Industrial Distribution Looks at Customization of Erp/wms Software


by Thomas Cutler - Date: 2007-03-14 - Word Count: 373 Share This!

According to manufacturing journalist Thomas R. Cutler in a recent issue of Industrial Distribution, "When distributors first start using an ERP (enterprise resource planning) or WMS (warehouse management system), many tend to make the same mistake. They get a new system but don't make the customizations needed for their business to take full advantage of the technology."

"Anytime a company is implementing a new ERP or WMS, there will always be modifications to the base package," observes Jerry List, co-founder of QC Software (www.qcsoftware.com). "It never matches a company's needs out of the box ... and distributors pay for those modifications over and over again each time they upgrade to the latest version."

Modifications are necessary when business processes change, when the facility layout is changed, or a distributorship has simply outgrown its current ERP and WMS systems.

Some of the business process or operational changes might include:
- Going from paper based picking to RF (radio frequency)
- Going from picking into totes to picking directly into a shipping carton
- Changing your picking verification from scanning every item at pack-out to a weight-based verification, using an in-line scale
- Deciding how you batch orders together for more efficient picking.
There are higher-level business decisions which drive upgrading a WMS system, but according to List, it is almost always influenced by one fact.
"The previous WMS just wasn't getting the job done," List says. "We've seen distributors that had other technology solutions doing all of the pick tasks, and became quite frustrated with the slow response times."

The article may be read in its entirety at http://www.inddist.com/webOnlineArticle/CA6420583.html?nid=2772.

QC Software is the leading provider of Tier 1 warehouse control systems to the warehousing and distribution industries. Since 1996, QC Software, utilizing state of the art technology combined with extensive research, development, and rigorous testing, has developed the QC Enterprise suite of products. Designed to be modular in nature, easily configurable, and platform independent, this highly scalable solution satisfies the needs of any size warehouse.
The solutions provided by QC Software enables companies to streamline their warehouse operations with the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry ensuring increased corporate profitability. With a commitment to total customer satisfaction QC Software is the obvious choice for warehouse control, order management, and inventory management needs.


Related Tags: warehouse control system, wcs, inventory management, order fulfillment, conveyor control, shipment manifest, qc enterprise, distribution warehousing

QC Software, Inc.
www.qcsoftware.com
Jerry List
Vice President
jerrylist@qcsoftware.com
(513) 469-1424

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