The landscape of supply chain management is in a state of rapid transformation. With the surge in e-commerce, the push for real-time data visibility, and the necessity for scalable solutions, the role of Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) has never been more critical. Organizations are navigating a myriad of challenges, from operational inefficiencies to escalating costs, all while striving to maintain accuracy and customer satisfaction. The top WMS systems offer several key features designed to address these challenges head-on, providing the tools needed to streamline inventory management, enhance visibility, and optimize workflows. Understanding these capabilities will help you choose the best WMS for your business, one that equips you to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving supply chain landscape.
What is a Top WMS System?
This year’s Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems report indicates that there is near-functional parity for basic core WMS capabilities across providers. As a result, today’s users are looking for advanced features like cartonization, task interleaving, optimized scheduling, labor management, and cycle counting to differentiate solutions. Additionally, organizations are evaluating WMS solutions based on critical factors such as technical architecture, vendor viability, total cost of ownership (TCO), and time to value, as these aspects play a pivotal role in long-term scalability, system performance, and overall return on investment. A top WMS must not only offer these advanced functionalities but also be agile and adaptable to meet the evolving needs of modern supply chains.
Top WMS Systems: Features
Core WMS functionality typically includes the following fundamental features:
- Inventory Management: Tracks and manages stock levels in real time, including receiving, putaway, and storage of goods.
- Order Management: Manages order processing, including picking, packing, and shipping tasks, ensuring accurate and timely fulfillment.
- Receiving and Putaway: Supports inbound logistics by optimizing the receipt of goods and directing them to the best storage locations based on warehouse layout.
- Picking and Packing: Facilitates efficient picking and packing processes, including different picking strategies like wave, batch, or zone picking.
- Shipping and Transportation Management Integration: Helps coordinate outbound shipments, often integrating with transportation management systems (TMS) to manage deliveries and track shipments.
- Barcoding and Scanning Integration: Utilizes barcode scanning and RFID to track goods through all warehouse processes, improving accuracy and reducing human error.
A growing number of companies today need WMS functionality beyond the fundamentals to handle more complex operations, improve efficiency, and scale with business growth. Advanced features like task interleaving, labor management, cycle counting and cartonization help operations optimize workflows, reduce costs, enhance accuracy, and adapt to evolving customer demands and market conditions. Omnichannel functionality has also become essential, allowing businesses to quickly adjust to changes in demand and support diverse sales channels. Additionally, configurability, technical architecture, and cloud functionality play a crucial role in ensuring flexibility.
Top WMS System Feature #1: Task Interleaving
The core function of a WMS is to create, manage, and optimize tasks within a warehouse or distribution center, including picking, putaway, and truck loading. Effective task management and interleaving allow operations to adjust tasks in real time, enabling them to stay responsive to changing priorities throughout the day. As Amit Levy, EVP of Sales & Strategy at Made4net, notes, “An engine capable of responding dynamically and assigning tasks based on real-time needs drives significant value into the operation.”
Task interleaving minimizes “dead time” by assigning new tasks based on real-time demands and the worker’s proximity to the task location. This approach enhances value by reducing travel time, increasing productivity, and balancing workloads, ultimately improving operational efficiency.
Top WMS System Feature #2: Labor Management
Today’s WMS solutions must integrate advanced labor management features that extend beyond basic labor tracking and KPIs. Modern systems support engineered labor standards and provide deeper insights to cultivate a more engaged and efficient workforce. Comprehensive labor management workflows not only track task assignments and monitor productivity but also recommend and manage incentive programs, deliver accurate labor forecasting and planning, support employee training and skill development, enhance workplace safety, and generate customizable reports. When combined with task interleaving, these capabilities maximize worker efficiency by assigning tasks in the most optimal and productive sequence, driving both operational excellence and workforce satisfaction.
Top WMS System Feature #3: Cycle Counting
Cycle counting is a valuable inventory management technique that regularly counts a subset of inventory items to ensure accuracy without having to perform a full physical inventory. This is especially important for those that sell fast-moving consumer goods. The WMS will classify items and perform inventory counts without the need to shut down the entire operation. If a discrepancy between the system-recorded quantity and the counted quantity is detected, the WMS will flag it for review, allowing the issue to be addressed upon detection. Cycle counting helps maintain high levels of accuracy with a continuous audit of inventory.
Top WMS System Feature #4: Cartonization
Cartonization functionality in a WMS automatically determines the optimal size and type of packaging for shipping orders based on factors like product dimensions, weight, and fragility. By analyzing the items to be packed, cartonization helps minimize wasted space, reduce shipping costs, and improve packing efficiency. This functionality ensures that orders are packed in the most cost-effective and protective way, streamlining the fulfillment process while improving delivery accuracy and reducing damage during transport.
Top WMS System Feature #5: Omnichannel Functionality
Omnichannel functionality has emerged as a critical feature for WMS buyers. The need to manage multiple channels within a single distribution center adds layers of complexity that some WMS systems were not designed to handle. As businesses increasingly embrace omnichannel strategies, they are faced with the challenge of managing a variety of order types—from retail shipments to direct to consumer orders—all within the same facility. This convergence of channels means that a WMS must be agile enough to handle the influx of returns, the nuances of different shipping requirements, and the varying expectations of customers across all platforms.
Top WMS System Feature #6: Adaptability and Scalability
WMS buyers are looking for a solution that can be easily and quickly customized and adapted to their ever-evolving needs. For this reason, the technical architecture of a system has become integral to the selection process. Levy explains, “The WMS is the brain of the operation, it controls everything within the four walls. The right technical architecture with strong engineering standards allows businesses to make changes quickly with minimal effort; it allows for scalability.” Levy believes that one of the most important elements of a well-designed WMS that is scalable and rapidly deployed is a robust microservices architecture.
Microservices enable the WMS to be split into multiple sections that can be deployed separately to work on their own. These independently deployable applications allow operations to complete various business processes at once. As organizations seek to improve their productivity while protecting their bottom line, microservices will continue to grow in importance.
Top WMS System Feature #7: Cloud-based
Today, more businesses are adopting multi-tenant cloud or single cloud technologies. In fact, many new entrants to the WMS market believe their services must be cloud-based to remain competitive. This is largely because moving to the cloud often reduces risk, thanks to robust cybersecurity services like Amazon Web Services. Cloud implementations also offer lower upfront costs, making them especially appealing to smaller operations with limited capital.
While cloud solutions are gaining popularity, that doesn’t mean on-premise systems are becoming obsolete. There are still scenarios where an on-premise solution is more practical, particularly for industries with established IT infrastructure that require minimal risk of connectivity loss during critical operations.
WMS System Recommendations for Success
The first step in selecting the right WMS for your operation is to clearly define your business requirements and objectives. Our WMS RFP Template provides over 250 functional and 100 technical requirements to help you outline your needs effectively. A top WMS system should offer essential features to meet your current needs and scale with your future growth.
Made4net’s WarehouseExpert delivers core WMS functions alongside advanced features such as cartonization, task interleaving, optimized scheduling, labor management, and cycle counting. Built on a flexible, rules-based Microsoft technology platform, it ensures scalability and is suitable for organizations of all sizes, including those utilizing automation, robotics, and material handling equipment (MHE).
Contact one of our experts today to learn more.
