The picker stops searching and starts picking
In most warehouses we have looked at, the biggest loss was neither space nor people — it was the time spent establishing where something is and whether it is there at all.
Who this is for
- Warehouses run on a spreadsheet and the knowledge of a few people
- Companies whose stocktake closes the warehouse for a day or two
- Organisations with an ERP that knows the quantity but not the location
What it covers
- Locations and a map of the warehouse
Storage addressing shaped around how the warehouse is actually laid out, not around a scheme from a manual.
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That decides whether people will use it.
- Receipts and issues on a scanner
A barcode instead of retyping from a document.
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The operation is recorded as it happens, so stock stops being true once a day.
- Picking with a suggested route
The pick list ordered by the warehouse layout rather than by the order of lines on the order.
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On larger jobs this is the single biggest saving.
- Continuous stocktaking
Counting selected locations during normal work instead of closing the warehouse once a year.
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Discrepancies surface while their cause can still be established.
In depth
What drives the cost
The number of exceptions: goods on pallets and in units, batches and expiry dates, multi-level picking, returns. Each is a separate path. That is why we map the warehouse before the quote rather than after.
What we don't promise
We don't promise the system will lay the warehouse out better than an experienced manager. It will suggest a route and remember where things are — the decision about placement stays with the person who knows the turnover.
Questions about this scope
We have an ERP with stock levels. Why would we need a WMS?
An ERP usually knows how much of something there is. It rarely knows where it sits, who picked it, or the fastest order in which to collect a shipment. If yours does — you don't need a WMS, and we will say so.
Do we have to buy special terminals?
Not always. Ordinary Android phones with a scanner are enough to start and let you test the process before investing in hardware built for warehouse conditions.
Can it be rolled out without stopping the warehouse?
Yes, and it is the only way we do it — one zone or one product group as a pilot, alongside the current way of working. Switching the whole warehouse at once is the scenario where a fault stops dispatch.
The parent service and related scopes
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