Selecting, Buying, Installing And Using A Modern Warehouse Management System Course

Course Objectives

On completion of this course you should be able to:

• Determine the purpose of warehouse management systems and a description of their costs and benefits.
• Discuss the build-versus-buy choice is discussed.
• Define the organizational impact and describe the short and long-term effect.
• Understand how to buy a WMS, the project team that must be assembled, the marketplace for commercial systems.
• List the types of systems available and how to go about choosing among them, the creation of a Request for Proposal and the evaluation of responses.
• Apply a methodology for justifying/funding a system for installation, as well as an ongoing operation and maintenance.

Course Outline

Warehouse Management Systems

• Purpose
• Core Function
• Core data
• Basic processes and Functions
• Additional processes and Functions
• Industry-Specific Function and Feature
• Features and Functions Not Included

WMS Costs and Benefits

• ERP Systems vs. Best-of-Breed
• Hardware and Infrastructure Costs
• Software and Infrastructure Costs
• Software costs
• Other project costs
• Ongoing operating costs
• Benefits
• Calculating ROI
• WMS Weaknesses
• Organizational Impact
• Who Should Have a WMS?

The WMS Project

• First Time vs. Reinstallation
• Make vs. Buy
• Timeline Expectations
• Achieving Success
• Project Staff Turnover
• User-Supplier Relations

Commercially Available Systems

• Brief Industry History
• Major Product Options
• Dealing in the Market Today

Buying a WMS

• Identify concept
• Form Project Team
• Identify Needs
• Contact Suppliers and Select Initial Group
• Create and Issue RFI
• Select Short List
• Create and Issue RFQ
• Final Supplier Selection
• Contract Negotiation

The Installation Project

• Before Installing
• Kickoff Meeting
• Conference Room Pilot
• Modification and Preparation
• Installation
• Mock Go-Live
• Final Review
• Go-Live

Ongoing Operation

• Monitoring
• Maintaining
• Extending Value
• Upgrades
• Maintaining Supplier Relations