Warehouse managers are heading into another budget cycle where they are typically expected to improve operational performance without equivalent increases in IT spend, writes Joe O’Shea, Regional Account Manager at Aptean. To meet these expectations, they need to prioritise investments that both reduce costs and free up resources for higher-value work – delivering what can be described as an “opportunity benefit”.
Opportunity benefit builds on the familiar idea of opportunity cost. Instead of focusing on what is lost by not investing, it focuses on what is gained when a technology investment replaces legacy, labour-intensive processes. Freed resources can then support strategic initiatives such as cyber resilience, AI and digital innovation, or service improvements that directly enhance customer experience.
My focus is warehouse technology and from decades of experience working within the supply chain, I know that implementing a Warehouse Management System (WMS) is one of the strongest candidates for this kind of investment. Organisations typically see payback in six to 24 months, followed by ongoing reductions in operating costs, with long-term annual ROI often between 15% and 100%, depending on scale and objectives.
Crucially, the benefits seen extend well beyond efficiency improvements. A WMS releases budgets, time and people from manual processes, tedious error correction and inefficient stock handling, so they can be redeployed elsewhere.
Real-world examples of companies we have worked with show these gains in practice. Companies including Stafford Lynch, Wholefoods Wholesale, Annaghmore Agencies, Tetrosyl and Coastal Pet Products. These organisations have used WMS technology to increase throughput, improve accuracy and traceability, cut property and operating costs, and in some cases achieve full payback within 12 months. These projects deliver both rapid financial returns and broader process transformation, making warehouse operations more agile and scalable. These are all powerful opportunity benefits.
As we begin 2026, now is an ideal time for warehouse managers to evaluate how WMS technology can reduce costs, unlock opportunity benefits and fund the next wave of innovation, ensuring their operations remain efficient, competitive and resilient.
Comments are closed.