What a WMS actually does
A WMS holds a live position for every item in every location, directs the next task to the right person, and confirms the work with a scan rather than a signature. Everything else a warehouse system claims to do rests on those three things.
That is the line between a WMS and an inventory module. An inventory module tells you what you should have. A WMS is what makes the record true.
- Receiving against the purchase order, with discrepancies caught at the dock
- Putaway to a known location instead of a remembered one
- Scanner-guided picking with routing, batching and confirmation
- Packing and carrier handover with the label produced from the pick
- Perpetual counting that runs while the warehouse keeps working
- Returns back into sellable stock without a manual adjustment
What is different in Canada
Bilingual labeling for Quebec and cross-border duty paperwork both depend on the item data your warehouse system holds, not on the person packing the box.
Canadian buyers are quoted in US dollars by vendors priced for US enterprise volumes, then asked to absorb the exchange rate on every seat.
Integration is the whole job
A WMS that does not talk to your finance system creates a second set of numbers to reconcile. BizBloqs integrates with Sage 50 Canada, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NetSuite and QuickBooks and hands off to Canada Post, Purolator, FedEx Canada, UPS Canada and Day & Ross.
Orders and item data come down, stock positions and shipment confirmations go back up. Nothing is rekeyed, so nothing drifts.
What to check before you sign
Most disappointing WMS projects were predictable at the demo. These are the questions that separate a system that will run your floor from one that will be worked around.
- Can it run a scanner properly, offline moments included, or is it a browser page on a rugged device?
- Is the price a flat platform fee, or does it move with orders, lines or transactions?
- Is the implementation scoped in days you can see, or open-ended consulting?
- Does it integrate with Sage 50 Canada out of the box, or is that a custom project?
- Who answers the phone, and at what hour of your day?