The global supply chain disruption has made executives realize that their logistics operations can go into a state of disorder at any time. To make their supply chains more resilient and adaptable, company leaders are leveraging the automation benefits that come with Warehouse Management Systems (WMSs). Impressively, revenue in the WMS market will increase from US$3.4 billion in 2022 to US$10.7 billion in 2030, according to ABI Research’s Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Software research analysis report—Logistics Service Providers (LSPs), retailers, and manufacturers are investing in this technology the most.
A warehouse management system is a type of software that provides a holistic view of a warehouse’s resources and allows workers to manage those resources in an optimal way. Everything from inventory management to order receiving can be automated with a WMS. There are three types of WMSs, as follows:
Here are some of the key trends that are re-shaping warehouses:
Dock-to-stock time, inventory accuracy, worker distance traveled, error rate, and order picking accuracy are obviously important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for warehouse operators to track when gauging the effectiveness of warehouse automation. However, it shouldn’t stop with quantitated metrics; qualitative data like worker satisfaction, safety, energy levels, and comfort are also important factors to consider.
If not doing so already, it's time to seriously consider automating inventory tracking and order forecasting. Not only will automation cut down labor costs, but it’s also more accurate than manual forecasting. Automation takes the guessing game out of the equation for warehouse decision makers.
Logistics personnel should choose a digitization strategy that works best for their own particular needs. A warehouse that’s focused on high shipment volumes will have different expectations than a warehouse more concerned with flexibility. Not all automation deployments are created equal, meaning warehouses that care mostly about high throughput will benefit the greatest from heavy automation in the shortest time span.
DHL Supply Chain is one of the world leaders among independent Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers. DHL’s customers are accustomed to benchmark turnaround times, thanks in part to its existing Blue Yonder WMS. But to take things up a notch, the company decided to deploy warehouse automation and robotics to more than 2,000 sites worldwide.
By teaming up with Blue Yonder, DHL was able to introduce a cloud-based “plug-and-play” solution that makes the process of onboarding a new device to a warehouse much easier. This new and improved warehouse management system enabled DHL customers to pick and choose robotic systems that were the best choice for their business. On top of that, DHL employees were then able to access a single, shared dashboard for robotics, allowing them to track warehouse progress instantly, check the status of important tasks, and send work-order updates to the WMS in real time.
Blue Yonder’s WMS also leveraged AI to help carry out logistical tasks done by associates and the robotics solution. The greater speed, responsiveness, and resilience provided by the WMS resulted in a 60% reduction in the time to implement robotics and an 80% savings in time to train employees with the new technologies.
A warehouse management system can be thought of as the missing piece to the supply chain puzzle. It’s more important than ever to gain full transparency on every aspect of logistics operations as real-time warehouse analytics can be converted into business-bettering action. As WMSs are an integral piece to automating many of the day-to-day warehouse activities, employees can spend more time on critical functions, and a warehouse can significantly expand its potential.
These findings come from ABI Research’s recent Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Software research analysis report. This report is part of the company’s Supply Chain & Logistics research service.