From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine
Feb. 14 , 2011
Supply Chain News: The Overlooked Keys to Warehouse Management System Success
Fralick says Operations must Rule, Integration Convenience Shouldn't Trump Needs on the DC Floor, and Focus most on the Few Things that Matter
SCDigest Editorial Staff
There seems to be lots of Warehouse Management System (WMS) activity going on right right now, and clearly a WMS deployment can be challenging. What are some of the keys to doing the implementation well?
Mark Fralick, an SCDIgest Technology Editor, president of consulting firm GetUsROI, and one of the WMS industry's pioneers and thought leaders, has identified three areas not often discussed but which can have a real impact on the success of a Warehouse Management System project.
He recently discussed these issues in the first edition of our new regular video series: Fralick on WMS, which will run every few weeks via our Supply Chain Television Channel. The full Video can be viewed here: Fralick on WMS: The Three Often Overlooked keys to WMS Implementation Success Video.
According to Fralick, the first key is a rather simple one, yet something that often winds up being a major issue: remembering that the project is primarily an operational one, not a typical IT project. While that may sound obvious, Fralick says that often the WMS project can become IT-driven, with potentially negative impacts on the success of the implementation.
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| In the end, the operational leader must be hands on enough that he or she is able to confidently sign off before "go live" that this is the system they want. |
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Fralick told a story that in the early days of his WMS career in the late 1980s, current HP logistics exec John Daniels made the point very simple for him. Daniels said the mission in the end of the WMS project was to turn inventory into shipments going out the door that became revenue.
Because of the need to match up high speed physical product flows with information flows in the DC, WMS systems "are much more complex than typical IT systems, Fralick says, "Sometimes what happens is the IT folks get a hold of it and treat it just like a regular type of project, and they are incredibly different," he added, noting his own IT background.
One way this often happens is that the operational project lead for a company often still has other responsibilities, while the IT person on the project is more dedicated, and therefore naturally tends to take on more of the overall WMS project responsibilities. This is something companies must worked hard to avoid, Fralick says.
In the end, the operational leader must be hands on enough that he or she is able to confidently sign off before "go live" that this is the system they want, Fralick says. Too often, they are not really sure what they are getting, he adds.
The second key to success is similar, and that is that "interfaces should not trump operations." By that, Fralick means that in some cases, what may be easier from an integration perspective - say connecting the WMS system to the company's ERP software - can put a hamper on operational efficiency in the DC.
He cited an example of a company he recently did work with where the IT team wanted to manage the exchange of receiving information in a way that likely would have led to congestion on the inbound receiving dock.
Though easier than in the past, integrations can still be very complex, Fralick says, and sometimes IT staff "doesn't understand the consequences that interface decisions can have on operations."
A negative long-term impact on operational efficiency that might last for years is not worth making the integration job just a bit easier in the present, Fralick says.
"Sometimes IT wants to force more order down into the DC in areas where order can't really exist," he adds.
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