THE RETAIL HIVE: Injecting Agility into Your Warehouse Management Systems
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THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THE RETAIL HIVE: Injecting Agility into Your Warehouse Management Systems
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Introduction The retail landscape has seen countless fundamental shifts in recent years: the e-commerce boom, changes to buyer behaviour, unforeseen peaks and troughs, longer waiting times at destinations and borders, and increased demand for transport assets. All these matters have raised significant challenges in retail logistics, requiring warehouse operations to become more agile and responsive to changing market needs. In response, many Retail Hive members are adopting digital tools to provide real-time visibility into their processes, creating huge efficiencies and increasing the delivery speed to customers. To support our members, whatever stage they’re at with their warehouse management system (WMS), Retail Hive invited WMS provider SnapFulfil to host a closed discussion with retailers to share their experiences around implementing and developing complex systems to meet rapid growth and changing demands. During the discussion, we explored various tools and strategies to increase the agility and responsiveness of warehousing operations – a goal which has taken centre stage as retailers try to meet pandemic challenges head on.
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
COMMON PAIN POINTS
The group consisted of diverse players from the fashion, furniture, and food
and drink sectors, to those in DIY, packaging, and electricals. Whilst they ranged
in sector, scale and stage of WMS use, there were some common challenges
found when implementing and maintaining an efficient warehousing system.
These included:
• Finding a system that is robust but also agile enough.
• Failure to manage rapid growth – particularly online growth – in warehousing
operations, despite efficient scaling elsewhere in the business.
• Creating a homogenous approach for multi-site warehousing.
• Finding the right partner that the in-house team can trust and work well with.
• Incorporating the complexities of a large-scale and mature company.
• Risking the loss of stock accuracy and visibility during implementation.
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
IMPLEMENTING A WMS AND CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER
DIY Retailer Insight:
A major topic in the discussion was the process of choosing the partner and
“The most important thing we learned was to start with our business
system that are right for the business. It’s a major decision and one that you don’t
outcomes and work backwards from there. Don’t define what your
want to get wrong, wasting time and money on a solution that doesn’t fit.
business processes are based on what the WMS can do, approach it with
your existing processes in mind.
All businesses are unique and it’s crucial to find a partner who has the right agility
and product that can work with you and your processes. Ultimately, they need to
I would also point out that a single WMS may not solve all your problems.
align with your operational requirements.
We’re increasingly moving away from a mono-system and having a
core WMS and ERP to bolt on additional systems to provide specific
Top tip!
capabilities. Be clear what you want the WMS to do as it may be that you
When submitting RFIs, map out your processes and subprocesses so these can be
need a business process to solve a particular issue rather than a WMS.
addressed accurately. Also consider how quickly the partner can make changes if
they need to.
I would recommend engaging your internal and external stakeholders
on what you want the WMS to do and what its impact will be. On a past
project, we made some changes in the WMS and it took three years to
get all the vendors migrated onto the new systems because we hadn’t
properly consulted with the providers on what the WMS could do; we
made assumptions that it would all be fine. Ask a lot of questions up front
to save time in the long-run.”
SNAPFULFIL SAYS
“There are two main ways companies implement a WMS. One is to copy
old processes to the new system and develop it from there. This gives the
least amount of benefit, as a WMS differs entirely from a paper system.
The other way is to spend additional time at the start to map out the Furniture Retailer Insight:
best solutions. Part of our implementation process is to challenge the “One of the crucial things we found was to go and see other businesses
customer and suggest new solutions, because our clients often don’t that have a similar environment to us in terms of receiving, fulfilment,
have experience of the WMS. We coach people on what to expect from dispatch, courier integration, replenishment tools, etc. My main advice
the WMS and provide different solutions. We grow our product as part of would be to go and see as many companies as you can. Seeing someone
that process because all warehouses are different and incredibly complex. else’s operation is a really powerful thing to do and you come away with
When we come across new challenges, we evolve our product so all our so many good ideas. We saw four or five different companies before we
other customers can benefit from that solution too.” chose a system that works best for us.”
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
PREPARING FOR CHANGE
Retailer Insight:
Organisational change
“One of the biggest things we found is the element of change and its
It’s common for companies to see the implementation of a new WMS as an
implications across the board, which are not necessarily recognised
operational change. While it certainly is operational, it also requires a cultural
at the start. You have to prepare your business for the change that is
change from within the company. The WMS covers how goods arrive and how
down the line. It’s been a huge cultural change, not just an operational
services are provided, so there will be a change in managing suppliers, service
change. It’s about how to marry the theory with the reality. For this,
providers and other external stakeholders too. This might not be driven by the
it’s important to find the right partner who genuinely understands that
operational team so it may take time for colleagues in the wider organisation
every business is different and can help you address the elements that
to accept change that affects them directly. Selling the system to internal
don’t meet a standard one-size-fits-all system.”
stakeholders is key.
Timing & seasonality
SnapFulfil advises implementing any new system well before peak trading. With
Black Friday and Christmas the peak trading season for most retailers, getting
Retailer Insight:
systems in before the middle of summer is critical.
“I used to be a supply chain director for one of the most seasonal
retailers you could imagine. Average weekly sales would be around
£350k, while our peak daily sales were £8m. It’s seasonality like you’ve
never seen. We had to protect that peak, so we always kept two months
clear before we started getting into Christmas or Black Friday volumes.
It’s too much of a risk otherwise. Sometimes the right thing to do is go
with a system which might be less efficient but protects sales, rather
SNAPFULFIL SAYS
than risk a new system in your critical trading period.
“Change management is a challenge we come up against time and
time again. In many ways, implementing the operational improvements
In terms of stock accuracy and cutover, ensure you count everything just
is the most straightforward element of the transition to a WMS.
before you cutover onto your new system. Unless you have that accurate
Bringing your people along with you is more nuanced. Warehouse
inventory, you’re starting with an inaccurate stock position and you’ll
operatives will be used to a certain way of working and will need to
have to recover it from there. On an ongoing basis, I would suggest
truly understand the benefit of change and feel fully supported
perpetual inventory counting rather than periodic stock takes.”
throughout the journey.”
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
PREPARING FOR CHANGE
Continuous improvement for maintaining agility & efficiency
One thing to remember is that warehouse management systems require
continuous improvement and fine-tuning, particularly as your business evolves
over time. “You’ll never get it 100% right first time”, as SnapFulfil says.
Furniture Retailer Insight:
“It took us nine months to implement ours but it’s important to note
you cannot build everything correctly in the first scoping. We’ve got a
flexible solution and the partnership is great in terms of development
SNAPFULFIL SAYS and ideas; it’s a system that will take us into the future.
“It’s normal that even within three months of a WMS being implemented
you will already see things that need to change. The spotlight is In terms of efficiency, it’s great. The KPIs and reporting it offers tells
constantly changing, and the journey evolves. us what our staffing levels should be. It also gives fantastic control
over absolutely everything and offers performance enhancements for
We can provide a tier-1 system, but it’s all about how you manage the our staff. One of the greatest assets is that absolutely everyone in the
change around that in personnel and the business. It also gives you the business has access, so there’s great visibility on what is happening.
power and the agility to change the WMS as your business matures. All We went from a mindset of wondering how we were going to work
of our system is workflow and configuration, that’s why our clients get with a WMS to how can we work without it. The training is minimal for
such fast service, because 99% of our changes are configuration. As you temporary peak-season workers too; they can be up and running within
improve your picking processes or see demand change among stock, 20-30 minutes.”
you’ve got to have the ability to change quickly.
Our agile implementation process averages 8-12 weeks from order to
implementation. The process maps exactly what you do now and what
you want for the future, provides consultancy, then configures goods Retailer Insight:
in, stock management and the interface, etc., establishing the pace for “It’s important to note that efficiency isn’t built into a WMS. It obviously
progress. All our users go live with that system, which is around 60% gives you management control over the operation, stock levels, etc.
effective, six months later it will be 70-80%, and so on. After 9-12 months But to create efficiency, it’s about what rules you are applying, what
you’ll start seeing real improvements from the change, but you have to information you need, and what you do with that information to create
solve the big pains first to get your ROI.” that efficiency through continuous improvement in order to progress.”
THE RETAIL HIVE: INJECTING AGILITY INTO YOUR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
ABOUT SNAPFULFIL
• Define your requirements and business outcomes to ensure the WMS fits
SnapFulfil is a cloud-based, tier-1 warehouse management system with
around your processes not vice versa.
flexibility at its core. It delivers cutting edge technology at a fraction
• Systems can be very targeted and small without covering all areas.
of the cost of traditional installations and, unlike other warehouse
Equally, a single WMS may not solve all your supply chain issues; you
management systems, is quick and easy to implement, giving you a
may require a core WMS with additional bolt-ons for activities outside of
rapid return on investment. Once up and running, SnapFulfil is highly
the warehouse.
configurable and can adapt to meet evolving fulfilment demands and
• Gain insight from visiting businesses that have a similar layout in terms of
multiple site rollouts.
replenishment, returns, couriers, stock and inventory control, etc.
• Finding the right WMS partner to match theory and reality is key for
For more information, please visit www.snapfulfil.com
preparing your business for implementation.
• Implementing a WMS is not just an operational change, it’s a wider
internal change too and staff need to be onside and accept the change.
• WMS require continuous improvements to remain agile and efficient as
your business evolves.
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