Warehouse Management in Supply Chain Management
Warehouse Management is an important component within overall Supply Chain Management. Any business or company that needs to receive and store goods to sell will need a warehouse to perform many vital functions. Warehouse Management is the practice of tracking, analyzing, and improving all process related to the movement of stock in, around, and out of the Warehouse. It includes planning and executing all aspects of the Warehouse and related activity.
Functions of the Warehouse
Warehouses perform several critical functions for a business and enable the movement of materials and goods from suppliers, into the warehouse, and eventually to customers.
Receiving: Goods must be received from suppliers. The warehouse must verify the correct product, quantity, and quality of the goods received.
Put Away: Once received, they must be transported to their specified storage location within the warehouse without being damaged or spoiled.
Picking: Items are located and found, then removed from storage to fill customer orders.
Packing: Picked items are grouped into sales orders and prepared to be shipped in a safe manner so that they are not damaged in transit to the customer.
Shipping: The packed items are sorted, grouped, and dispatched to the customers.
Returns: Returned items must be processed, tracked, received, and restocked
At any point in the process of movement through the warehouse, there can be inefficiencies, delays, or stoppages, all of which affect the next steps in the process and can be costly for a business and cause customer dissatisfaction. For example, items broken or damaged during put away, inefficient organization of goods causing longer picking times and a need for more warehouse employees, poor shipping protocols resulting in late deliveries or deliveries to the wrong address.
What is Warehouse Management?
Warehouse Management is the practice of analyzing, planning, and executing all process related to the warehouse and the movement of goods in and out of it. It involves all practices of planning relating to the warehouse – layout of facilities, training and hiring of warehouse workers, product placement and storage within the warehouse, picking and packing procedures to name a few. Tracking everything from inventory to shipments helps to ensure demands are met in a timely manner.
Benefits of Warehouse Management
The goal of Warehouse Management is to make procedures and processes faster, more efficient, and more reliable. Effective Warehouse Management has many benefits that can help a business, such as ensuring efficient usage of warehouse space, maximizing inventory storage, making it easier for employees to find goods within the warehouse, ensuring faster and more efficient delivery of orders, and maintaining effective coordination between suppliers and shipping partners.
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