WMS Buyer’s Guide

8-1/2" x 11", softcover, 100 pages, $89.00. Table of Contents Order Now

There is an overwhelming amount of warehouse management system software on the market from a number of different vendors. How can you determine which software package best fits your operation with a minimum of costly customization?

This is the key question which the newly released WMS Buyer’s Guide answers for readers. The guide begins by introducing the basics of what a WMS is, how it can benefit your operations and some of the applications of a well-designed system. It then shows you how to develop an effective business case for implementing a WMS, as well as offer a step-by-step process for selecting a system and vendor. Several sample documents are included to help you evaluate different systems. These documents are ready to use, and can be easily modified to meet your specific requirements if necessary.

The Guide also includes a detailed vendor directory listing functional and technical specifications for more than 100 warehouse management systems, along with the vendor contact information.

The information in this guide is compiled from The WMS Handbook, which provides a more comprehensive examination of warehouse management systems and related technologies, including system implementation and post implementation strategies to get the most out of your WMS.

Table of Contents

1. How a WMS can benefit your warehouse
• Five key benefits
• Improving warehouse productivity
• Supply chain, JIT, and benchmarking
• Adapting to the information age
• Avoiding labor pains
• Reverse logistics management
2. Operational applications of a well-designed WMS
   • Quality and productivity
   • Order entry and order scheduling
   • Workload management and labor planning
   
   • Pre-receiving
   • Receiving
   • Inspection and quality control
   • Storage
   • Picking
   • Shipping
   • Cycle counting
   • Inventory adjustments
   • Inventory rewarehousing
   • Supplier return/stock rotation
   • Performance reporting
   • Material handling interfaces
3. Developing an effective business case for a WMS
   • Assemble the team
   • Analyze costs and benefits
   • Prepare economic justification
   • Categories of benefits
   • Discussion of benefits
4. Selecting the right vendor for your WMS
   • The vendor prequalification process
   • Evaluation of the "Short List" vendors
   • The summary report
5. WMS Vendor Directory

   Product Information

• System name
• Contact information
• Year established
• Number of employees
• First installation
• Total number of installations
• Total number of customers
• Last update/current version
• Base price/average price
• Service availability

   Technical features

• Server operating system
• Client operating system
• Database used
• Source code availability
• Programming language

   Functional features

• Features
• Execution systems
• Host interfaces
• Automation equipment interfaces
• Hosted status
6. Glossary of Terms
7. Figures
   • Sample pre-qualification memo
   • Sample data collection guide for preliminary vendor interviews
   • Sample initial vendor list memo
8. Forms
   • WMS evaluation fact sheets
   • Sample WMS vendor evaluation forms
   • Sample WMS vendor evaluation fact sheets
   • WMS vendor reference checklist