How to boost warehouse mobility?
Published on 5 February 2018
Warehouse mobility is the order of the day. But communication is often difficult between the manager in the office and the teams busy with their fieldwork. This distance can have a negative impact on a company’s productivity. To bridge the gap, implementing solutions designed to meet the challenges of mobility is paramount. Find out how a WMS can provide an effective solution.
Warehouse mobility: the key to achieving improved productivity
In charge of using a management software to plan logistic operations, managers spend a lot of time in their offices working from a computer. As such, they cannot be present in the warehouse, working side by side with their teams. This physical distance between managers and teams can result in communication problems and thus impaired warehouse productivity.
To tackle this issue, team managers need access to warehouse management tools in order to interact with their teams while managing their tasks. A mobile WMS solution does just that by placing warehouse mobility at the core of its objectives. It provides managers with a smartphone or tablet application so they can plan warehouse operations while being in closer contact with their teams.
Read also: Opt for a collaborative approach to inventory management with a VMI software
The features of a mobile WMS
A WMS (Warehouse Management System) enhances warehouse management by supporting a growing number of product references, organizing inventory and preparing orders based on different methods. All this, while significantly cutting operation costs.
Available in smartphone/tablet app format, a WMS allows the team manager to connect to the software wherever and whenever he needs to. Goals:
- be physically present on the workfield in direct contact with teams;
- better understand the challenges the team faces and react as fast as possible;
- monitor activities in real time.
At the heart of the collaborative approach, a mobile WMS repositions managers and places them by their teams’ side so they can solve any problem and provide real time solutions. It also allows managers to anticipate anomalies and maintain a constant balance between loads and logistical resources.
On the same topic: Two indicators to follow for a better managed warehouse
Case study in the warehouse of a large distributor
Generix Group developed a custom application to meet the needs of a large food distributor. The goal was to modernize processes while improving the warehouse mobility, to make the manager of operations closer to the team on the workfield. Stemming from this collaboration was the creation of a proof of concept (POC) to test the feasibility of a mobile extension for the Generix warehouse management solution. The following objectives were set:
- make transactional tools and the main reporting tables accessible in mobile format for team managers;
- change the level of priority for replenishment, picking, stocking/destocking, transferring, etc.
The project ended in genuine success. By integrating all the features of a traditional WMS as well as data visualization, the mobile application developed and tested by Generix Group brought the manager of warehouse operations closer to his teams, thus enhancing the effectiveness of his actions in real time.
Initially developed for the manager of warehouse operations, the app will be extended to all warehouse collaborators (reception, preparation and shipping departments). Goal: make warehouse employees benefit from this mobile tool with managers now at the heart of their teams. A real success story for Generix Group, which proves the adaptability of its Supply Chain solutions, even when it comes to the requirements of warehouse mobility. Want to know more about Generix Group's solutions? Download our WMS product sheet!
Source image à la Une : Fotolia – Zhu Difeng
