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Warehouses are storage spaces where raw materials and finished products are stored until they are ready to be dispatched. Distributors, manufacturers, retailers, and others can either operate their own warehouses or outsource their warehousing operations to a third party.
As warehouses handle large amounts of products and items, manually tracking and monitoring item movements can become difficult. Automating manual tasks at a warehouse can solve many common warehousing challenges, such as misplaced goods, theft, or inefficient picking.
Both tools help companies automate their warehouse-related processes and increase productivity metrics. So it's no surprise that some businesses face a dilemma when choosing between a standalone Warehouse Management Software (WMS) and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
A Warehouse Management System helps distributors, suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers move and store inventory efficiently. It helps warehouse managers easily track each item'sitem's location and automate monitoring of items received, put away, picked, and shipped. WMS is a warehouse-specific software that streamlines inventory management and often helps businesses reduce costs significantly.
ERP solutions are comprehensive backend solutions that help organizations manage their everyday business processes. This includes warehouse and inventory management, sales and marketing, customer service, Human Resources management, finances, accounts, etc. In other words, ERP is a full-fledged organizational management software, whereas WMS focuses on managing warehouse operations only.
A standalone WMS helps warehouse managers to track the packing, picking, receiving, and shipping of items.
However, the standalone system has limited features, impacting an organization'sorganization's ability to access a complete operational overview. Operational interoperability often requires additional integrations with disparate data sets from various organizational departments and 3rd party software.
Standalone WMS solutions are perfect for distributors and suppliers whose main task is storing goods before dispatching them to another location. However, you may have to integrate your standalone WMS with third-party applications for more complex operations and added benefits.
ERP solutions focus on helping organizations automate their everyday business processes. They focus on inventory management, accounts and finance, sales and marketing, human resource management, customer relationship management (CRM), and more.
A WMS fully integrated into an ERP solution does not require additional interfaces. With a fully integrated ERP WMS, your organization will benefit from real-time synchronization between automated warehouses and the ERP system for on-the-spot adjustments to work orders, inventory allocation, deliveries, and orders. The integrated ERP WMS calculates exact inventory balances, helps prevent errors and saves valuable time and resources.
WMS
ERP
Provides advanced features specific to warehouse management, such as pick, pack, and ship, replenishment, receiving and put-away, tracking and traceability, and the ability to scan RFID tags and barcodes.
Comprehensive software solution to automate most business operations, including WMS.
WMS offers limited employee management, payment processing, and access control features.
ERP is a complete business management and process automation tool that can be integrated with a WMS. It offers a complete solution for human resources management, financial administration and role-based authentication features.
Standalone WMS is suitable for distributors, suppliers, and warehouses.
ERP is suitable for full-fledged businesses that not only have warehouses but also opertae customer/client-centric workflows.
WMS may have advanced robotic and AI-enabled features to locate and track items in a warehouse.
ERP's inventory management tool may not comprehensively manage warehouses like a WMS.
Standalone WMS may require third-party integrations
An ERP with an in-built WMS, such as Priority ERP, negates the need for further integrations.
A comprehensive ERP solution with an integrated, holistic WMS module helps you easily pick, pack, and ship all your items. Moreover, it helps set picking and shipping waves for specific customers and chart the most optimal delivery route from the warehouse to the destination. Priority's ERP solution with an integrated WMS module is a good example. Some of Priority's WMS features include:
Priority's WMS module helps simplify complex processes and maximize warehouse storage. In addition, you gain access to advanced reports and insights that help optimize your warehouse operations. Priority's uniquely scalable infrastructure allows you to start with just the WMS. and add other modules as your business grows.
VP R&D
Hemdat is an experienced technology leader with a profound track record of driving innovation and growth in various high-tech industries. She brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles at Healthy.io, Finastra, and Cybereason. With a strong focus on Agile methodologies, Scrum, and software development, Hemdat has been instrumental in developing cutting-edge solutions and leading teams through fast-paced and dynamic environments.
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