Managing a distribution business requires robust insight into how the warehouse is run. In this post, we’ll discuss 4 telltale signs your business can benefit from Blue Link’s WMS Lite Functionality.
Blue Link is an all-in-one inventory and accounting ERP solution designed for small to medium-sized wholesale distributors. Most small start-up type distributors can use Blue Link’s Inventory functionality to manage products but as a business grows your processes will change. Blue Link offers additional functions to help you manage the influx of orders and larger warehouse space while saving time and money. Blue Link’s WMS Lite Functionality is meant for small distributors looking for that extra piece of automation or wanting to increase efficiencies in the warehouse without completely changing systems.
Imagine if Amazon used Excel Spreadsheets to manage their warehouses? Amazon has millions of products being shipped in and out of their warehouses every single day – it would be impossible to manage that amount of product without mistake. Small distribution businesses may not be dealing with millions of products, but you are still dealing with enough that requires more than just a spreadsheet. Warehouse management doesn’t just focus on inventory but also on the warehouse and the most efficient way to handle the inventory.
If you’re experiencing any or all of the below signs, you could benefit from our additional components without breaking the bank on a full WMS System.
Sign 1: Your Warehouse Is Unorganized
An unorganized warehouse means confused employees, order errors and can result in unhappy customers. Blue Link offers a few areas in our WMS lite functionality to help with increasing warehouse efficiency.
Shelf Availability
As the product is being received into your warehouse, Blue Link’s system will show available locations in the warehouse to hold the new product. This means that whenever the product is being taken from an area or added to an area, Blue Link is tracking it.
Stocking Locations
Blue Link gives the ability for users to label a location as stocking or non-stocking. A stocking location is typically used to store inventory physically closer to the shipping area. When you use Blue Link’s system to set the locations you can have an accurate count of inventory in the warehouse. This is separate from what product is available and what product is already allocated to an existing order.
Barcode Scanning
Blue Link offers a proprietary Mobile Scanning App with barcode scanning technology used to speed up the picking, packing, and shipping process as one aspect of warehouse efficiency. For companies who require something more robust, Blue Link has the ability to run the WMS lite dashboard on laptops and tablets that are connected to barcode scanning devices. Employees can mount the screen right on their cart or forklift while they are walking the warehouse floor and be able to actually use Blue Link WMS lite in the Warehouse.
Sign 2: You Lose Product
Blue Link’s WMS lite functionality allows for the movement tracking of products. It’s not uncommon for a product to become lost but Blue Link will log every single movement of each product. When products are picked from shelves, the system will recognize that it is no longer on the shelf and are now in a cart. Users will be able to see that product is in the cart and already allocated. This helps avoid allocating the same product to multiple orders.
Sign 3: You Move Product Quickly
Prioritize Stocking Locations
In order to set up the most efficient picking process, Blue Link allows you to not only set up stocking locations, but you can also set up priorities and ratings. Based on these priorities, Blue Link will guide the picker on an efficient route without error.
Cross Docking
Cross Docking refers to unloading product from your supplier and directly sending it to your customer, with little to no storage in between. With Blue Link, you can do just that!
Sign 4: You’re Never 100% Sure of What to Order Next
Forecasting
Forecasting in business is the process of predicting or estimating future trends. These trends can give you insight into sales, employee productivity and of course inventory levels. When it comes to warehouse management, inventory is a distribution business' backbone. In order to ensure the company has strong processes, management needs to maintain just enough stock levels to entice customers to buy but they have to be careful not to hold too much where dead stock is filling up important warehouse space.
Reporting and Analytic tools are extremely necessary to help you understand the health of your business. Reports like the Inventory Ranking Report or Inventory “hits” report look at the movement of stock and helps you decide which products to focus on in your next purchase order to the supplier.
Take control of your data with our Small Business Reporting Guide and learn how to use your own information to help your business grow!
