Article - 009 How a Best of Breed , True Cloud WMS can help with Covid19 hit Supply Chains.

As a result of the Covid19 pandemic , organizations that 'make' , 'store' and 'distribute' consumer goods are once again forced to scrutinize their supply chains .

After every 'Black Swan' event , it is common for businesess to take the oppurtunity to asses every aspect of their business processes most crucially the health and robustness of their supply chains in an effort to find more effective ways to further make them more antifragile .

Here are broadly 2 insights that often emerge when businesses take a much more holistic look at their supply chains .

1) Inventory Visibility.

Inventory visibility has always been a critical part of any supply chain operation . However , as operations shift to more of an omni-channel fulfillment and distibution model , Inventory visibility has become even more and more crucial .

Fulfillment operations may have inventory located in various point along the supply chain—in the warehouse , DC, on the store shelves ... etc. Better strategies and systems need to be employed to ensure that all of that inventory is accounted for and is highly visible to the business .

Here are 3 ways Infor Best of Breed Cloudsuite WMS can help with Inventory Visibility :

1.1 3D Visualization.

With 3D Visual Warehouse, Infor WMS (Warehouse Management System) now provides a three-dimensional, interactive mechanism to visualize and orchestrate inventory flows allowing businesses to rapidly locate goods within the 4 walls of the warehouse and expedite fulfillment in the most effcient manner .

1.2 Integrated Networked Order Managemen (INOM).

With INOM , Infor WMS can be connected to all sources of inventory including market places , CRM , Point of Sales ..etc providing a single view of inventory across the entire retail supply chain while at the same time providing end customers superior omni channel engagement and experience .

1.3 Embedded world class 'Analytics' for more accurate inventory insights.

Infor WMS is able to provide modern supply chain analytics that will facilitate collaboration beyond the four walls of the business and across the entire ecosystem of partners and suppliers. Automated advanced analytics is able to anticipate trends and make recommendations that can be factored into decision making, and shared visibility of data enabling the global supply base to work as a highly orchestrated business network.

2) Labour Shortage , Efficiency & Cost

Over the last 2 years , many businesses including large players like Amazon have been reporting that there has been a serious shortage in the supply chain labor market . Besides the optimization of labor effciencies , labor availabilty is now increasingly becoming the most important concern .This problem has been exacerbated since december last year when the Covid19 pandemic struck China suddenly and without warning and has now spread to Europe and the rest of the world including ASIA . In order to overcome this challenge , businesses will now be forced to accelarate adoption of various other different mitigation strategies. Chiefly among them is the adoption of 'Smart Warehouses' with an emphasis on IIOT , Robotics and a much more robust labor management system to optimize a stripped down workforce .

Here are 3 ways Infor Best of Breed Cloudsuite WMS can help with the Labor Crunch :

2.1) Embedded Labour Management System

Infor LMS help mitigate the following problem areas :

2.1.1 ) Labor Shortage

Embedded labor planning tools to constantly track labor activities vs number of FTEs required for those activities allowing for a predictive approach to spotting any future labor shortages .

2.1.2 ) Labor Efficiencies

Embedded Labor Standards engine allows inventory and personel workflows to be better planned , executions of those plans monitored and further optimized to drive operations to highest levels of effciency .

2.1.3) Labor Cost

Embedded Automated Task Management engine allows for tasks and activities to be executed in the most cost effective manner (optimal travel path , minimized dead heading , optimal asset used ..ie Forks , Pallet jacks , Trolleys , right job for the right personnel ..etc) thus driving down the cost of per unit of activity performed within the warehouse .

2.2 ) Smart Warehouse - Robotics , A.I & RPA.

Infor WMS comes bundled with a technology platform that allows it to leverage the power of A.I via Infor Machine learning and Robotic Process Automation tools to take warehouse optimization of workflows to the next level . Also ,embedded Smart Automation modules allows for Infor WMS to leverage the power of the latest innovations in Robotics (Goods to person) technologies that can be rapidly deployed in the shortest time frame for much quicker realization of R.O.I .

2.3) True Cloud - WMS as a service

Infor Cloudsuite WMS is a cloud based solution that combines warehousing and fulfillment functionality in a unified application to reduce complexity and support enhanced operational execution for level 1 right up to level 5 warehouses , and is offered as a service . WMS as a service reduces the customer's need for dedicated, internal IT resources , personnel and hardware , more rapid deployment , lower initial acquisition costs , no maintenance releases or “patches” to install while maintaining scalability , reliability and data security .

In Summary :

Infor Best of Breed , True Cloud WMS is a unified warehouse management solution that allows for customers to aquire critical capabilities that logistics service providers need to operate an efficient and agile supply chain . With Infor Cloudsuite WMS, you'll operate a more efficient, versatile enterprise that allow you to make your supply chain more robust and antifragile while delivering the highest value to customers even during challeging times such as these .