Page 11 - Logistics News - July August 2023

W MS

What were their learnings? 3. Make sure you focus on what matters.
1. You need to do your WMS homework first. a) Be aware of the tendency to spend time (and money) on looking
a) Needs: What do I need in a WMS? at the unnecessary. A WMS will solve warehouse issues, not the
- In other words, where’s my pain? issues of the various stakeholders of other areas.
- Where do I see it improving my current processes?
- What are the views of all my stakeholders? From operators up b) Focus laser-like on what matters.
to the GM? - Is the WMS you’re looking at a good fit for your organisation?
- Will it integrate with your other systems?
b) What’s my business case? - Will it grow with you?
- Input: What benefits can I expect? (Efficiency, accuracy, cost - Are you on guard against over-customising (aka over-
reductions). complicating)?
- Input: What are my expected/indicative/acceptable costs?
- Output: A clear document showing the costs, benefits and “It’s a sizeable piece of work. I’ve a fair idea of
return on investment (ROI). where things are. I think I’ll skip it.”
a) You know the status quo isn’t serving you well.
c) What are my selection criteria going to be? - You’ve identified a need for a WMS system.
- Critical features and functionality? - The business will only give you one shot at this.
- It must be able to cope with the company’s plans to grow
organically and through acquisition. b) Who has the time, money or goodwill to waste by going off
- It must have proven integration with my existing systems. track during the WMS selection process?
- If things do go off track, the business will come to wonder
2. Map and document existing warehouse processes. about the merits of the project.
This is a necessary evil, taking your staff off task and - A “fair idea of where things are” leaves you without a clear
consuming their valuable time. It’s an investment of their time foundation of what you need from a WMS.
(and your money) to know where you are. It’s mapping and
documenting your warehouse processes. From where you are c) Do you want to manage a situation where the view of the
– Point A – and where you need to be – Point B. benefits a WMS can deliver (ROI) start to suffer?
a) Identify and map current processes.
- Where do we cause our customers pain? You can make a call
- Where is our pain? An experienced WMS supplier can help guide you in this initial
- Where are we relying on spreadsheets? internal process. They want to set you up for success. Setting
you up for success sets them up for success – after all, their
b) Identify what processes need to improve. livelihood depends on it.
- Processes that need streamlining?
- Processes (or lack of) that drive data inaccuracy? Nail your preparation and nail your eventual
- Where can we create (or increase our) efficiency? selection
Achieving a successful WMS selection and implementation
c) Identify where we see a WMS delivering or facilitating is a big feather in anyone’s cap. It doesn’t harm your personal
process improvements. LinkedIn profile either. That big feather is the reward earned
- In inventory management? for making good decisions. Good decisions follow in a WMS
- In visibility via reporting to improve control? selection process when you have a clear focus on:
- In real-time visibility to drive accuracy in order fulfilment? 1. Where you are starting from – Point A.
2. Where you want to be – Point B.
d) Output: A gap analysis of the current against the desired
future state. This will give you a checklist. You can then What you need to get there is the right WMS – and in that
begin a WMS selection process with the confidence of way, you’ll never decide to buy a new car based on the colour of
knowing your Point A and Point B. the seats! •

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