Your company, big or small, probably has a Warehouse Management System up and running. Using Smart WMS to figure out more about your clientele and the associated product is essential to managing a successful business.
Smart Warehouse Technology Impact
However, some of those businesses out there may be using outdated software, or perhaps their software is non-existent. It may seem implausible, but if a small startup business is relying on sticky notes and spiral notebooks, things are going to fall apart real quick. You don’t want this mayhem to happen to you.
If your company is losing clients due to out-of-date methods, it’s time to upgrade to a WMS that offers simple software that offers real-time visibility, whether you’re on-site or not. Here are a few ways an advanced WMS demonstrates the importance of real-time data when it comes to storing customer products in your warehouse:
Accurate Receiving Stats
A high-end WMS is meant to streamline the movement of received merchandise from the point of arrival to where it will ultimately be stored in your warehouse. If your new client is nervous about their first shipment, chances are you will be hearing from them quite a lot in the beginning. “Have you received our product yet? Is it intact? Is it all there?”
Out of date technology will leave you scrambling for answers, and a waiting client is an unhappy one. Utilizing WMS with real-time visibility allows you to quickly (and honestly) reassure them that everything was accounted for exactly seven minutes ago.
Safe Storage
This can include the manual or automatic allocation of products into specific areas within your warehouse. If you have yet to purchase a quality WMS, you may be relying on manpower to eyeball where the product should go. Of course, every warehouse needs real people to keep things running, but to err is human, and errors cost both time and money.
It only takes one absent-minded person talking on their cellphone to write down the wrong number or the incorrect code to leave your floor in a disorganized mass of unmarked boxes and confusion. Then the client calls, demanding a recount of their product…and you don’t even know where it’s stored, let alone when it is supposed to move out.
If something doesn’t seem right, you can log in to the WMS at any time, day or night, just to reassure yourself that the product is, indeed, stored right where it was supposed to be, per your instructions.
Physical Collection
When it comes time for that new customer’s product to move off the shelves, it’s imperative that your company move quickly and effectively right now so their business is as competent as it promises. After all, that person may be a customer to you, but they have customers of their own.
All Accounted For
A quality WMS will contain a detailed account of anything and everything related to their shipment, meaning you can assure them that, in real-time, it’s expected that they will be receiving their delivery 15 minutes ahead of schedule. You can even report that the shipment was a better deal than anticipated because your WMS just informed you that the shipment was less heavy than the previous delivery.