外文文獻(xiàn)及翻譯-倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)(wms)

1、<p>　　倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)（WMS）</p><p>　　倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)（WMS）的演變與許多其他軟件解決方案是非常相似的。最初的系統(tǒng)用來(lái)控制物料在倉(cāng)庫(kù)內(nèi)的流動(dòng)和貯存，倉(cāng)庫(kù)的作用正在延伸到包括輕型制造業(yè)，交通運(yùn)輸管理，訂單管理，和完整的會(huì)計(jì)制度中。利用與先前的業(yè)務(wù)有關(guān)的軟件，制造資源計(jì)劃，作為一個(gè)比較，材料需求計(jì)劃（MRP）開(kāi)始作為一個(gè)規(guī)劃要求，原材料的生產(chǎn)環(huán)境的系統(tǒng)。物料需求計(jì)劃很快演變成以MRP系統(tǒng)，補(bǔ)

2、充調(diào)度和容量規(guī)劃為基礎(chǔ)的邏輯制造資源計(jì)劃（MRPII系統(tǒng)）。最終MRPII系統(tǒng)演變成企業(yè)資源規(guī)劃（ERP），吸收所有的MRPII系統(tǒng)的功能包括充分的財(cái)務(wù)與客戶和供應(yīng)商管理功能?，F(xiàn)在，無(wú)論倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)演變成一個(gè)以倉(cāng)庫(kù)為中心的ERP系統(tǒng)是一件好事或不可達(dá)的辯論。清楚的是，在倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)，企業(yè)資源規(guī)劃，布局規(guī)劃要求，交通運(yùn)輸管理系統(tǒng)，供應(yīng)鏈計(jì)劃，高級(jí)計(jì)劃與排程，以及制造執(zhí)行系統(tǒng)之間擴(kuò)大重疊功能性只會(huì)增加那些尋找軟件解決方案業(yè)務(wù)的公司混亂水平。

3、</p><p>　　盡管倉(cāng)庫(kù)繼續(xù)獲得額外的功能，最初的倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)的核心功能還沒(méi)有真正改變。其主要目的是控制管理系統(tǒng)在工藝操作相關(guān)聯(lián)的交易中的流動(dòng)和材料儲(chǔ)存。定向采摘，定向補(bǔ)充，定向收集是倉(cāng)庫(kù)的關(guān)鍵。從一個(gè)軟件供應(yīng)商到另一個(gè)在一個(gè)管理系統(tǒng)中詳細(xì)的安裝和處理可以有一個(gè)很大的差別，但是其基本邏輯將使用相結(jié)合的項(xiàng)目，地點(diǎn)，數(shù)量，度量單位，并以收集信息以確定在哪里儲(chǔ)存，在哪里挑選，以及以何種順序執(zhí)行這些操作。</

4、p><p>　　一 最低限度，一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)應(yīng)采取下列措施</p><p>　　您是否真的需要倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)？</p><p>　　并非每一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)需要一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)。當(dāng)然，任何倉(cāng)庫(kù)可受益于其中一些功能，但這些受益是否足以證明管理系統(tǒng)最初的</p><p><b>　　二 聲明</b></p><p>

5、;　　1）倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將減少庫(kù)存！</p><p>　　2）倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將減少勞動(dòng)力成本！</p><p>　　3）倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將增加存儲(chǔ)容量！</p><p>　　4）倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將提高客戶服務(wù)！</p><p>　　5）倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將增加庫(kù)存的準(zhǔn)確性！</p><p>　　和正在進(jìn)行的相關(guān)費(fèi)用是正確的？倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)

6、是大的，復(fù)雜的，數(shù)據(jù)密集型的應(yīng)用。他們往往需要大量的初始安裝，很多系統(tǒng)資源的運(yùn)行，很多正在進(jìn)行的數(shù)據(jù)管理為繼續(xù)運(yùn)行。沒(méi)錯(cuò)，你需要“管理”你的倉(cāng)庫(kù)“管理”制度。一般情況下，大規(guī)模的行動(dòng)最終將建立一個(gè)新的IS部門用來(lái)唯一負(fù)責(zé)管理倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)。</p><p><b>　　三 現(xiàn)實(shí)</b></p><p>　　實(shí)施一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)用來(lái)自動(dòng)的數(shù)據(jù)收集將可能使你的準(zhǔn)確性增加，減

7、少勞動(dòng)力成本（提供需要維持系統(tǒng)的勞動(dòng)力少于物品保存在倉(cāng)庫(kù)樓需要的勞動(dòng)力）和更好地來(lái)服務(wù)客戶以降低周期。預(yù)期庫(kù)存減少和增加存儲(chǔ)容量的可能性較小。雖然在接收過(guò)程中增加了準(zhǔn)確性和效率可能降低庫(kù)存安全水平，但這種降低產(chǎn)生的影響與整體庫(kù)存水平相比可以忽略不計(jì)?？刂茙?kù)存水平批量最主要的因素是多種尺寸，交貨時(shí)間和需求的變化，倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)將對(duì)任何因素有重大影響是不可能。而且同時(shí)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)確實(shí)的為更多的有組織的存儲(chǔ)提供工具，因?yàn)檫@種存儲(chǔ)可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致更多的

8、存儲(chǔ)容量，相對(duì)于這種改善您之前的倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)是多么草率啊。除了勞動(dòng)效率，決定實(shí)施倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)的決定因素，往往與一些能滿足您的客戶的需求有更多關(guān)聯(lián)，比如您目前的系統(tǒng)不支持（或不太支持）像先進(jìn)先出，交叉對(duì)接，自動(dòng)挑選補(bǔ)充，波采摘，多種跟蹤，停車場(chǎng)管理，自動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)采集，自動(dòng)材料處理設(shè)備等。</p><p><b>　　四 設(shè)置</b></p><p>　　倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)的設(shè)置需

9、求是廣泛的，每個(gè)項(xiàng)目和地點(diǎn)都必須保持在詳細(xì)或分組類似項(xiàng)目和地點(diǎn)分類。一個(gè)例子，項(xiàng)目詳細(xì)程度的特點(diǎn)將包括確切尺寸和重量，每個(gè)項(xiàng)目在每個(gè)單位的項(xiàng)目?jī)?chǔ)備（項(xiàng)目，案件，托盤等），以及信息，如是否可以與其他物品混在一個(gè)位置，無(wú)論是的最高層次，最大堆疊高度，最高量的位置，危險(xiǎn)性分類，半成品或原材料，快與慢動(dòng)，等。盡管一些行動(dòng)將需要用這種方式設(shè)立每個(gè)項(xiàng)目，但大多數(shù)業(yè)務(wù)將有利于創(chuàng)造群體的類似產(chǎn)品。例如，如果你是一個(gè)音樂(lè)CD分銷商，您將創(chuàng)建集團(tuán)單一CD和

10、雙張CD，保持詳細(xì)的尺寸和重量的資料在組一級(jí)，只需要對(duì)每個(gè)項(xiàng)目附上組代碼。您可能會(huì)需要對(duì)特殊物品保持詳細(xì)的資料，如盒裝套或CD的特別包裝。您也可以為地域的不同類型在您的倉(cāng)庫(kù)里創(chuàng)造群組。一個(gè)例子是，為您用于CD采摘的三種不同大小前瞻性采摘地點(diǎn)建立3個(gè)不同群體（小一，二，三）。然后，您可以建立單一的光盤數(shù)量，將適合P1，P2和P3的位置，多種雙張CD適合在小一，二，小三的位置等。您可能還設(shè)立案件的數(shù)量，每個(gè)CD組光盤數(shù)量,貨箱的數(shù)量和光盤的

11、每個(gè)后備存儲(chǔ)位置組。</p><p>　　如果這聽(tīng)起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單，但在現(xiàn)實(shí)中很多業(yè)務(wù)有更多元化的產(chǎn)品組合，將需要更多的系統(tǒng)設(shè)置。而且建立產(chǎn)品的物理特性和產(chǎn)品的位置只是藍(lán)圖的部分。你設(shè)定的使系統(tǒng)知道產(chǎn)品可以適合哪里并且多少產(chǎn)品將滿足這個(gè)地方已經(jīng)足夠了。您現(xiàn)在需要建立必要的信息，以讓系統(tǒng)決定從哪些位置選擇，補(bǔ)充，并采集，并在這些事件應(yīng)該出現(xiàn)這些序列中（記得倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理就是“指示”流動(dòng)）。你分配具體邏輯的的做法使各種組合項(xiàng)目/

12、訂單/數(shù)量/位置信息將出現(xiàn)。</p><p>　　下面我列出一些用于確定實(shí)際位置和序列的邏輯</p><p>　　1）位置順序。這是最簡(jiǎn)單的邏輯;您只需確定流經(jīng)你的倉(cāng)庫(kù)和為每一個(gè)地點(diǎn)分配序列編號(hào)。為了挑選這是把您選擇的在流經(jīng)的倉(cāng)庫(kù)排序，在采集邏輯將尋求在第一位置的順序適合的產(chǎn)品。</p><p>　　2）區(qū)邏輯。由于把你的儲(chǔ)存地點(diǎn)分到區(qū)，您可以直接采摘，收集，或補(bǔ)充

13、或特定地區(qū)的倉(cāng)庫(kù)。自區(qū)邏輯唯一指定的一個(gè)地區(qū)，則需要再加上一些其他類型的邏輯，以確定確切位置在禁區(qū)內(nèi)。</p><p>　　固定的位置。邏輯使用預(yù)先確定的固定地點(diǎn)，每一項(xiàng)目中分揀，采集 ，和補(bǔ)充。固定地點(diǎn)是一塊采摘挑選和個(gè)案選擇的行動(dòng)最常用的首要位置，但是，它們也可用于二級(jí)存儲(chǔ)。</p><p>　　隨機(jī)地點(diǎn)。由于電腦不能真正隨機(jī)（也不想要他們）的任期隨機(jī)位置有點(diǎn)誤導(dǎo)。隨機(jī)地點(diǎn)一般指的是產(chǎn)

14、品不會(huì)儲(chǔ)存在指定的固定地點(diǎn)的地方。如Zone邏輯，您將需要一些額外的邏輯，以確定確切位置。</p><p>　　先入先出（FIFO的）。首先指示挑選最古老的庫(kù)存。</p><p>　　最后，先出（LIFO）。我不認(rèn)為這種邏輯有任何實(shí)際應(yīng)用，直到我的網(wǎng)站訪問(wèn)者發(fā)送一封電子郵件，說(shuō)明自己在國(guó)內(nèi)和海外銷售易腐貨物的行動(dòng)。他們?yōu)楹Ｍ饪蛻羰褂肔IFO（因?yàn)殚L(zhǎng)期在途中）和為國(guó)內(nèi)客戶使用FIFO。<

15、;/p><p>　　挑選到清楚。用最少的人手挑選邏輯指示的地點(diǎn)。這種邏輯是巨大的空間利用率。</p><p>　　預(yù)留位置。這個(gè)是在預(yù)約具體地點(diǎn)采集時(shí)使用。從申請(qǐng)預(yù)留位置將交叉對(duì)接，在那里你可以指定一定數(shù)量的入境貨物轉(zhuǎn)移到具體的舉辦地點(diǎn)外，或直接到等待出境拖車。</p><p>　　最大限度地立方。立方體邏輯中是在WMS系統(tǒng)發(fā)現(xiàn)最多的，盡管它很少使用。立方體邏輯基本上使

16、用單位面積計(jì)算立方體（立方英寸每單位）。然后比較這個(gè)位置的立方體能力，以確定有多少適合。現(xiàn)在，如果這些單位能堆疊成的位置，以填補(bǔ)每立方英寸的空間中的位置，立方體邏輯將工作。由于這很少發(fā)生在現(xiàn)實(shí)世界，立方體的邏輯往往是不切實(shí)際的。</p><p>　　10）鞏固。查詢看是否有一個(gè)以現(xiàn)有性質(zhì)存放相同產(chǎn)品的位置。還可以創(chuàng)造更多的行動(dòng)，以鞏固同類產(chǎn)品存放在多個(gè)位置。</p><p>　　11）很多

17、序列。用于采摘或補(bǔ)充，這將使用大量批號(hào)或日期，以確定位置，以選擇或補(bǔ)充。這是非常常見(jiàn)的邏輯結(jié)合多種方法，以確定最佳的位置。例如您可以選擇使用挑選到清晰的邏輯內(nèi)先入先出邏輯當(dāng)有多個(gè)地點(diǎn)以同樣的收據(jù)的日期。您也可能會(huì)根據(jù)目前的工作量改變的邏輯。在繁忙時(shí)段內(nèi)您可以選擇的邏輯，優(yōu)化生產(chǎn)力，同時(shí)在速度較慢時(shí)期您切換到邏輯，優(yōu)化空間利用率。</p><p><b>　　五 其他功能/思考</b><

18、/p><p>　　1）波拾取/批次揀貨/區(qū)揀貨。支持各種不同選擇方法從一個(gè)系統(tǒng)到另一個(gè)。在高銷量的完成作業(yè)，可采摘邏輯中的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵因素韋氏選擇。見(jiàn)我的文章的訂單欲知有關(guān)這些方法。</p><p>　　2）任務(wù)交織。工作交織介紹混合不同的功能，任務(wù)，如挑選和采集獲得最大的生產(chǎn)力。主要用于全貨負(fù)荷運(yùn)作，任務(wù)交織將指示叉車經(jīng)營(yíng)者拋棄托盤上他/她的方式在未來(lái)選秀權(quán)。在大型倉(cāng)庫(kù)這可以大大減少旅行時(shí)間，不

19、僅提高生產(chǎn)力，而且還減少磨損叉車和節(jié)約的能源成本，減少燃料消耗叉車。工作交織也使用周期計(jì)算程序，以協(xié)調(diào)的循環(huán)計(jì)數(shù)與采摘或采集任務(wù)。</p><p>　　3）集成自動(dòng)材料處理設(shè)備。如果你計(jì)劃使用自動(dòng)材料處理設(shè)備，如傳送帶，ASRS 單位，AGVS，挑選到照明系統(tǒng)，或分揀系統(tǒng)，您需要考慮在軟件選擇過(guò)程考慮它們。由于這些類型的自動(dòng)化是非常昂貴，通常是一個(gè)核心組成倉(cāng)庫(kù)的部分，您可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些設(shè)備將驅(qū)動(dòng)WMS的選擇作用，

20、你應(yīng)該與設(shè)備制造商在軟件選擇過(guò)程密切合作。</p><p>　　4）先進(jìn)的裝運(yùn)通知（ASN）。如果您的供應(yīng)商有能力向先進(jìn)裝運(yùn)通知（最好以電子方式），并附加遵守標(biāo)簽的出貨量您會(huì)希望以確保倉(cāng)庫(kù)可以使用這個(gè)自動(dòng)化您接受過(guò)程。此外，如果您需要向客戶提供ASNS，你也將要驗(yàn)證此功能。循環(huán)計(jì)數(shù)。大多數(shù)倉(cāng)庫(kù)將有一些循環(huán)計(jì)數(shù)功能。修改循環(huán)計(jì)數(shù)系統(tǒng)是常見(jiàn)的，以滿足特定的業(yè)務(wù)需求。</p><p>　　5）堆

21、場(chǎng)管理。堆場(chǎng)管理描述了管理職能的內(nèi)容（庫(kù)存）的拖車停在倉(cāng)庫(kù)，或空拖車本身。堆場(chǎng)管理通常與交叉對(duì)接，并可能包括管理入站和出站拖車。</p><p>　　6）勞動(dòng)跟蹤/容量規(guī)劃。有的WMS系統(tǒng)提供的功能有關(guān)的勞動(dòng)報(bào)告和容量規(guī)劃。任何人都一直在制造業(yè)應(yīng)該熟悉這種類型的邏輯?；旧希O(shè)定標(biāo)準(zhǔn)工時(shí)和機(jī)器（通常叉車）小時(shí)以上的任務(wù)，并設(shè)置可勞動(dòng)和機(jī)時(shí)數(shù)的轉(zhuǎn)變。該倉(cāng)庫(kù)系統(tǒng)將利用這一信息，以確定能力和負(fù)載。制造能力已使用了幾十

22、年規(guī)劃的結(jié)果好壞參半。需要因素的效率和利用率，以確定額定容量就是一個(gè)例子中存在的缺點(diǎn)這一進(jìn)程。不是說(shuō)我一定對(duì)規(guī)劃的倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)能力，我想大多數(shù)業(yè)務(wù)并不真的需要它，并能夠避免的失望試圖使它發(fā)揮作用。然而，我一個(gè)大倡導(dǎo)的個(gè)別勞動(dòng)生產(chǎn)率的跟蹤測(cè)量。大多數(shù)倉(cāng)庫(kù)保持足夠的數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)創(chuàng)建生產(chǎn)力報(bào)告。由于生產(chǎn)力是衡量從一個(gè)不同的行動(dòng)，另一個(gè)你可以假設(shè)你將不得不做一些小的改動(dòng)這里（通常的形式是自定義的報(bào)告）。</p><p>　　7）整合現(xiàn)

23、有的會(huì)計(jì)/ERP系統(tǒng)。除非倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)供應(yīng)商已經(jīng)建立了一個(gè)特定的接口與您的會(huì)計(jì)/ERP系統(tǒng)（如所提供的經(jīng)批準(zhǔn)的商業(yè)合作伙伴）您可以預(yù)期花費(fèi)一些重大編程美元這里。雖然我們大家都希望這種融合的問(wèn)題將得到解決，有一天奇跡般地由一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的接口，但是我們還沒(méi)有。理想您需要一個(gè)積分，已經(jīng)集成了倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)您選擇與商業(yè)軟件您使用。systems由于這并非總是可能你至少需要一個(gè)積分，這是非常熟悉的系統(tǒng)。</p><p>　　8）

24、倉(cāng)庫(kù)+一切=？正如我前面提到在本文開(kāi)頭，還有很多其他模塊被添加到倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)軟件包。這將包括全面的財(cái)務(wù)，輕型制造業(yè)，交通運(yùn)輸管理，采購(gòu)和銷售訂單管理。我不認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)單方面行動(dòng)的倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)由一個(gè)附加模塊，核心系統(tǒng)，而是一個(gè)可選的辦法，已應(yīng)用在具體行業(yè)，如3PLs。用ERP系統(tǒng)作為一個(gè)參照點(diǎn)，這是不太可能，這個(gè)附加的功能，將匹配的功能，最佳的應(yīng)用軟件可單獨(dú)購(gòu)買。如果倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)/分銷的核心業(yè)務(wù)職能和你不想必須處理一體化問(wèn)題納入單獨(dú)的財(cái)務(wù)，訂單處

25、理，等您可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這些倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)基礎(chǔ)的業(yè)務(wù)系統(tǒng)是一個(gè)良好的生長(zhǎng)。</p><p><b>　　六 執(zhí)行小貼士</b></p><p>　　標(biāo)準(zhǔn)以外的“不低估”，“徹底的測(cè)試”，“火車，火車，火車”執(zhí)行情況提示，適用于任何商業(yè)軟件的安裝，尤其要強(qiáng)調(diào)的是，WMS的設(shè)計(jì)非常依賴數(shù)據(jù)和限制性。也就是說(shuō)，您需要使系統(tǒng)正常運(yùn)行的所有適合的不同的數(shù)據(jù)元素。此外，當(dāng)他們已到位，您必

26、須在規(guī)定的參數(shù)操作。</p><p>　　當(dāng)執(zhí)行一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)，你是給您的系統(tǒng)額外增加了技術(shù)。并且相互層技術(shù)有額外的開(kāi)銷和其他的潛在問(wèn)題來(lái)源。現(xiàn)在不考慮這是一個(gè)譴責(zé)倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)。對(duì)于一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)背景我肯定贊賞WMS所提供的功能，并且，在許多倉(cāng)庫(kù)，這個(gè)功能是為客戶服務(wù)，保持競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力必不可少的能力。這里必須指出，每個(gè)解決方案都有其缺點(diǎn)，能良好的理解可能產(chǎn)生的影響將讓管理者做出與最適合其獨(dú)特的環(huán)境的技術(shù)水平相關(guān)的更好的決策

27、。</p><p>　　Warehouse Management Systems (WMS).</p><p>　　The evolution of warehouse management systems (WMS) is very similar to that of many other software solutions. Initially a system to contro

28、l movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and complete accounting systems. To use the grandfather

29、of operations-related software, MRP, as a comparison, material requirements planning (MRP) started as a system for planning raw material requi</p><p>　　Even though WMS continues to gain added functionality,

30、the initial core functionality of a WMS has not really changed. The primary purpose of a WMS is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation and process the associated transactions. Directed picki

31、ng, directed replenishment, and directed put away are the key to WMS. The detailed setup and processing within a WMS can vary significantly from one software vendor to another, however the basic logic will use a combinat

32、ion o</p><p>　　Do You Really Need WMS?</p><p>　　Not every warehouse needs a WMS. Certainly any warehouse could benefit from some of the functionality but is the benefit great enough to justify t

33、he initial and ongoing costs associated with WMS? Warehouse Management Systems are big, complex, data intensive, applications. They tend to require a lot of initial setup, a lot of system resources to run, and a lot of o

34、ngoing data management to continue to run. That’s right, you need to "manage" your warehouse "management" system. Often times, large o</p><p>　　The Claims: </p><p>　　WMS will

35、 reduce inventory! </p><p>　　WMS will reduce labor costs! </p><p>　　WMS will increase storage capacity! </p><p>　　WMS will increase customer service! </p><p>　　WMS will

36、 increase inventory accuracy! </p><p>　　The Reality: </p><p>　　The implementation of a WMS along with automated data collection will likely give you increases in accuracy, reduction in labor cos

37、ts (provided the labor required to maintain the system is less than the labor saved on the warehouse floor), and a greater ability to service the customer by reducing cycle times. Expectations of inventory reduction and

38、increased storage capacity are less likely. While increased accuracy and efficiencies in the receiving process may reduce the level of safety stock r</p><p>　　Beyond labor efficiencies, the determining facto

39、rs in deciding to implement a WMS tend to be more often associated with the need to do something to service your customers that your current system does not support (or does not support well) such as first-in-first-out,

40、cross-docking, automated pick replenishment, wave picking, lot tracking, yard management, automated data collection, automated material handling equipment, etc.</p><p><b>　　Setup </b></p>

41、<p>　　The setup requirements of WMS can be extensive. The characteristics of each item and location must be maintained either at the detail level or by grouping similar items and locations into categories. An exampl

42、e of item characteristics at the detail level would include exact dimensions and weight of each item in each unit of measure the item is stocked (each, cases, pallets, etc) as well as information such as whether it can b

43、e mixed with other items in a location, whether it is rack able, max st</p><p>　　If this sounds simple, it is…well… sort of. In reality most operations have a much more diverse product mix and will require m

44、uch more system setup. And setting up the physical characteristics of the product and locations is only part of the picture. You have set up enough so that the system knows where a product can fit and how many will fit i

45、n that location. You now need to set up the information needed to let the system decide exactly which location to pick from, replenish from/to, and put aw</p><p>　　Below I have listed some of the logic used

46、in determining actual locations and sequences. </p><p>　　Location Sequence. This is the simplest logic; you simply define a flow through your warehouse and assign a sequence number to each location. In order

47、 picking this is used to sequence your picks to flow through the warehouse, in put away the logic would look for the first location in the sequence in which the product would fit. </p><p>　　Zone Logic. By br

48、eaking down your storage locations into zones you can direct picking, put away, or replenishment to or from specific areas of your warehouse. Since zone logic only designates an area, you will need to combine this with s

49、ome other type of logic to determine exact location within the zone. </p><p>　　Fixed Location. Logic uses predetermined fixed locations per item in picking, put away, and replenishment. Fixed locations are m

50、ost often used as the primary picking location in piece pick and case-pick operations, however, they can also be used for secondary storage. </p><p>　　Random Location. Since computers cannot be truly random

51、(nor would you want them to be) the term random location is a little misleading. Random locations generally refer to areas where products are not stored in designated fixed locations. Like zone logic, you will need some

52、additional logic to determine exact locations. </p><p>　　First-in-first-out (FIFO). Directs picking from the oldest inventory first. </p><p>　　Last-in-first-out (LIFO). Opposite of FIFO. I didn&

53、#39;t think there were any real applications for this logic until a visitor to my site sent an email describing their operation that distributes perishable goods domestically and overseas. They use LIFO for their oversea

54、s customers (because of longer in-transit times) and FIFO for their domestic customers. </p><p>　　Pick-to-clear. Logic directs picking to the locations with the smallest quantities on hand. This logic is gre

55、at for space utilization. </p><p>　　Reserved Locations. This is used when you want to predetermine specific locations to put away to or pick from. An application for reserved locations would be cross-docking

56、, where you may specify certain quantities of an inbound shipment be moved to specific outbound staging locations or directly to an awaiting outbound trailer. </p><p>　　Maximize Cube. Cube logic is found in

57、most WMS systems however it is seldom used. Cube logic basically uses unit dimensions to calculate cube (cubic inches per unit) and then compares this to the cube capacity of the location to determine how much will fit.

58、Now if the units are capable of being stacked into the location in a manner that fills every cubic inch of space in the location, cube logic will work. Since this rarely happens in the real world, cube logic tends to be

59、impractical. </p><p>　　Consolidate. Looks to see if there is already a location with the same product stored in it with available capacity. May also create additional moves to consolidate like product stored

60、 in multiple locations. </p><p>　　Lot Sequence. Used for picking or replenishment, this will use the lot number or lot date to determine locations to pick from or replenish from. </p><p>　　It’s

61、very common to combine multiple logic methods to determine the best location. For example you may chose to use pick-to-clear logic within first-in-first-out logic when there are multiple locations with the same receipt d

62、ate. You also may change the logic based upon current workload. During busy periods you may chose logic that optimizes productivity while during slower periods you switch to logic that optimizes space utilization. </p

63、><p>　　Other Functionality/Considerations</p><p>　　Wave Picking/Batch Picking/Zone Picking. Support for various picking methods varies from one system to another. In high-volume fulfillment operati

64、ons, picking logic can be a critical factor in WMS selection. See my article on Order Picking for more info on these methods. </p><p>　　Task Interleaving. Task interleaving describes functionality that mixes

65、 dissimilar tasks such as picking and put away to obtain maximum productivity. Used primarily in full-pallet-load operations, task interleaving will direct a lift truck operator to put away a pallet on his/her way to the

66、 next pick. In large warehouses this can greatly reduce travel time, not only increasing productivity, but also reducing wear on the lift trucks and saving on energy costs by reducing lift truck fuel consumpti</p>

67、<p>　　Integration with Automated Material Handling Equipment. If you are planning on using automated material handling equipment such as carousels, ASRS units, AGNS, pick-to-light systems, or separation systems, y

68、ou’ll want to consider this during the software selection process. Since these types of automation are very expensive and are usually a core component of your warehouse, you may find that the equipment will drive the sel

69、ection of the WMS. As with automated data collection, you should be work</p><p>　　Advanced Shipment Notifications (ASN). If your vendors are capable of sending advanced shipment notifications (preferably ele

70、ctronically) and attaching compliance labels to the shipments you will want to make sure that the WMS can use this to automate your receiving process. In addition, if you have requirements to provide ASNs for customers,

71、you will also want to verify this functionality. </p><p>　　Yard Management. Yard management describes the function of managing the contents (inventory) of trailers parked outside the warehouse, or the empty

72、 trailers themselves. Yard management is generally associated with cross docking operations and may include the management of both inbound and outbound trailers. </p><p>　　Labor Tracking/Capacity Planning. S

73、ome WMS systems provide functionality related to labor reporting and capacity planning. Anyone that has worked in manufacturing should be familiar with this type of logic. Basically, you set up standard labor hours and m

74、achine (usually lift trucks) hours per task and set the available labor and machine hours per shift. The WMS system will use this info to determine capacity and load. Manufacturing has been using capacity planning for de

75、cades with mixed results.</p><p>　　Integration with existing accounting/ERP systems. Unless the WMS vendor has already created a specific interface with your accounting/ERP system (such as those provided by

76、an approved business partner) you can expect to spend some significant programming dollars here. While we are all hoping that integration issues will be magically resolved someday by a standardized interface, we isn’t th

77、ere yet. Ideally you’ll want an integrator that has already integrated the WMS you chose with the business s</p><p>　　WMS + everything else = ? As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, a lot of othe

78、r modules are being added to WMS packages. These would include full financials, light manufacturing, transportation management, purchasing, and sales order management. I don’t see this as a unilateral move of WMS from an

79、 add-on module to a core system, but rather an optional approach that has applications in specific industries such as 3PLs. Using ERP systems as a point of reference, it is unlikely that this</p><p>　　Implem

80、entation Tips</p><p>　　Outside of the standard “don’t underestimate”, “thoroughly test”, “train, train, train” implementation tips that apply to any business software installation ,it’s important to emphasi

81、ze that WMS are very data dependent and restrictive by design. That is, you need to have all of the various data elements in place for the system to function properly. And, when they are in place, you must operate within

82、 the set parameters.</p><p>　　When implementing a WMS, you are adding an additional layer of technology onto your system. And with each layer of technology there is additional overhead and additional sources

83、 of potential problems. Now don’t take this as a condemnation of Warehouse Management Systems. Coming from a warehousing background I definitely appreciate the functionality WMS have to offer, and, in many warehouses, th