Top 6 Must-Haves in a 3PL Warehouse Management System
When choosing the best WMS (Warehouse Management System) for your 3PL business, it is important to know what to look for to make the most of your investment. From small startups to large, complex 3PLs, you want to have a system that helps you get more work done faster. Our experience with customers suggests these areas as the top 6 most important capabilities for your 3PL Warehouse Management System:
- Configurability
- Integration with Carriers, Marketplaces, and Shopping Carts
- Robust Billing Capabilities
- Automated Workflows
- KPIs & Reporting
- Inventory and Transaction Visibility for Clients
Configurability
When working with multiple clients, it is important that your software is highly configurable. This allows you to set up and operate your warehouse according to the specific needs of your clients. As new customers are added and customers’ needs change, having a configurable WMS equips you with more flexible and adaptable solutions. Implementing this type of system will increase sustainability and reduce your costs in the long term.
Integration with Carriers, Marketplaces, and Shopping Carts
No Man is an Island. Using a connected system with integrations to carriers, marketplaces, and shopping carts increases throughput and efficiency and reduces errors. Using an open API (application protocol interface) makes it even easier to connect with trading partners. An open API is essentially a plug-in that allows you to connect with other systems. For example, FedEx or UPS use these integrations with shopping carts to calculate the shipping costs based on the quantity, weights, and dimensions of items in the cart. An integrated WMS can also process shipments and print labels without having to step away from their computer. By using these integrations, you can streamline the fulfillment process and increase client satisfaction.
Robust Billing Capabilities
Using a system that offers robust billing capabilities, it is easier to keep track of the way you bill your clients. For example, if you bill client A upon receipt of products and charge client B at the end of the month, a WMS with robust billing capabilities can be configured for each client without any extra work on your end. The WMS also expands the ability to capture more billing opportunities. A robust system automatically computes storage, labor and material charges for each client independently and can send invoices at any time.
Automated Workflows
Imagine being able to take your 7-step process and turning it into a 4-step process- sounds like a dream, right? When using a WMS with Automated Workflows for your 3PL warehouse, that dream can turn into reality. When you use software with workflow management, it gives you more flexibility with your processes which you can change and adapt depending on your business’s needs. Instead of processes manually one by one, you can automate posting using batches, which will dramatically increase your efficiency and improve the overall operation of your warehouse.
KPIs & Reporting
Using key performance indicators (KPIs) & reporting will allow you to set up certain measures of productivity and efficiency within your warehouse. You can build dashboards within the system for internal and external usage, such as order processing efficiency and labor optimization. You can also see how much space is being utilized within the warehouse by getting an overview of the capacity within the dashboard. These features will give you an understanding of how your company is performing regarding specific goals you have.
Inventory and Transaction Visibility for Clients
Clients need to know about their inventory and orders in real-time. The right WMS provides your clients with a portal where they can log in and check their progress themselves. This capability eliminates time wasted from contacting the warehouse directly to see inventory, orders, and order history. It also improves the client’s experience with you. Having software that offers all these capabilities is extremely important for your 3PL business. It will help operations run smoother and faster and will save money over time while increasing revenues. Camelot 3PL offers all of these must-haves and more with our Excalibur and Express WMS software systems.