10 must-have features of a warehouse management system

A warehouse management system’s (WMS) features can significantly determine whether the system is suitable for your organisation.

When the features of a WMS fit well with your organisation’s needs, you are more likely to reap more benefits from a warehouse management system. A tailored system ensures that your workflows are optimised, your resources are used efficiently, and your operations are streamlined. This leads to enhanced productivity, increased accuracy, cost savings, and improved customer satisfaction.

If your WMS lacks the necessary features your organisation requires, it may not perform efficiently and could fail to generate a significant return on investment (ROI). Yet, when equipped with the right features, a WMS can enhance visibility and optimise warehouse operations, ultimately boosting productivity and overall efficiency.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the 10 key features of a warehouse management system, focusing on how having the right WMS for your organisation can maximise benefits from the system and boost ROI.

• The 10 must-have features of a WMS
  
• Find a WMS that works for you with The Barcode Warehouse
  

Looking to compare options for your business? Head over to our warehouse management system page.

The 10 must-have features of a warehouse management system

1. Real-time inventory management

An effective WMS will provide real-time visibility over inventory levels, providing you with information about statuses, stock locations and levels. This real-time tracking information ensures that inventory records are always up-to-date and accurate, minimising issues related to under or overstocking.

At the most basic level, a WMS should track the movements of goods that come into the warehouse, movement within the warehouse, and goods that leave the warehouse. However, more advanced systems may enable you to benefit from additional features such as automatic replenishment or inventory alerts.

Features that allow you to do this include:

• Barcode scanning: A WMS that uses barcode or RFID technology allows you to instantly update inventory levels.
• Inventory reports: Dashboards and reports provide you with a real-time display of inventory levels and trends.
• Alerts and notifications: Automated alerts and notifications can be sent to inform you when inventory levels reach a certain point to ensure items are never understocked.

2. Order management

With the rise of e-commerce and multiple sales channels, warehouses receive orders from a multitude of sources such as online stores, social media platforms, and EPOS systems. A WMS can act as a centralised platform for managing these orders, allowing all sales channels to be served from a single inventory source.

A WMS with an effective order management function will provide the following:

• Order status tracking: A WMS should track the status of orders throughout the process, from the initial purchase to the delivery.
• Order consolidation: By acting as a central point for orders from multiple sales channels, a WMS improves batch picking and order fulfilment.
• Reporting and analytics: Analytics and reporting can be used to track key metrics like order volume or customer satisfaction to support continuous improvement.

3. Warehouse layout optimisation

An effective WMS will have a function that analyses data and evaluates how warehouse space could be better utilised to maximise efficiency. Typically, a WMS will analyse storage requirements and pick frequencies to recommend optimal storage locations to make efficient use of space. However, depending on the system, a WMS may also be able to provide support for multiple warehouse locations to optimise layouts.

What to assess when determining if a WMS has this feature:

• Mapping and visualisation: Some systems will produce warehouse maps to visualise the layout at the most granular level including mapping of the aisles and shelves.
• Barcode scanning: The use of barcode scanners ensures that the location and movement of goods are accurately tracked for complete visibility.
• Storage optimisation: A WMS can automatically assign goods to the most suitable location by assessing factors such as size and demand.

4. Order picking and packing

Order picking and packing are two core functions within a warehouse and the efficiency of these processes can significantly impact its productivity.

A WMS that has order picking and packing functions can optimise the processes by enhancing picking pathways, encouraging batch picking, and requiring picks to be verified before they are processed. When picking, a WMS should optimise picking paths and consolidate orders to support warehouse workers to work more efficiently. Similarly, these systems should make use of barcode scanners or RFID technology to double verify picks and improve order fulfilment.

Look for the following when determining a WMS’ picking and packing functionality:

• Zone picking: A WMS can divide the warehouse into zones and allocate specific picks to each zone to maximise efficiency.
  
• Picking analysis: By analysing the movement of goods and picks, algorithms can be used to determine the more efficient picking routes, increasing efficiency and order fulfilment rates.
• Batch picking: The system can consolidate multiple orders into a single trip to enhance productivity.

5. Returns management

Not only should a WMS have features designed to improve picking and packing accuracy, but it should also provide an effective returns process for when the inevitable happens.

A WMS with returns management functions enables returned items to be processed efficiently by providing processes specific to this purpose. This means that organisations can easily track why items were returned, and whether they were refunded or disposed of to improve inventory visibility and ensure the appropriate actions are taken.

When assessing a WMS’ returns management functions, look for the following:

• Reason for return: A function that enables customers or warehouse workers to log the reason for return can help generate insights into the returns process.
• Integration with a CRM: By being integrated with a CRM, customers can automatically be notified of return status updates.
• Analytics and reporting: A WMS can generate reports on returns data and highlight key information about factors such as reasons for return, trends and patterns, to identify causes and minimise future returns.

6. Integrations with other systems

The effectiveness of a WMS can be significantly impacted by how it integrates with your organisation’s existing systems and processes.

By integrating with your other systems such as your ERP, data can be shared seamlessly between these different parts of the supply chain, streamlining operations and avoiding issues associated with manual data entry. Since all systems have access to the same data, informed decisions can be made. This integration function is not a feature of all warehouse management systems; some systems have standard integrations, others have open API access, and others don’t have the feature altogether.

Typically, a WMS will have the following integration functions:

• Pre-built integrations: Often warehouse management systems will offer pre-built integrations for popular systems or platforms, such as ERP systems, accounting software, or CRM platforms.
  
• Open API: With open API, your existing systems can communicate with one another, supporting data exchange and integration without requiring extensive custom development.

7. Barcode and RFID integrations

Barcode scanners and RFID technology are prominent features within warehouses and for some organisations, this may be a non-negotiable feature when it comes to warehouse management systems.

Through having a feature that integrates with barcode scanners and RFID technology, warehouses stand to benefit from a streamlined inventory tracking process. Without these integrations, warehouses rely on manual data entry which can increase inaccuracies and lower productivity.

How to assess a WMS’ barcode and RFID integrations:

• Automatic data capture: An integration with barcode and RFID technology should mean that data is captured immediately and automatically updates the WMS as a result.
• Barcode and RFID label printing: A WMS should generate labels for items or locations within the warehouse to support picking and packing and the tracking of goods within the space.
• Alerts and notifications: When inventory levels are low or items are close to their expiration date, a WMS can notify you to ensure that you take swift action.

8. Mobile accessibility

In a modern warehouse, mobile accessibility is a key feature of warehouse management systems. A WMS with mobile accessibility enables warehouse workers to access the system from anywhere in the facility providing that they have access to a tablet or laptop. With this mobile access, workers can carry out tasks such as picking and packing without needing to return to a desk to manually amend the WMS, improving inventory accuracy.

By reducing the need to return to a desk to amend or access the WMS, mobile accessibility enhances efficiency and allows workers to be more productive and work more efficiently.

A warehouse with mobile accessibility may have the following functions:

• Barcode scanning: An integration with mobile barcode scanners can support warehouse tasks such as picking and stock control.
• Offline mode: There is likely to be a space in every warehouse where there is limited internet access, an offline mode ensures that users can continue working and data is synced when connectivity is restored.
• Mobile app: A dedicated mobile app allows users to access WMS features on the go such as inventory management and order processing.

9. Scalability

Finding a WMS that can scale with your goals can be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to choosing a warehouse management system. If you have plans to grow or expand in the future, a WMS should be able to seamlessly scale with you. A scaleable WMS will allow you to adjust workflows and add functionalities according to new business needs and seamlessly adjust to increased volumes of inventory, orders and movement.

Features to consider include:

• Cloud-based: A cloud-based WMS is a scaleable and flexible system that can accommodate changes in inventory levels and users.
  
• Multi-site support: By providing support to warehouses on different sites, a WMS can support you to scale across multiple locations.

10. Reporting and analytics

The majority of WMS systems will provide some degree of reporting. By having access to reporting and analytics, you can track performance in real time, monitor a range of metrics, and easily measure KPIs. This visibility enables you to measure progress, quickly identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies and provide fast intervention where required.

More sophisticated WMS’ can use AI to combine historical data and predictive analytics to forecast future demand and enable organisations to make the appropriate changes.

Find a WMS that works for you with The Barcode Warehouse