Managing a warehouse includes far less manual work than it used to, thanks to warehouse management companies that offer technology solutions intended to streamline operations. And with lean principles, consulting companies can train warehouse managers and owners to operate with improved efficiency.
Taking advantage of big data can aid your warehouse operation and make it easier to analyze your operations. You’ll learn more about how to improve your customer service in ways that create an even more outstanding experience for your customers every time.
Transform your warehouse operations by combining the best software with the best practices. It’s time to look at the top warehouse management companies and what makes them so successful in the industry!
Quicklook: Best Warehouse Management Companies
- Best For Shipment Management: ShipBob
- Best For Medium and Large Warehouse Operations: TECSYS
- Best For End-to-End Warehouse Management: ITOrizon
- Best For Inbound Logistics and Inventory Management: Uber Freight
- Best For Customized Options: Blue Yonder
Best Warehouse Management Company Options
Make sure you’re vetting the best warehouse management companies to help manage your operations and provide industry-leading solutions. Here are the top 5 best options currently available!
ShipBob
ShipBob is a tech-enabled 3PL (third-party logistics) provider that helps direct-to-consumer brands deliver eCommerce orders. They provide all-in-one solutions for managing orders, inventory, and shipments.
Best For: Shipment Management
Special Features:
- Ecommerce platform integrations
- Warehouse automation
- Analytical development tools
Benefits:
- Fulfillment services
- Returns management
- Two-day express shipping
Disadvantages:
- Customer support
Pricing: ShipBob’s pricing is based on total fulfillment expenses for direct-to-consumer order fulfillment, so you’ll know precisely how much it will cost you. We’ve listed a few standard pricing details below.
- Receiving: $35 for the first two hours ($45/man hour thereafter)
- Storage:
- $40 per pallet/month
- $10 per shelf/month
- $5 per bin/month
- Pick and Pack: Free for the first four picks in an order, $0.25 per pick for the fifth pick and after
- Shipping: Varies based on destination, weight, dimensions, shipping service, and other factors.
TECSYS
TECSYS is a robust warehouse management solution for medium or large warehouse operations. The cloud-based system makes management simple anytime, anywhere.
Best For: Medium and Large Warehouse Operations
Special Features:
- Dynamic slotting
- Transportation management tools
- Support for multiple pick methods to meet your existing processes
- Dock management options
- Advanced packing, picking, and shipping functions
Benefits:
- Robust and scalable solution that adapts with you as you grow
- Customizable workflow options
- Integrates with many industry-leading CRMs and ERPs
Disadvantages:
- No payment processing functionality
- Lacks support for multiple locations
- Limited supply chain insights and analytics
Pricing: One-time licensing fee of $50,000.
ITOrizon
ITOrizon provides customer warehouse management solutions, including supply chain management and system integration. The consulting firm provides a host of services that help warehouses manage and improve operations.
Best For: End-to-End Warehouse Management
Special Features:
- Vendor selection services
- Customized warehouse management solution design and implementation
- Automation solutions, including autonomous mobile robots
Benefits:
- Custom solutions for every facet of warehouse operations
- Order fulfillment optimization
- Outstanding inventory accuracy
- Workforce management
Disadvantages:
- Custom solutions take longer to implement
- Requires vendor selection for warehouse management software, ERPs, and more
Pricing: Reach out for a custom consulting quote based on your warehouse management needs.
Uber Freight (formerly LeanCor Consulting)
Uber Freight (formerly LeanCor Consulting) focuses on guiding warehouse operators through streamlined operations with a special emphasis on inbound logistics and inventory management. The consulting company will evaluate all aspects of your business in order to look for areas where you could improve.
Best For: Inbound Logistics and Inventory Management
Special Features:
- Specializes in lean principles
- Aids in waste reduction philosophies
- Quick adaptation to changes in consumer behavior
- Coordinated efforts for complex supplier networks
Benefits:
- Focused on eliminating waste to decrease costs
- Builds a culture of operational excellence
- Custom designs for warehouse management solutions
- System integration services
Disadvantages:
- Recently acquired by Transplace
- Changes to processes and culture are likely
- Slight learning curve for understanding lean principles
Pricing: Consulting services are customized to meet the needs of various warehouse organizations so you’ll need to contact Uber Freight for specific pricing.
Blue Yonder
Only pay for the functions and features you need when you choose Blue Yonder as your warehouse management company. You get to select the modules that will help you operate your warehouse and experience cost savings and efficiency along the way.
Best For: Modular Options to Create Tools You Need
Special Features:
- Web-based software that is accessible anytime, anywhere
- 24/7 software support
- Improved warehouse labor efficiency
- Predictive business planning
- Many modules to choose from, including manufacturing and retail planning
Benefits:
- Customized experience based on users’ needs
- Work with a full-on implementation team
- Regular updates and feature rollouts as the industry changes
Disadvantages:
- Slow system with some inefficiencies in certain areas like analytics
- Lack of training included in subscriptions
- Delayed response times for issue resolution
Pricing: Custom quotes are based on your specific needs and overall business size.
What Is a Warehouse Management Company?
Warehouse management companies provide solutions for all warehouse operations, including tracking shipments and managing returns to your warehouse. A warehouse management company ensures that when a customer orders something, you get it to them quickly and efficiently.
And if they return an item, you’ll be able to make sure that you reflect that return on their account promptly. As simple as this might sound, the process of tracking orders, payments, refunds, and shipments is more complicated than you might think.
A single warehouse might receive hundreds or even thousands of new orders per day. Partnering with the best warehouse management company can offer your operations a competitive edge as a result of competitive customer service response times. Plus, these systems improve efficiency in order to reduce costs without reducing service.
What Makes a Good Warehouse Management System?
Not all warehouse management systems are created equal. Let’s take a look at the most important features worth looking for in a good warehouse management system!
Offers Maximum Functionality
You shouldn’t need multiple software systems to manage your warehouse. Instead, look for one system that offers total functionality so that everything can be managed from one place.
Ultimately, the goal of a warehouse management system is to improve your processes and overall productivity. If your warehouse has been struggling with accurate reflections of inventory, your software should be able to solve that.
The software you choose should also solve issues relating to employee productivity so that you can coach employees who complete fewer tasks or are far less productive than expected.
Warehouse management services encompass all areas of your operations. The more inclusive your software is, the more benefits you’ll reap from it.
Long-Term Flexibility
As your company grows and adapts, so should your warehouse management system. That way, the company you choose to work with will scale with you.
The best software options will offer an open architecture that can be integrated with the applications you implement in the future. It should also provide flexibility all around.
Also, the system that you choose should be adaptable. It’s best if it can work well with any and all hardware. You shouldn’t need to change your warehouse software every time you change label printers, scales, RF scanners, or truck-mounted RF terminals.
Select a warehouse inventory management software that integrates with all types of hardware. Make sure it can handle the size and the intensity of your warehouse operations as well.
Complete Transaction Management
Warehouse management software should guide you in managing your processes and inventory from start to finish. A good system will track the following steps in the warehouse process:
- Receiving goods
- Stocking goods
- Picking orders
- Shipping
- Inventory audits
- Item movement
Without tracking inventory, you can end up facing a lot of errors and miscalculations that result in delayed shipments. The more information you have about where your items are, the better the analytics and the faster you can act on errors or oversights.
ERP Integration
When your warehouse management system integrates with your enterprise resource planning tools, you’ll have more insight into your business operations. Pairing these systems together can yield faster payment processing and refund processing thanks to its connections with accounting.
As you evaluate warehouse management software options, be sure to ask which ERPs the software integrates with. Remember that the more flexible your solution is, the better the outcome will be. You don’t want to be stuck with an outdated ERP just because it’s the only one that integrates with your warehouse management system.
User-Friendly Software
A warehouse management system will become so ingrained in your everyday operations to the point where every employee will use it. As such, you’ll want your software to be incredibly intuitive and easy to use for everyone.
As you hire new staff or promote existing employees, it should be incredibly simple to train them on how to use the software for their specific role in the company. Plus, team members should not require days of software training. Instead, look for software that only takes a few hours to learn.
The more user-friendly your software is, the more likely your team will be to maximize its functions and input the necessary data, making it simpler for you to run reports and analyze operations.
Warehouse and Logistics Improvement
Today’s software companies need to be ready to adapt and innovate their practices to meet the changing needs of warehouse and logistics companies. Software can become outdated quickly, and you don’t want to be stuck with a solution that no longer meets your needs.
Software companies that are committed to deploying new features and functions are worth paying for because you won’t have to worry about needing to go back through the selection process five or ten years down the line. There will never be a lack of functionality with well-researched software.
Efficiency for Every Aspect of Your Warehouse
Warehouse management companies often pay for themselves with their added efficiency and inventory management abilities. These companies provide holistic optimization for every aspect of warehouse operations.
FAQ
All warehouses that move and manage inventory need a warehouse management system. That way, the teams that operate the warehouses can view accurate inventory data while managing the lifecycle of products from the moment they’re received to the point of distribution.
A warehouse management system helps teams efficiently move products through the warehouse in a cost-effective manner. Warehouse management systems aid all aspects of warehousing from receiving and stocking to picking and order tracking.
There are three types of warehouse management systems: standalone, supply chain modules, and ERP-integrated systems. The most robust and useful of the three is the ERP-integrated model.
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