From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine
- Aug. 25, 2014 -
Supply Chain News: 10 Keys to a Smoother, Happier Warehouse Management System Implementation Part 2
WMS Implementation is Hard, but These Uncommon Ideas Can Reduce Pain and Risk
Dan Gilmore, SCDigest editor, and Mark Fralick, president, GetUsROI
In part 1 of this two-part series, we summarized why Warehouse Management Systems are among the most challenging solutions to deploy in the supply chain software space. (See 10 Keys to a Smoother, Happier Warehouse Management System Implementation Part 1.)
While that is the reality, there are a number of steps companies can take to maximize their chances of a smooth, relatively painless (there will always be some pain!) deployment that will reduce stress, cost less, and make upper management happy (or at least happier).
SCDigest Says: |
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| The full "round trip" of the function or transaction needs to be tested and validated, not that the function itself seems to be working. |
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What Do You Say?
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While we could have come up with dozens of additional suggestions, and may just do so someday, we have identified 10 key steps companies implementing WMS can take to maximize their chances of success.
Last week, we identified the first 5 of these, which were:
1. Broadly train employees about what a WMS is and does prior to the project kickoff: It will save time later and lead to better decisions as the project progresses.
2. Interview/approve the vendor's project manager: Do not sign a contract until you have a named PM whose resume you've seen and whom you have interviewed.
3. Recognize lost time is lost time - it really can't be made back up: Companies trying to make back time usually cut corners in testing, training, etc. that will come back to bite them later.
4. Focus on validation preparation and execution: What defines a system that is ready to go live? That effort is often short changed, as is testing to see if the system meets validation criteria.
5. Implement the "best methods" part of labor management: It doesn't usually make sense to implement labor standards with a new WMS, but training on how to do each task right? Doing this will bring order and precision to operations that help with overall WMS deployment.
With that as a refresher, here are the next five uncommon keys to smooth and successful WMS deployments:
6. Make repetition the focus of user training: Many of the training classes offered by the WMS vendors are what we might call "one and done" programs. Workers go through all the relevant screens, but how much of that can really be retained?
The key to a successfully WMS training regime is simply repetition, not only of the main processes - but critically expected exceptions (location overrides, etc.). Repeat the training over and over again until everyone is sick of it - then you will know you have people that are really well trained.
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To have a smooth WMS deployment, get IT on this work early - it should be well ahead of the functional part of the WMS deployment. Additionally, testing to make sure all of it is reliable and performs well of course needs to be part of the validation plan. It is common for integrations to look like they work, on a basic data set, only to break under the duress of real operations, doing great damage to the go-live. 
