Development of a WMS warehouse management system

Warehouse Management System, or WMS for short, is a comprehensive warehouse automation software. Such a system allows you to competently set up warehouse logistics, speed up the acceptance and delivery of goods, and also minimize the human resources necessary for the effective operation of the company.

In this article, we will take a closer look at what problems WMS solves and talk about how to implement such a system in your business.

At the software level, the WMS system consists of three parts:

• The client is the user side of the platform with which employees interact: enter data, send requests, monitor the location of goods, etc. To perform these actions, they can use computers, smartphones, tablets or other devices – it all depends on the platform for which WMS was developed.
• The database server is an “internal” part of the software that stores all information about the operation of the warehouse.
• Business logic – processes user requests received from the client side, using databases stored on the server, and then displays the final response on the employee’s screen.

WMS also uses various physical sensors, sensors, scanners, cameras and other devices. They read the necessary data and automatically transmit it to the server in real time. This allows you to significantly speed up warehouse operations.

For example, during acceptance, WMS can check the weight, contents and absence of defects of products, and then automatically put the goods on the company’s balance sheet. And most importantly, all these operations are performed without the participation of employees and almost instantly.

In short, WMS increases the transparency of processes and automates warehouse operations as much as possible. Ultimately, this has a positive effect on the quality of customer service, because the company begins to process orders much faster and deliver cargo on time. All this is possible thanks to the wide range of tasks that such systems can solve:

• Acceleration of all internal operations in the warehouse.
• Management of loading, unloading, labeling and placement of products.
• Increasing warehouse capacity by placing goods taking into account the date of receipt and expiration dates.
• Saving resources by minimizing human labor.
• Effective logistics management, so that warehouse transport does not stand idle or get stuck in traffic jams.

• Implementing inventory control – WMS independently increases the volume of liquid products and reduces the availability of goods that are less in demand on the market.
• Preventing loss of goods by implementing a tagging system. In fact, employees can find out exactly where the required products are located at any time.
• More efficient management of products with limited expiration dates. This is especially true for food warehouses and warehouses with medical products.
• Rational distribution of goods to improve the efficiency of use of warehouse space.
• Assessing the need to increase or decrease warehouse space.

In addition, a WMS system minimizes the likelihood of human errors, since it automates most of the monotonous and routine tasks that employees previously had to perform.

Depending on the approach to data storage, there are three types of WMS systems – stand-alone, cloud and integrated:

• Offline – store data on physical servers or company computers.
• Cloud – stores information on the cloud, for example on AWS or other similar solutions.
• Integrated – are part of a more global software, for example ERP, which manages not only the warehouse, but the entire enterprise.

It is also worth adding that WMS can be “boxed” and individual. The first option is more suitable for small companies, since in this case you will have to be content with only the limited functions that the software provider offers.

In turn, individual WMS are created taking into account the business logic and processes of a specific company. They are not only equipped with all the necessary functionality, but can also be modified at any time. Therefore, the relevance of such systems does not lose over time. This option is suitable for large companies with a developed warehouse infrastructure.

The choice of technology stack for WMS development is made taking into account the technical features and complexity of the software. For server-side development, Python/PHP programming languages and their frameworks are often used – Django/Flask/Yii2/Laravel. For the desktop version, C++/Java languages or the Node.JS platform can also be used. When choosing technologies for the client side, the deployment platform plays a decisive role:

• For web applications, you can use static HTML/CSS/JavaScript technologies or Vue.js/React.js frameworks.

• For mobile applications – native Swift/Kotlin languages or the cross-platform Flutter framework and Dart language.

The technology stack is finally determined at the WMS design stage, after a thorough analysis of the future functions and capabilities of the system.

The technical implementation of WMS is carried out according to the Scrum methodology and consists of six main stages. Let’s look at each of them in more detail:

• Collection of information. The team studies the client’s request, conducts an audit of business processes and analyzes the solutions that the company has used in the past.
• Design and development of technical documentation. At this stage, a WMS system prototype is created, which will determine the vector for further development of the project. As a rule, it includes: interface warframes, a table describing the functionality, block diagrams of the main models, technology stack and project mathematics.

• Design development. UI/UX designers create a comfortable visual environment in which warehouse employees will work.
• Technical development. At this stage, the team implements the frontend – the client part of the WMS system, with which warehouse employees will interact, and the backend – the server side, where the data will be stored and processed.
• Testing. After development is completed, all product modules are thoroughly tested, and only after that the WMS will be ready to be released.
• Technical support and development. After deploying and starting to use the system, it is important to focus on its further development and improvement. To do this, we offer to connect the project to our qualified technical support.

The WMS system optimizes warehouse operations at all stages – from cargo acceptance to personnel management. This allows you to process orders more efficiently and minimize human errors, which contributes to business development, increasing its competitiveness and improving relationships with clients and partners.

AVADA MEDIA company has extensive experience in the development and implementation of WMS systems of any complexity. For each company, we select unique technical solutions that take into account its business logic and internal processes, and use innovative technologies to implement them.