Rarely, does a work day go by that I don't talk on the phone to Editor-At-Large Bob Trebilcock. And invariably, I lead with "How are you doing?" And Bob typically replies "Life is good."

Now when he was working on this month's story about the top warehouse management system suppliers, the conversation started out the same way. But we didn't talk for long before it became obvious that if I'd asked the same question of a WMS supplier, the reply would have been "Life was good."

Last year was a tough one for those companies (see Top WMS suppliers of 2001 ). Quite used to ever continuing growth, they hit some rough air in 2001. For the first time, revenues for the group declined. Then this year started out with analysts who follow these best-of-breed WMS suppliers saying that at least two in the top 10 will disappear by 2003. The words "industry consolidation" cover most of the possibilities.

You might ask why should WMS suppliers be any different from other severely challenged software companies. They're all having a tough time. But the real question is why?

Stan Chew of HighJump Software and long-time veteran of WMS offers some insight. He points the finger directly at chief information officers.

"In the late Nineties, they spent all this money for software and hardware that never realized the ROI that was promised," Stan says. "As a result, the CIOs lost their credibility."

But what he said next is most interesting. "There ought to be an amnesty for CIOs."

Stan's point is they could not have been all right at one point and all wrong now. There has to be a better balance here, and he's right.

The greatest tragedy is that one of the most productive groupings of software -WMS and related packages - are now lumped in with the non-performing types. Doesn't sound right to me, and probably hurts your ability to do your job day to day.

That means it's time for you and your peers to be more aggressive in recommending and pushing for WMS and related software that will make the demands of warehouses and distribution centers more manageable. You are where the power has always belonged but in some companies the IT departments have moved in and sometimes even eclipsed you.

Sure, they're the experts in the architecture and compatability issues of WMS. But they don't have any idea what you need in functionality to receive, store, pick, pack, and ship. Just as the CIOs were once seen as visionaries, it is time for you and other operating managers to assume (or perhaps re-assume) that role. Do that and life will be good again. For everyone.