Blueprint for Success: 10 Critical Design Tips from Hundreds of WMS Implementations
Here’s how to navigate the design phase of a warehouse management system deployment in your facility.
Navigating the design phase of a warehouse management system (WMS) can be a complex and daunting task. This crucial phase involves defining future-state workflows, aligning the technology with your business processes to meet both current and future needs, and setting the groundwork for the upcoming build and configuration project phases.
A well-executed design phase sets the stage for a successful implementation, ensuring the system is tailored to your specific requirements. Follow these top tips from our WMS Playbook to ensure you kick-off and build a solid foundation for your project.
Invest in Training – Build Competence Early:
Don’t wait until late in the process to get your team up to speed. Have them attend the vendor’s introductory product training class early on. Consider asking the WMS vendor to conduct the training at one of your facilities to minimize internal travel costs.
Mods Contingency – Plan for the Unexpected:
Establish a contingency plan for system modifications and enhancements. During the sales cycle, collaborate with the WMS vendor to scope out potential changes. Consider negotiating concessions on the vendor’s standard rates, especially if the WMS development will be done primarily by offshore resources.
Prototype Environment – Lay the Groundwork:
Before starting the WMS design phase, request the vendor create a working prototype environment. This allows the team to visualize base-system WMS capabilities during the design workshops, helping drive alignment between all teams.
Embrace an Agile Approach for Design – Iterate and Improve:
Move away from the traditional approach of delivering a lengthy solution design document at the end of the design phase. Instead, break it down into smaller, manageable sections and review them iteratively. This helps foster continuous feedback and refinement, leading to a more robust final design.
Develop Visual Future-State Process Maps – Paint the Full Picture:
Create detailed future-state process maps and integrate them into the vendor’s solution design document. Lead your workshops with these process maps, with an aim to align your operations with the vendor’s base system to minimize custom development.
Include Micro-Value Demonstrations – Show, Don’t Just Tell:
Enhance design workshops by incorporating micro-Conference Room Pilot (CRP) sessions. These sessions allow the core project team, key stakeholders, and the business validation team members to see future-state process maps and system demos firsthand, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Keep in mind that most WMS vendors have moved away from traditional CRP events to help reduce implementation costs.
Parallel Path the Integration Design – Synchronize Technical and Operational Efforts:
Begin the enterprise integration design alongside the WMS functional and operational design work to avoid testing delays later in the project. Address any final field-mapping changes in a later development sprint to keep the project on track. Remember that the integration development workstream will be on the project’s critical path.
Engage the Vendor’s Technical Project Manager Early – Champion the Technical Vision:
Engage the vendor’s Technical Project Manager from the outset to provide high-level estimates for potential enhancements and system changes. Early in the design phase, ask the WMS vendor to share their guidelines for providing ‘t-shirt sizing’ effort estimates for potential gaps.
Performance Metrics – Define Success Up Front:
Establish clear performance metrics and KPIs for the WMS implementation. These should be defined early in the design phase to ensure the team is focused on key business goals that link back to your benefits case. If not already tracking these metrics, start a program to baseline where you’re at today on the most important KPIs.
Log Key Requirements for Future Releases – Keep an Eye on the Horizon:
Document essential requirements not supported by the base system and discuss them with the vendor’s product team. Advocate for their inclusion in future releases through active participation in the vendor’s product councils. With the move to the cloud, many WMS vendors are now releasing new functionality every quarter.
Navigating the design phase of a WMS project can be a complex and demanding process. If your internal team is feeling the weight of this challenge, it may be wise to consider collaborating with seasoned experts who specialize in WMS implementations.
Many WMS implementation partners come with invaluable experience, having previously worked directly with WMS vendors. They bring expertise and deep industry insights to the table, ensuring that your design phase is not only efficient but also strategically aligned with your business goals.