Warehouse management system is also important for the storage of materials in any operation. A warehouse management system is one of the most essential parts of a supply chain. Supply chain basically includes series of steps involved in the delivery of finished goods/materials from the supplier to the end customer.
A warehouse management system gives an organization that is in outsourcing software development a clear picture of the inventory currently present and the inventory which will be available for future use. It thus helps an organization in effective planning of its processes and operations. The focus these days is on productivity and not on production. Production of any organization is basically measured by the number of goods and materials produced. Production is measured only in terms of the output produced. Productivity is measured in terms of the input as well. Productivity of an organization is a measure of the goods and materials produced and the resources utilized for producing these goods and services.
A warehouse management system is not only about managing operations within a warehouse, it has a much broader scope. It includes Inventory management,
Labor management, Cost management and various technical applications. Inventory management aids tracking of inventory for the accurate fulfillment of orders, which ultimately results in customer satisfaction. Inventory management can also be used for determining the inventory items to be processed first. First in First out (FIFO) and Last in First out (LIFO) methods are used for determining the same. Industries normally use the FIFO method for perishable goods because they have a short life. Inefficient performance of the workers is a major barrier to the productivity. Labor management basically deals with an increase in the performance of the workers. An increase in the efficiency of the workers is very important for the delivery of goods as per the schedule. Cost management involves cost planning and optimization right from the preparation of an application's design to its final delivery to the end customers.
Warehouse management systems have steadily evolved to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, although the prime function is still the same. ERP system integrates all the departments of an organization and help in information flow between them and within the organization. Proper communication and sharing of information between different organizational departments is very important for improved decision making and performance. ERP system is built on a single central database and platform. They obtain information from different departments of organizations and supply information to them.
One of the most popular technologies in use nowadays is voice directed distribution. It uses speech recognition technology and all the major operations in it are voice enabled. Workers can interact easily with each other and thus it saves unnecessary manual work. Accuracy of the orders is enhanced and warehouse productivity is increased. Modern technologies used by several custom application development companies also allow the automation of shipping and billing processes.