Interfacing a WMS

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are at the heart of a company's physical, financial, and information flows. As such, they collect, capture, aggregate, and display significant amounts of data. Naturally, they also handle the traditional management of warehouse processes, from receiving to shipping.

Software solutions that interface with the WMS

However a WMS is not intended to have infinite functional coverage. Thus, some vendors offer "bridges" (also called "connectors") with enterprise IT solutions (ERP, MES, WCS, APS, TMS, etc.), allowing the extension of what the WMS typically does.

Indeed, rather than deploying heavy and lengthy R&D investments, most publishers have undertaken initiatives to identify niche players (or "best of breed"), often startups, in order to create alliances. These new services are frequently offered through the activation of optional modules (add-ons), sometimes as "white-label" solutions, and with usage-based billing.

The stated goal for these publishers is to be able to quickly offer new services to the market. However, the WMS must remain the "center of the village," the element of consistency, the functional/business layer that federates all these solutions.

Thus, WMS systems are evolving and increasingly resembling "ERPs for logistics," aggregating modular functionalities around a logistics "core" that interface with third-party solutions. The stated objective is clear: not to "react" to interface needs but to anticipate them, or even preempt future customer needs.

What are the links with the WMS?

Because of its positioning as an execution software in the warehouse, the WMS therefore plays a crucial role in the retrieval of data throughout the entire IT ecosystem of a company.

This information will allow us to "discuss" with numerous solutions:

• ERP) systems deal with the planning of a company's resources in the short, medium, and long term.
• Transport Management Systems ( TMS ) are key solutions in the management and optimization of transport activities.
• The MES (Manufacturing Execution System), which operationally manages production operations,
• WCS (Warehouse Control System) software is used for monitoring and controlling automated equipment (storage units, stacker cranes, AGV trucks, conveyors, etc.).
• APS (Advanced Planning System), dealing with forecasting and supply management,
• "Best-of-breed" solutions (or industry-specific software), specialized in a particular industry or functionality, and able to benefit from the same interoperability as other software,
• Etc.

Depending on the type of logistics business in which the WMS is "immersed", its positioning may be different and its relationship with other IT solutions may evolve.

WMS Interfacing: The E-commerce Sector

In this sector, the WMS plays a central role on two levels:

• Sales (with near real-time tracking) and management (shipment from the warehouse according to commitments made and handling of any returns),
• The link with the world of intralogistics execution (end-of-line preparation conveyor, barcode or RFID reading equipment…) and that of extra-logistics (confirmation of a carrier delivery or information on a flow of returned goods following customer complaints).

A WMS interfaced with expert solutions can therefore address a large number of issues.

Returns Management

Companies have specialized in managing returns of "bulky" and "oversized" items (these returns quickly lose value once handled). These companies give these returns a second life: photos of the returned item showing its defects, listing it on auctioneer group websites to increase its value, selling the returned item, etc.

The aim is to compete with discount stores by paying better to the person holding this returned stock.

Tracking – Transport Claim

A WMS contains all the necessary information to warn the customer of potential delays. This can be supplemented by information from a TMS .

The goal here is to provide sales administration teams with access to this information, formatted in a dashboard or communicated via a workflow feature . This allows customers to be better informed about potential delays. It also empowers them to be better prepared when it comes to applying contractual penalties to their carriers.

MDM – Mobile device management

How can you ensure the proper real-time operation of your equipment fleet used in several warehouses at the same time?

Thanks to MDM solutions, logistics professionals have remote access to mobile devices in a warehouse. They can see what warehouse workers "see" on their PDAs, regardless of geolocation, allowing them to troubleshoot remotely.

Measurement of joint dimensions and weight upon arrival

At the entrance to the warehouse, it is possible to interface with dedicated equipment allowing the acquisition of this data in the WMS via, for example, measurement tables (Cubiscan®, Cargoscan from Mettler Toledo, infrared or laser technologies, camera and photo capture…).

Dynamic configuration of a picking zone

Tools exist that allow for dynamic management of storage parameters (reorder points, etc.) based on the product's lifespan. For products with erratic sales or new releases, replenishment strategies and behaviors must be tailored accordingly. Artificial intelligence tools can analyze large amounts of data to suggest new parameters for managing picking inventory (for example, mitigating abnormal behavior by analyzing historical data and the irregular nature of a trend).