Article brief:
As your warehouse operations grow, you may think the best approach to manage that growth is to replace the entire system. But that can mean investing significant resources and time. Imagine a 3PL that added a second facility and a large retail client in the same quarter. The freight forwarding software may run bookings and invoices just fine, but it may struggle to identify the bay number where a pallet is located, leaving warehouse workers stuck walking the aisles with a printed list. Instead, you can manage that growth by expanding the capabilities of your existing warehouse systems.
Before affecting shipping, logistics, and finances, growing warehouse operations, whether from more SKUs or more clients, will first stress warehouse processes. The signs are usually clear; pickers may waste time walking up and down aisles looking for a product the system thinks is still in the facility. Most likely, the system is doing what it was designed to do well: processing work orders and generating invoices. It may struggle with warehouse operations because it wasn’t designed for that. So, instead of overhauling the whole thing, add a warehouse management application to your stack. Warehouse performance metrics like order accuracy, inventory turnover, and pick cycle time help you spot bottlenecks before customer satisfaction takes a hit.
Good inventory management starts with receiving. The receiving department checks all incoming shipments, scans product barcodes, and verifies the delivered quantity against the purchase order. This way, if the shipment is short, the team resolves the issue before the customer calls later to complain about missing parts.
Once you have verified your products, put-away is the next step, placing each item in its designated storage area and documenting the action. Although this may seem simple, it’s the No. 1 way to eliminate inventory inaccuracies. That’s because instead of relying on employees’ memory, items are recorded so everyone from forklift drivers to warehouse managers can use a common reference point to verify counts.
Cycle counting helps maintain inventory accuracy without shutting down the warehouse for a weekend-long stock count. It involves counting specific locations in your warehouse daily or weekly, depending on how often products move. It might be dull, but it definitely catches errors while they are still small and manageable. Fast-moving items require cycle counting more frequently than slower-moving products.
Inventory tracking works only if all stakeholders can see the same numbers. Barcode scanning can cover most sites, and RFID tags will cover high-volume pallet handling. But you should research the costs before making this decision. Once those are in place, the warehouse management system can send inventory levels back to your main system. Then, when you create a sales quote, it will reference what is on the floor, providing real-time data that prevents both overstocking and stockouts.
Most warehouse space is wasted, even though it is your most valuable asset. Slotting is one of the least expensive solutions; it involves placing your fastest-moving products closest to the pack-out areas and dock doors for shipment. Place slower-selling products higher in the warehouse or farther back. An ABC analysis will help identify which products should be placed in the best locations based on movement. Products ranked A (highest-selling volumes) should receive the best locations, while C-ranked products should receive locations farther away.
The warehouse configuration should also be reviewed quarterly, as what has moved quickly in March could potentially be “dead” stock by September.
Vertical lift modules store small parts in tall trays. Vendors that use them often cite significant floor-space savings. But results may vary by product, so use vendor numbers as a ceiling and measure your own.
Picking is typically the most expensive part of warehouse management. It can make up as much as 55% of a typical warehouse’s operating costs, but small fixes cut labor costs fastest.
Match your picking method to your order fulfillment profile:
Picking accuracy improves when workers scan barcodes at the pick face. This way, the system flags the wrong SKU before it reaches a carton, and then packing and shipping run on clean orders.
Automated guided vehicles and robots often work best for large-volume sites with consistent flow. In most cases, a better initial investment is to leverage cheaper warehouse technology, including scanners, an effective warehouse management system (WMS), and optimized slotting. Automation can speed up tasks, but if your current process is disorganized, it will ultimately just speed up the mess.
People also matter, much more than any kit. Prioritize good ergonomics to reduce fatigue, cross-train to cover sick days, and set clear warehouse safety rules to protect workers and boost morale. Get these right, and labor productivity increases follow.
You don’t have to change how you run your warehouse operations to get a good WMS. Newage WMS is designed for third-party logistics (3PL), contract logistics, and fulfillment and can operate independently or integrate with Newage NXT. Newage added its first WMS customer in 2010, and the standalone version of Newage WMS has been available since 2016. If it works best for your supply chain management, you can keep your current system, add Newage Warehouse Management for the warehouse operations, and later integrate it into Newage NXT. Contact us today to get started.
Yes. Newage WMS can run standalone or integrate with NewageNXT if you use it.
It depends on the number of sites, SKUs, and clients, and on how clean your current stock data is. The Newage team can provide a timeline once it has reviewed your operation.
Training is planned as part of the setup, so supervisors and floor staff learn the scanning and picking steps they’ll use daily. Ask the Newage team how support works after go-live.
Pricing depends on your sites, users, and scope. Newage quotes once it understands your needs.
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