Warehouse Management Off the Skids
Jim, the COO of OffTheShelf Co, distributors for kitchenware, was whistling a happy tune as he walked through the warehouse. The shelves were neatly labeled, and the boxes were stacked high, ready to fly!
Angie, the warehouse manager, came trundling toward him. “Jim, we have a problem,” she blurted out. “The order from MassMerch has to ship this Friday and the delivery from the supplier isn't scheduled to arrive until next Monday."
Jim looked up at the rafters for a moment to keep his cool. Angie had been with the company for 20 years and was terrific at management but was not great with the new computer system. In fact, she avoided every training and openly talked about how ‘we don’t need an upgrade’ and ‘the system stinks.’
Does this sound like a scene at your company? Read on; it gets even more nerve-wracking.
"Is that all?" Jim asked. Knowing Angie, there would be more.
There was. “In addition, our new customer, SuperSales, rescheduled their order for delivery to next month," Angie continued. “That means we don’t have any room to unload the delivery from our supplier on Monday. And, because we won’t deliver on-time to MassMerch, we are going to get a ding from MassMerch that will sting!”
“Why is the supplier coming on Monday?” Jim thought to ask for some facts before jumping on the agitation bandwagon.
“Well”, said Angie, “the supplier was supposed to deliver on Thursday, but they are always late…”
Jim interrupted Angie with, “Are you using the Warehouse Management System? It has a scheduler and that’s where you should be putting in time buffers.”
Angie looked to the left and replied, “Look, I can do this without a system. It’s just that…”
Again Jim interrupted. “Angie, our business is five times larger now than back in the day. That’s why we need the system – we can’t afford to accumulate missed delivery fines when we could avoid the pain by using the new system.”
Angie was silent. She knew Jim was right. This would be a large fine, and the boss would want an explanation. She would have to overcome her resistance to using the Warehouse Management System.
Jim saw the struggle in Angie’s face and said reassuringly, “Say, there is another training happening tomorrow. Let’s do this one together.”
Angie looked at Jim and nodded her assent.
Do you have a similar challenge at your company?
Here are five signs that you need a Warehouse Management System:
Your suppliers deliver shipments without advance notice
Your delivery schedule is not in sync with your customers’ schedules
You spend time locating SKUs in your warehouse(s)
You short the orders and your fill rates are sub-optimal
You have accumulated fines and penalties for missing delivery windows
A WMS can solve all of these problems.
With the right system in place, you will no longer experience the stress of unexpected delays in deliveries triggering unwanted postponements in shipments. Finding SKUs will become trivial. No longer need you dread fines for late deliveries.
Give us a call.
We can help you assess your unique situation and come up with the right solution for your company. We can assure the implementation will be successful and that your team learns how to use your new WMS to its fullest advantage.
We're waiting to talk to you.
Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants (RJMC) assists mid-market companies to evaluate, select, and implement ERP solutions including Warehouse Management Systems. Extraordinary support from skilled and experienced consultants provide the Project Management that gets the project done. To find out if your business is ready for a change, give us a call at 310-445-5300
We know ERP. We know Warehouse Management. We know how to Get Projects Done!
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