Warehouse management system (WMS) is an important element of
any supply chain execution backbone. Therefore a successful WMS implementation
is crucial for keeping your customers satisfied, keeping the supply chain costs
low and complying with industry standards and documentation norms. WMS
implementation failures can be catastrophic for the company's balance sheet as
well as for the careers of those involved in the project. Some well publicized WMS implementation failure that can be found on the internet are as
follows:
Adidas: WMS implementation at the new DC is full of glitches. Adidas can not fulfill 80% of the orders and looses market share that persists for a long time
Toys R' Us.com: WMS can not fulfill orders in time during Christmas even though sufficient inventoy was available. Eventually decides to outsource efullfillment to amazon.com
J. Sainsbury: $700 million WMS automation project is a failure and most of the supply chain team is shown the door
Clearly a WMS implementation project carries severe consequences in the event of a failure. What are some of the things that one could do to make implementation of WMS successful? In the next post I will try to put together a list of things that are common among successful WMS implementations.
