What do enterprise store in warehouses? Unless it’s a one-off case of storing non-business stuff like furniture, files, and other disposables, chances are that most warehouses would store either raw materials or finished/ semi-finished goods or parts of machinery and equipment. In short, warehouse are store houses of an organization’s most important wealth. It’s product or matter to do with it. That being the case, and with competition being the way it is, there is every need to make the entire operation as smooth and cost-effective as possible. To this end, in an organization’s survival, the WMS software plays a very essential role, which include:
1. Giving accesses to correct information about an organization’s stocks
No organization can succeed without a second-by-second information of its stocks, more so today when competition is so intense from every source. The organization is thus left with no option but to invest in a WMS software that integrates all aspects of the working of the warehouse into a single entity and shows information across gadgets at the speed of light.
2. Giving accesses to information about the state of the stocks
One thing is to know about “how much” you have and where. Its quite another to know the state of the stocks. Practically everything that gets manufactured has an expiry date and has to be kept in a state for its maximum preservation and longevity. To know which part of stocks (be it raw materials, FG or Semi- FG) is due for expiry and when, across categories could be best handled by a WMS software! Take the case of an Amazon-like organization that deals with hundreds (if not thousands!) of SKUs. How do you think they keep track of stocks and their status? Of course, by the use of advanced WMS software!
3. Helping use a warehouse effectively and efficiently to reduce costs
Warehouse, be it one’s own or one that is outsourced, costs a neat pile. To make the most of limited space while keeping entire operations, clients, suppliers and all stakeholders happy, one has to go no further than to look at an efficient WMS software. Investing in such a thing can help the organization increase the throughput of a warehouse to such levels that cost of logistics may get reduced drastically.
4. Helping organizations get information worldwide if bundled with the cloud
Warehouse inventory management software isn’t something to be taken lightly these days. They can make or break an organization. Owning to this reason, organizations prefer to use SAAS-backed WMS software that is on cloud so that they do not have to worry about it in any form, be it about hardware updates or software patches and the likes. Besides being a deft piece of service that’s accessible from anywhere on the globe, it also comes cheap when compared to CAPEX expenses.
5. Helping make the right shipment to right clients always. Also promotes the idea of JIT
Engineering firms, FMCG companies, IT hardware providers and the likes who need to keep an inventory of everything that could form part of their product run the risk of paid inventories piling up in warehouses- if the latter isn’t serviced well. Even the slightest of slowdowns can impact companies where their warehouses cannot service their inventory needs in the right manner. One of the best things such organizations can do is to invest in a good Warehouse inventory management software that helps them stock and remove items in the manner in which it is required- besides using concept like FIFO, LIFO, JIT etc to the hilt.
6. If integrated to security protocols, helping guard the cargo against damage, destruction and pilferage.
For organizations that are either into production or into trades that need to stock and store inventories, the latter is equivalent to gold. And gold ought never to be stored without adequate security. Security and inventory actually ought to be two sides of the same coin. To keep it that way, an organization ought to give its inventory the security that it commands by bringing in the right warehouse inventory management software that while taking into account all aspects of stock keeping within a warehouse integrates the same with the stocks’ physical security in terms of damage and/ or destruction wilful or otherwise, and pilferage.
If you too are an organization that carries inventories, and sizable quantities of them, think not for too long. It could be the last thing before tragedy strikes. While time exists, take the trouble of investing in a good WMS system at the earliest.