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Table of Contents

• What is Warehouse Management Software?
• What are the common features of Warehouse Management Software
• What are the types of Warehouse Management Software
• What are the benefits of Warehouse Management Software
• How much does Warehouse Management Software Cost?
• How to choose the best Warehouse Management Software
• Common questions to ask Warehouse Management Software Vendors

What is Warehouse Management Software?

Warehouse Management Software (WMS) is an online tool that allows businesses to manage and optimize warehouse operations, including warehouse designing, inventory management, order fulfillment, picking and packaging goods, shipping, staffing, and receiving. It helps businesses automate warehouse processes, reduce errors, increase efficiency, and improve accuracy.

Warehouse management software typically includes features such as real-time inventory tracking, barcode scanning, cycle counting, and integration with transportation management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, among other software.

What are the common features of Warehouse Management Software?

• Barcoding/RFID: Identify and track items using barcodes or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. This feature allows warehouse managers to track inventory levels in real time without line-of-sight scanning and streamline the picking and packing processes. Barcode/RFID scanners are especially useful for tracking large or high-value products.
• Inventory management: Optimize inventory levels and promote the production of goods to better organize inventory creation and handle order fulfillment operations. Inventory management focuses on improving internal operations related to product categorization, purchase order management, goods tracking, and labeling.
• Shipping management: Manage the shipping process of goods from the warehouse to the end customer. This includes creating shipping labels, managing carriers, tracking shipments, and generating reports on delivery time, shipping costs, and carrier performance.
• Order management: Organize, track, and monitor customer orders as they move through the supply chain. The order management feature automates and improves the entire order fulfillment process, from receiving orders to generating shipping labels, which saves time and reduces costs.
• Return management: Manage returned products from clients, which may require restocking, refurbishment, or disposal. This feature can improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and minimize inventory losses. With real-time visibility into return processes, this feature helps businesses track the reasons for returns, identify issues with products, suppliers, or internal processes, and take corrective actions.

What are the types of Warehouse Management Software?

• Stand-alone warehouse management software (WMS): This type of WMS organizes day-to-day inventory operations—from receiving, counting, auditing, and packing to shipping. It focuses on automating inventory and warehouse management but lacks the broader supply chain integration found in WMS with supply chain management (SCM) or ERP systems. Stand-alone WMS works well for SMBs that do not have complex manufacturing processes, such as third-party logistics providers, to automate tasks and improve efficiency.
• WMS with supply chain management software: This type of WMS includes additional functionality for managing the entire supply chain, such as demand forecasting, procurement, and transportation management. A warehouse management system with SCM features is ideal for businesses with complex supply chains involving international vendors, manufacturing, and distribution.
• WMS with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system: This type of warehouse management software integrates with an ERP system to provide end-to-end visibility and control over all aspects of logistics processes—including supply chain management, procurement, accounting, and customer relationship management (CRM).

What are the benefits of Warehouse Management Software?

• Improved inventory visibility: Warehouse management software provides real-time visibility into inventory levels and movements, which can help businesses optimize their inventory management processes. These tools feature radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices and barcode scanners, acting as tangible extensions of WMS in warehouses. Barcode scanning and RFID tagging of goods along different checkpoints in the supply chain gives users clear visibility into the movement of their shipments. This leads to better stock control, reduced stock-outs, and improved order fulfillment rates.
• Enhanced inventory optimization: Warehouse management software helps businesses optimize their inventory management by providing insights into product demand, inventory turnover rates, and order frequency. This information also assists businesses in identifying slow-moving items, which can be marked down or phased out, and high-performing items, which can be restocked or promoted. This further enables warehouse managers to monitor and control stock levels.
• Reduced operating costs: By automating manual processes such as data entry and inventory tracking, warehouse management software help businesses save time and reduce labor costs. These solutions leverage expected inbound and outbound shipment data to facilitate optimum warehouse space utilization. Some tools also offer simulators that allow users to create virtual floor plans, including placement of pallets, shelves, and loading docks, to identify ways to optimize warehouse layouts. This reduces unnecessary movement of goods and improves the accuracy of inventory counts—all of which can result in cost savings.

How much does Warehouse Management Software cost?

Most warehouse management software products are priced on a “per month” basis, and their entry-level pricing plan ranges from $24 to $110+* per month. An enterprise product that’s priced higher may include additional features such as multi-carrier tracking, barcoding, mass shipping and drop-shipping, quick stock adjustments, and product tagging.

*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offerings found on vendor websites as of March 29, 2023.

How to choose the best Warehouse Management Software

• Identify the gaps in your warehouse operations: To improve your warehouse operations and invest in the best technology, identify any gaps or areas of inefficiency. Are you seeking a warehouse management tool to simplify your inventory tracking, or do you require a solution to address issues such as inaccurate inventory data and inadequate warehouse planning? After identifying the specific challenges you want to overcome, the next step is to search for an appropriate solution.
• Evaluate automation features: Before finalizing, evaluate the automation capabilities of your shortlisted software. Some tools combine automated barcode scanners, order processing, inventory auditing, and real-time data collection in a single dashboard. If you have multiple warehouses, look for an advanced tool with automatic triggers for replenishment orders, multi-location stock tracking, data visualization, and other premium features.
• Assess reporting and analytical capabilities: Most warehouse management software offers a real-time view of inventory levels to help ensure order accuracy, monitor product scanning, and report discrepancies. However, some software tools require manual report generation based on specific performance metrics, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Consider automated reporting to eliminate the need for manual data entry, reducing the risk of errors and freeing up time for other essential tasks.
• Consider end-to-end transaction management and billing support: Check if the software you are investing in can handle end-to-end transactions. These transactions may involve maintaining records of received orders, inventory stocking, pick-up/ship-out time of orders, and tracking shipment statuses. End-to-end support allows you to track all warehouse-related workflows.

Common questions to ask Warehouse Management Software vendors

• Does the tool support multiple warehouse management?

Not all warehouse management software can handle multiple locations or different types of warehouses. If your business operates across multiple warehouses, ensure that your selected tool provides inventory visibility for each one. Also, verify whether it can accommodate different warehouse models and sizes.

• Is there a data visualization feature?

With the data visualization feature, you can create a graphical representation of stock/inventory data to understand and analyze various aspects of warehouse operations, such as inventory levels, order processing, and shipment tracking. It improves inter-departmental communication and decision-making.

• Is the software mobile-compatible?

Investing in a warehouse management software solution with a mobile app would help you track your inventory, generate purchase and sales orders, monitor real-time shipment status, and manage workflows from any location, at any time.

• Does the software include a feature for managing reorders?

This functionality enables you to determine crucial stock levels and reorder thresholds using historical patterns. When your inventory drops below the reorder point, it sends automatic alerts to notify you.