It’s no secret that Tompkins Associates is a proponent of warehouse control systems. In fact, we have our own WCS that we provide to our integration clients: Tompkins Warehouse Control System.

I bring this up, because a recent client meeting reminded me of how a WCS can open up visibility into warehouse operations. This particular client is using our WCS to implement a multi-phase material handling equipment upgrade. The warehouse management systems' (WMS) interface to the WCS are expected to remain fixed while the MHE changes.

During the meeting, we finished the interface review and moved into a discussion of our operational data screens. As I finished a review of our standard screens, I asked the client team for input on any custom screens or reports that they might need to help them manage the DC. After a period of silence, they answered, "We will have to get back to you on that, since our current controls don’t provide us any data!"

It was a light-bulb-over-the-head, paradigm-shifting moment. Our client team realized that they now had the opportunity to "know what they didn’t know" (i.e., get visibility into productivity and throughput data to help them identify trouble spots and optimize their warehousing and distribution operations).

A WCS provides two important advantages over a traditional WMS/MHE controls integration:

The first advantage is that it hides the complexity of MHE interface details from the WMS. In essence, the WCS provides a uniform interface of data items to the WMS while dealing with the physical interface to the MHE. This was the feature that drove our client to select a WCS for their multi-phase warehouse upgrade program.

The second advantage of a WCS is that it provides real-time data to allow users to manage their MHE and warehouse operations. Although this feature can be provided by traditional controls, it is often overlooked. This operational data visibility is a powerful advantage to any organization (like our client in the story above) that has been struggling with an older low-to-zero information MHE controls system.

Tompkins has plenty of good company in regards to touting the advantage of using warehouse control systems in modern DCs. I recently came across an article that shows how Ikea uses a WCS to support uniform practices across its network of DCs. The article, linked here (http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2009/09/03/ikea-overcomes-warehouse-control-systems-islands-of-automation/), is worth reading for a complementary perspective on the topic.

The advantages of a WCS feed into a topic that is the essence of this blog: the topic of supply chain visibility. Any DC is an important link in the data chain that comprises supply chain visibility (or is in fact the origination point of the supply chain).

Warehouse Control Systems are an important tool not only to manage the DC, but to link the data within the DC to the overall supply-chain IT infrastructure. A well-implemented WCS begins supply chain visibility right in your own DC.

-- Paul

Tags: wms, mhe, integration