host multiple warehouses on the same solution, multiple versions of the WMS on the same instance, and business rules classified by merchandise to meet diverse needs.
- Power of a macro view: The system must report macro trends and enable optimization at the macro level.
- Power of adaptability: The WMS must perform consistently across multiple sites that differ in layout and operations.
Warehouse Management: Cost Sinks or Profit Sources?
A Super Warehouse Management System
Reproduced with the permission of Supply Chain Digest
Author
Chandradeep Bandyopadhyay, Principal Consultant, Supply Chain Management practice, Infosys Technologies Ltd.
Chandradeep leads implementation teams in direct-to-customer retail order management, inventory management and warehouse management. He has a deep understanding of Sterling SCM packages, project implementation lifecycle and program execution. He can be reached at
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