ifwla - Warehousing and Logistics International

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30 Cover StoryWarehouse managementsystems turnbusinesses aroundMark O’Connell, Product Manager for CargoWise, considers the benefits that an intergatedwarehouse management system can bring to a businessIn these challenging economic times logisticsoperators like all businesses are under pressureto do more with less. Many have in factmothballed facilities altogether. Personnel costsin particular are one area where warehouseoperators are under pressure to economise.A robust warehouse management system can deliverthe economies of scale and streamline the process tohelp companies improve, or at the very least, improvetheir bottom line.Earlier this year the UK Warehousing Associationwarned that the industry faces a looming skills shortage.To meet this challenge £3.25 million has beenallocated through the Skills Funding Agency to theNational Skills Academy for Logistics. However thelogistics industry must do more to promote the image oflogistics as a skilled profession that involves workingwith leading edge technology. A recent survey of thirdpartylogistics operators found that Europe and theAsia-Pacific region are particularly affected by a shortageof both operational and managerial talent.Information technology, already an integral componentof most supply chain processes, will become a criticalaspect of all logistics activity as the industry is compelledto do more with fewer albeit higher-skilled personnel.Even when the global economy revives, the “leanlogistics” business model embraced in the wake of thedownturn as means of self-preservation will likely continuea key strategy for minimising risk on the one handwhilst maximising ROI on the other. The CEO of amajor logistics service provider recently commented thatthe industry has become “leaner and more adaptive” injust the last few years and better positioned to take aproactive approach to innovation which would providethe basis for future growth. This has been particularlyvisible at Small-to-Medium Enterprise level where smalleroperations have taken the opportunity to outmanoeuvrelarger competition.Lean processesIndeed, the adoption of lean processes by supplychain users such as manufacturers and retailers virtuallyobligates the providers of supply chain services tomaintain a similarly trim operational profile. For allparticipants in the supply chain the key objectives oflean logistics are waste reduction and minimisation offuture expenditure. Both of these objectives are attainablethrough cost-effective technological solutions.Warehouses and distribution centres are more thanjust a way point between different stages of the supplychain, which we often speak of as if it were a neat linearflow from sender to receiver. But the truth of courseis that it is more like a network.Warehouses and DCs are the nodes in this networkwhich prevent it from descending into chaos. Multiplestreams of cargo flow converge on these nodes wherethey are disentangled and allowed to diverge fromeach other heading in the right direction.It is not a job for just anybody, an attentive mind andan organised approach to work is required. This makesthe task all the more difficult to manage as the numberof eyes, and minds, on the job is reduced. Worse, thetrend is for logistics operations to become more ratherthan less complex.Increasingly, technology is making up for the missinghands, eyes, and to some extent minds on the warehousefloor. In much of the developed world at least,innovations as simple as bar codes to more sophisticatedRFID mobile devices have long taken over the workIssue No. 3www.warehousinglogisticsinternational.com
Cover Story 31once done by pen and paper whilst automated materialhandling and more recently autonomous robotic systemshave quite literally been taking much of the legwork out of picker’s jobs.In April this year, UK retailer John Lewis reported significantgrowth in its online sales thanks in no smallpart to efficiencies achieved through the automation ofits main distribution centre in Milton Keynes.Though battery powered minions navigatingamongst the racks and pallets like the “Scutters” fromRed Dwarf is a visually impressive demonstration of theadvance of logistics technology, the most significantadvances as a far as the industry is concerned are lesstangible. An effective Warehouse Management System(WMS) is vital to the functioning of a modern logisticscentre. A lean logistics strategy obligates logistics servicesproviders to place more and more reliance on technologicalapproaches to optimising their processes. Theimperative to minimise waste and inefficiency demandsa single picture of both in-bound and out-bound logistics.Thus in the context of market conditions that makea lean logistics strategy all but obligatory, an integratedwarehouse management system looks less a luxury thanan asset without which the physical infrastructure itself iscommercially moribund.The four major benefits of an integrated WMS are:(1) Client Visibility.Freight often moves through a network of one or manysupply chains where the warehouse serves as just onecomponent of the network. Having an integrated WMSallows clients complete visibility of their freight as itmoves from one entity to the next; for example fromWarehouse to Forwarding.(2) Planning.If the Warehouse has visibility of pending receipts, forexample through access to an International ForwardingPurchase Order module, the warehouse can better planreceiving resources and space for more efficient processing.(3) Lower cost to implement and train.With a single system approach Warehouses don’t needto externally source essential or value add modules forfunctions such as: Accounting, Workflow, DocumentManagement and Customer Relations Management.They do not need to learn, run and manage a myriadof different systems often requiring different hardwareand configurations. This saves considerable costs inunnecessary IT overheads such as training and hardware.(4) Departments can be centralised for theLogistics Service Provider.You no longer need a separate department forWarehouse Customer Service, data entry or Sales.These functions can be consolidated with a single systemapproach. This allows for one Customer Service orData Entry department using one system with visibility toall the information they need to make decisions for thegood of the entire business.Pick the right systemIt is of course important to pick the WMS solution thatis right for your business. Like any procurement decisionit should be taken at the boardroom level, able togrow with you as your business enters new markets andthe challenges that come with it. Most importantly, thosewho will be using the system must be trained to extractthe maximum value from it.The ROI from a well-chosen and implemented WMScan be dramatic and swift. One recent UK adopter ofwww.warehousinglogisticsinternational.comIssue No.3
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