As a business grows it becomes increasingly difficult to manually keep track of all stock items as they move through the warehouse. This can lead to costly mistakes, lost stock, and an incorrect view of your inventory.
Beyond simply keeping track of stock, implementing a warehouse management system can help your business in a number of key ways:
Increased productivity and communication
A warehouse management system allows you to run your warehouse more efficiently, resulting in much higher levels of productivity. By eliminating manual paperwork, tasks such as receiving, picking, put-away, and stock take can be done more quickly and accurately. It also allows for better communication with staff through clear step-by-step workflow prompts on all tasks. Staff know what they need to do at all times, and what their next task is. It can also help to calculate optimal walk paths while picking, or managing stock rotation on FIFO or LIFO principles.
Better accountability and oversight
When you have a warehouse management system every item in the warehouse is tracked through its entire journey from receiving to dispatch. This means you always know where every item is and there is no stock that cannot be located or accounted for. It also enables better oversight for items that require specialised handling, such as maintaining a cold chain or tracking expiry dates. A warehouse management system will also give you additional worker accountability as every transaction is logged by user.
Improved customer service and client relationships
In the new always-on reality customers are expecting increasingly fast turn around and delivery time. A warehouse management system allows you to fill orders more quickly, getting the customer what they want when they want it. It also reduces picking errors leading to fewer incorrect orders being delivered to customers. A warehouse management system also gives you a clearer view of your current inventory, so you can communicate clearly with customers around the status of their order and what items are available in what quantities, ensuring you never overpromise and underdeliver.
End-to-end business visibility
A warehouse management system can stand alone or integrate into your existing ERP system to provide a complete view of the stock flow in your business. Better inventory and shipping data help you to make informed business decisions using real-time data. It also means you can spot potential problems before they arise and identify bottlenecks that are hampering efficient workflow. By tracking every transaction that an item undergoes it is also possible to have a very clear audit trail, to help you meet supply chain and government regulations.
The Granite Warehouse Management System can provide all of these benefits and more to your business. Contact us today to discuss your warehouse needs.