“Harry” was not able to figure out- why inventory costs were moving up (although slowly) while sales remained constant. He communicated with his warehouse manager, who showed Harry that they were actually low on stock again.
Harry sanctioned a reorder, but sensed that something was wrong. He thoroughly analyzed the situation, made frequent visits to every corner of the warehouse, reviewed transaction statements and then physically verified them. What he could judge was, it wasn’t just the low stock, but improper utilization of space, material getting expired, thefts, manipulations in log sheets, et al that were actually rising the cost of inventory.
Well! Harry’s story is fictional. But, it is definitely representing what several managers experience in real business scenarios at the time of analyzing company’s financial report. Quite obviously, it is hard to imagine about employee theft, but it is a reality for many warehouse managers and manufacturers worldwide. Theft, calculation mistakes, incorrect or untimely shipment, etc., all of these greatly impact business’ profitability.
A good Warehouse Management System (WMS) is of great help in such cases. It provides accurate, real-time data that make identifying losses faster and easier. More importantly, it provides other information such as scheduling, packaging, tracking and more that help handle different aspects of business more efficiently. So, let’s put a glance on those aspects-
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Discover bottlenecks & act quickly
It is almost impossible to bring improvements in operations when you are unable to pinpoint the problematic areas. And, with WMS, it seems easily possible. Bringing all warehouse’s day-to-day operational information at your fingertips, in real-time, WMS lets you analyze the bottlenecks. As a result, you can act more quickly on it. -
Ensure customer satisfaction
“I don’t know” or “I’ll Let you know” – the reply that your customers never want to hear when they enquire about the status of their shipments. But, when you have WMS in your organization, you can answer their inquiry confidently within no time. WMS tracks material movements, thus helps you determine more accurate delivery dates. And, improved communications lead to better customer service. -
Reduce operational expenses
Ensuring perishable or expiring inventory is picked first helps reducing wastage. Additionally, efficient use of space and labor also reduces waste. And, a WMS can calculate the optimum location for each item to ensure that the all of the space is perfectly used for pick and putaway effort. -
Avoid theft or intrusions
WMS requires users to enter and record transactional data using their own login credentials. This maintains an audit trail that ties respective transactional details to the specific worker. Ultimately, zeroing in on the chances of theft or intrusions. -
Prevent overpaying to labors
A well designed WMS helps you perform pick, pack and putaway operations timely and efficiently. As a result, you can make best utilization of your available resources, with no time wastage.
So, long story short…
Warehouse management system offer manufacturers an unmatched package of numerous features, which includes automated data collection, business intelligence, scheduling, package delivery information and more.
And, when your organization is fed with each of these components, you gain deeper insights into the performance and utilization of your entire warehouse. Subsequently, you relish improved productivity, shortened order times, less wastage, optimum resource utilization and reduced costs.
