The warehouse management system (WMS) is the most revolutionary and productive innovation for warehouse operations and materials handling of the past 50 years. It increases warehouse inventory accuracy, makes better use of manpower and equipment and reduces order ship time to the customer. During the 1990s, only large companies could afford a WMS. They needed at least a half million dollars and a robust IT staff to put toward a project.

The costs of implementation and operation are down. Modern's recent article “The other WMS market” discussed a new industry trend where smaller firms can avoid the cost of servers and a large IT staff by contracting a WMS provider to run the application at the provider's own site.

Now that a WMS is more affordable, where do we go from here? Speaking for the Marines, we're expanding its use to austere environments where traditional facilities are not available. Recent events in Indonesia, New Orleans, the Middle East and other trouble spots have created the need for large scale disaster relief, as well as nation-building efforts and associated materials. Relief efforts move into areas with damaged infrastructure and limited warehouse facilities for storage, yet there is a need for receipt, storage and issue of items that range from construction and cleaning materials to medicines, clothing, equipment—even repair parts.

So how do we meet the need for WMS capability in this environment when most WMS operations require computer rooms, LAN infrastructure, mapped warehouses, fixed computer terminals and an IT staff?

First, the application and database servers can be installed in man-portable, climate-controlled durable containers which are powered by portable generators. An alternative to running on-site application servers is a satellite link back to a WMS vendor site. You can use wireless RF communications devices with attached portable bar code printers for operators in the storage areas. Storage areas can be created in a grid configuration similar to a container facility at a port. A key to this concept is the use of a fairly simple WMS application that provides the necessary functionality so training requires few man hours.

The result of expanding the use of a WMS to disaster relief or nation-building organizations is real time tracking and management of a warehouse facility established in an underdeveloped or damaged environment within a short period of time. These organizations need to know what they have and get it into the hands of those who need it quickly.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) may help by identifying and tracking incoming goods. The Marines' vision is to eventually eliminate the standard tag reader infrastructure by having the tags talk directly to the logistics databases with network access points such as cellular or military networks that communicate by satellite. This would eliminate the cost and maintenance, as well as the security, associated with tag reader infrastructure. We are now moving toward limiting the use of the more expensive active tags to identifying container loads in intercontinental shipments. Less expensive (about 50¢ each) passive tags will now be used for pallets and small containers while bar codes will continue to be used for individual parts.

Everyone would benefit from an accurate picture of what it has on hand, the ability to quickly receive and issue items, and the crossdocking of inbound materials to the right agencies when there is an immediate demand.

By harnessing the benefits of a WMS in the harshest of environments and in the world's most remote locations, more lessons are being learned and applied for an even wider spectrum of industrial applications.