Warehouse Management Systems

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) control the storage and movement of materials within the warehouse. Materials may include raw materials, assemblies and/or finished goods. The role of a WMS system has sometimes been expanded over the years to include or integrate to light manufacturing, transportation management, order management and complete accounting systems.

Even though WMS functionality continues to expand, the initial core of such a system 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. Receiving product against a purchase or work order, directed or suggested put away, cycle counting, physical inventory, directed order picking, replenishment, packing and shipping are all key functions in a complete WMS. The best WMS systems can be configured to accommodate a wide variety of requirements thus minimizing the necessity for custom programming. WMS basics will use a combination of item, location, quantity and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. More advanced systems include lot and serial tracking, multiple units of measure and user defined attributes.

The implementation of a WMS along with mobile data capture technology will likely give you increases in accuracy, reduction in labor costs (provided the labor required to maintain the system is less than the labor saved on the warehouse floor), and a greater ability to service the customer by reducing cycle times. Increased accuracy and efficiencies in the receiving process may reduce the level of extra inventory required. These technologies include the use of bar code scanners, mobile computers (operating with batch synchronization or real-time wireless mode), wireless infrastructure and potentially RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

ILS offers affordable, flexible and easy to use Warehouse Management solutions. Our WMS solutions may be implemented in stages using distinct software modules or implemented as a complete package.