Five WMS suited to companies with global supply chains

The global supply chain is nothing if not complex.

If you’re currently operating on this scale or an upcoming expansion will thrust you onto the global stage, it’s time to look for a WMS that has a well-established presence and won’t need you to stand in as a guinea pig.

This guide provides a brief overview of five of the larger players who are well established and can support WMS needs in almost any industry. We’ve provided a small focus to view each of these global supply chain players in a unique light, largely based on existing customer reviews, but would recommend a conversation with each to see how they all can address your needs.

1. Partnership focus: JDA WMS

The JDA Warehouse Management System delivers granular details on your global supply chain to focus on questions around service and profitability targets. It gets high praise from customer of its overall ease-of-use and training as well as its real-time visibility.

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The WMS has a lot of existing partnerships and integrations, so you can expect some help managing your channels — and taking a true omnichannel approach is relatively easy. Customization gets high marks as do its reporting tools.

JDA has an extensive existing partner network, and its Partner Advantage program has been making notable inroads in 2017 in the realms of manufacturing, 3PLs, distribution, and retail. It has a lot of experience in WMS and other logistics areas with global brands, but newcomers and growing companies also are being welcomed into its fold.

2. Growth focus: Apprise ERP

Apprise has a global ERP system with a warehouse module that allows you to operate either your own warehouses or make use of multiple 3PLs for a smart global supply chain. It can manage almost all warehouse activities including complex receiving, picking, tracking, and monitoring performance metrics.

One nice feature of its ERP is that it can integrate with a variety of other third-party WMS, so you can add modules on as needed and slowly shift over to the Apprise service. This can make initial installation and test runs a bit easier, plus make training and the transition smoother.

Customers tend to be big fans of its “Wireless Warehouse” offering for task management with the ability to adjust assignments in real time based on workload and cycle-count variance tools.

3. Manufacturing focus: Solochain WMS

Sologlobe’s Solochain WMS comes into play for growing mid-size companies as well as larger enterprises in both the manufacturing and distribution arenas.

The global supply chain system excels with an advanced inventory monitoring and tracking capability that works across different warehouses and different localities. Material tracking through individual warehouses can also be monitored and analyzed to create an understanding of how operations are performing in distinct locations.

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While many platforms make claims to be global, it is relatively easy to find Solochain users from all over the world who have positive experiences with its inventory management, shipping tools, analytics platforms, and ability to perform yard management across separate locations.

4. Flexibility focus: SAP Extended Warehouse Management

When it comes to large global supply chains, bigger players always enter the mix and that inevitably means SAP joins the ranks of our list.

Its Extended Warehouse Management platform offers a variety of product management, staging, and inventory review tools. It’s been deployed by brands who run one or two warehouses in multiple countries as well as by large-scale operations like the spare parts delivery team from Volkswagen Group.

The analytics tools also provide strong insight into labor management across locations as well as material flow systems, making it easy to benchmark and look for optimization opportunities. SAP also notes it can handle a throughput of roughly one million items per site per day.

5. Omni-channel and multi-tenant focus: Manhattan Associates Warehouse Management

Manhattan Associates’ Warehouse Management tool has been picked as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for WMS nine times in a row, and it’s reach and global toolset helped it achieve this honor.

Working in its favor is the ability to handle a wide range of fulfillment statuses and deployments, even if you’re running different tenant and channel setups in distinct locations. Its real-time tools can help properly stage and fulfill orders from a variety of locations, and it’s been a proven help in capturing relevant information for larger product recalls in recent years.

For customers operating in multiple countries, its compliance management is also reported to be a welcome tool. Modules for other supply chain and transportation support help it retain a top spot as an omni-channel system.