WMS Consulting
Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher from 2500 years ago, said “Nothing endures but change”. This pearl of wisdom is becoming more and more relevant in these fast-paced times. Be it new markets, products, services, or the demands that customers place on themselves. Warehouse Management Systems, often used for decades, have to be adapted or replaced. The functionality of the available software is difficult to capture or compare. Each use case requires precise preliminary work to make sure that the implementation of the system is successful.
For this reason, Team warehouse logistics helps companies with the selection and implementation of Warehouse Management Systems.
The following sections provide an overview of the consulting services provided by Team warehouse logistics and their experts from computer science, engineering, marketing, and logistics.
Analysis – First Steps towards a Goal
The first step involves capturing your processes, Key Performance Indicators, configurations, existing WMS functionality, interfaces, and planning-related restrictions and specifications within the scope of a workshop. The next step is an analysis of the current situation and the step-by-step identification of strengths, weaknesses, and measures that will be integrated into the target concept.
Concept – Laying the Foundations for the Project
In the target concept phase, all of the documentation created in the previous phase is combined into requirement specifications. These specifications describe “what” has to be provided as functionality without dictating to the vendor “how” it should be implemented. The more stringent the specifications, the less freedom the vendor has for the implementation. In reverse this also means that the less stringent the specifications, the more freedom the vendor has to implement their – usually very mature and often already implemented - concepts. The concept phase ends with the finalization of the call for tenders.
Call for Tenders – Neutrality and Comparability
The possible bidders are determined before the call for tenders begins. The right choice is difficult with more than 150 WMS vendors in the German-speaking region alone. If you think about the fact that the average call for tenders process takes about 4 weeks and the return of the offers is primarily what determines the success of a project, this decision really becomes a critical one. To ensure that the best possible decision is made, our neutral WMS Online Selection service is used to compare the functionality of more than 85 WMS. Any WMS vendors that are in the running are asked to provide reference projects. The results are presented during a workshop during which the tender participants are also determined and the call for tenders is started.
The dates, deadlines, and responses are all managed during the call for tenders phase. When the offers are returned the bidders are requested to provide any missing information and to change the content so that the offers can be compared more easily. The selection of the right vendor is not only based on the offer but also on the presentation of the company and the WMS. The second last step of this phase involves a presentation of the offers that includes a discussion of the similarities and differences of the concepts. This phase ends with the team providing the customer with a recommendation on which vendor and system they should choose.
Implementation to Commissioning
The WMS vendor and user work together to create the functional specifications before the system is implemented. The functionality defined in the requirement specifications must be fully covered in the functional specifications. To avoid any discrepancies later, any changes made to the requirement specifications must be documented in the functional specifications. Since the functional specifications play a central role in the final acceptance of the system, several test scenarios and test cases are derived from them while they are being created. The next step in this phase involves the testing and evaluation of the functional specifications or the definition/execution of test cases as well as the clarification of any technical changes or modifications. This phase ends when the system is put into operation.
Results – Your Benefits
Our neutral, proven advice combined with our WMS Online Selection service, which is based on the most extensive database of its kind in the world, will help minimize the risks, reduce time and costs, and increase the quality of your decision.
Contact Us
Would you like to learn more about Team warehouse logistics? Please feel free to contact us by submitting an information request or contacting us directly:
Team warehouse logistics
Phone: +49 (0) 231 / 97 43 - 214
info@warehouse-logistics.com
