Inventory is one of a company’s most expensive and least productive holdings. Logically, moving toward more certain warehouse management, supply chain data, analytics, and reporting is the best first step toward greater financial certainty.
Reporting and analytics aren’t enough
When reporting and analytics are insufficient, operational discipline continues to disregard WMS systems that provide the appropriate supply chain data analytics for a specific company.
I am not referring to vendor-imposed rigid, standard reporting. The purpose-built warehouse KPI functionality that these solutions must provide must be adaptable, proactive, and useful to the system’s users.
Financial uncertainty
Managing financial uncertainty Each day brings another story about technology layoffs, spending reductions, the need to streamline operations, and the need to eliminate waste. Businesses like yours are left wondering what the impact of interest rates on customers will be in the future.
Consistency over correction
The preference for consistency over correction is universal. Locate the problem, implement a solution, and save the day! A classic, it is.
Correction overlooks the fact that the problem solvers frequently are the ones who created the issues.
It’s never terribly unmistakable. The discipline lapses. Picks per hour are going down. Error rates rise, but there isn’t enough of a trend to set off alarms.
When warehouse management employees diligently perform small acts of consistency and maintenance, heroic praise is frequently dismissed. Nothing is as undervalued as fireproofing, and fire prevention receives significantly less attention than smoke alarms.
Consistency helps avoid the margin yo-yo
“We’re making so much money, what does 5% cost improvement matter?”
This is a prevalent misconception regarding gross and net margins. Cost issues can be temporarily covered up by strong revenue. In the Lean sense, even if the process was full of waste, there is often no desire to change things when times were good.
Simply put, the safe strategy is Spend money with care and purpose. You will never be able to make a profit if you keep chasing losses and correcting errors. Problems that can be fixed during times of prosperity shouldn’t be put off until later. When you literally cannot afford to delay, you might not have the resources you need.
Reacting is not discipline
While the markets may change, good decision policies ensure that you respond appropriately rather than overcorrect. Reacting is not discipline. The ability to think critically is not required for many supply chain decisions. Consistent, automated responses to established questions can be guided by rules.
Decision trees are used in advanced WMS systems, and frequently encountered scenarios prompt prompt and effective execution.
Supply chains benefit in numerous ways from well-designed response patterns:
Just in Time inventory, with a reasonable safety stock, reduces working capital.
Continuous Flow aligns resources with demand and delivers consistent and predictable cost per unit.
Demand Planning monitors and responds to market trends, allocating investment where it is most productive.
The deployment of automated warehouse management technology frees up your teams for when a problem necessitates creativity.
Predictable warehouse management wins
World-class WMS warehouse management systems enable supply chains to deliver in a predictable manner thanks to predictive warehouse management. Teams can work in a way that makes the most of the assets in the business.
This necessitates strong technological support, consistent execution, supply chain data analytics “early and often,” and process design.
Success requires discipline and initiative. By controlling costs when they don’t matter and protecting the bottom line when they do, well-run supply chains dominate challenging markets.
Take a look at the top warehouse management software, which provides the appropriate supply chain data analytics and reporting capabilities that help your supply chain achieve predictable KPI performance.