Managing a warehouse with thousands of products is no easy feat. From organising inventory to tracking delivery dates of arriving stock, to making sure that incoming stock arrives as scheduled, human error is simply inevitable.
But thanks to new and advanced technologies, business owners can now easily address specific warehouse management issues. Today, you can have a warehouse management system that will help you run an efficient warehouse.
What is a Warehouse Management System?
A warehouse management system consists of software and processes that allow you to manage and control activities within a warehouse or across multiple warehouses.
It helps ensure that goods move through warehouses efficiently and in the most economical way possible.
With a warehouse management system, you can make sure products are handled properly once they get to the warehouse and until they’re sold or delivered. Moreover, you can oversee the picking, receiving, and shipping of goods, as well as have inventory control.
A warehouse management system plays a crucial role in supply chain management. If products or raw materials are misplaced or lost in a warehouse, it will slow down or disrupt the supply chain.
A WMS is often used or integrated with related systems like ERP, as well as inventory and transportation management systems. There are also more sophisticated warehouse management systems that support company-managed warehouses or third-party logistics providers managing their customers’ warehouses and fulfillment operations.
Tasks Warehouse Management Systems Can Automate
Warehouse management is complex and needs attention to detail to keep the business running smoothly and the warehouse operating at optimum levels. Some tasks that a warehouse management system can automate include:
- Warehouse space management and optimisation
- Delivery schedules and purchase orders
- Inventory monitoring and calculation
- Management of product demand, return orders, and damaged goods
Features of a Warehouse Management System
A good WMS must be able to do these things and have the following features:
- Maximise what your business can do while reducing the amount of work to be done
- Streamline your business processes
- Measure data for easier monitoring and tracking
- Easy to learn and use for full utilisation and optimal warehouse management
- Offer total transaction management (from receiving, storing, shipping, order picking, and inventory audits, to any kind of goods or item movement)
- Be flexible and scalable to adapt to the growing needs of your business
- Be compatible with your business equipment
- Provide useful and easy-to-understand metrics
- Integrate seamlessly with ERP systems
Types of Warehouse Management Systems
Here are the most used or common types of WMS:
- Standalone – Allows day-to-day warehouse operations and is often what most businesses purchase
- Supply Chain Modules – Aside from warehousing operations, it also supports supply chain management.
- Integrated with ERP – Has broader scope and capabilities and supports larger supply chain operations
- Cloud-based – Ideal for startups and smaller businesses; cheaper installation and implementation costs; enables you to manage multiple systems from a centralised system
Get More Out of Cin7 Integrated Warehouse Management Software
The Cin7 Warehouse Management System lets you connect across channels to help your business become more efficient and your order fulfillment process more seamless. It comes with powerful features that more accurately fulfill orders, from receiving, racking, and picking, to packing and shipping.
Moreover, the Cin7 Warehouse Management System is mobile-optimised, which means you can use different devices to scan products at every stage.
Additional Tools like Cin7 Pick and Pack
Features like the Cin7 Pick and Pack also allow you to pick outgoing orders from a filtered list. You can filter these ready-to-pick orders by the date the order was created or by stock availability. You can also search for the order reference.
Receive incoming orders in single or multiple purchase orders and allocate batch or serial number information to your stocks as you receive them. Track them as they’re picked and dispatched.
With this additional Cin7 feature, you can also pick items for kitted orders or requested bill of materials.
When it comes to stocktaking, multiple users can process full or partial stocktake and scan products at the same time.
Speak with a Cin7 Expert today to know more about the Cin7 Warehouse Management System. Send us a message, give us a call, or request a demo.
