Parcel - June 2008 - (Page 16)

trends UNDERSTANDING WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Separating the buzz from the biz By Joe Caston T he logistics world is abuzz with chatter about the latest trends in automated warehouse management. The current craze seems to be wireless technology. But unlike many technological ﬂashes in the pan, wireless is here to stay — and for good reason. Companies looking to boost their technological savvy by implementing a sophisticated warehouse management system (WMS) that integrates wireless capabilities will reap far-reaching beneﬁts ranging from increased productivity to streamlined order and transportation management. Sophisticated service providers use browser-based software that takes the paperwork, guesswork and mistakes out of the most complex shipping operations. The best systems can manage the entire shipping process: transportation planning, outbound shipment manifesting, carrier and customer label generation, shipment tracking, carrier selection and detailed reporting. The best systems also support all the major carriers. Future ﬂexibility is essential. Changes to operations, user interfaces, reports and data structures should be “implementable” as part of a standard product, rather than created as one-off, expensive-to-support custom software. Systems built from the ground up using current technology such as Microsoft development tools, SQL Server and the Windows NT/2000 platform ensure system speed, performance and reliability today and tomorrow. The Wave of the Future, Today Older systems struggle to keep up with the demands of modern supply chain execution. Many legacy systems handle only certain components of the logistics operation, such as receiving or location management. Amazingly, many companies still operate with paper-based systems, spreadsheets and human memory. Adding sub-systems to older, limited systems is expensive, time-consuming, inefﬁcient and, ultimately, counterproductive. In contrast, 21st-century warehouse management systems deliver real-time access to current transaction status, customer information, product availability, inventory levels and other dynamic information over the Web and voice response systems (via telephone). Shipment information is fully supported as well, reporting deﬁned events such as shipment notiﬁcations, inventory shortages and exception alerts via email, pager, connected PDA and text messaging. With a sophisticated wireless warehouse management system, managers and operators can query systems from workstations, wireless devices and even through voice access. The value of real-time information is higher than that provided by older batch methods of reporting. What is happening at any instant is available to anyone who needs to know, all the time. 16 May 2008 Why Wireless? Wireless communication dramatically increases the performance of mobile warehouse workers. Wireless technology also lets management participate in the decisions and activities of the mobile workforce in real time, making everyone’s job easier and vastly improving logistics within a warehouse operation. The new generation of mobile computers relies on wireless communications to complete the information ﬂow to workers on the ﬂoor and in the transportation system. Multimodal user interfaces feature voice recognition, barcode scanning, browser-based text and even video to arm these front-line workers with real-time, accurate information so they can fulﬁll orders more efﬁciently and accurately and report exceptions faster. Technologies like barcode scanning, radio-frequency, voice recognition and text-to-speech functions automate the fulﬁllment and shipping processes to levels unheard of just a few years ago. Workers can use a headset and a small, light-weight mobile computer attached to their belts while deploying voice technology to perform tasks in the warehouse. In most cases, workers verbally respond to audible instructions issued by the warehouse management software. The worker’s hands, eyes and mind are free to focus on the desired task without the impediment of holding and reading a scanner or keying data into a hand-held device. www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Parcel - June 2008

Parcel - June 2008 Contents Editor's Note What Would Augello Say? Success Means Never Being Satisfied Moving from Manual to Automated Fulfillment Regional Carriers Move to the Forefront Understanding Warehouse Management Systems Negotiating Carrier Contracts It’s All About the Data! How Long Will The East-West Trade Imbalance Last? Educate the Shipper, or Fix the Software? Product Profile On the Mark New Products & Services Advertiser Index Wrap Up

Parcel - June 2008

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