Part Four – Value Chain – Harnessing WMS for End-to-end Supply Chain Excellence

If you'd like to read part one of this series - The Foundations of Efficiency, it's here .

And if you'd like to read part two - Maximising Throughput; The role of WMS in Production and Distribution - you can find it here .

If you'd like to read part three - Optimising for Retail Success – how WMS integrates with Retail and E-Commerce Channels, you can find it here .

These days, the supply chain looks less like a chain and more like a spider’s web.

And your WMS, like a benevolent spider, is what sits in the middle and knits it all together.

This is because an advanced WMS can take disparate processes and connect all of the dots between them, from raw materials acquisition to the final product being delivered to your customer. And this kind of end-to-end integration is crucial when it comes to a business that’s seeking to streamline its operations, reduce its costs and enhance its customer satisfaction.

Because effectively, an advanced WMS like Blue Yonder's Dispatcher WMS doesn’t just manage your warehouse operations.

It also enables seamless data exchange with suppliers and logistics partners. It makes certain that raw materials are delivered on time and in the correct quantities and a useable state. It makes sure that your production departments get what they need, if they’re to deliver the things that your distribution department is expecting - which is what your retail department requires. And then your WMS arranges for your orders to make their way in an efficient and effective manner to the customers that have bought them.

However, it doesn’t necessarily do all these things on its own.

We’ve talked before about integrations between your WMS and other systems such as your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and/or your Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system, and even with your Transport Management System (TMS).

Today we’re going to look at some other possible elements of the supply chain infrastructure – like Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) and Order Management (OMS) systems, and our own home-grown mobile app - User Services Portal (USP).

Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP)

We’ll start with how a WMS can integrate with an MRP. Integrations between advanced WMS systems and an MRP are vital when it comes to maintaining manufacturing efficiency. We’ve used the jigsaw analogy all the way through this series of articles, and this is where an advanced WMS is the bit that connects production lines to warehouse racking – facilitating the smooth transition of goods between the two.

It can do this by aligning manufacturing schedules with warehouse capacity. AKA – there’s no point making stuff if you can’t put it away safely. This way, your WMS can ensure optimal use of resources and space, and by doing so, it’ll help minimise waste and reduce costs.

Order Management (OMS)

Moving on now to your OMS and its relevance to your TMS. Your advanced WMS can earn its keep by integrating with both systems in order to streamline your picking, packing and shipping. This kind of integration is what enables companies to fulfil orders faster and more accurately. And a seamless integration of these kinds of systems typically creates significant reductions in lead times and operational costs. Which is something that’s going to have a direct and beneficial impact on your bottom line.

We’ve talked about the effects that an advanced WMS can have your retail and e-commerce operations already – how it can offer real-time visibility into stock levels, order statuses and customer demands. But we’ve not yet talked about User Servies Portal (USP).

User Services Portal (USP)

USP is a portal designed and built by the same people who originally designed and built Dispatcher WMS – Socius24 developers. And it’s an additional tool that’s available to all Dispatcher WMS users to augment and support their system.

You can find out more about USP here , but in a nutshell, it has a licensing system that warehousing businesses find useful because they can flex licenses up and down quickly and easily. And it has an intuitively designed interface that’s ideal for seasonal workers, or warehouse workers who need to perform many different jobs within the warehouse.

As well as this, it can contribute to your operational visibility within your own supply chain.

Due to the nature of its structure, it can be securely accessed from anywhere in the world, via browser. Our customers find it useful not only for their warehousing staff, but also for customer services teams, sales teams and anyone who needs to know what’s going on with customer orders… including the customers themselves.

Can your customers self-serve?

USP is employed by many of our customers to give their customers a way to self-serve. And it’s also used to communicate and organise jobs with independent Carriers who might not have their own systems.

Dispatcher WMS and USP work together to manage inventory, increase visibility and enhance customer service – something that typically leads to increased satisfaction and loyalty. It’s particularly popular in the 3PL community.

But the ultimate value of a WMS like Dispatcher WMS lies in its ability to nurture a resilient and agile supply chain.

It can provide comprehensive visibility and control, and it allows for rapid response to market changes, demand fluctuations and unexpected disruptions. It’s still a WMS, but it’s not ‘just’ a WMS – it’s a strategic tool that helps you build a supply chain that’s not only efficient, but also extremely robust and highly customer-focussed.

Implementing something like Dispatcher WMS isn’t just an operational decision, it’s also a strategic move towards building end-to-end supply chain excellence.

With its comprehensive integration capabilities, combined with powerful real-time analytics and process optimisation, it’s a valuable asset for any business aiming to thrive in today’s competitive market.

If you’re looking to fortify your supply chain, reduce business vulnerabilities and create opportunities where your competitors can see only challenges, then an advanced WMS is the answer you’ve been looking for. In our opinion (and in the opinion of over 2000 supply chain market leaders using it in 60 countries around the world)...

Dispatcher WMS stands head and shoulders above the rest.

If you’d like to see what it can do for you, email us now on [email protected] for a no obligation, free of charge demo.

See you soon?