What is warehouse management software?
A warehouse management software(WMS) is an application that helps businesses automate and manage the entire operations of their warehouses in an effective way. The entire operations of a warehouse right from the time of entry of materials or products, until the product is dispatched to customers can be managed in an easy way using this software.
The daily operations of the warehouse, as well as the entire supply chain, be managed by using this software. This software would use automation in the form of devices like RFID reader, barcode scanner and would also be integrated with inventory management and even transport management systems.
Types of warehouse management software
There are various types of WMS that can be used by businesses. These include:
Standalone WMS
This is software meant only to handle the warehouse management function. It provides for automation of the entire warehouse operations. It is a basic type of software. It does not have other modules needed by a warehouse like inventory control.
Supply chain software
A warehouse is just one part of the entire supply chain of an organization. Supply chain software would include modules for all elements of the supply chain like inventory management, transport management, and warehouse management. This is integrated software that helps to automate the entire supply chain.
Integrated system
This is where the Warehouse software integrates with other software an organization uses, like an ERP system. Warehouse management is generally not a part of ERP. But the warehouse management software can be integrated with the ERP used by the organization. This allows warehousing function to effectively interact with accounts and sales.
The WMS an organization uses can be a ready or pre-packaged software sold by well-known vendors. These are general software that can be implemented by any kind of organization to manage their warehouse operations.
A business can also choose to opt for customized development, where they get software developed to meet their specific requirements. Customized development allows a business to get only specific modules that they need for their effective operation.
Why use software for warehouse management?
When you use warehouse management software, you would be able to automate the entire working of the warehouse. The reasons why you can work with a WMS are:
- It improves overall operational efficiency.
- It helps you improve the accuracy of inventory control.
- It makes your system flexible and you can be able to handle urgent orders easily.
- It helps to reduce errors during the shipping of goods.
- It reduces costs on labor.
- It saves time.
- It provides real-time information with detailed analytics, which is needed by management for making decisions.
- It helps to improve the quality of customer service.
Typical features of a WMS
The features of a good warehouse management softwareinclude:
Design
This allows you to effectively design the warehouse operations. It helps you allocate space effectively for storage of inventory and enables you to create a system for smooth workflow. The picking logic can also be included in the design.
Inventory control
You can have complete control over the inventory in your warehouse. You can make use of bar code scanning or RFID tags for easy identification, data capture, and tracking of inventory. This ensures effective use of automation and saves on time spent in manual data entry.
Pick and pack
A WMS helps you to know where products are located and also tells you which products need to be shipped first (using principles like LIFO or FIFO that you specify). Workers can also easily locate the goods physically in the warehouse. This ensures quick retrieval and packing of goods.
Yard management
For large warehouses, yard management can help delivery trucks to find the right place where goods can be loaded. It even allows for effective cross-docking, where goods are directly moved from incoming trucks to outgoing trucks.
Reporting
Automation ensures data is collected accurately. This data can be analysed by making use of various tools and report options in the software. This will help management to analyze efficiency of the system and workers. It also provides valuable real-time information that the management would need to make decisions. For example, deciding to add new products or expanding the warehouse operations can be done easily if a complete report on the existing system is available. This can be easily obtained by the click of the mouse, using the reporting option in the software.
Benefits of using the WMS offered by Quinta
The WMS that is offered by Quinta ensures that you can effectively manage the operations of your warehouse. Every single aspect of the warehouse operations from planning to controlling can be handled using this software. Some of the benefits of using this WMS are:
- It allows for automation of the system. You can automate the entire system or parts of it. Whether you use barcode scanners or RFID tag readers, the system can accommodate the automation that you use.
- The software is interactive and has a simple user-interface. This makes it easy for your team members to use. They can be very quickly trainedin using the software for all their work.
- It has a task management engine that helps you plan and manage all the tasks that you carry out.
- The workflow of your warehouse can be customized as per your needs.
- Apart from a computer, the software can be usedon a mobile phone. An app is provided that integrates with RFID. This makes work
- All the typical features of a good WMS is provided by the software that has been developed as per global standards to meet the requirements of any kind of organization.
- It allows for cloud storage of data with a high level of security.
Quinta’s warehouse management softwareis the best solution that can improve productivity, manage your warehouse space more effectively and provide an overall great experience.