How WMS improves your supply chain visibility

Supply chain visibility has long been considered a must-have, but many gaps in warehouse operations continue to prevent true end-to-end clarity. This is especially true for systems that don’t communicate or still require some manual, pen-and-paper processes.

We’ve seen a significant uptick in WMS sales materials and module development focused on visibility for data and activities. This is a critical starting point for a conversation about how a WMS can benefit you and your partners by simplifying information sharing and proactively addressing supply chain challenges.

How does a WMS enhance supply chain visibility?

Two areas of visibility come into play for your WMS: internal and partner. Both impact your supply chain, though in slightly different ways.

Internal visibility allows you to monitor your inventory levels and ensure they are sufficient to prevent stockouts. You can also get individual and team labor management monitoring that allows you to run more efficiently. Visibility into this supply chain can make it easier for your team to perform at their best, meeting the needs of your partners too.

Partner visibility extends the benefits of internal visibility by allowing you to share information with vendors, customers, and other partners, while also receiving data from them. The core WMS benefit here is its ability to manage and standardize your data, simplifying sharing and ensuring you and your partners can react as needed.

A WMS also enhances real-time transparency by facilitating the rapid exchange of information and controlling some aspects of data exchange. The quicker you can send and receive information — and the sooner it reaches a system that can act on it, such as ensuring the dock is clear if a shipment is delayed — the better your ability to respond without disrupting business.

With a quality WMS, supply chain visibility happens across your chain and can be used to improve operations in and out of your warehouse. For best results, look for systems that use data standards and are known to integrate well with popular ERPs, CRM, e-commerce, and other platforms.

Core visibility features to seek in a WMS

Most standard WMS solutions will offer broad benefits across your entire network. However, to maximize supply chain visibility, there are several key features and tools you should specifically look for in a WMS. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it provides a strong starting point:

• Labor and workforce management that can be tracked to the person and devices
• Standardized data and reporting, including support for electronic data exchange (EDI) to help with integration.
• Automated inventory tracking and cycle counts.
• Returns support, including data capture and receiving management
• Multi-jurisdiction support so you can add new partners as you grow and adapt if any partner or customer changes the locations you ship to and from.
• Document management to simplify international moves, allowing you to get the best components or sell at the best prices with minimal business interruptions.
• Specialty functions where you already interact with your partners, such as integrating with tools for matchbacks or street-turns to match import and export containers.

The underlying theme for these features is that they help you run a flexible and scalable operation. You can scale and adapt while delivering information to your partners whose businesses are changing too.

Where do you start?

If there’s any doubt, ask your preferred partners about the software they use and look for tools that make it easier to share, which can improve interactions and profitability for you both. Then, look at the processes you need support and the places where data can make your warehouse more efficient.

There’s no truly wrong answer, but you get better answers by working hand-in-hand with your supply chain partners.