WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
technologyreview
The BIG
rollout
Implementing a
new WMS across a
network of DCs
carries big risks and
big rewards. Two
shippers that are
going through it tell
how they’re
avoiding pitfalls and
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE A MORE DAUNTING PROSPECT THAN IMPLEMENTING
a new warehouse management system (WMS) in more than two dozen warehouses and
DCs, some company-owned and some outsourced. And it’s all the more intimidating
when each facility has its own approach to doing business, not to mention a unique combination of software, material handling equipment, products, and customers.
Yet more companies are doing just that. After taking a hard look at their operations,
they’ve decided the potential benefits—accurate data, consistent service levels, and big
cost reductions across an entire distribution network—outweigh the challenges and
risks.
Two such companies are Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Loblaw Companies Ltd. Both are
in the midst of projects to standardize their warehouse management systems across complex distribution networks. And while each has encountered a few hiccups along the way,
they now have implementation down to a science. Here’s a look at some of the steps
they’ve taken to ensure success.
achieving success.
A “PROVEN, REPEATABLE IMPLEMENTATION MODEL”
Kimberly-Clark (K-C), the consumer and medical products titan, is in the middle of a
major software upgrade—one that entails switching 21 sites over from a 12-year-old version of RedPrairie’s WMS to the current version (v. 2011.2) over a period of 20 months.
Of those 21 sites, 10 are field DCs run by third-party logistics companies (3PLs), and 11
are plant-attached DCs, two of which are run by 3PLs.
