Warehouse Management Software is geared toward the handling and control of material within the warehouse. Though confined to warehouses, WMS addresses certain critical and complex issues because it is integrated with the supply chain management system, lest the entire supply chain is crippled.
Warehouse management is concerned with the movement, picking, packing, and storing of stock within the warehouse. A WMS provides for the handling of core functions of warehouse-like storage management, storage unit management, hazardous goods management, inbound and outbound materials management order processing and stock taking, tracking, and replenishment.
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A centralized warehouse is easy to manage but leads to delays, transport woes, etc. Therefore, multiple warehouses have become a necessity. Businesses in small nations like Singapore or Malaysia can have multiple warehouses based on material sourcing, delivery location, nature of goods (perishable, hazardous), etc.
Having multiple warehouses and multi warehouse management reduce the risk of storing the entire inventory in one place. Strategic placement of warehouses reduces unnecessary labor and transportation costs while improving the speed of delivery.
Assured delivery and better-than-expected delivery times are some of the easier ways to ensure customer loyalty. Warehouse management software ensures the storage of adequate stocks at the nearest warehouse based on demand.
Urgent and bulk orders can be fulfilled by applying inventory management from multiple warehouses. Drop shipping and stock cross-docking can use stock consolidation.
Issues and Difficulties Regarding Warehouse Management that Software Can Solve
Some of the issues concerning multiple warehouse management are ensuring the availability of adequate stock(s), proper and timely shipment of the right goods, and optimizing and balancing the inventory-warehouse quotient based on the logistics of demand.
Warehouse layout determines how quickly and accurately goods are selected and shipped. The WMS also ensures the stocking of goods according to the dimensions, shapes, and storage space to manage storage better.
One of the difficulties in multiple warehouse management is determining the re-order level. It will scatter the store at multiple locations and must maintain an adequate stock to meet market demands, which may vary occasionally.
Paradoxically, a fast-moving item at one location may find no takers at another. In such situations, WMS ensures the movement of items lying idle from one location to another based on criteria such as the date of manufacture, date of expiry, etc.
The Warehouse Management Software at HashMicro has inherent support for multiple warehouse management. Shipping from multiple locations, the warehouses act as fulfillment centers, shipping the right products at the right time.
