Would you buy a car on faith?

No one would buy a car without a look under the hood. Industry veteran John Hill says you shouldn't buy a WMS that way either.

By John M. Hill, principal, TranSystems | ESYNC -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/5/2008

Buying a warehouse management system (WMS) is a lot like buying a car. You want to kick the tires, get behind the wheel and poke around under the hood—especially if you’re mechanically inclined.

The same is true of a WMS. From the time you begin the selection process up through the time you commission the system and go live with your operations, following a proven checklist helps to ensure that you get the system your company needs and not a “lemon.” After all, while lemon laws protect car buyers, there’s no such thing as a lemon law for WMS systems, only buyers’ remorse.

The steps below are the guidelines I consider the most important to follow when you’re selecting a WMS. They provide a measured approach to WMS pre-selection and selection. We’ll look at deployment and post-deployment in a subsequent column.

Pre-Selection Phase

• Establish clear improvement targets for key performance metrics.
• Match material and data flow, using process flow-charting to identify opportunities for improvement in layout and operating procedures.
• Prepare a detailed functional requirements document.
• Build project ownership by fostering broad employee participation in the identification of improvement opportunities and assessment of potential payback.
• Maintain a proper balance between the concerns and needs of IT and those of the operations management.
• Review the functional requirements document with IS, financial and operating personnel to identify what could possibly go wrong. Develop appropriate back-up procedures. Step through every system function: Determine the probability of problem occurrence and the cost of resolution. At the end of the process, you'll have a document that details what might go wrong, a probable solution cost and whether or not the risk warrants additional investment. Adjust the specification and equipment configuration accordingly. A by-product of the process is a plan that permits continued facility operation in the event of a minor problem or major system failure.
• Prepare a preliminary return-on-investment package. With that, you want to secure management buy-in before initiating the selection process. Be sure to set the proper levels of expectation—don’t oversell the potential.

The RFP

• Prepare a request for proposal (RFP) that clearly describes the application environment, process flows and system expectations.
• Ensure the RFP is not released until stakeholders have had an opportunity to sign off on it.
• Do your homework and narrow the field so you don’t send the RFP to the world.
• Encourage and provide sufficient time for suppliers to visit your site(s) before submitting their proposals.
• Include a Conformance Table requirement to encourage suppliers to follow a prescribed format that will facilitate and simplify proposal preparation and your review and assessment of it.
• Ensure that performance improvement targets and expected benefits are included in the RFP and that suppliers address each in their proposals.
• Check references!

Selection Phase

When the RFP has come back, narrow the field to three or, at most, four semifinalists. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready for the next phase.

• Require semifinalists to produce a complete demonstration of their packages keyed to your environment and requirements. Ensure that your IT, operations (including floor personnel) and management teams participate in the demos and provide feedback for the evaluation.
• Visit reference sites! This is important enough that I’ve mentioned it twice.
• Ensure the chemistry is there between your organization and the vendor before making the final selection; i.e., how well does your team interact with the supplier team?
• Fine-tune the investment package and obtain final approvals.

If you’ve followed those steps, your ready for the last, which is to select the vendor, and, like buying a car, you’re ready to drive it home.