Singapore Warehouse Management System
Singapore Warehouse Management System
In order to maintain/enhance Singapore’s competitiveness as the world’s leading logistics hub, this study examines the general use of Singapore Warehouse Management System (WMS) in the warehousing sector, with the aim of providing constructive recommendations. Data for this research project were collected by questionnaire survey and interviews with industry professionals.
The findings indicate that: y the small scale of WMS implementation in Singapore logistics industry is attributed to the substantial representation of small players. Thus, continued funding support from government is desirable in achieving full WMS adoption. Furthermore, merging of small players to become bigger players, together with proper control measures in place, might be beneficial to Singapore.
Average level of warehouse sophistication lies between rudimentary locator and advanced locator, hence there is a huge potential for improvement. There are significant differences in warehouse sophistication level between small and medium-large warehouses. Therefore, the small players have extra miles to go in catching up with more sophisticated industry practices
Generally speaking, Singapore Warehouse Management System-WMS used in Singapore are strong in number of functionalities, technology contents and ability to fit into warehouse operations. However, they are weak in ability to integrate and support warehouse automation. As warehouses evolve towards automation, WMS developers can turn such weakness into business opportunity. On the other hand, warehouses should be prudent in choosing WMS packages.
The deployment status of most WMS capabilities is slightly lesser than perceived usefulness. Furthermore, most extended capabilities are rated to have low deployment status and usefulness. Thus, there is enormous room for WMS to further develop and play a stronger role in increasing operational efficiency and productivity in the warehouses.
In 2007, a World Bank report ranked Singapore as the top logistics hub in the world, above big players like the Netherland, Germany, China and Japan (EDB, 2009b). Recently, Asia Pacific Wine Hub announced the opening of its storage facilities in Singapore. Stocks and wine collections are stored in more than 100,000-square-feet of humidity, light and temperature-controlled storage space where excellent inventory and warehouse management is essential (EDB, 2009a). To maintain its competitiveness in logistics industry, Singapore should not overlook the strategic importance of warehousing in which Singapore Warehouse Management System^ has always been the passion of researchers on its constant improvement.
This research project is aimed at studying WMS adopted in Singapore logistics industry as a whole.
investigating the current scale of implementation, perceived barriers for adoption, general evaluation of WMS, extent of use of Singapore Warehouse Management System# capabilities as well as desired R&D needs, this study aspires to provide conclusions and recommendations on warehousing sector, so as to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness as a leading logistics hub.
The future R&D needs for WMS focuses on customer satisfaction, since warehousing itself is a service sector. Therefore, R&D needs for visibility, event management and performance management fall under high importance, high urgency activities
This chapter comprises three parts including brief introduction to the background of warehousing sector, objectives of this study as well as scope and tasks to be accomplished.
A warehouse is “a commercial building for buffering and storage of goods, or an intermediate area for storing of raw materials or products until they are needed for production or consumption” (Chua & Teo, 2008). Singapore Warehouse Management System! , being an essential component of logistics, is a key aspect of modern supply chains and plays a critical role in the success or failure of businesses today (Frazelle, 2002). If one takes a closer look at the detailed breakdown of the operating cost of a particular company, warehousing contributes to about 20% of logistics costs (Kearney, 2004). The substantial amount being tied up in warehousing resources prompted many companies to implement Just-In-Time (JIT) system which is “an inventory strategy that strives to improve a business’s return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs” (Wikipedia, 2010). However, the lean manufacturing concept has been proved to be impossible to realise the total elimination of a Singapore Warehouse Management System-SG, mainly due to short lead time tolerance by customers, needs for holding of safety stock, further consolidation process at destination, etc.
Due to globalisation, the increase in complexity of the supply chain has also increased the complexity of the roles played by a warehouse. Generally speaking, the traditional distribution warehouse which is mainly for storage and buffering of products has evolved to the production warehouse which can be seen as crossdocking points (where goods are moved directly from inward to outward vehicles without being put away into inventory), value-added service centres (e.g. pricing and labelling goods for customers),
Singapore Warehouse Management System@ production postponement points (configuring or assembling goods specifically to customer demand so that a smaller range of generic products is held in inventory), return goods handling centres (for reverse logistics of packaging, faulty goods or end-of-life goods) and many other miscellaneous activities, such as service and repair centres (Maltz & DeHoratius, 2004).
The evolving role of warehouse has exerted significant impacts on the evolvement of Warehouse Management System (WMS). A WMS is a database driven IT tool used to improve the Singapore Warehouse Management System* efficiency of the warehouse by coordinating warehouse activities and to maintain accurate inventory by recording warehouse transactions (Shiau & Lee, 2009). To quote Mr Danny Kong of Yang Kee Logistics, “WMS is an integral part of any supply chain”. Proper and effective use of WMS can greatly increase the efficiency and productivity of a warehouse, thus helping to achieve warehousing cost reduction of the company. Through the general use of WMS in the logistics industry, one can also get a clear picture on the development of the warehousing sector.