Types of WMS publishers

WHAT IS THE COMPOSITION OF THE WMS PUBLISHER MARKET?

The WMS companies offer relatively similar products.

So how is this market organized? Which editor for which type of needs and for which development perspectives?

We usually classify WMS editors in 3 main categories:

1 – THE EXPERT PUBLISHERS

They are generally specialists in very specific sectors (process industries, pharmaceuticals, etc.) or in very specific logistics fields (cold logistics, e-commerce, etc.). These WMS specialists often offer complete “verticals” (APS, ERP, TMS, OMS).

These publishers are often consulted by large groups, often with international locations, who wish to overhaul their warehouse logistics by equipping themselves with a WMS. The projects are therefore complex, with numerous logistics configurations.

These large groups also want to take advantage of the installation of a WMS to homogenize their logistics practices in their various sites in a given sector of activity; in fact, the management of organizational change is a crucial point.

We will find here publishers with offices and representations in France and abroad, with very important teams of functional and technical consultants. These publishers also rely on integrator partners to deploy their solutions around the world. The methodologies implemented are fairly traditional (V-shaped) and therefore the implementation times are relatively long. The management of interfaces between logistics, quality, sales and production teams becomes a “project within a project”.

Given their experience and seniority in the business, these large-scale publishers have good sector-specific practices (benchmark) that can help to “align” heterogeneous processes more quickly from one site to another for a new customer.

The functional coverage of their solution is generally significant for a given business, but this does not prevent them from incurring significant costs in adaptation, which are the subject of relatively detailed, even heavy, specifications to address all the practices of the sites, and with many round-trips with the client’s functional teams (project manager, key users, end users…).

 

Advantages :

  • Functional coverage of the WMS,
  • Specialization by sector of activity (notion of verticalized solutions),
  • Simultaneous implementation of several sites in France and abroad,
  • Robust companies.

Points of vigilance:

  • Little agility – restrictive V methodology,
  • Daily rates applied,
  • Low reactivity in case of unanticipated modification requests,
  • Cost of specific developments.

Examples of publishers: Hardis Group, Generix, Manhattan, Savoye, Körber Supply Chain…

2 – Publishers of “light” inventory management solutions

Recently, new players have positioned themselves in this WMS segment and we have little information on their durability in this market.

Some of them have even abandoned their positioning as WMS publishers along the way, to reposition themselves on less complex solutions such as TMS or OMS!

These publishers offer relatively basic and inexpensive solutions, ideal for inventory management. Their solution is less, or even not adapted, to manage logistics flows.

The specifications must therefore be particularly detailed in order to verify, before choosing them, that their solution is perfectly suited to the needs expressed. Otherwise, the specific developments will at best incur significant costs or development times, and at worst will not be feasible due to a lack of technical or business skills at the publisher.

It is therefore important for this category, to measure the “benefits / risks” ratio.

 

The advantages :

  • Cost of acquisition of the solution,
  • Easy to implement for an inventory management (a priori),
  • Ergonomics – quick to learn,
  • Ideal for logistics flows and basic business rules.

Points to watch out for:

  • Functional coverage to manage flows and technical performance,
  • Ability to evolve and support the warehouse’s growth over time,
  • Low seniority or financial solidity,
  • Modest size editors.

Examples of publishers: Mon stock, Shippingbo, ACLEA, Pixao, Pixisoft

3 – The generalist publishers

These publishers are positioned at the meeting point between the big and the small players.

There are well-established publishing companies with numerous references. They can be broken down into generalists present in many sectors of activity.

These publishers are often SMEs, based in France, with a long history in the logistics field, having enabled their WMS to cover a wide range of business functions, with significant feedback in terms of interfacing with ERP or end-of-line preparation conveyors.

The other advantage is their size, which allows them great flexibility and reactivity in the implementation of a WMS. These companies are, for some, less structured than a large publisher, but some have developed agile methodologies allowing implementations in record time and made possible by the large functional coverage and modularity of their solution (avoiding specific IT development costs).

 

Advantages:

  • Flexibility of the teams in the implementation,
  • Functional coverage,
  • Internal business expertise and technical robustness of the solution,
  • Ability to provide long-term support.

The points of vigilance :

  • SaaS mode not very present,
  • International presence,
  • Limited resources for large projects,
  • Implementation methodologies not sufficiently documented.

Examples of publishers: KLS Logistic, GRN Logistic, BK Systems, Acteos, SITACI, Stock-IT, Reflex

 

In conclusion, the market of WMS publishers is a mature market and the offer is large enough to meet your needs.