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 the United States
Retail routing guides are enforced with chargebacks: a mislabelled carton or a missed ASN costs you a deduction long after the truck has gone.
US mid-market warehouses are quoted per user and per transaction, so the bill grows in the exact months the business is winning. The quote that looked affordable at 3,000 orders a month is a different number at 9,000.
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 QuickBooks, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage Intacct and Acumatica and hands off to UPS, FedEx, USPS, OnTrac and XPO.
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 QuickBooks out of the box, or is that a custom project?
- Who answers the phone, and at what hour of your day?