Integrated platforms for supply chain execution apps are folding in distributed order management (DOM) solutions and processes, which often need data from systems for inventory management or store labor to arrive at optimal fulfillment options for customers and retailers. Making the case for WMS TMS gets more warehouse aware Supply Chain Software: SCE platforms look beyond execution In search of supply chain execution convergence Syncing demand plans with WMS Slotting’s elevated place in an omni-channel world For several years, major suppliers of supply chain execution (SCE) software, including warehouse management system (WMS) solutions, have been putting more focus on integration. As they have expanded their offerings to include transportation management system (TMS), labor management system (LMS) and other types of solutions such as slotting, these suppliers have been touting the value of an integrated foundation for multiple applications. These platforms matter because they promise to not only reduce information technology (IT) costs and do away with custom data integration efforts, but they essentially become “platforms” for integrated processes that need to happen as part of warehouse operations and order fulfillment. An integrated set of SCE applications results in a smoother handoff of business processes between SCE applications domains. Plans made in TMS are feasible at the warehouse level because TMS “knows” more about the constraints at the warehouse; or events in one solution, like a yard management system (YMS), can instantly be reflected in an integrated WMS. In short, there is business value to integrated execution applications. At Ashley Furniture Industries, an Arcadia, Wisc.-based manufacturer and retailer of furniture, its use of integrated SCE software from HighJump Software facilitates this type of smooth information flow from one application function to the next, says Daniel Woychik, director of supply chain execution for Ashley Furniture. For example, Woychik explains, a yard […]