A Guide on Selecting the Best Warehouse Management System Supplier

The apparel industry reached $1.5 trillion in 2021 (Statista). The increase in revenue suggests that the supply chain management must up their game. The behind-the-scenes manufacturers, suppliers, and inventory managers play a pivotal role in extending the valuation.

The warehouse management system is an enabling technology that helps fashion companies scale their businesses, be more agile and increase profits. It helps manage, track, and maintain the inventory that mobilizes the businesses.

With automation,

• You can view the warehouse in real-time
• Be in control of the inventory
• Monitor it efficiently.

However, choosing the right warehouse management system plays a pivotal role in gaining success.

Here, we will take you through the issues when choosing the wrong WMS. We will also share tips to help you select the appropriate system.

How Can a Wrong WMS Impact your Business?

We don’t realize that choosing the wrong or unsuitable WMS can impact your business negatively. You might be stuck with the wrong or too many unnecessary features. Changing or upgrading could be costly. Check out a few issues that you may face by choosing the wrong WMS for your business. 

Loss of Key Features

You know all the features you need to build the warehouse management solution as a business owner. However, you may have forgotten to consider the instances and use cases.

For example, you might need to monitor inventory for the season as well as the ones in popular demand all through the year. This would require a specific segmentation through the system. If this functionality goes missing, it can impact your monitoring capabilities.

Again, if you miss out on the minimum percentage of inventory functionality in your system, your monitoring may not be accurate.

Very Rigid System

You may have chosen a system based on your current supply chain requirements. You may not have everything thought through, and as a result, you are unable to scale the system flexibly.

The system is bound by rigidity, which means you cannot add features or functionality to meet your scaling needs.

For instance, your supply chain management needs will evolve as you grow your business. You might need new monitoring capabilities to keep up with inventory. However, choosing an unsuitable WMS has restricted the possibility of growth.

An Expensive Match

When you choose the wrong warehouse management system, you may pay more for basic features. When selecting vendors for warehouse management systems, you may choose someone based on assumptions or without much research.

This can lead to an expensive ride leading to a never-ending darkness. Not evaluating properly can leave quite a dent in your pocket.

Upgrade or Maintenance Costs

If you don’t choose the right warehouse management system (keeping an eye on future needs) or don’t have the support of the right vendor, you might have to pay high for upgrading or maintaining the system.

As your business scales, the need grows, and your future systems should be equipped to meet the new goals. 

If your chosen system is not fit for upgrading or the upkeep costs are high, it will become a loss-making proposal for your business.

Finding the Right Warehouse Management System Supplier

The ideal warehouse management system depends on the overall system processes and the supplier. If the inherent processes or workflows aren’t in sync with your requirements, it could be an expensive liability for your business.

This section will cover the supplier selection that plays a pivotal role in ensuring smooth technology implementation.

Know your Business Requirements

This is the first step to advancing towards the right partner for implementing your warehouse management system. It is essential to detail the following aspects of business needs.

The true purpose the warehouse management system will serve:

• What are some of the existing processes that the system will handle?
• What are some of the operations that you can add once you expand your business?
• What are the features that are indispensable to your system?
• What functionality would you be adding in the near future?

Knowing these aspects can help you introduce more flexibility. It will also help you choose a vendor that gives you an option to scale in the future.

Build a Solid Business Case

What kind of solution does your business need? This is the answer you are looking for to find the best-fit system. There are other questions to be asked, like:

• Do you want to keep the system as it is- an off-the-shelf solution?
• Do you want to customize the solution?
• Are you looking for an upgrade to your current system?

Once you are aware of the system requirement, you will be better at identifying a suitable vendor.

Here are a few factors that can help find the right vendor partner:

• The total budget for implementing the software solution
• Customizations you need
• Risks and complexities involved
• Investments you have planned for
• Operational aspects you have considered

Once you are well aware of the business case and have solidified the system needs, you can find the partner to implement it.

Seek References from Network

Commit to finding vendor partners to help you align your system requirements to business goals. You can check with people in your network for suitable vendors.

It is essential to pursue the right partner. This can shorten the process of shortlisting majorly and help you identify the right supplier.

However, there are several checks that you need to conduct, whether you find a supplier via reference or through online directories.

• Can they vet the systems and processes you have identified for your warehouse management?
• Do they believe your identified requirements are sufficient to help meet the business goals?
• Do they have experience determining the requirements, customizing the solutions, and implementing the systems your business requires?
• Do they have in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry? Have they implemented similar software systems to automate processes in this industry?

Evaluate Considering all Factors

As we discussed earlier, not evaluating your potential supplier for the system they offer can cause significant losses. For example, you might focus on purchasing a rigid system that cannot scale to meet your needs. 

However, if your supplier has the experience, they would be able to ensure you don’t fall prey to the wrong systems.

• Check for credentials such as qualifications, license, and requisite knowledge to offer warehouse management system solutions.
• Ask their past customers to share feedback on their capabilities with you
• Check the success and automation the customers realize post support from the implementation partner
• Ask for help, upgrade and maintenance costs
• Check if the system they are suggesting is scalable and flexible
• Please discuss your requirements, and see what solutions they suggest before proceeding with the formalities.

Define the Work Scope and contract

When you are signing up third-party suppliers or vendors for a particular job, make sure to sign a contract with them. It is important to define the work scope, the total requirements, and all the upgrade aspects beforehand.

They should be clear about the maintenance and upgrade of the system and the support they will offer. This clarity will help you avoid issues in the future.

Conclusion

Choosing and evaluating the warehouse management system suppliers can help you choose the right solution and build a cost-effective backend to manage the supply chain. As a fashion business owner, the supply chain and its efficiency help boost profitability.

If you want to discuss the backend possibilities and ways to enhance the supply chain in detail, connect with Fashinza, and their team will take you through the processes. You can fill out a contact us form, and the team will reach out to help improve your technology infrastructure.