10 steps to deploying a WMS in your warehouse
Because it enables warehouse resources and logistics processes to be optimised, the smooth operation of a warehouse management system (WMS ) is crucial for those involved in the supply chain.
Care must therefore be taken during the implementation phase, as its future effectiveness will depend on its successful deployment.
Generix WMS explains the steps to follow here.
Step 1 - Involve your organisation in a collaborative approach
Implementing a WMS has an impact on the whole company:
- Marketing department
- IT DEPARTMENT
- logistics managers, etc.
To accelerate the return on investment and reduce the risk of rejection by teams, each department needs to be prepared to absorb the change.
Once the principle of deploying the WMS has been accepted, it is very important to review the company's internal organisation and plan ahead for the training of all the staff involved. To achieve its full potential, the project needs to be approached as a whole, with those responsible for flows at the centre of your approach.
So, to ensure that everyone is committed, change management support is often essential and strategic to reassure them about how their jobs will evolve: no, your employees won't be replaced by robots when the software is rolled out!
👉 There are a number of levers available to support teams, depending on the project, the people involved and the resources available, so solutions such as digital learning, training or coaching can be good ideas.
Stage 2 - Define the scope of the change precisely
Whether you are installing a WMS for the first time or replacing an existing one, you need to systematically look at the scope of the changes you want to implement. It may seem obvious, but.... Your needs are not the same as those of your neighbour.
So you need to take them into account and define the performance targets you want to achieve in order to guide you towards the right WMS solution. This is the local scaling of the global strategy. This stage is divided into two phases:
- Requirements gathering: the logistics sites to be equipped and the physical flows to be modelled must be defined. Care must be taken to include the various departments concerned.
- Drawing up specifications: the company's major objectives and the business challenges it faces need to be specified.
💡 This operational anticipation phase will identify the industrial resources to be deployed, in relation to the WMS.
Stage 3. Consult the teams on the ground
Very often there are discrepancies between the information known to the decision-makers (warehouse manager, project manager, logistics manager) and what the operators know and do.
In a warehouse, you always have to put yourself in the operator's shoes: can he find his way around and carry out his task with the information he has?
At this stage, the idea is to compare the forecasts of the decision-makers with the estimates and feedback from the operational teams. This enables the time required for change to be specified within the framework of the budget estimates.
Stage 4. Define and deploy the project team
The WMS implementation project team is made up of two parts:
An external project team
These are the people in charge of the project at the publisher, and include :
- A functional expert, who must have a perfect knowledge of the tool and solid experience of WMS implementation projects. He or she will be able to give you the best possible advice on the standard settings, but will also be able to draw on his or her feedback to adapt the tool to the specific needs of your project.
- A technical consultant who will implement these customisation recommendations.
- A solutions architect who will be responsible for integrating the tool into the technical architecture of the warehouse, as well as the rest of your company's IS.
- A project manager, who will be responsible for the coherence and smooth running of the project as a whole: adherence to the schedule, provision of resources, time recording, invoicing, management of monitoring committees and arbitration of decisions.
An in-house project team
Identifying its members is fundamental. Indeed, the choice and availability of the people in charge of the WMS project internally are at the very heart of its success. It is important to have a very good knowledge of the field:
- Warehouse managers and supervisors in charge of activity areas such as receiving, preparation or dispatch.
- A project manager is also needed to steer the project during monitoring committees and to liaise internally with the organisation's management, whose involvement is essential. The technical team will also be called upon during the installation and information exchange phases between the WMS and the existing management software.
Stage 5 - Drawing up a detailed schedule
The time taken to implement a WMS depends on the functional scope. Implementation can vary from a few weeks to a year, depending on the company's needs, the type of warehouse (manual or automated) and the complexity of the logistics flows to be managed.
According to WMS market research, it takes an average of 6 to 9 months to implement a WMS.
- if the warehouse is automated, in 30% of cases the lead time will be as long as 10-12 months;
- if the warehouse is managed manually, in 50% of cases the lead time can be less than 6 months.
Stage 6 - Configuring the solution and scaling it to the project
This stage enables the service provider to adapt the WMS software to the organisation of the warehouses. To do this, a design must be developed, containing general specifications and then detailed step-by-step specifications.
It defines both the outline and the content of the project. Required to analyse requirements, this is a very intense stage of reflection on current and future logistics processes.
👉 Next, a functional analysis is carried out to ensure that the chosen solution matches the standard as closely as possible and to identify any deviations from the standard. The team in charge of this stage will then exploit the tool's parameterisation capabilities to meet specific business requirements, prepare a full acceptance specification and work with the publisher to make improvements.
Stage 7 - Integrating the solution in practice... and testing it
Just before going live, a period of testing is required, taking into account all possible scenarios. This is the last stage before going live.
The involvement of everyone is essential to successfully complete this stage. It should be noted that the tests must be carried out by the customer and not by the integrator, as the latter cannot be "judge and jury".
At this stage, a strategic steering committee will decide on the GO / NO GO in the light of the various indicators and alerts it receives. The training phase follows this stage, once the problematic indicators have been dealt with.
Stage 8 - Regular communication with operational teams
Changing the whole world of work overnight can significantly disrupt teams: it is therefore vital to keep them informed on a regular basis.
📣 An important point to communicate to them: this is first and foremost a project for them, to make their day-to-day work easier. Beforehand, you need to report on the progress of the project, give it a name and get the teams involved to create and maintain enthusiasm for it.
Stage 9 - Getting to grips with the possibilities offered by the WMS
On the day the WMS is launched, operators will probably not be at 100% capacity. There is a learning curve. Teams will need a certain amount of time to become fully familiar with the new solution, even with prior training.
The first few weeks will bring out a few issues that could not be identified during the test period, and employees will have to learn to master the wide range of functionalities. However, if the previous stages have been followed, internal adoption of the tool will be relatively rapid.
Step 10 - Keep in regular contact with the publisher
With a Cloud WMS solution, you can be sure that you're using the latest version of the software: updates are automatic, both technically and in terms of regulations - your invoice management will always be compliant. And all with the same fluidity as a simple application update on a smartphone. But that doesn't mean you should cut all ties with your solution provider!
At least for 2 reasons:
- The first is that publishers develop their solutions based on feedback from the field - by formalising your needs or difficulties, you will undoubtedly be helping to develop the tool in your interests!
- The second reason is that the publisher will, by definition, always be there to help you if you need it, by telephone, chat, email or even in person.
Article translated from French