Right now, you'd be hard-pressed to find a business that isn't trying to improve efficiencies and lower costs. It's not easy, especially because the company must ensure that any changes made don't impact customer experience.
Customer satisfaction and brand reputation are important at the best of times. In a tough economic climate, when maximising current business is more profitable than finding new customers, they become absolutely vital.
You've already invested in an ERP, which can provide incredible automation and efficiency across several business processes. But if you rely on a sizeable warehouse or have a complex item inventory, it might not be enough.
Meeting rising customer demands and expectations largely rely on efficiency and accuracy in the warehouse, specifically with picking and packing. But pairing ERP with manual picking processes could be killing businesses' ability to deliver.
We can't escape human error
Many small and medium businesses, even those using an ERP, use manual, paper-based picking and packing processes. This is by necessity - there is no way to connect their wider business processes with the warehouse.
An ERP can tell you what should be in the warehouse, but without a warehouse management system (WMS), it can't tell what is actually in the warehouse.
Relying on paper-based warehouse processes can easily result in the double-handling of tasks, which decreases staff efficiency and increases the risk of errors and gaps. When these errors manifest in customer order mistakes, it can severely impact a business's competitiveness and profitability.
With many industries experiencing more saturated markets, there are more competitors offering the same products at a similar price. Fail to deliver on customer service, and it's never been easier for customers to jump ship.
How ERP and WMS work to improve accuracy
Warehouse Management Systems are additional pieces of software that are installed alongside SAP Business One ERP that then communicate with each other using the Restful API. Order information from SAP Business One is transferred to the WMS and connected to scanning guns through Wi-Fi.
By scanning item barcodes as they're picked, pickers can ensure that all items are accurate and accounted for.
When a pick is completed, that information is passed back to the WMS and the ERP where the status is changed, and an invoice is created.
It works the same way for cycle counts or stock takes, automatically recording item information and numbers and feeding it back to the systems, sharing the information and ensuring everything is completely integrated.
4 ways your warehouse can benefit from WMS
- Higher accuracy, fewer errors
Businesses that use SAP Business One and WMS together guarantee the accuracy and accessibility of business data. This enables them to automate processes across the entire business and optimise efficiency at every level, completely eliminating error-prone manual tasks. - Consolidated orders
Instead of picking each individual order, a WMS can group similar orders together, enabling warehouse staff to pick items just once and then pack the order separately for optimised efficiency.
Similarly, if one customer has multiple orders waiting to be filled, they can be picked at the same time and packaged together for fast and more cost-effective delivery. - Stock that matches the system
It's incredibly common for warehouses to experience mismatches between stock numbers in the system and actual stock on the shelves. For some, this is a regular occurrence. Integrating a WMS with SAP Business One ensures that stock can be checked easily and always correct. This ensures that you can be sure that stock is always available for customers when they need it. - Efficient staff, quicker delivery
All of this results in staff being more empowered to find the most efficient processes, be highly accurate with pick and pack activities and provide faster and more effective delivery for customers. Overall, customers get a better end-to-end buying experience, having access to the right stock at the right time, accurate delivery, and efficient delivery options.
Complete control in the palm of your hand
The number one problem in the distribution business is shipping the wrong item. If you ship the wrong item and a competitor offers it for the same price, there is a good chance your customers will jump ship.
From a customer satisfaction perspective, the key measurement is delivery in full, on time. The introduction of a WMS and scanning gives businesses another level of control, checking that the item being shipped is the item that's been ordered.
Your ERP choice affects which WMS you are able to implement. As an SAP Business One user, Ric Group and Boyum Produmex Scan are your two WMS options. They are both highly rated WMS providers that customised support and expertise.
We've seen firsthand how these systems, alongside SAP Business One, have helped businesses with large warehouses and complex, high-volume inventory simplify their processes and improve order accuracy and customer experience.
For more information on our integrated WMS options and the possibilities it has with your SAP Business One platform, get in touch.
