Smart Supply Chains Start With the Warehouse
Senior Director of Product Management, Manhattan Associates [email protected]
770-955-7070
The idea of a “smarter supply chain” is not a new concept. What’s new is the idea of a holistic approach that bridges high-quality processes, empowered employees, and cutting-edge technology.
Smarter supply chains start in the warehouse, which is increasingly the center of the fulfillment universe, and made up of different elements, processes, and third parties—all interconnected, all interacting in harmony.
The most important element to a smooth running warehouse is connectivity, whether that’s the ERP, various automation systems, scanners and RFID sensors, or even third-party carrier compliance systems.
Beyond connectivity, however, lies the concept of orchestration. For execution-focused systems such as material handling and robotics, connectivity is the bare minimum. The real value lies in how the WMS can effectively orchestrate work across all these resources, and integrate with other systems like transportation as part of a unified supply chain.
Unification goes beyond mere integration. It’s about fundamentally breaking down silos and entrenched processes to solve supply chain-wide challenges in new and creative ways. This means, in the context of the warehouse specifically, that when transportation and warehouse systems converge into a single application, organizations can achieve continuous refinement of transportation plans too, as schedules can be infused with actual weights and volumes from the WMS.
Now, shipments can be built and refined based on real-time, accurate data right up to the point of shipping, leading to more highly utilized trailers and fewer miles on the road. The bottom line is less cost along with a more sustainable strategy—clearly a win-win.
The Infusion of Applied Science
The application of science in the warehouse environment is real and it’s happening now. Organizations need to keep pace with the latest AI and GenAI developments if they are to succeed in a fiercely competitive landscape.
While we are just scratching the surface of how applied sciences will change daily life, there are already plenty of practical applications for GenAI in the context of supply chains and warehouses.
If we’ve learned one lesson over the past four years of supply chain disruptions, it’s that change is not only inevitable but increasing in frequency. Supply chains (especially WMS) need to be able to keep up with the pace of this change.
The ability to be agile, fleet-of-foot, and continuously updated makes cloud-native, evergreen, microservices-based solutions table stakes. Imagine, brand new capabilities automatically becoming available every 90 days, much like an app or operating system on a phone. But access to always-on innovation is not enough.
Organizations using intelligent WMS are likely to have demands that are unique to their business, making a fully extensible WMS—where customers can easily add data elements, validations, and business rules, as well as adjust and tweak execution workflows—critical to success.
When it comes to supply chain best practices there is no silver bullet. However, a good starting point will always be the warehouse. Organizations that focus on creating a successful environment for integration, extensibility, and implementation can count their warehouse operations as a competitive advantage rather than a pain point.