SCDigest
Editorial Staff
SCDigest Says: |
Companies need to avoid upgrading too early, before their longer term needs are clear or the WMS vendor’s product has full RFID support. Otherwise, they may end up upgrading twice.
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At some point, consumer goods and other companies will begin requiring RFID support in their Warehouse Management Systems. As we noted in a previous column, almost no company currently has an installed WMS that has RFID support.
So what should you do? (For a detailed discussion of RFID and WMS, see our Supply Chain Videocast on Understanding the RFID-enabled WMS). We look at the options below.
New Implementations Have More Options – If the Right Questions are Asked
Companies looking at a new WMS have an advantage – they can look for vendors that have strong RFID support today even if they don’t have immediate plans to use RFID in their distribution centers.
However, many companies only put a couple of very general line items on in their WMS RFIs/RFPs – which generally amount to asking the vendor if they support WMS. Surprise – the answer will usually be Yes. The same holds true for analyzing RFID support in vendor demos.
“I am surprised at how little effort nearly every company is putting into identifying future RFIF requirements,” said SCDigest editor Dan Gilmore. “When they finally start to use RFID, they may find getting the WMS support is hard, impossible or expensive.” |