Major changes in the retail landscape have accelerated rapidly in the past few years, and with that change comes new challenges for retail distribution operations. Many of those challenges can be overcome with a best-in-breed WMS. Here are 10 ways stepping up your WMS game can help your operation become more agile, more efficient, faster, and smarter.
1. It Can Help You Use the Labor You Have More Efficiently
Labor shortages abound, but a top-notch WMS will help you use what you have to the best advantage. Through task prioritization and performance monitoring, your WMS can help the employees on the floor do more with their time.
2. It Can Keep a Tighter Leash on Inventory
Top-rated warehouse management systems today can help you track inventory to the case in real-time. Since inventory control and visibility are serious issues for many retail distribution operations, improving inventory management via a better WMS is a common-sense solution.
3. It Can Help You Get Products to Customers in New Ways
A good WMS will help you get products where they need to go in exactly the way it was originally set up to. A great WMS will help you evolve the way you get products to their end destinations, opening up new omnichannel distribution solutions to your company through agility and adaptation.
4. It Can Help You Get Products to Customers Faster
A quality warehouse management system helps inventory get through your warehouse and on to its final destination faster. It can help you prioritize which products should move first and how it should move to ensure consistent customer satisfaction.
5. It Can Help You Handle Store Allocations
With a distribution challenge, like when there isn’t enough inventory to supply all stores, a WMS can look in real time and run an analysis of how to allocate the product. It can also handle distributing new items or slow moving items to stores without orders.
6. It Can Give You Better Data
Data makes the cogs in a warehouse keep turning just how they’re supposed to. An ideal WMS will collect data at every touchpoint so that you know where you stand, and will provide insights into how you can do better.
7. It Can Keep Shipping Costs Down
When you keep a better handle on your inventory, you can plan shipments better so that you don’t have to rely on the spot market to keep items available. Since shipping rates have proven to be incredibly volatile, this WMS benefit is rapidly becoming a top priority for many retailers.
8. It Can Simplify a Complex Supply Chain
Today’s warehouses often have to cope with thousands of unique SKUs and ever-changing rules. A great warehouse management system can help companies see over the top of the complexities, integrating seamlessly with solutions, equipment and other technology up and down the supply chain.
9. It Can Provide Better Visibility
End-to-end visibility is more than a buzz phrase; it’s the future of supply chains. A world-class WMS will help you collect and interpret data to provide more visibility across your entire network.
10. Improved Visibility Leads to Better Customer Service
At the end of the day, everything in retail comes down to customer service, whether you’re standing in a brick-and-mortar store or at home with your shopping cart. A more effective, more efficient distribution operation translates to happier customers.
Shopping for a WMS that addresses distribution challenges and more? Made4net’s WarehouseExpert™ might be your perfect solution. Contact us by visiting our website, https://made4net.com/, emailing us at [email protected], or calling us at 1-800-646-1041 to learn about our world-class WMS and other supply chain solutions.
