Warehouse Management
I
Opinion
technology partners as well. There's no point in just setting up a system and leaving the client to manage the change. As a company grows it will need to evolve and its IT systems will need to change with it so that it continues to meet its customers' demands. "As a company's throughput grows it's not just the WMS that needs to evolve, other software systems can sometimes feel the strain. We were recently able to make suggestions to a client whose company experienced a system slow down due to their accounts package." Liddar continued to explain that 3PL customers often need to converse on a technical level with their 'downstream' customers' IT personnel and it's often easier for a member of the MACS team to become involved to ensure a quick and robust conclusion. "That way the final customer has confidence that its IT staff will find it easy to work with the 3PL supplier, via MACS if necessary." Darren Yull is the head of IT for MSE Group, the global entertainment distributor that handles up to 30,000 orders a day using MACS software. He said that the use of ecommerce systems from MACS had completely changed the way the business works and agrees that it is experience that really makes the difference. "Moving into ecommerce was new for us, so we really appreciated MACS's understanding, flexibility and knowledge. The guys get what we are doing and constantly come up with new ideas to help us."
Holistic approach Liddar feels very strongly that e-commerce should not be a bolt-on extra to an existing system, it should be inherent within it. "Having a holistic approach to the strategic development of software is surely the best approach. In my world there is no difference between traditional warehousing procedures and e-commerce. Moving from 100 orders per
week to 100,000 orders per week, the management of consolidated orders to individual depots with separate billing addresses, 'dropship' orders, the management of consignment stock and demand forecasting/purchase ordering to multi choice couriers, it's all standard." However despite the level of sophistication of the 'standard' system the software supplier cannot stand still with its own development. It's a continuous process to optimise the software, predict what the industry will want next and lead the market if possible. Each aspect takes many weeks of development but is essential to ensure that customers stay ahead of the game. "One area we have been working hard on recently is stock valuation," said Liddar. "Some stock, such as CDs and books, becomes obsolete very quickly. Our system offers robust analysis mechanisms that can deal with continual changes in pricing to ensure the seller makes accurate decisions about its sales pricing and margins." The obligation of an e-commerce supplier is to provide security of outcome. What should happen must happen, every time. According to Tony Liddar, the way to achieve that is by calling upon experience. “Short cuts and quick fixes rarely work.�
www.logisticsit.com
IT
MANUFACTURING
March 2014
&LOGISTICS
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