Intelligrated InSights
Intelligence, news and insight from Intelligrated

The Rise of the WCS (It's All About Speed & Accuracy) - Part Three

This is the third and final post of my blog series about the rise of the warehouse control system (WCS), the new role of the warehouse management system (WMS) and the overall impact of automation on today’s supply chain software. In this post, I will discuss the growing importance of WCS, as well as the key attributes that make a great WCS.

As discussed in part two of this series, WMS were developed to work best in manual, labor-intensive environments and have evolved into massive systems using more and more non-real time data. This has increased overhead and delays in the real-time responsiveness and interactions required to manage today’s highly automated distribution and fulfillment centers.

In part one of this series, I discussed the continual expansion of automation to augment labor, and handle complex each picking requirements and growing consumer demands for speed and accuracy. The right blend of automation and a great WCS can create a winning combination, both operationally and financially, and help strike a successful balance between man and machine.

What makes a great WCS?

To better enhance high-speed automation, a great WCS should have the following characteristics:

• Architected and constructed from the ground up (from machine controls out) to effectively diagnose, control and maximize the material handling equipment
• Modular and configurable to accommodate growth, process/work flow changes, added functionality, new and/or adjusted automation
• Enable real-time directives to efficiently coordinate routing instructions for both automation and labor
• Provide visibility, system alarms and alerts for instant updates and operator interactions to facilitate on-the-fly work balancing on the warehouse floor
• Efficiently manage a network of subsystems including machine control, voice, labor planning and scheduling, slotting, valued added services (VAS), etc.

Enhancing the value of the WMS

A WCS expands and enhances the value of a WMS or enterprise resource planning (ERP) by exchanging information required to efficiently manage the daily operations of the facility. Moving at the speed of automation, the WCS algorithms incorporate a number of decision points within the physical flow to efficiently balance the work throughput and instantly report conditions back to the WMS/ERP. This real-time data exchange coordinates and optimizes workflows and equipment usage for greater productivity.

The Rise of the WCS (It's All About Speed & Accuracy) - Part Two

This is my second post of a three-part blog series discussing the rise of the WCS, the new role of the WMS, and the impact of automation on today’s supply chain software requirements.

As discussed in part one of this series, automation has become the core ingredient of today’s successful distribution operations, enabling the volume and accuracy levels required to stay competitive. Distribution systems must be able to react and adapt quickly to automation and human operator performance to drive physical flow and work balance throughout the entire operation. A rapid increase in the use of automation, combined with increasing pressure to achieve a faster return on this investment, has resulted in an increasing need for advanced WCS and a new role for WMS.

As a WMS old timer, I have some misgivings about assessing the current state of this software and the value it provides in today’s more highly automated distribution and fulfillment centers. I may not have been the father of WMS, but I have a long history of nurturing this software as if it were my baby. However, I see the reality that today’s fast-paced, automated distribution environment has bypassed WMS capabilities.

Where does this leave the WMS? The best way to explain the current state of the WMS is to review its history and evolution.

• In the beginning… In the beginning, warehouse systems were the back-end of an inventory, purchase and/or outbound order management system operating on a mainframe computer. This included paper-based, manual record keeping; key entering of information data; overnight report generation; and batch processing. Product moved faster through the warehouse than paper-based information, so batch generated reports were inaccurate and already outdated when reviewed by management.
• Real-time processes enabled efficiency and accuracy In the mid-80s, the new emerging mantra became “the right product at the right location with the right operator.” Real-time processes enabled the WMS to keep an instant record of the product’s physical position, the order being processed, and the location of the operator in the warehouse. This allowed the WMS to direct workers to the most efficient path, significantly increasing both efficiency and accuracy. Real-time WMS became a must-have for high-volume distribution centers. However, WMSs were leaner and faster back then (and so was I).

The Rise of the WCS (It's All About Speed & Accuracy) - Part One

I am a Warehouse Management System (WMS) old timer. So old, in fact, that when I first started in the WMS industry, disco was still king. During my 42-year career in the supply chain industry, I have been involved in the sale and/or delivery of hundreds of WMS systems. I have also witnessed first-hand the rapid expansion of material handling automation, and the irreversible, mostly-positive impact of these changes on our industry as we know it.

In this and upcoming blogs (part one of a three-part series), I will share my thoughts and observations on the rise of the WCS, the new role of the WMS, and the impact of automation. Yes, automation – as in, conveyors, sorters and such. It seems like this technology has been around forever, but some very new developments are causing a fresh surge in the growth of automated material handling equipment, affecting the vast majority of distribution-centric companies.

The initial expansion of automation was driven by pent-up consumer demand. However, this latest impetus for the adoption of automated solutions involves a few other factors:

• Qualified workers: too few, too expensive. More and more Baby Boomers are retiring, and those still working incur increased health care and insurance costs (I know. I’m a working Boomer who is still “buying green bananas”). Subsequent generations do not typically find working in a warehouse to be a long-term and fulfilling career move, and I can’t say I blame them. The work is physically hard, usually involving toiling alone in a large, semi-harsh environment (too hot, too cold, too dark). The pay is typically modest, and there is constant pressure to complete assignments on time with near 100% accuracy while being closely monitored by both supervisors and systems. With recent generations seeking more degree-driven careers and/or more comfortable working environments, the industry faces a shortage of qualified new-comers to replace retiring Boomers, making automation an increasingly necessary alternative to a labor force.
• Orders are smaller, but more numerous. It happened suddenly, but it’s here to stay: retail stores and direct-to-consumer (including new drop ship) fulfillment operations are requiring smaller orders, and more of them. This creates a staggering impact on distribution centers, many of which are accustomed to managing only full-case and/or pallet handling flow through. Each individual order introduces greater complexity and increased risk for error to the warehouse, so these new changes not only affect the need for automated solutions that reduce human error and can shoulder the increased number of orders, but the systems that control and manage the work as well.
• Growing expectations for speed and accuracy. More than ever before, distribution operations are expected to deliver higher throughput at quicker speed and with greater accuracy. It’s not for the faint of heart. Many companies have realized that supplementing their workforces with the right blend of automated solutions is the best way to survive and thrive in this highly demanding and competitive environment.

WMS vs WCS: A Balance, Not a Battle

Supply Chain Digest (SCD) recently published an article that referred to the “battle” between Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) and raised the question of where decision-making intelligence of an automated material handling system should reside – in the WMS or the WCS. SCD’s source for the article is in favor of the WMS handling all intelligent decision making and the WCS executing the actions dictated by the WMS. This may not be the right solution in every case.

Due to continued software advances and changing user demands, WCS continues to play a larger role in order fulfillment, labor management and operational visibility within warehouses and distribution centers. While the WMS is all about demand, planning, financials and linking to the extended supply chain, WCS solutions are all about execution and fulfillment of demand within the four walls of a facility. WCS provide a set of intelligence and tools to help operators plan, monitor and adjust operations throughout the day, and bring the decision making intelligence closer to the decision point.

The expanded functionality of WCS technology was discussed in a recent report from Material Handling Industry of America’s (MHIA) Supply Chain Execution (SCE) group. According to the report, “today’s warehouse control systems not only provide information to inform human decisions, in many cases they have the sophistication to make operational decisions themselves.”