Eric Carter, Solutions Architect at Indigo Software, has over 30 years’ experience of working with warehouse management systems.
Eric began his career in 1981 as an apprentice on the production floor at RHM Foods Limited, later managing the changes from a factory based storage facility into the worldwide distribution centre for Sharwood’s as the company’s warehouse manager. Eric has a unique insight into the working world of WMS.
Here, Eric shares his thoughts about this year’s IMHX, the landscape of the WMS industry and launching Indigo Software’s latest, most innovate product to date…
When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I work in Warehouse Management Solutions. Sometimes people smile politely like they know what I mean while others just stare blankly. So to put it in laymen’s terms, I explain not having WMS is like going shopping without checking your cupboards before heading out of the house or making a list.
A pretty basic analogy but true all the same; if you don’t know what you’ve got in your cupboards and where, you’re likely to misplace things and duplicate products without realising. By the time you’ve left the checkout and unpacked your bags, you’ve got two tubs of gravy granules and have spent double the amount of money than necessary.
It’s issues like this [but on a much greater scale] that affect big businesses. The volume, location and spread of a company’s goods can be difficult to track, monitor and stock. When done badly, companies can end up holding on to too much stock which in itself holds risks and costs money – lots of companies that have gone bust recently have been sitting on surplus stock like Comet, JJB Sports and Borders.
So while sophisticated warehouse management has always been important to companies, it’s never been more important for survival in tough economic climates, as inventory figures ultimately come off the businesses’ bottom line.
That’s why events like IMHX are great; they provide a one stop shop for everyone involved in logistics and nowhere else can you experience the range of suppliers all in one place.
The show exhibitors cover all aspects of logistics functions from manual handling kit to software vendors in all shapes and sizes. All the major ‘automation integrators’ were present showcasing the very best in breed conveyer and tote tracking systems. But IMHX is not just about big capital spending. There are small niche vendors offering logistics consumables like donnage bags and so on.
The benefit of events like IMHX is clearly that everything is in one place, it’s a very tactile experience and one not to be missed by the logistics professional – no amount of Internet browsing will give you the same results, it has to be experienced in person.
This year at IMHX the team at Indigo Software launched its latest, most innovative product in warehouse and logistics to date called ‘Indigo WMS’.
We began developing our WMS portfolio of applications 20 years ago, with our signature product ‘RealTime for System21’ enabling IBM i known as iSeries and AS/400] based System 21 ERP software users to utilise the latest barcode and wireless technologies, removing the manual processes associated with inventory and warehousing operations.
Now through Indigo WMS for IBM i, we’ve opened up the software providing an automated warehouse management system offering real time solutions enhanced for other users of IBM i ERP software such as BPICS, Maapics, Movex/M3 and SAP, as well as in house developed systems.
There’s no doubt about it that WMS is evolving; emerging technologies brings calm to the warehouse floor chaos, speeds up timeliness and put paid to questions like ‘Have you seen..?’ ‘Where is..?’ and ‘I can’t find..?’
With Indigo WMS, users are able to manage the movement of goods in and out of a warehouse, using a hand-held radio frequency terminal allowing automated data capture to ensure information is guaranteed to be accurate and true.
Successful businesses across the world operate a ‘Just in Time’ stock control system but in my experience, organisations in the UK operate using it’s ‘Just Too Late’.
The bottom line is that inventory is the nucleus of almost every decision made in a logistics and distribution business, and I strongly believe if you can save stock value through WMS systems like Indigo WMS for IBM i, you can make a massive difference to the bottom line.
Indigo Software
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