A warehouse management system (WMS) is like a house that you need to maintain and tidy up regularly. If you don't, you are constantly tripping over loose floorboards, stepping over the same stacks every day and banging your head against that loose kitchen cabinet door over and over again. Chances are that some rooms or facilities in the house will no longer be used at all, causing the house to lose much of its added value.
Most warehouses of any size are now running a WMS. Companies have sometimes invested tons in the implementation, which could easily take six months. Prior to implementation, they meticulously mapped out their processes and tried to translate them as well as possible into the functionality of the WMS. Employees received extensive training to make the best use of the system. However, once the system was up and running, some companies hardly looked at it.
'Companies that don't look after the WMS afterwards end up with a system that is increasingly out of sync with the operation.‘
When the WMS is first put into use, it perfectly reflects the day-to-day operations in the warehouse. Companies that subsequently neglect the system end up with a system that increasingly falls out of step with their operations. After all, the market is constantly changing, customers are constantly setting new requirements, and warehouse processes are also constantly evolving. All too often, companies fail to give sufficient consideration to the support the WMS can offer in this regard, instead resorting to solutions outside the WMS, devising workarounds or resorting to using Excel.
There are sometimes other reasons why companies are saddled with a WMS that has not kept up with the times. Consider customisation, which was developed during implementation to ensure an optimal fit with business operations. Especially with the somewhat older systems, that customisation increasingly acts as a block that prevents upgrades to new versions of the WMS. This means that these companies cannot benefit from new functionality, which was developed by the supplier precisely to respond to the changing market. Another cause is the knowledge about the WMS, which continues to decline, partly due to employee turnover. Those who do not know what else the system can do will never be able to get the most out of their WMS.
Do you recognise yourself in this story? If so, you have two options to choose from. The first option is to invest in the existing WMS and make that upgrade anyway. There is a danger that you will have to invest again in a few years' time, as developments in the market and in technology continue. The second option is to invest in a completely new system. This may cost a bit more, but then you will probably have a new system, built according to a new, flexible architecture that makes it easier to make changes regardless of the amount of customisation present.
In any case, don't forget to regularly check how the WMS is performing. Just like with a house, it doesn't hurt to regularly put an interior decorator to work and occasionally call in an interior designer. A redesign sometimes works wonders.
Marcel te Lindert - Journalist logistics & supply chain management
