Warehouse Management Systems



Warehouse Management Systems

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant information relating to the analysis of warehouse management system applications. Warehouse Management System is a control system that provides automation and optimization of all processes of the warehouse. Warehouse Management application is a modular solution for managing the entire supply chain in the warehouse receipt, storage inventory, picking, and shipping. For organizations that manage their logistics from their business management software, the rewards can be substantial. The warehouse is the first link in the supply chain, it must be powerful and flexible, otherwise it will generate constraints and costs on the links upstream (supply) and downstream (transport). The WMS allows a tactical management of the supply chain, short and medium term planning of resource management, and helps in managing the risks of the warehouse in real time. When the warehouse is partially automated, the WMS is interfaced with the WCS (Warehouse Control System), which manages the mechanized and automated equipment (conveyor, labeling, packaging machine, stacker crane). The implementation of warehouse management system allows the company to gain competitive advantage in the area of logistics and supply chain (Young, 2009). In the next section, the author will explain the understanding of the evolution of applications in the warehouse management domain; the author will also give details on the benefits it provides for suppliers, company and customers.

Discussion

Warehouse Management Applications

The help of computers has become essential in the organization and warehouse management as it allows dealing with precise and efficient logistics needs of companies. The application component SAP Warehouse Management provides a flexible and automated assistance in processing all goods movements and maintaining inventories of stock in its warehouse complex.

The warehouse management applications supports warehouse processes by enabling the company to (Slater, 2004):

Define and manage complex storage structures

Optimize material flow using technical input store and picking

Process goods receipts, goods issues and transfers quickly and easily

active inventory management;

increase in the rate of collection of the goods;

accurate information about the location of goods in a warehouse;

efficient management of goods with limited shelf life;

obtain a tool to improve the efficiency and the development of processes for handling goods in a warehouse;

Optimizing the use of warehouse space.

Although it is possible to manage warehouse inventories using the application component of Inventory Management (IM), the main difference between the management of stock in WM and IM is that in IM, the system can only display the total stock of a material in a warehouse. If the store is small size and relatively simple management, the mere use of the Inventory Management component will meet your needs. Furthermore, Warehouse management system offers the possibility of managing stock quantities of each of the locations which are part of complex storage. This means that with Warehouse management system, the company can optimize the use of all locations, combining pallets belonging to different owners in stores chaotic and the exact location of the materials in the warehouse, at any ...