Remote SaaS Implementation
Published on 8 June 2023
When Google’s Workspace started gaining on their Office suite, Microsoft had to do something to reverse the tide. Seeing that Google’s software was only available as Software as a Service (SaaS), Microsoft elected to move its suite of applications to the web and create the cloud-based Office 365. Since then, Microsoft has been able to keep the competition at bay and solidify its share of the market
The morale of this story is rather clear: SaaS solutions are a game changer—and there’s no indication of that changing in the foreseeable future.
Now, chances are your company has already made the switch to SaaS office software, so why are we telling you this? Well, what you may not know is that more and more SaaS solutions are available on the market that support and automate activities in warehouses, distribution centers, and processing facilities. Thanks to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), COOs and operations managers can now leverage SaaS Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), ERP, MES, MRP, TMS, etc. in their unrelenting quest to improve efficiency and increase their margins.
In this paper, we take a quick look at some of the advantages a SaaS WMS solution affords distribution, retail, and manufacturing companies.
Our main focus, however, will be on something that only a SaaS WMS makes possible: a fully remote WMS implementation—and this is not mere theory!
Engineers at Generix Group North America have leveraged the advantages of a SaaS version of the SOLOCHAIN WMS to achieve a fully remote implementation at their client’s facility. As it turns out, there are benefits to that method that should interest companies looking to acquire a WMS. We’ll get to those in a moment.
Advantages of a SaaS WMS
First, a quick recap of what a SaaS WMS entails.
Companies that opt for a SaaS Warehouse Management System do not buy the software per se. Instead, they gain access to the WMS’s functionalities and to a range of adapted services through a subscription model. This means that the solution remains the provider’s property, which it hosts on its servers; subscribers access the WMS through an internet connection.
There are significant advantages to a SaaS WMS solution that companies should not overlook. Those include, notably:
- Much lower initial expenditures
- Cheaper Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- No need to update the software: the WMS provider always delivers the latest software version
- Predictable IT budget: maintenance and support services are included in the subscription fees
- Better flexibility and scalability: new functionalities are made available and implemented by the service provider when the client requires them
- Guaranteed system availability through comprehensive SLAs
These advantages make the subscription model a very attractive WMS solution for companies looking to improve their technology infrastructure. This is especially true for SMBs and companies that have a limited access to capital and cannot afford the high initial expenditures that come with an on premise solution.
A case in point: the SaaS version of the SOLOCHAIN WMS/MES, by Generix Group, is an accessible technology solution that delivers all the functionalities and core capabilities supply chain operators need to radically transform their workflows and processes. Where Generix Group sets itself apart, however, is that its engineers can manage the entire system’s implementation remotely. This feat, it turns out, delivers yet further advantages. Let’s take a look.
Benefits of a Remote SOLOCHAIN WMS Implementation
At the height of the Covid pandemic, when travel restrictions prevented teams from being deployed on site, most WMS implementation projects were delayed, often at great costs.
Most, but not all.
In spite of it all, the deployment of the SOLOCHAIN WMS/MES at Hitachi Astemo Americas’ Querétaro facility never stopped. Engineers at Generix Group North America were able to deliver the solution as planned by fully implementing the SaaS version of the SOLOCHAIN WMS/MES remotely.
This, of course, would never have been possible with an on premise WMS solution. It’s only because the client favored the SaaS version of SOLOCHAIN that engineers at Generix Group were able to achieve such a feat. As the solution is hosted on Generix Group’s own servers, teams at the Montreal Business Unit were able to collaborate with the client’s own IT resources to deploy its core capabilities in time for Hitachi Astemo Americas to meet its own clients’ requirements.
A first benefit of a remote implementation, then, is that it allows companies to better control the deployment schedule. Of course, it’s not often that we’re dealing with travel restrictions caused by a pandemic—thankfully! But there’s all sorts of things that can happen that might delay flights and make traveling more complicated: weather conditions, cancelled flights, airport strikes, etc. By eliminating traveling, one also reduces the number of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events that might cause costly delays.
A second benefit to a remote deployment is that it can be a source of savings for the client. Inflation has not spared the traveling industry. The costs of deploying a whole team on-site can quickly drive up a warehouse management system’s TCO. If all, or most of the implementation work can be done remotely, that translates into significant savings on the final bill.
A third benefit, which is tied to the second, is that less traveling also means a lesser carbon footprint. We’ve all been made painfully aware in recent years of how our reliance on fossil fuel impacts the environment. Altitude, if you didn’t know, makes it all the worse. A remote WMS implementation means fewer airplane trips, which not only saves money but also makes for a more sustainable system deployment method.
Of course, companies interested in a remote implementation must have the internal resources to collaborate with the engineers at Generix Group. That being said, there’s no need for an extensive—and expensive—IT department. SOLOCHAIN’s incredibly intuitive and powerful implementation tools, which are ranked by Gartner as the best on the market, greatly simplify the process.
By deeply involving their teams in the deployment process, companies organically draw a fourth benefit from a remote implementation: super-users. Relying on internal resources that are deeply familiar with the solution is not only one of the best ways to achieve a successful WMS implementation, but it is also essential in order to maximize the solution’s impact on the efficiency of operations—at Go Live and in the future.
About Generix Group
At Generix Group North America, we provide a series of solutions within our Supply Chain Hub product suite to create efficiencies across your entire supply chain. Our solutions are in use around the world and our experience is second-to-none.
We invite you to contact us to learn more.
Download our Guide to the Warehouse of the Future
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