The WMS Inbound process in warehouse management is initiated when a carrier (this may be the same as the shipper) calls a warehouse to make a delivery appointment.  Many companies require a Carrier to send an Advanced Ship Notice containing the contents of an inbound vehicle.  A driver checks in with the Receiving Offices upon arrival and is directed to a door.  If there is a gatehouse, this may occur there.

WMS Receiving

The next step in WMS Inbound Processing is called Receiving.  During this step, the inbound truck is unloaded and the contents are compared to the PO’s.  Any discrepancies are noted and conveyed to Purchasing so that vendor invoices may be adjusted.  It is also during this step that the products are configured for Putaway.

WMS Value Added Processing for Inbound

Certain optional Value-added Steps may be added to the WMS Inbound Process here.  Specifically, products may be labeled, inspected, pre-packed, put into assortments or kits, or any other activity that the warehouse may opt to perform.  Often, specific products are flagged as needing some value-added process or another.  To discuss a few of the more common value added processes:

WMS Pre-Pack

Pre-pack, so-called because it happens before the product is stored, occurs when a company sells a product in a different unit of measure than that which it buys the product.  For instance, a company may acquire a barrel of key chains, but sell individual single key chains in small plastic bags.

WMS Pricing

Pricing labels may be applied to the product before it is put away.

WMS Inspection

Inspection involves taking a subset, perhaps randomly, or all of the inbound product and putting it through an inspection process, which may include comparing it to design tolerances, quality measurement, visual inspection for defects, or some other inspection activity.

Kits and Assortments

Kits and assortments are very similar WMS processes, involving adding individual products (SKUs) together to make a new product (SKU).

WMS Putaway

WMS Putaway is usually performed using a forklift with a truck-mounted wireless computer.  Putaway can be system-directed or driver-directed.  System-directed requires that the WMS to have a Locator.  When a case or pallet of an item is scanned (identified) the system will search out the best location within the warehouse for that product based upon Putaway Location Assignment logic.  Driver-directed is when a fork truck driver drives the product to the best location based on his experience and places the product there.

Once a product is putaway, the WMS Inbound process is completed.

WMS Inventory Control

WMS Inventory Control Processes are driven by the requirement for a company to know what it has for inventory and where that inventory is located.  While it has always been important to know this in order to run an efficient enterprise, the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has made it a corporate requirement.  Inventory Control includes Cycle Counting, Full Physical, Replenishment, Cross Docking, Product Moves, and Inventory Reporting.

WMS Cycle Counting & Full Physical Counting

WMS Cycle Counting is an Inventory Control process to divide up the inventory into smaller quantities by range of location, velocity, last count date or product type, and then create a task to perform a count.  Each set of counts is a Count Project.  Cycle counting is important in order to maintain an accurate inventory and efficient warehouse operation.  Additionally, a well-designed and well-executed Cycle Count Process can obviate the need for Full Physical Counting

WMS Full Physical Counting is process which counts all locations and all products in a warehouse.  This activity requires closure of the warehouse during the process.

In both Cycle and Full Physical Counting, the tasks are performed using portable wireless computers.

WMS Replenishment

WMS Replenishment is an Inventory Control process that redistributes product from Bulk areas to Pickable areas.  Replenishment can be performed to ‘top-off’ a location, to ‘stock-up’ to fulfill a picking requirement.  Replenishment can also require carton labeling if a pallet is broken down into cases and the cases are the unit that is replenished.

WMS Cross Docking

WMS Cross Docking is an Inventory Control process that matches up inbound shipments and outbound shipments so that product does not need to be putaway and picked.  This process saves time and space by bypassing the warehouse storage process.

WMS Product Moves

WMS Product Moves is an Inventory Control process that supports the redistribution of products around the warehouse for any reason.

WMS Inventory Reporting

WMS Inventory Reporting is a combination of paper-based and on-screen reports that allow a warehouse manager to review activities and status information to better manage the efficiency of the warehouse operation.

WMS Labor Management

WMS Labor Management is the process that matches up workers and workload to ensure that warehouses are properly staffed and that work is done as efficiently as possible.

WMS Outbound processing

WMS outbound processing is driven by customer orders.  Customer place orders via phone, web, and mail-order, for a set of items.  These orders then must be fulfilled (picked and shipped) as intelligently as possible.

WMS Wave Planning

Wave Planning is so-called because the work is divided up into waves.  Conceptually, the Pickers perform the picks and must deliver these picks to the Packers before the Packers can pack.  Then the Packers must pack before the Loaders can load and so on.  Therefore, we divide the picks into Waves.  Wave #1 is delivered to Packing before Wave #2 is Picked.  Then Wave #1 is delivered to Loaders while Wave #2 is Packed.  These evens out the work load.

Waves are often defined according to a vast array of criteria.  Sometimes a wave consists of all orders destined to a certain set of area codes, all orders that only have one line, all orders going via a certain set of routes, all orders that are picked with a forklift or by hand, or all “rush” orders.  It depends on the business.

Wave Planning involves three major steps – define the contents of each wave, locate the picks, and release the pick tasks to the floor personnel.

WMS Picking

WMS Picking is usually performed using wireless computers.  Once the Pick Tasks for a particular Wave have been released to the floor, the Pickers are directed to a specific location to perform a pick of a certain item in a certain quantity.

WMS Value Added Processing for Outbound

Certain optional Value-added Steps may be added to the WMS Outbound Process here.  Specifically, products may be priced, repacked, inspected, or labeled.  Often, specific products are flagged as needing some value-added process or another.  Refer to the WMS Value Added Functions for Inbound section for a discussion of these types value added functions.

WMS Packing

WMS Packing involved preparation of the picks for shipment.  Items from the same order or possibly different orders from the same company are packed together into shippable containers (cartons, crates, and pallets) until the container is full. 

WMS Loading

Once a carton is packed, it may be staged at a door or loaded into a truck.  WMS Loading is the final act before shipment that records the loading of a specific container (pallet, carton, or crate) onto a truck.

Once a product is loaded, the WMS Outbound Process is complete.