On the face of it, warehouse management applications can seem pretty similar and you would be forgiven for wondering where to start in choosing between them.
So you’ve set to the task of investigating the options for your company’s new warehouse management system. Naturally, you’ll want one that is compatible with your existing ERP. So if that happens to be SAP, for example, you’ll be looking for one that can integrate with that. If your business uses NetSuite, you’ll want to check out what WMS SuiteApps are available.
So far, so good. But how do you really go about choosing which one is going to work best with what you already have? After all, you want this to slot in as smoothly as possible and get back to business as usual asap.
Dig a little below the surface, however, and you will find that product A does everything product B appears to do, but when it comes to interfacing with your existing ERP, product A starts to show some cracks. And you might be looking at some serious headaches.
Not so with WAERlinx WMS for NetSuite. Let’s take a closer look at what it has to offer:
• Online visibility of orders that are available to pick
• Paperless picking (i.e. no printed picklists)
• Flexible picking policies: discrete orders, wave picking & batch picking
• Bin-level visibility and control
• Pick face management (replenishment from bulk storage)
• All barcode formats supported
• Optional packing functions
• Flexible labelling and delivery documentation
• Performance metrics specifically designed for warehouse operations
• Visibility of stock in-transit between warehouses
• Courier integration and labelling
• Proof of Delivery App
• Lot, Serial and Expiry Date handling
• Supermarket scanning option for receipts and stock counting.
So how does it work?
Integration between NetSuite and WAERlinx is implemented using SuiteTalk web services, which provides a full complement of SOAP web services across the NetSuite framework.
In WAERlinx these are managed through a console which provides options for scheduled tasks, allowing managers to control which interfaces are running, together with their frequency. For example, the Sales Order interface might run every two minutes while the Currency interface might only run once a day.
This is coupled with a set of configuration options within WAERlinx, allowing fine-grained control of each interface. Exceptions are tracked and logged, and automated emails inform system managers of any problems affecting the interfaces.
We’ve yet to find another WMS that offers such flexible and comprehensive NetSuite integration; just one more compelling reason to choose WAERlinx for NetSuite.
For a more detailed description of WAERlinx’ interfacing mechanism, please email dsnelson@waersystems.co.uk.