The main stages of setting up a WMS

Example with our EGO WMS solution

The effective implementation of a WMS follows a precise and sequenced methodology in stages, where the customer teams and those of the integrator must work hand in hand.

• What are the steps involved in implementing a WMS?
• What is the content of each of its steps?
• What questions will the teams need to answer and what information will they need to provide?
• What work will need to be carried out on the integrator's side and on the client's side?
• How is team building addressed during these stages?

Each integrator has its own implementation methodology. Here we present one of these methodologies developed by SITACI for its EGO WMS solution .

At SITACI, the implementation of the EGO WMS is thus divided into 5 key phases.

During the initial phases, SITACI's project teams will be particularly involved in defining and organizing the work. However, in the later phases, your project teams will gradually take over. SITACI's teams will then transition from a leadership role to a support role for your teams.

In the final phase, your teams will then be almost autonomous in their actions.

1- Launch phase

In addition to framing and organizing the work, the launch phase is used to collect a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative information about the warehouse. For example:

• List of purchase or sales orders,
• Description of the interfaces that will need to be created between the EGO WMS and external computer systems,
• Collection of constraints related to the customer, the product, and the warehouse
• Topographic plan and zoning of the warehouse,
• Product database (references, weights, dimensions, packaging…),
• The number of operators available at reception (Full Time Equivalent)
• Types of handling equipment (pallet truck, trolley, stacker, aerial work platform…),
• Expiration Date (ED) management for items or not,
• Dedicated picking areas,
• Label formats used.

Beyond this information gathering, the launch phase is also an opportunity for initial contact and discovery of the EGO WMS tool.

Indeed, we made the choice, even before the studies had begun, to present our WMS to our clients in a streamlined version (in terms of features) and with a "School" dataset allowing them to start practicing.

This "concrete" input in the early stages raises awareness of the tool's operating philosophy. It provides an opportunity to understand the underlying concepts, gradually introduce future users to the "vocabulary" of the EGO WMS, and begin to explore the possibilities associated with the standard version of the WMS.

Indeed, the bias here is to say:

"If you understand very simple flows based on 'School', then it will be much easier to understand your flows with your future data and to understand your specificities.".

2- Study Phase

From this phase onwards, individual or collective work sequences will then follow one another in a very specific order.

Their objectives will be to prepare the configuration of the EGO WMS, to create the working environments (hardware, interfaces, VPN, Wifi…) and to anticipate the collection of information that will subsequently be injected into the software.

This work will, for example, help answer the following questions:

• What are the management zones of my warehouse and what are their roles?
• Are there families of articles with specific attributes that require special processing?
• What are my storage and picking strategies?
• What are the main logistics processes in my warehouse (business scenarios), the rules and the main information exchanges associated with them?
• What will be the specifications (for functional adjustments or specific IT developments) in order to meet the needs not covered by the standard version of the EGO WMS?
• What equipment will be needed?

3- Pre-mock-up phase

This phase allows us to "get down to business".

specific developments to be (if needed) according to the methodology implemented: digitizing logistics flows (simple projects) or the classic V-model method (complex projects).

The interfaces, with an ERP for example, are then tested (order flow, stock adjustment, item database, shipping confirmations, etc.). The same applies to connections with carrier platforms (carrier labels and EDI flows).

Finally, the equipment (PDA, labeler, weigher, Carboscan…) is also connected and tested on the WMS .

Thanks to SaaS technologies, most of these operations can be carried out via a VPN connected to a "Virtual Machine" hosted by a hosting provider .

During this phase, the client is also required to provide all the necessary data that will be injected into the WMS.

This work should not be neglected, as data quality is paramount for the proper functioning of the WMS . Indeed, errors are unforgivable in the world of Supply Chain Execution (SCE).

The data to be provided obviously concerns the items and the addresses of the locations (for slotting operations), but also data on:

• The shuttles,
• The types of containers and packaging used,
• The alveoli,
• Hazardous materials,
• Users,
• Barcode formats,
• The customers,
• Carriers and related services,
• Customs tariffs
• …

This information needs to be provided depending on the complexity of the processes implemented .

The objective is then to provide a working environment allowing future users to have a WMS in the company's colors (with associated equipment) in order to practice the solution.

4- Solution implementation phase

This phase will allow for the review of all scenarios (or business cases) and the involvement of teams , to practice all possible scenarios and take the opportunity to write operating procedures.

First, the project team will be able to train on how to use the EGO WMS in its near-final environment (their items, their customers, their locations, etc.) across a complete flow (inbound, internal, outbound) and for customers (or depositors) representative of the business. The EGO WMS training modules are tailored to the business scenarios implemented in the warehouse.

These training sessions will then allow the project team to independently practice the solution following a "Solution Practice Plan," while using test plans provided by SITACI. The aim is to practice all the (other) logistics flow scenarios that may arise and for which the EGO WMS has been configured.

It is also an opportunity for key users to put things into practice and write up the operating procedures.

These sequences are generally very fast-paced and require significant time commitment from the teams. A precise work schedule is scheduled in everyone's calendars, taking care not to disrupt other warehouse activities. This investment remains essential and necessary to ensure everything runs smoothly on the scheduled day!

Right after the training and hands-on practice with the solution, we offer a "dry run" day so the project team can experience what a typical day with the EGO WMS might look like. This gives them the opportunity to see the benefits firsthand but also to understand the rigor required when using such a tool.

5- Deployment and start-up phase

Here we focus on 3 topics that we believe are important to address properly in order to successfully start the WMS under good conditions and to give it every chance of success.

Stocks

Stock retrieval in the WMS should not be overlooked and may prove to be a project within a project.

The goal is to organize inventory control activities to ensure the best possible stock management (reliable quantities at the location address). However, everything should not be inventoried at the last minute.

A gradual increase in the reliability of inventory management is planned:

• Create new addresses and deposit merchandise there,
• Check the quantity at the address.

To help you with this, here are some key points and tips for organizing this often lengthy, tedious, and highly strategic task for a successful start:

1. Adopting a customer-based (or depositor-based) approach: is the decision made a priori to switch all customers to a WMS on day one ("big bang effect") or can the stock migration be staggered? The answer to this question will determine the effort required to update stock levels at each address.
2. Consider the inventory management and storage method (automatic addressing). Are these being significantly revised? If so, inventory control will then necessarily be linked to the work of (re)labeling the inventory locations (requiring a sufficiently stable pre-layout address file).
3. Prioritize the work based on the consumption level of the items : start with the items that are used infrequently, then review past consumption records to identify them. Finally, leave the receiving, shipping, and picking areas for last.

Warehouse labeling

With the arrival of the new equipment, a labeling and identification process will be carried out throughout the warehouse:

• Labeling of equipment with a fixed barcode: shuttles, trolleys, boxes, printers,
• Labeling of all products with a fixed barcode depending on the packaging (container or packaging): pallets, PCBs, SPCBs, individual items,
• Labeling the addresses of each location In:
  • reception areas,
  • quality zones,
  • the manufacturing or kit production areas,
  • reserve areas (mass and rack),
  • picking areas,
  • the dock areas,
  • dispute areas or return areas for restocking and preparation,
  • Etc.

The involvement of all stakeholders

Once the production environment is configured and operational, the deployment phase will also consist of integrating the "import files" into the EGO WMS with the database that will be used on the day of deployment .

Ideally, these files should be validated by the Key Users (especially the stock file with the quantities of items up to date at each location).

The training of end users (“End Users”) by Key Users can then begin with the operating procedures developed in the previous phase.

This is also an opportunity to finalize the development of the "signs" to be placed on workstations (receiving, quality, customer returns, packaging, shipping, etc.) containing a simplified and operational version of the operating procedures.

A few days before the start, it is important to communicate the date and time of the start to all stakeholders (customers – depositors, suppliers, staff…).

Two important tools are generally developed to secure the period between D-3 and D-day:

• A schedule of Key User presence in each area with the operators,
• A checklist of control points and Go/No Go decisions.

Conclusion

One of the keys to a successful WMS implementation lies in both adhering to the milestones set by the integrator and meticulously implementing the content of each phase. In addition to these two conditions, the quality and fluidity of the relationships established by each stakeholder in managing such a project are also crucial.