Supply chain optimization, increased operational efficiency, and at a glance visibility are features every company needs in today’s competitive landscape.

Should you expect less from your warehouse management system?

Finding a warehouse management system that is cost-effective and works with your existing business systems may seem daunting. It doesn’t have to be. Identifying what you need from a solution–and what you don’t–is a significant first step.

Working with many clients implementing BOLD VAN’s Distribution Enablement System (DES), we have learned what companies value most when finding the right warehouse management software for their needs.

While needs vary, three features desired in a solution are ubiquitous: integration, ease of use, and, of course, cost.

INTEGRATION

The number one thing we’ve learned about what businesses need from a warehouse management solution is the capability to integrate. Not only integrate with their existing ERPs (or other business systems) but also with their carriers and major retailers.

DES by BOLD VAN allows you to manage your warehouse, adhere to customer requirements, and communicate with your carriers from your ERP. A robust solution needs to allow you to manage the entire order-to-ship process from one place.

Ideally, you should be able to leverage your existing ERP investment and manage your warehouse from the system your company is familiar with. An innovative and customizable solution will accomplish both.

EASE OF USE

Over and over again, we hear decision makers lament about the challenges of learning a new system and training their team to learn the system. Worse, many are concerned with underutilizing a new solution because either training is expensive, or they do not have an IT team in place to take on a new software solution or both.

Your warehouse solution should be intuitive, easy to use, and scalable.

DES enables you to print thousands of labels and sort information your way with a single click from an intuitive interface. You can create several profiles for different users so you can track who is using DES and to what capacity. Also, send shipping labels to carrier printers (like FedEx and UPS) from the same screen.

Simple functionality combined with carrier and ERP integrations make DES a robust and efficient solution to optimize your supply chain.

COST

Often, warehouse management solutions carry a hefty price tag, as well as a stout cost for implementation and training. Companies regularly tell us they feel compelled to go with proprietary solutions from the same company as their ERP because of functionality and support concerns. They also say they wouldn’t use more than half of the features they will be paying for.

We developed DES with you in mind. We listened. DES carries a host of warehouse optimization features. However, after learning what companies truly want from a solution, we left out many unneeded features and functionality. Having a simple interface requires simplicity. With DES, that’s what you get: a warehouse management solution that has the features and integrations you need without cluttering the interface with the ones you don’t.

We often hear, “Value is not what you pay, but what you get.” It doesn’t mean you should spend an exorbitant amount of money on a warehouse management solution. We continue to develop DES to meet the growing and changing needs of clients. If there is a feature you’d like to see in a solution, ask. If it’s not already included in DES, it is likely we can develop it.