Warehouse Management – Software for Optimal Space and Cost Utilization

Optimized processes enable companies to reduce costs, use resources in a targeted manner, and ensure quality at the same time. However, in view of growing requirements and increasing complexity, purely manual management is often no longer sufficient. 

This is where specialized warehouse management software comes into play, creating transparency, controlling automation digitally and in a bundled manner, and making companies sustainably competitive.

What is Warehouse Management?

Warehouse management (WM) is the administration and control of warehouses. Warehouse management encompasses all processes and activities from goods receipt and inventory management to stocktaking. Warehouse management can be used, for example, to optimize warehouse efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure fast and reliable deliveries - and thus high customer satisfaction.

Tasks and Objectives of Warehouse Management

Warehouse management encompasses a wide range of tasks that pursue several objectives at once:

Ensuring material availability
Warehouse management should reliably ensure the availability of required materials. This means that all materials should be available at the right time and in the right quantity - for the benefit of smooth production and delivery processes and continuously running production lines.

Other positive consequences of complete material availability include the timely fulfillment of customer orders and the avoidance of bottlenecks or excess inventory.

Increased efficiency in warehousing and transport processes
Beyond simply ensuring material availability, warehouse management should also increase efficiency in storage and transport processes - in the form of faster, more cost-effective, and error-free operations. To achieve this, existing resources - space, time, personnel, and means of transport - should be used optimally.

Cost control
Another goal of warehouse management is consistent control over the costs incurred by warehousing and transport. Warehouse management not only enables transparency and monitoring of these costs, but also their targeted reduction - without compromising the availability or quality of processes.

Contribution to quality assurance
In addition, warehouse management can make an active contribution to quality assurance. Through clearly defined processes, careful handling, and adherence to ideal storage conditions such as temperature, humidity, and cleanliness, warehouse management ensures that goods are maintained at the desired quality.

Benefits for Production Management

Companies that monitor and manage all processes and statuses in a structured manner, from material ordering and delivery to storage, processing, and delivery, have a complete overview of their internal material flow. This allows them to plan production processes optimally, analyze and eliminate bottlenecks and delays, and ensure delivery capability - for better logistics performance indicators.

Production planners can optimize internal processes based on the data and information collected - including reducing throughput times - and also gain a high degree of flexibility to respond quickly to special situations. 

Warehouse management is either part of a material flow management system or directly linked to one, ensuring transparency that aids planning and control. At the same time, data collection through digital warehouse management also ensures that the higher-level production management system receives reliable data and can thus provide helpful evaluations and analyses.

Challenges in Warehouse Management 

Typically, warehouse management faces several challenges, including:

• Fluctuating demand
  Unforeseen changes in demand can quickly lead to excess or shortages in inventory.
• Lack of space and resources
  When production is above average or demand for goods is falling, free storage space can become scarce. A lack of resources such as transport and labor, as well as control software such as a warehouse management system (WMS), can cause warehouse management processes to come to a standstill.
• Inefficient processes with manual administration
  Manual warehouse management carries certain risks. For example, it can lead to organizational errors and inefficient utilization of inventory and related resources.
• Interface problems between warehouse and production
  Warehouse and production management are interdependent. If communication between the two areas is deficient, this will result in errors and/or inefficiencies in both areas.

Software-Supported Warehouse Management: Advantages, Interfaces, and More

A professional warehouse management system can be tailored to the requirements of any company or warehouse. It does not matter whether a manual warehouse, a small container warehouse, or even a high-bay warehouse is used. 

For internal warehouse transport, possible relocation, or order picking, there is an integrated tool called the Warehouse Control System. This system checks in detail whether the respective materials, raw materials, or sub-products are transported to their destination, correctly booked in, and stored. 

In addition, serial or internal batch numbers and data can be stored, enabling perfect traceability for subsequent processes. Such possibilities represent a massive advantage over the competition.

Today's warehouse management software typically includes a range of functions, from mapping warehouse structures and real-time inventory and transport management to transferring data to downstream and upstream systems and processes.

Interfaces to Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Against this backdrop, warehouse management software is an ideal complement to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. ERP is comprehensive, as it takes the entire company into account, and has a modular structure - but it is not as specialized in warehouse management as warehouse management software. Connecting it to an ERP system thus opens up added value from optimized warehouse management, which can be directly incorporated into control at the company level.

Central Control of Automation

Warehouse management software also allows you to manage and control all automation technologies and processes in real time, including scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), and the local Internet of Things (IoT).

When these functions are used, warehouse management software provides a comprehensive digital solution for all warehouse management tasks, allowing you to perform analysis, optimization, and process control in one place. 

Integration in Manufacturing Execution System

One of the advantages of warehouse management software is that it can be easily integrated into a manufacturing execution system (MES). The main advantage of a modular MES is that the system can be continuously and smoothly expanded and adapted. 

This means that the individual IT solution concepts run completely independently if desired. However, additional modules and systems can be easily added and expanded to form a complete system. Production data acquisition, warehouse management, material management, machine and production status, maintenance, and many other modules interact perfectly and generate a virtual image of production based on real data. 

Since the data is validated by the system, the analyses are extremely meaningful and reveal potential for optimization. Management, planning managers, and specialists can then systematically adjust and improve all production processes. This significantly increases effectiveness and productivity and consistently optimizes the use of resources.

A warehouse management system is therefore not just a useful tool for monitoring and controlling the warehouse, but rather an important piece of the puzzle in the overall context of a manufacturing operation. This is because the digitization and automation of all goods- and material-related processes also enables significant productivity gains in the longer term.

Digital Tools for Successful Production Management

The introduction of a manufacturing execution system or the use of individual software solutions for production control brings a number of advantages. Structured data collection and the visualization of production processes and statuses reveal potential for optimization. 

On this basis, processes can be restructured to achieve sustainable cost savings and efficiency gains. Up-to-date data, valuable business evaluations, and versatile analyses and forecasts enable companies to plan and produce in the best possible way - with a focus on optimizing time, process, and resource utilization.