Top 10 Warehouse Management Challenges: How to Solve Them with 3PL WMS Software
Warehouse management is no small feat. From monitoring inventory levels to ensuring accurate orders, shipments, and handling seasonal peaks, warehouse management is a constant challenge for businesses. As per the latest study by McKinsey & Company, global companies spend nearly €300 billion each year on warehousing operations. From inventory management to order fulfillment, customer satisfaction, and more, these challenges can drastically affect your business.
But how do you cope with these warehouse management challenges and take your 3PL or e-commerce business to the next level?
and That’s where 3PL warehouse management software comes in, automating complex warehousing processes, enhancing visibility, optimizing workflows, and much more.
Below is a list of the top 10 warehouse management challenges and how WMS software helps to overcome them.
Top 10 Warehouse Management Challenges and Their Solutions
1. Inventory Mismanagement/ Poor Inventory Management
Challenge: There’s nothing more frustrating for customers than ordering something that’s out of stock. Stockouts are the painful outcome of poor tracking, manual mistakes, and outdated systems and can result in lost sales and a tarnished reputation. Statista reports that average inventory accuracy in the US was approximately 63% in 2020.
Solution: To avoid mismatches in inventory, adopt a 3PL software that allows real-time inventory tracking and acts like your digital eye while maintaining appropriate stock levels, preventing stockouts, and ensuring happy customers.
2. Flawed Order Management
Challenge: Are you dealing with manual order processing issues or order fulfillment challenges? Manual order fulfillment eats your time, inflates labor costs, and incurs errors. Each mistake reduces your profits.
Solution: Warehouse automation solutions streamline order management, create picking lists, and connect with shipping carriers for improved speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Streamline your fulfillment now and get the most out of 3PL software with Fulfillor.
3: Failure to Adapt to Fluctuating Seasonal Demands
Challenge: Outdated warehouse systems are unable to handle the bulk of orders in peak seasons, resulting in delays and lost sales. Issues such as selling out of items with high turnover, misplacing seasonal items, or not being able to fulfill orders promptly.
Solution: You should go for a 3PL WMS that is scalable enough to handle peaks and troughs in seasonal demands. The agile warehouse management software automates workflows and helps in dynamically allocating resources to the changing needs experienced in each season. Predictive seasonal inventory tools can help businesses stock up ahead of peaks in demand.
4. Inability to Conduct Real-Time Data Analysis
Challenge: Decade-old systems lack transparency and do not offer real-time updates and order statuses as per the client demands, leaving clients dissatisfied and frustrated.
Solution: 3PL software provides clients with real-time dashboards and updates, improving communication and building trust. Using real-time data handling also brings this level of transparency and keeps clients well-informed about updated inventory status, order updates, and shipping details.
5. Not Adapting to E-commerce Integration
Challenge: Suppose you have a WMS that does not integrate well with your other e-commerce platforms, resulting in wanted delays and unnecessary complexity.
Solution: Third-party logistics (3PL) software can easily connect to multiple e-commerce platforms, providing a single place for order management and maintaining a smooth information flow. This integration reduces the risk of fulfillment lags and overselling.
6. Inefficient Use of Warehouse Space
Challenge: An unoptimized warehouse layout can result in wasted space, longer picking times, and disorganized storage.
Solution: 3PL warehouse management software with smart slotting technology helps you track the inventory stock and optimize storage locations where an item is packed, resulting in faster picking and effective space utilization
7. Managing Returns and Reverse Logistics
Challenge: Returns management in logistics can disrupt inventory. Without an organized system, returned goods can become lost, mislabeled, or end up sitting in a corner, leading to confusion and affecting the accuracy of inventory.
Solution: How can 3PL software help? With the 3PL software having your back, return management is a breeze, as it updates everything from stock levels and status updates to facilitating refunds. This helps return processes run smoothly without impeding operations.
8. Increased Labor Costs
Challenge: Many warehouse owners make the incorrect assumption that automation and equipment make up a large percentage of your operating expenses when in reality, manual labor is also costly and can crip away your profits.
Solution: Automated robotic picking and AI-based workflows reduce manual intervention. Fulfillor provides end-to-end automation from order picking and packing to shipping in an orderly, convenient manner, reducing dependence on labor.
9. Complexity of Managing Multiple Clients
Problem: Managing multiple clients in a 3PL warehouse without zero clear segmentation and processes leads to confusion, mix-ups, and slow responses, costing you valuable time.
Solution: A 3PL multi-client management software that can provide role-based access, allowing your clients to have visibility into the movement of their inventory and orders with no crossover, is what you need. Fulfillor provides a centralized dashboard with role-based access that helps efficiently manage multiple clients from one interface, making it one of the leading choices in the world of 3PL WMS.
10. Traceability and Connectivity Issues
Challenge: Are you facing traceability and connectivity issues because of your legacy software and manual processes? Loss of control over inventory and hiccups in the continuity of the supply chain can be a headache.
Solution: A cloud-based warehouse solution removes manual errors and provides up-to-the-minute data. Its digital tracking feature ensures that inventory can be managed seamlessly, so you can keep the wheels turning fast without a single error on your mind.
Real-World Success Story: How Fulfillor Helped a 3PL Client Overcome Picking Challenges
One of our 3PL clients in the US faced problems because of inefficient picking routes, leading to delayed orders and fulfillment issues. By implementing Fulfillor’s automated picking system, they saw their order accuracy improve by 25% in just three months! They had their own WMS with a specific setup, which helped them in integration with their tech stack, and hence, there were significant cost savings as well as faster order processing.
Conclusion
Your business can be adversely affected by warehouse management challenges, but utilizing the right 3PL warehouse management software like Fulfillor can help you automate operations, make fewer mistakes, and improve process efficiency. Fulfillor – a cloud-based 3PL WMS can be one of the best 3PL warehouse management solutions to tackle these challenges, be it in the form of inventory tracking, automation, or providing your customer with real-time visibility.
So, are you ready to elevate your warehouse management? Our smart and scalable 3PL warehouse management solution, FulFillor, is what you need to streamline your logistics and scale your business effortlessly. Schedule a call with our expert for more information on how Fulfillor can standardize your warehouse operations.
About the Author: Visvendra Singh Rajpoot, a 3PL logistics tech expert with over 8+ years of experience in warehouse management solutions, focuses on eCommerce, retail, multi-channel, 3PL, and manufacturing companies to streamline their supply chain operations. His deep understanding of businesses allows him to help companies, even those located in the U.S., scale effortlessly and attain sustainable growth.
