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1、Warehouse Management Systems (WMS).The evolution of warehouse management systems (WMS) is very similar to that of many other software solutions. Initially a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transpor
2、tation management, order management, and complete accounting systems. To use the grandfather of operations-related software, MRP, as a comparison, material requirements planning (MRP) started as a system for planning raw material requirements in a manufacturing environment. Soon MRP evolved into man
3、ufacturing resource planning (MRPII), which took the basic MRP system and added scheduling and capacity planning logic. Eventually MRPII evolved into enterprise resource planning (ERP), incorporating all the MRPII functionality with full financials and customer and vendor management functionality. N
4、ow, whether WMS evolving into a warehouse-focused ERP system is a good thing or not is up to debate. What is clear is that the expansion of the overlap in functionality between Warehouse Management Systems, Enterprise Resource Planning, Distribution Requirements Planning, Transportation Management S
5、ystems, Supply Chain Planning, Advanced Planning and Scheduling, and Manufacturing Execution Systems will only increase the level of confusion among companies looking for software solutions for their operations. Even though WMS continues to gain added functionality, the initial core functionality of
6、 a WMS has not really changed. The primary purpose of a WMS is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation and process the associated transactions. Directed picking, directed replenishment, and directed put away are the key to WMS. The detailed setup and processing within a
7、WMS can vary significantly from one software vendor to another, however the basic logic will use a combination of item, location, quantity, unit of measure, and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. At a bare minimum, a WMS sh
8、ould:Have a flexible location system.Utilize user-defined parameters to direct warehouse tasks and use live documents to execute these tasks.Have some built-in level of integration with data collection devices.Do You Really Need WMS?Not every warehouse needs a WMS. Certainly any warehouse could bene
9、fit from some of the functionality but is the benefit great enough to justify the initial and ongoing costs associated with WMS? Warehouse Management Systems are big, complex, data intensive, applications. They tend to require a lot of initial setup, a lot of system resources to run, and a lot of on
10、going data management to continue to run. Thats right, you need to manage your warehouse management system. Often times, large operations will end up creating a new IS department with the sole responsibility of managing the WMS. The Claims: WMS will reduce inventory! WMS will reduce labor costs! WMS
11、 will increase storage capacity! WMS will increase customer service! WMS will increase inventory accuracy! The Reality: The implementation of a WMS along with automated data collection will likely give you increases in accuracy, reduction in labor costs (provided the labor required to maintain the s
12、ystem is less than the labor saved on the warehouse floor), and a greater ability to service the customer by reducing cycle times. Expectations of inventory reduction and increased storage capacity are less likely. While increased accuracy and efficiencies in the receiving process may reduce the lev
13、el of safety stock required, the impact of this reduction will likely be negligible in comparison to overall inventory levels. The predominant factors that control inventory levels are lot sizing, lead times, and demand variability. It is unlikely that a WMS will have a significant impact on any of
14、these factors. And while a WMS certainly provides the tools for more organized storage which may result in increased storage capacity, this improvement will be relative to just how sloppy your pre-WMS processes were. Beyond labor efficiencies, the determining factors in deciding to implement a WMS t
15、end to be more often associated with the need to do something to service your customers that your current system does not support (or does not support well) such as first-in-first-out, cross-docking, automated pick replenishment, wave picking, lot tracking, yard management, automated data collection
16、, automated material handling equipment, etc.Setup The setup requirements of WMS can be extensive. The characteristics of each item and location must be maintained either at the detail level or by grouping similar items and locations into categories. An example of item characteristics at the detail
17、level would include exact dimensions and weight of each item in each unit of measure the item is stocked (each, cases, pallets, etc) as well as information such as whether it can be mixed with other items in a location, whether it is rack able, max stack height, max quantity per location, hazard cla
18、ssifications, finished goods or raw material, fast versus slow mover, etc. Although some operations will need to set up each item this way, most operations will benefit by creating groups of similar products. For example, if you are a distributor of music CDs you would create groups for single CDs,
19、and double CDs, maintaining the detailed dimension and weight information at the group level and only needing to attach the group code to each item. You would likely need to maintain detailed information on special items such as boxed sets or CDs in special packaging. You would also create groups fo
20、r the different types of locations within your warehouse. An example would be to create three different groups (P1, P2, P3) for the three different sized forward picking locations you use for your CD picking. You then set up the quantity of single CDs that will fit in a P1, P2, and P3 location, quan
21、tity of double CDs that fit in a P1, P2, P3 location etc. You would likely also be setting up case quantities, and pallet quantities of each CD group and quantities of cases and pallets per each reserve storage location group. If this sounds simple, it iswell sort of. In reality most operations have
22、 a much more diverse product mix and will require much more system setup. And setting up the physical characteristics of the product and locations is only part of the picture. You have set up enough so that the system knows where a product can fit and how many will fit in that location. You now need
23、 to set up the information needed to let the system decide exactly which location to pick from, replenish from/to, and put away to, and in what sequence these events should occur (remember WMS is all about “directed” movement). You do this by assigning specific logic to the various combinations of i
24、tem/order/quantity/location information that will occur. Below I have listed some of the logic used in determining actual locations and sequences. Location Sequence. This is the simplest logic; you simply define a flow through your warehouse and assign a sequence number to each location. In order pi
25、cking this is used to sequence your picks to flow through the warehouse, in put away the logic would look for the first location in the sequence in which the product would fit. Zone Logic. By breaking down your storage locations into zones you can direct picking, put away, or replenishment to or fro
26、m specific areas of your warehouse. Since zone logic only designates an area, you will need to combine this with some other type of logic to determine exact location within the zone. Fixed Location. Logic uses predetermined fixed locations per item in picking, put away, and replenishment. Fixed loca
27、tions are most often used as the primary picking location in piece pick and case-pick operations, however, they can also be used for secondary storage. Random Location. Since computers cannot be truly random (nor would you want them to be) the term random location is a little misleading. Random loca
28、tions generally refer to areas where products are not stored in designated fixed locations. Like zone logic, you will need some additional logic to determine exact locations. First-in-first-out (FIFO). Directs picking from the oldest inventory first. Last-in-first-out (LIFO). Opposite of FIFO. I did
29、nt think there were any real applications for this logic until a visitor to my site sent an email describing their operation that distributes perishable goods domestically and overseas. They use LIFO for their overseas customers (because of longer in-transit times) and FIFO for their domestic custom
30、ers. Pick-to-clear. Logic directs picking to the locations with the smallest quantities on hand. This logic is great for space utilization. Reserved Locations. This is used when you want to predetermine specific locations to put away to or pick from. An application for reserved locations would be cr
31、oss-docking, where you may specify certain quantities of an inbound shipment be moved to specific outbound staging locations or directly to an awaiting outbound trailer. Maximize Cube. Cube logic is found in most WMS systems however it is seldom used. Cube logic basically uses unit dimensions to cal
32、culate cube (cubic inches per unit) and then compares this to the cube capacity of the location to determine how much will fit. Now if the units are capable of being stacked into the location in a manner that fills every cubic inch of space in the location, cube logic will work. Since this rarely ha
33、ppens in the real world, cube logic tends to be impractical. Consolidate. Looks to see if there is already a location with the same product stored in it with available capacity. May also create additional moves to consolidate like product stored in multiple locations. Lot Sequence. Used for picking
34、or replenishment, this will use the lot number or lot date to determine locations to pick from or replenish from. Its very common to combine multiple logic methods to determine the best location. For example you may chose to use pick-to-clear logic within first-in-first-out logic when there are mult
35、iple locations with the same receipt date. You also may change the logic based upon current workload. During busy periods you may chose logic that optimizes productivity while during slower periods you switch to logic that optimizes space utilization. Other Functionality/ConsiderationsWave Picking/B
36、atch Picking/Zone Picking. Support for various picking methods varies from one system to another. In high-volume fulfillment operations, picking logic can be a critical factor in WMS selection. See my article on Order Picking for more info on these methods. Task Interleaving. Task interleaving descr
37、ibes functionality that mixes dissimilar tasks such as picking and put away to obtain maximum productivity. Used primarily in full-pallet-load operations, task interleaving will direct a lift truck operator to put away a pallet on his/her way to the next pick. In large warehouses this can greatly re
38、duce travel time, not only increasing productivity, but also reducing wear on the lift trucks and saving on energy costs by reducing lift truck fuel consumption. Task interleaving is also used with cycle counting programs to coordinate a cycle count with a picking or put away task. Integration with
39、Automated Material Handling Equipment. If you are planning on using automated material handling equipment such as carousels, ASRS units, AGNS, pick-to-light systems, or separation systems, youll want to consider this during the software selection process. Since these types of automation are very exp
40、ensive and are usually a core component of your warehouse, you may find that the equipment will drive the selection of the WMS. As with automated data collection, you should be working closely with the equipment manufacturers during the software selection process. Advanced Shipment Notifications (AS
41、N). If your vendors are capable of sending advanced shipment notifications (preferably electronically) and attaching compliance labels to the shipments you will want to make sure that the WMS can use this to automate your receiving process. In addition, if you have requirements to provide ASNs for c
42、ustomers, you will also want to verify this functionality. Yard Management. Yard management describes the function of managing the contents (inventory) of trailers parked outside the warehouse, or the empty trailers themselves. Yard management is generally associated with cross docking operations an
43、d may include the management of both inbound and outbound trailers. Labor Tracking/Capacity Planning. Some WMS systems provide functionality related to labor reporting and capacity planning. Anyone that has worked in manufacturing should be familiar with this type of logic. Basically, you set up sta
44、ndard labor hours and machine (usually lift trucks) hours per task and set the available labor and machine hours per shift. The WMS system will use this info to determine capacity and load. Manufacturing has been using capacity planning for decades with mixed results. The need to factor in efficienc
45、y and utilization to determine rated capacity is an example of the shortcomings of this process. Not that Im necessarily against capacity planning in warehousing, I just think most operations dont really need it and can avoid the disappointment of trying to make it work. I am, however, a big advocat
46、e of labor tracking for individual productivity measurement. Most WMS maintain enough data to create productivity reporting. Since productivity is measured differently from one operation to another you can assume you will have to do some minor modifications here (usually in the form of custom report
47、ing). Integration with existing accounting/ERP systems. Unless the WMS vendor has already created a specific interface with your accounting/ERP system (such as those provided by an approved business partner) you can expect to spend some significant programming dollars here. While we are all hoping t
48、hat integration issues will be magically resolved someday by a standardized interface, we isnt there yet. Ideally youll want an integrator that has already integrated the WMS you chose with the business software you are using. Since this is not always possible you at least want an integrator that is
49、 very familiar with one of the systems. WMS + everything else = ? As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, a lot of other modules are being added to WMS packages. These would include full financials, light manufacturing, transportation management, purchasing, and sales order management. I dont see this as a unilateral move of WMS from an add-on module to a core system, but rather an optional
