24 October 2021 Discover how WMS can bring significant benefits to your company, learn what you should consider when implementing it, and how to evaluate your return on investment. 2021 began with a vibrant market and great confidence in economic recovery. The trend is for a significant increase in consumption, which means more growth opportunities for your company. But you need to be ready to take advantage of this promising scenario. Investing in technology becomes a fundamental premise for those who want to qualify their processes, reduce costs, and most importantly: achieve customer satisfaction. And, when it comes to logistics, having the WMS must be a priority to achieve these goals. In this article, we will discuss market opportunities and the importance of innovating intelligently. You will also learn about the advantages that WMS brings to your company and understand why you should prioritize its implementation in 2021. Economic recovery = opportunities Expectations for the economy in 2021 are encouraging. According to the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), the economy is expected to grow by 2.5%, driven by a 2.8% increase in industrial GDP. Recent data indicates an increase in consumption, due to the drop in the basic interest rate (Selic) and the gradual recovery of the labor market. But, along with this optimistic expectation, comes a great challenge: the need to increasingly qualify and personalize the customer experience, given the high market competition. Big players have already understood the importance of putting the customer at the center of their business, and this has forced other companies to invest more in improving customer service. With the great expansion of e-commerce and the increasingly strong omnichannel (multichannel) experience, logistics has started to occupy a prominent place in companies’ strategic planning, as it is directly linked to customer satisfaction. In other words, we can say that companies have understood that logistics is a driver of results: the better their management, the greater the chances of winning over the customer. It is also important to emphasize that we live in an immediate society, and this has already reached consumption. The customer no longer wants to wait long to receive a product purchased online. Similarly, if they have checked a product online and decided to buy it in the physical store, that item must be available at that moment. For all this to happen, it is necessary to take good care of logistics, have good inventory management, and high performance in processes. Innovate intelligently More and more new technologies and innovative solutions have emerged for the working world. And if before they were a privilege of a few, today they are more accessible and greatly facilitate work and management, both in the activity of a small trader and a large entrepreneur. What differentiates one company from another? The awareness that innovating is not simply acquiring technology, but making progress intelligently, selecting the right tool to optimize processes, making them more efficient, more autonomous, and more customizable. Large companies today realize that it is essential to: – Be prepared and open to rapid transformations – Continuously invest in improving people, processes, and structure The famous phrase “start small, think big, and act fast” has never been more relevant today. Multinationals like Amazon are arriving with an efficiency that scares their competitors. Like them, Google and Netflix invest billions in technology. If you think your company has competitors today, wait and see how it will be tomorrow. That’s why you can’t delay acquiring important innovations for your business. In intralogistics operations, the WMS, warehouse management software, will give you all the conditions to achieve high performance in processing and delivery requests, being ready to compete on equal terms with the main market players. If large companies can make express deliveries or have agility in returns and exchanges, why can’t yours? With the WMS system, these issues will no longer be a problem and will become a competitive advantage. What a WMS can do for your company First, let’s take a look at the benefits of implementing a WMS in logistics operations. We can start by saying that the system can quickly process data and coordinate movements and activities within the warehouse. It is also capable of producing reports, presenting real-time indicators, and managing large volumes of orders like e-commerce operations. With all these advantages, the result could not be different: increased productivity and reduced costs. The WMS system is present in all stages of the intralogistics process: receiving, storage, picking, packaging, and loading/shipping. The potential benefits of installing the software include: ✔ Efficient and effective labor management ✔ Inventory visibility and traceability ✔ Accurate inventory counts ✔ Fewer picking errors ✔ Fewer returns/returns for order processing errors ✔ Efficient reverse logistics management ✔ Accurate reporting ✔ Remote data visibility ✔ Automatic replenishment ✔ Better customer service ✔ Significant reduction in paper consumption And the gains don’t stop there. With WMS, your management will be simpler, and you can channel your time towards what really matters. Check out more advantages the system offers here. With your company ready to sell more and offer the best customer service, the chances of success in this promising economic moment increase considerably. Here’s what you need to consider before deploying a WMS. What to consider when choosing a WMS Before starting a planning and WMS implementation project, you need to be sure that you will gain significant business benefits. The first thing to do before choosing a WMS is to understand how much you can spend and how much return would be necessary to justify the cost. As part of this, you need to have strict and measurable success criteria (metrics are very important to recognize success or failure). Remember that the payback may not occur within the first six months, as you will need to prepare your company for the change and train people even in the most intuitive system. There are many cases where the payback occurs right after the first day, but this depends on your current system and the new one you choose. Make sure you have a clear idea of the expected implementation timelines as they can be affected by seasonal variations, etc. Most planning and WMS implementation projects last 2-3 months from the original signing date. However, large-scale implementations may take much longer. This is because there must be time for training, data acquisition, functional design, (critical) testing, hardware purchase, user acceptance testing, deployment, etc. Don’t think you can buy a qualified system today and implement it tomorrow. If you are integrating third-party systems, this can also take time, as not all third-party vendors respond in a timely manner. However, the important thing is to take the first step to start transforming your business. To evaluate the best option, in addition to analyzing the RFP (Request for Proposal) and checking if the system has all the features your operation needs, it is important to calculate the potential return of the system. A good way to do this is to talk directly with people who use the WMS of that supplier when possible. It is also worth knowing the cases and visiting the operations of a supplier’s client company so you can closely see the gains achieved. Benefits generated by a WMS To help you have a macro view of the gains that WMS can generate, we list some results that have been generated in companies that already use the system: ➡ Faster and more accurate picking and packing ➡ More orders served per day ➡ Greater inventory accuracy ➡ Reduction in workforce ➡ Greater productivity per person ➡ Real-time reporting (Sight Management) ➡ Integration with third-party systems To achieve the best results from the start of using the system, it is important to optimize the DC layout. Although the WMS works with the suggestion to direct for the best use of storage space and reduction of movements, good organization before implementation will ensure everything goes more smoothly. Fundamental will be the delimitation of structures and internal routes, as well as barcodes and labels on shelves and stocks. You should also calculate how many devices you might need now and in the future. Whatever system you use, make sure to take a complete inventory of your stock and be as accurate as possible. Although, over time, a good WMS will be able to correct this, by doing this preparation, the return on investment will arrive as soon as possible and accuracy will tend to reach excellent percentages. Another important note: when choosing a supplier and following the distribution steps, you should be able to directly measure all the goals and targets set during the planning phase. So, don’t forget to track all indicators to ensure everything runs smoothly. Key reminders for any software distribution Finally, we have listed some important notes related to the implementation of any software, which therefore also apply to WMS: ✔ Choose your supplier based on quality, not just cost. ✔ Testing and training are essential ✔ Ensure that the necessary people for the project have the time to follow the implementation and provide all the necessary information to the technology company. A WMS is more than an inventory control system and a data management tool. It is a system that helps automate processes in your logistics operation, ensuring greater accuracy and speed and the best use of your company’s resources (people, equipment, and area). Remember: your warehouses are increasingly under pressure to adapt to rapidly evolving consumer demand. Without good planning, a robust WMS, and the right technology, your logistics operations will not be able to meet this new service standard. Therefore, you can no longer delay the implementation of a system that will make a difference in how you meet customer expectations. Bring a WMS into your company and get ready to seize the opportunities to expand your business! WMS: Why You Should Prioritize Its Implementation Deagor WMS per ecommerce può aiutarti!