Article: WMS, one size does not fit all

In the latest of a series of articles from members of the Automated Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA), John Barton, Managing Director of Keymas Ltd, examines warehouse management systems.

At the fall of France in 1940, the French had over two thousand modern fighter planes – more than twice the number deployed by the victorious Luftwaffe. The problem was that the French administration didn’t know where most of them were. The German Blitzkrieg attack had led many local commanders in France to make tactical decisions to move aircraft, men and equipment south, away from the invaders. These parochial decisions had no easy way of becoming known centrally, with the result being chaos and capitulation. Acolytes of the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz will know of the parallels that exist between military and business strategies. If only the French had had a management system that allowed lower-level local commanders to input information, then those at the top could have made decisions and acted upon it.

WMS is not the full answer

In the modern logistics industry, we have software information systems known as warehouse management systems (WMS), which perform a vital role but are not the full answer in a dynamic business environment. Much WMS software is highly sophisticated and its strength is, in essence, that all information goes into the centre and the WMS