A Warehouse Management System for every warehouse

Every warehouse should have a WMS - here's why

A WMS for every warehouse

In my job I walk into a lot of warehouses.  The thing that has frequently surprised me is the lack of penetration of warehouse management systems into the ever increasing number of warehouses and distribution operations that seem to spring up every day.  At the top end of business, of course, they are everywhere.  You really would not want to run a 20,000m² or more warehouse, with 30 or 40 staff, on paper or relying on Bob's* memory. But when you step down to the next tier you will find many businesses with quite large operations running on a basic paper based order and inventory system from their ERP.

At the lower end of the scale, WMS is essentially absent. Internal logistics operations supporting service businesses such as hotels and hospitals or engineering operations such as mining and building mostly don't even know what a Warehouse Management System is.

Given that a good Warehouse Management System can result in 25% productivity gains, improved inventory accuracy, reduced stock losses, faster order turnaround and greater order shipping accuracy, the benefits are simply extraordinary for the amount invested.

If I compare this to accounting software, which was really the first business productivity killer app. for the the modern computing age, then there would not be a small business that did not at least have PC and a copy of MYOB or Quicken.  There is a full spectrum of accounting software to help everyone from the sole trader to the biggest of financial institutions but no parallel capability for WMS.

Small warehouse operations can get significant
benefits from a WMS

So as a dedicated logistics professional (who likes a bit of a challenge) I decided I would fix this.  I started out this year by creating The Rapid WMS Project.  This was my personal side project to try and find if anyone out there was open to the idea of developing a low cost WMS that would be affordable for any organisation with even a small warehouse.  But the tricky thing was that I needed to be able to take the system under my wing so that I could develop a low cost implementation and support model that was not saddled with the overheads of a business oriented to tier one customers.

I found an ally who was almost uncannily, thinking the same thing, in Scott Symons of Paperless Warehousing.  It did take us a while to work out the detail but Rapid-WMS is now in pre-launch mode. That is to say we are looking for customers who would like to be part of something big.  Something that will revolutionise their warehouse operations and change the level of logistics productivity and competitiveness for Australia.

Rapid-WMS is a proven system based on the years of WMS expertise of the Paperless Warehousing premium system but stripped back to the core functions that you need to run a warehouse.  When combined with our years of experience in optimising warehouse and logistics operations and a fast and affordable implementation service, the results will transform the performance of your warehouse.

To find out more call us on 02 8078 6903 of fill in and enquiry form on the website.

*Bob is your best storeperson with an memory like an elephant.

You can follow more about The Rapid WMS project on the blog

If warehousing and logistics are important to your business or your personal career then why not follow this blog by email or on Google+.  To tap in to the full benefits of our business and career boosting ideas I suggest you join The Warehouse Performance Initiative.