In Support of your Lean Warehousing Strategy,

The Softeon WMS-Lite Solution

• Designed for pre-configured standardized warehouse processes
• Require minimal effort and costs to implement and operate
• Provide for decentralized manageable setup, with pre-defined functionality
• It is advanced enough to support complex processes as the building blocks are from the full WMS, while the simplistic/lean warehousing functionality is exposed, as a separate solution layer - this architecture then is capable of easy transition into larger warehouses, MHE integration, complex pick/pack/ship operations which can typically fall outside the lean warehousing template:
  • This unique framework, protects the customer's supply chain strategy and not have them strapped into a WMS Lite solution without a seamless upgrade framework to grow into a regular WMS solution - (some of them out in the market, are usable only in certain landscapes, forcing the customer to go for other larger solutions for more complex landscapes, from different vendors which makes a single/seamless solution strategy difficult to implement)
  • Commercially it becomes more viable to the customer, for selectively going for the full solution for the larger and/or more complex warehouses while the larger volume of warehouses remain under the Lite warehousing solution

Who are candidates for the WMS-Lite Solution?

• Small to medium warehouses with pre-configured processes which can be quickly deployed. The system can be implemented in any small to medium size warehouse, provided;
  • The processes are standardized
  • The volume of orders/order lines being defined as a criteria for qualifying for this type of a solution is in range
  • No complex processes for any specific or groups of warehouses exist which would make it necessary to implement the full solution;
  • Examples of such situations would be, high volume SKUS/Orders being picked thru multiple methods - MHE integration (conveyor/sorters), multiple pick routes - complex load planning processes, concepts like Vendor Managed Inventory, Kitting and Value Added Services etc.
• Number of concurrent users per warehouse comply with the qualifying factor
• Even a larger warehouse can utilize the WMS-Lite solution provided the operations are standardized (for e.g. pallet-in/pallet-out, standard case pick/piece pick, pack and ship) with a less number of users managing the operations of the warehouse or the volume of orders processed is within a defined threshold of falling into the Lite warehousing landscape
• The WMS-Lite solution supports most standard processes/methodologies - order grouping and consolidation, wave based picking, serial number tracking, lot management etc. The system supports RF/Paper based picking, comes with a set of canned reports/queries, an ad hoc report writer and ability to generate specific label formats

Why a WMS-Lite Solution?

• Ideal for enterprises - regional, national and even global ones, which has hundreds of warehouses spread out in different geographies with the need for rolling out pre-configured processes
• Corporate/Global I.T. team can perform the templatized deployments
• Minimum support from the ISV (Independent Software Vendor) except for situations like:
• Country specific localizations/change in business processes from the standard template/local language/currency/units of measure implementations
• Specific labels/compliance labels/specific EDI/e-commerce transactions
• Specific Carrier integrations and also with country specific processes (or different version of server software/external systems going thru any upgrades which would affect the integration touch points to the Lite warehousing solution)
• Large enhancements/business process changes to the template as required from time to time

The Support Perspective

• Corporate I.T. is the primary provider of support (regional teams of the corporate I.T. takes the first level of support along with the power users)
• ISV gets involved thru web based service desk/support system except in case of emergency situations where they offer direct phone support in conjunction with the corporate I.T. team
• Overall maintenance costs tend to be lower on a large volume deployment landscape

The Infrastructure Perspective

• The central data center hosts the WMS lite solution
• In a global context there can be more than one data center - for e.g Americas, APAC, EMEA, etc..
• Support a web based Multi Division/multi-building/multi-business unit (customers) application framework
• Can easily be used by both first party distribution centers and by third party logistics service providers
• Can Realize High performance , across the board with minimal I.T. infrastructure required in the warehouse, except for RF and label printers as well as a few desktop computers for any back office type function and reporting
• The data centers will handle the database and I.P. (web connectivity) traffic across the entire landscape and does the load balancing, provide high availability etc. Virtualized servers brings infrastructure costs to optimum levels and provides disaster recovery and replication capabilities
• Provision for paper based operations (receive, pick, pack and ship) available for very small warehouses where RF infrastructure is assumed to be infeasible from a cost standpoint
• Softeon's advanced SOA platform provides these capabilities and also ease of external system integration should it be required (EDIs/interfaces to ERP/Order management systems etc.)

In Summary, Softeon recommends prospects to:

• Take a "Pilot project" approach to implementing the solution in a "candidate" warehouse in order to:
  • Measure the benefits delivered
  • Experience the ease of deployment
  • Test the performance of the system
  • Experience the power of the solution