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From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine

- Aug. 14, 2012 -

Logistics News: Key Trends in WMS and Supply Chain Execution Technology (Part 1)

E-Commerce, Complex Networks, Changing Requirements Having an Impact, Leading Vendors and Consultants Say; WMS Category is Mature, but Always Evolving

SCDigest Editorial Staff

What's new in Warehouse Management Systems and related supply chain execution technology (SCE)?

To find some answers, we assembled a virtual panel of several experts from three of markets leading WMS/SCE software providers and two leading consultants, who offer some real insights on key issues and trends.

SCDigest Says:

Despite its status as a very mature application area, interest in WMS is very high right now, according to analyst Dwight Klappich of Gartner.

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Those panelists include:

Tom Kozenski, VP of product strategy at software provider RedPrairie
Shyam Krishna, executive vice president at software provider Softeon
Chuck Fuerst, director of product strategy at HighJump Software
John Pearce and Steve Hopper, both principles at StoneCross Group consulting

We cover about half the discussion this week, and will be back with Part 2 of the dialog next week.

Despite its status as a very mature application area, interest in WMS is very high right now, according to analyst Dwight Klappich of Gartner, who said recently he is fielding more client calls on WMS than any other topic. That interest is driven by many factors, including increase distribution center complexity, aging systems that were installed years ago, e-fulfillment challenges and more.

In turn, most WMS providers really now offer broad SCE suites, changing the strategies and dynamics around acquiring solutions to support logistics and supply chain execution.

We first asked our panel what were some of the key trends they are seeing in supply chain execution suites.

Kozenski says he sees "continued growth in companies looking to deploy an integrated supply chain suite of products, including WMS, TMS, Labor, Slotting, Yard, etc. This capability has been available for over 10 years but the adoption rate has never been higher. We associate this with the notion that the supply chain software market has matured to a point where this level of integration and sophistication are now considered mainstream."

He also sees e-commerce as having a big effect on what capabilities companies need to acquire.

"A relatively new trend is the concept of "buy anywhere / fulfill anywhere." This is creating a lot of conversations around new processes that span the entire supply chain, from manufacturing, to distribution, to stores, to third party service providers," Kozenski said. "Companies are looking for different ways to view inventory positions across the network, so they can fulfill orders in unique ways."

Softeon's Krishna says that "One of the key trends we perceive is the concept of "supply chain convergence" which best in class vendors are pursuing with different approaches."

What is convergence? Gartner has certainly used the term to describe a more integrated platform of SCE solutions, versus a collection of many independent applications, a topic we will cover in more detail in Part 2 of this discussion.

The next-generation WMS solutions will be able to recognize distribution events
and trigger dynamic action responses or workflows to handle the requirements, not
based on a rearview looking scorecard, but proactively, in real-time.

Shyam Krishna

Softeon

Krishna says an example of how convergence can improve logistics performance is the ability to identify a fulfillment exception in one DC, and then have the system be capable of re-direct the orders that need to be sourced from the next most optimum DC to meet desired service levels. He says "these SCE platforms can trigger real-time "make/buy/transfer" decisions based on the events that occurred in a DC, and these signals then move up-stream to the planning side."

HighJump's Fuerst says growing supply chain network complexity and virtualization are driving changes in what companies are looking for in SCE capabilities.

"Many companies are seeking solutions that can provide deeper capabilities in areas such as aggregation of inventory views and intelligent order sourcing, capabilities that not only help improve supply chain efficiencies but also help improve the business' ability to be responsive to customer demands," he told us. "Leading companies are becoming more agile and using their level of visibility within the supply chain as a competitive advantage."

(Distribution/Materials Handling Story Continues Below )

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StoneCross' Hopper says there is growing interest in Cloud-based solutions.

"There is a lot of buzz about Cloud-based SCE suites, particularly for widely distributed inventory in relatively low-volume, non-automated warehouses," he says. "As a case in point, I'm currently working on an engagement with a company that has inventory in hundreds of small facilities worldwide, and they need synchronized purchasing and ordering, so SaaS [Software as a Service] or Cloud-based solutions are likely to be the right option for them."

Next, as mentioned above, WMS is a pretty mature product category. We wanted to know whether it had become so mature that software vendors weren't making much more investments in WMS capabilities so they could focus resources on other applications in their SCE suites - or is there still room for advancement in WMS technology?

Krishna for one says there is still plenty of room for improvement in the core WMS.

He cited several examples, and says there are a lot more of them. For instance, Krishna cited the need for more event-driven responsiveness in the WMS, which he said most systems have lacked until recently.

Soon WMS solutions "will be able to provide operations managers with signals and information relative to things happening in a day-to-day life of the warehouse, which he or she should be aware of, and then empower them to take charge and make decisions. However, hundreds of events relevant to these operations could occur, which might be tough to manage manually. The next generation WMS solutions will be able to recognize these events and trigger dynamic action responses or workflows to handle the requirements," he says, not based on a rearview looking scorecard, but proactively, in real-time.

Fuerst agrees many core functions around receiving, putaway, order picking, etc. are very mature, but he sees opportunities to make the WMS more flexible to support "agile" supply chains.

He says companies "are seeking more adaptable solutions that give them the flexibility to respond to changing needs quickly and easily." Customers will increasingly want solutions that are architected in a way that allows them to modify or customize business processes and workflows that allow them to tailor technology to their business" more flexibly than has generally be available to date.

Pearce smartly says changing market dynamics will mean the WMS vendors will always needs to add new functionality.

"The fact that 100% maturity will never be reached has to do more with the nature of an ever changing, global community environment than it does with knowing what functions need to be included in the system," Pearce says. "There seems to be no end to just how creative firms can become as they compete, or how creative the demands of customers can become. Hence new functionality is continually being requested, and the idea that everyone's needs can be pushed in to one "fully matured" product is simply misleading."

Kozenski agrees, and notes some specific new regulatory requirements as examples of those changing customer and market needs.

"Well, you might think that after 30 years we would have figured out all the different methods to pick an order, but in fact, we do still put a good deal of new capabilities into our WMS product," he said. "At the highest level they are categorized as new functionality, new integrations, and technology uplifts. What tends to drive the new functionality are new government legislation and industry standardizations. Examples include the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the pending start of ePedigree."

Look for Part 2 of this excellent discussion next week.

Any reaction to the comments of our virtual panel on WMS/SCE? Where do you see the need for additional functionality? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback section below.

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