A Warehouse Management Software (WMS) is a computer system through which you can keep track of your stock, from quantities to valuation, automations, optimization, transfers or logistic steps.
Using a management system to keep track of stock is becoming more and more essential for any business. Among its many advantages are the reduced possibility of human error, cost and time savings, live updated stock levels and a global visualization of the situation of our warehouses and locations.
Advantages of using a WMS
The use of a WMS is a great ally for any company that has to keep track of stock. Having all the information centralized in a single platform is already a great advantage, but if it is also a system with automations already developed, in the cloud and everyone can access at any time, from anywhere and with any device, we find a tool that will streamline all processes.
Something basic is to have a stock control that includes information on quantities, current and planned: adding purchases or manufacturing in process and subtracting sales that will leave our warehouse.
In addition to the optimization that comes with having all the stock digitized, we also find a great advantage when it comes to accounting for the company's assets, being able to make valuations of the current stock at any time. In the case of Odoo, the system of periodic inventory valuations, also known as manual valuation, is used. This means that the accounting team can create entries based on the company's physical stock, updated in real time and configurable from the product categories.
In addition, a fully integrated system also allows the updating of stocks by sales team sales, in physical stores through the POS and online sales, connected to our online store (ecommerce).
Essential functionalities
A warehouse management system must meet minimum requirements, such as real-time stock management, integration with all the company's sales channels, inventory valuation or management of attributes and variants of each product, among many others.
Bar coding is a very helpful tool for this management. Thanks to barcode scanners it is possible to save a great deal of time in receiving, internal movements and product deliveries.
In the latest Odoo update, a new functionality was added to the barcode application, which allows massive product accounting in a matter of seconds thanks to the scanning of products with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. In addition, another new functionality is the ability to assign unique batch or serial numbers to each product with a simple scan with our cell phone or a barcode scanner.
The solution Odoo offers
In addition to all the functionalities detailed above, including the integration of all applications and sales channels in real time, we find many other tools developed for the management of your warehouse.
The possibility of creating an endless number of warehouses and locations within each warehouse, being able to go down to the last detail to locate our products exactly where they belong. This not only facilitates the day to day warehouse workers, but also streamlines processes, thus offering better customer service, reducing delivery times.
As for attributes and variants, in addition to having no limits on stock quantities, we can also add as many variants as we need. In the case of online sales, each variant can have its own image for the convenience of the end customer.
Stock control is not only the forecasting of incoming and outgoing inventory, but also the establishment of supply rules. Adaptation to any type of management is possible, whether we want to set minimum and maximum stock per product in our warehouse to maintain a safety stock or if we want to produce based on orders received, all options are viable.
Thanks to the open source nature of Odoo, connectors with shipping systems such as FedEx or UPS guarantee an accurate tracking of each shipment made, offering once again a quality service to the customer.
In short, a warehouse management system is key to the smooth running of a company. In addition to the essential functionalities, we can also enjoy the little extras that make the difference.
Warehouse Management Software (WMS)