英文原文WarehouseManagementSystems(WMS).Theevolutionofwarehousemanagementsystems(WMS)isverysimilartothatofmanyothersoftwaresolutions.Initiallyasystemtocontrolmovementandstorageofmaterialswithinawarehouse,theroleofWMSisexpandingtoincludinglightmanufacturing,transportationmanagement,ordermanagement,andcompleteaccountingsystems.Tousethegrandfatherofoperations-relatedsoftware,MRP,asacomparison,materialrequirementsplanning(MRP)startedasasystemforplanningrawmaterialrequirementsinamanufacturingenvironment.SoonMRPevolvedintomanufacturingresourceplanning(MRPII),whichtookthebasicMRPsystemandaddedschedulingandcapacityplanninglogic.EventuallyMRPIIevolvedintoenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP),incorporatingalltheMRPIIfunctionalitywithfullfinancialsandcustomerandvendormanagementfunctionality.Now,whetherWMSevolvingintoawarehouse-focusedERPsystemisagoodthingornotisuptodebate.WhatisclearisthattheexpansionoftheoverlapinfunctionalitybetweenWarehouseManagementSystems,EnterpriseResourcePlanning,DistributionRequirementsPlanning,TransportationManagementSystems,SupplyChainPlanning,AdvancedPlanningandScheduling,andManufacturingExecutionSystemswillonlyincreasethelevelofconfusionamongcompanieslookingforsoftwaresolutionsfortheiroperations.EventhoughWMScontinuestogainaddedfunctionality,theinitialcorefunctionalityofaWMShasnotreallychanged.TheprimarypurposeofaWMSistocontrolthemovementandstorageofmaterialswithinanoperationandprocesstheassociatedtransactions.Directedpicking,directedreplenishment,anddirectedputawayarethekeytoWMS.ThedetailedsetupandprocessingwithinaWMScanvarysignificantlyfromonesoftwarevendortoanother,howeverthebasiclogicwilluseacombinationofitem,location,quantity,unitofmeasure,andorderinformationtodeterminewheretostock,wheretopick,andinwhatsequencetoperformtheseoperations.Atabareminimum,aWMSshould:Haveaflexiblelocationsystem.Utilizeuser-definedparameterstodirectwarehousetasksanduselivedocumentstoexecutethesetasks.Havesomebuilt-inlevelofintegrationwithdatacollectiondevices.DoYouReallyNeedWMS?NoteverywarehouseneedsaWMS.CertainlyanywarehousecouldbenefitfromsomeofthefunctionalitybutisthebenefitgreatenoughtojustifytheinitialandongoingcostsassociatedwithWMS?WarehouseManagementSystemsarebig,complex,dataintensive,applications.Theytendtorequirealotofinitialsetup,alotofsystemresourcestorun,andalotofongoingdatamanagementtocontinuetorun.Thatsright,youneedtomanageyourwarehousemanagementsystem.Oftentimes,largeoperationswillendupcreatinganewISdepartmentwiththesoleresponsibilityofmanagingtheWMS.TheClaims:WMSwillreduceinventory!WMSwillreducelaborcosts!WMSwillincreasestoragecapacity!WMSwillincreasecustomerservice!WMSwillincreaseinventoryaccuracy!TheReality:TheimplementationofaWMSalongwithautomateddatacollectionwilllikelygiveyouincreasesinaccuracy,reductioninlaborcosts(providedthelaborrequiredtomaintainthesystemislessthanthelaborsavedonthewarehousefloor),andagreaterabilitytoservicethecustomerbyreducingcycletimes.Expectationsofinventoryreductionandincreasedstoragecapacityarelesslikely.Whileincreasedaccuracyandefficienciesinthereceivingprocessmayreducethelevelofsafetystockrequired,theimpactofthisreductionwilllikelybenegligibleincomparisontooverallinventorylevels.Thepredominantfactorsthatcontrolinventorylevelsarelotsizing,leadtimes,anddemandvariability.ItisunlikelythataWMSwillhaveasignificantimpactonanyofthesefactors.AndwhileaWMScertainlyprovidesthetoolsformoreorganizedstoragewhichmayresultinincreasedstoragecapacity,thisimprovementwillberelativetojusthowsloppyyourpre-WMSprocesseswere.Beyondlaborefficiencies,thedeterminingfactorsindecidingtoimplementaWMStendtobemoreoftenassociatedwiththeneedtodosomethingtoserviceyourcustomersthatyourcurrentsystemdoesnotsupport(ordoesnotsupportwell)suchasfirst-in-first-out,cross-docking,automatedpickreplenishment,wavepicking,lottracking,yardmanagement,automateddatacollection,automatedmaterialhandlingequipment,etc.SetupThesetuprequirementsofWMScanbeextensive.Thecharacteristicsofeachitemandlocationmustbemaintainedeitheratthedetaillevelorbygroupingsimilaritemsandlocationsintocategories.Anexampleofitemcharacteristicsatthedetaillevelwouldincludeexactdimensionsandweightofeachitemineachunitofmeasuretheitemisstocked(each,cases,pallets,etc)aswellasinformationsuchaswhetheritcanbemixedwithotheritemsinalocation,whetheritisrackable,maxstackheight,maxquantityperlocation,hazardclassifications,finishedgoodsorrawmaterial,fastversusslowmover,etc.Althoughsomeoperationswillneedtosetupeachitemthisway,mostoperationswillbenefitbycreatinggroupsofsimilarproducts.Forexample,ifyouareadistributorofmusicCDsyouwouldcreategroupsforsingleCDs,anddoubleCDs,maintainingthedetaileddimensionandweightinformationatthegrouplevelandonlyneedingtoattachthegroupcodetoeachitem.YouwouldlikelyneedtomaintaindetailedinformationonspecialitemssuchasboxedsetsorCDsinspecialpackaging.Youwouldalsocreategroupsforthedifferenttypesoflocationswithinyourwarehouse.Anexamplewouldbetocreatethreedifferentgroups(P1,P2,P3)forthethreedifferentsizedforwardpickinglocationsyouuseforyourCDpicking.YouthensetupthequantityofsingleCDsthatwillfitinaP1,P2,andP3location,quantityofdoubleCDsthatfitinaP1,P2,P3locationetc.Youwouldlikelyalsobesettingupcasequantities,andpalletquantitiesofeachCDgroupandquantitiesofcasesandpalletspereachreservestoragelocationgroup.Ifthissoundssimple,itiswellsortof.Inrealitymostoperationshaveamuchmorediverseproductmixandwillrequiremuchmoresystemsetup.Andsettingupthephysicalcharacteristicsoftheproductandlocationsisonlypartofthepicture.Youhavesetupenoughsothatthesystemknowswhereaproductcanfitandhowmanywillfitinthatlocation.Younowneedtosetuptheinformationneededtoletthesystemdecideexactlywhichlocationtopickfrom,replenishfrom/to,andputawayto,andinwhatsequencetheseeventsshouldoccur(rememberWMSisallabout“directed”movement).Youdothisbyassigningspecificlogictothevariouscombinationsofitem/order/quantity/locationinformationthatwilloccur.BelowIhavelistedsomeofthelogicusedindeterminingactuallocationsandsequences.LocationSequence.Thisisthesimplestlogic；yousimplydefineaflowthroughyourwarehouseandassignasequencenumbertoeachlocation.Inorderpickingthisisusedtosequenceyourpickstoflowthroughthewarehouse,inputawaythelogicwouldlookforthefirstlocationinthesequenceinwhichtheproductwouldfit.ZoneLogic.Bybreakingdownyourstoragelocationsintozonesyoucandirectpicking,putaway,orreplenishmenttoorfromspecificareasofyourwarehouse.Sincezonelogiconlydesignatesanarea,youwillneedtocombinethiswithsomeothertypeoflogictodetermineexactlocationwithinthezone.FixedLocation.Logicusespredeterminedfixedlocationsperiteminpicking,putaway,andreplenishment.Fixedlocationsaremostoftenusedastheprimarypickinglocationinpiecepickandcase-pickoperations,however,theycanalsobeusedforsecondarystorage.RandomLocation.Sincecomputerscannotbetrulyrandom(norwouldyouwantthemtobe)thetermrandomlocationisalittlemisleading.Randomlocationsgenerallyrefertoareaswhereproductsarenotstoredindesignatedfixedlocations.Likezonelogic,youwillneedsomeadditionallogictodetermineexactlocations.First-in-first-out(FIFO).Directspickingfromtheoldestinventoryfirst.Last-in-first-out(LIFO).OppositeofFIFO.Ididntthinktherewereanyrealapplicationsforthislogicuntilavisitortomysitesentanemaildescribingtheiroperationthatdistributesperishablegoodsdomesticallyandoverseas.TheyuseLIFOfortheiroverseascustomers(becauseoflongerin-transittimes)andFIFOfortheirdomesticcustomers.Pick-to-clear.Logicdirectspickingtothelocationswiththesmallestquantitiesonhand.Thislogicisgreatforspaceutilization.ReservedLocations.Thisisusedwhenyouwanttopredeterminespecificlocationstoputawaytoorpickfrom.Anapplicationforreservedlocationswouldbecross-docking,whereyoumayspecifycertainquantitiesofaninboundshipmentbemovedtospecificoutboundstaginglocationsordirectlytoanawaitingoutboundtrailer.MaximizeCube.CubelogicisfoundinmostWMSsystemshoweveritisseldomused.Cubelogicbasicallyusesunitdimensionstocalculatecube(cubicinchesperunit)andthencomparesthistothecubecapacityofthelocationtodeterminehowmuchwillfit.Nowift