6 Things to Look for When Choosing a Good Warehousing Management System
The time has come for an upgrade. In order to compete, keep up with orders, and increase profits, a good warehousing management system is what you need. However, as you start your search, how do you know what to look for? The answer is that you want one that offers the six following qualities:
- Seamless integration
- Extreme usability
- Industry-specific customizations
- Ultimate inventory trackability
- Readable and understandable data results
- Future scalability
With ContractERP’s mobile warehousing management system, you’ll find all of these six important qualities.
1. Seamless Integration
There are four specific bases to cover to ensure you are getting a WMS that works well.
- Aligned with your corporate IT guidelines.
- Fully compatible with all of your other systems.
- Proven track record of working well for their other clients.
- Backed by a team of experts whose priority revolves around customer service.
Once these four items are firmly in place, then you can start looking deeper into the system programming itself.
2. Extreme Usability
There is no point in getting a new system if it’s time-consuming and frustrating to learn. You want a system that is so well designed, that training employees on how to use it only takes a few hours. It should be intuitive, with easy navigation through the different menus, simplified templates, and self-explanatory fields. It also features help screens and instant access to customer service.
3. Industry-Specific Customizations
The last thing you need is a piecemeal system that doesn’t truly getyour industry or capture the intricacies involved in it. Choosing an industry-specific system that is further customizable to yourspecific business eliminates hassle, frustration, and errors. Since you won’t ever need to deal with patches or cut corners, having these qualities already built into your warehouse management system definitely pays off in the long run.
4. Ultimate Inventory Trackability
You want a WMS that offers the ultimate in inventory trackability of:
- Receiving
- Putting Away
- Item Moving
- Order Picking
- Shipping
- Cycle Counting
What’s even better is when all of this is recorded and shown in real time. Mobile warehousing, so you get this visibility from anywhere, is also an important consideration.
5. Readable and Understandable Data Results
Data is important, but if you have a hard time reading or understanding what it’s trying to tell you, then it doesn’t do you any good. With easy-to-create and readily readable reports and charts, your warehouse performance metrics are finally useful for making any short- or long-term decision.
6. Future Scalability
Your company is growing and you need a system that will grow right along with it. A WMS that adapts easily to growth and scalability is a necessity. Consider a system that will work with future applications and operating systems. It should be flexible with many hardware brands and types, as well as with various business models and sizes. This ensures you get the most longevity out of your warehouse management system.
A high ROI over the lifetime of the product is crucial. In short, you will know you’ve found the right warehouse management system when, weighing all the above qualities, you get a great value for the cost.
When it comes time for a new system, make the best choice for your warehouse management by choosing ContractERP Mobile Warehousing!
