Information Technology Requirements

Information and technology is a critical driver for successfully handling operations in a distribution channel. Short term forecasts help in determining labor and space requirements over a short term planning horizon where on the other hand long term forecasts are used for capacity planning. Information technology is critical in achieving efficient performance. Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) direct where products should be stored and provide the necessary functionality for the completion and optimization of receiving, storing, and shipping operations, additional functionality may permit the use of hand held devices and bar coding to optimize efficiency and reduce errors. Most WMS systems also include inventory management functionality that permits the distribution channels to have real time information on the inventory status of all items in the distribution channels.

 WMS brings together two worlds that could not be further apart from each other; one world involves technology, algorithms, logic and imagination and the other world is occupied with forklifts, conveyors and a lot of hard physical work. The warehouse environment is changing every second. Before WMS, information was static and only a snapshot of a moment in time. Static information does not always produce the best decisions. The real-time information provides accurate, current information to managers, warehouse workers, and operations personnel – all at the same time – for better decision-making.

Besides real-time information, WMS removes the guesswork of where the product is located. With the click of a few keys, product information flows freely – where it’s located, how many, where it’s been, who touched it and where it is in the supply chain. WMS eliminates most human error and wasted time. System directives tell the worker the task at hand, where to put the product and the next task at hand. Gone is the need to decipher handwriting and transposed numbers. Information is relayed on computers – desktop, rugged hand-held devices, vehicle-mounted terminals, laptops and virtually any mobile device through automatic ID technologies, most commonly barcodes.