Smart Warehousing
By , 17 January 2017 12:08
Smart warehousing using Foysonis
“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics” ~ Sun Tzu
Digitization of business and software runs smart warehouse
Technological changes in this century with exponential improvements in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Computing, Analytics and Networks have made it a necessity for businesses of all stripes to digitize their business for survival and growth. Technology enables companies to automate work, increase productivity and grow quickly to better compete in the marketplace.
The e-commerce giant Amazon is a great example: since 1994, it has dominated retailing by using the Internet and other innovative digital technologies, which led to Borders and other similar retailers going out of business. The Internet has grown exponentially. In 1999, 400 million people were connected; in 2015, 3 billion people were connected. And that number is expected to reach 4 billion by 2020. With these numbers, small-to-mid-size businesses need access to sophisticated software platforms to compete with big players for customers.
Disruption of Industries with Cloud Computing and SaaS
Industries of all sizes are experiencing a massive structural shift-from the PC and client/server based technology of the 1990s to the disruptive innovations of cloud computing. This platform change establishes the foundation for the next 10 years of business growth, as millions of new and transformative solutions leverage cloud computing innovations to create new opportunities. This new platform creates value throughout the marketplace, allowing companies to create value where never before possible.
By 2020, penetration of software as a service (SaaS) versus traditional software deployment will be over 25 percent. Packaged software will shrink to 10 percent of new enterprise installations. Smart connected devices, the combination of PCs, tablets and smartphones, will accelerate to nearly 2.5 billion shipments annually by 2017. And by 2020, 6 billion smartphones will be in use globally.
WMS Software Space Impact
How do these changes affect the supply chain software market, particularly the Warehouse Management System (WMS) space? Current legacy vendors who built their products during the client-server era continue to solicit the last millions out of their outdated and bloated software. Customers who adopt these solutions quickly realize their supply chain solutions are outdated and not competitive in the current marketplace. For forward-looking businesses with small-to-mid-size warehouses, using a cloud-based, on-demand WMS solution from Foysonis is a smart solution.
 Legacy Vendors
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 Foysonis WMS Cloud
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Foysonis Technology and Value Proposition
Accessing the Foysonis Cloud WMS is made easy by ubiquitous network access. Users are able to connect to Foysonis Cloud WMS from anywhere in the world, with whatever devices they have and access a real-time view of inventory and order fulfillment activities.
After researching various Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers to deploy the Foysonis WMS cloud, our team decided to use Amazon Web Services (AWS). One Cloud characteristic that saves customers money is its rapid elasticity ability. Here’s what it means: When the order volume spikes, computing resources spin-up for a short time period and, when no longer required, spin down.
This efficiency is unthinkable in the legacy WMS environment, in which companies buy extra computing resources for high-volume periods and allow computing power to expire during normal volume periods, resulting in a waste of computing resources and money. Another aspect supporting a truly cloud-native solution is multi-tenancy. This means Foysonis WMS Cloud runs all of our clients applications on one IT infrastructure, pooling and sharing the computing power, storage, memory and bandwidth.
These cloud computing aspects make running a cloud-native application for businesses an operational cost versus a capital expenditure, which is the expense of an on-premise solution. This shift enables significant ROI, freeing up considerable capital to invest in manufacturing, sales, marketing and R&D- all activities to encourage business growth.
Foysonis Cloud WMS Advantages
Imagine logistics as a network of multiple actors, like manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and retailers. Warehouses are the nodes in that network. Any delay in that node chokes the flow of products from source to the destination. To ensure a free flow of products in the network, an optimal and efficient warehousing operation is a must to ensure on-time product delivery to customers. The cloud based WMS from Foysonis optimizes the receiving, picking and shipping processes of a logistics operation and, more importantly, builds the capabilities for a complete transformation of your business, saving 30-50 percent in operational costs.
Businesses sell products online using eBay and Amazon; most physical retail stores have complementary online stores as well. For multiple channels to work, businesses need to fulfill orders based on accurate inventory data; to allocate inventory for all orders feeding from these channels; to create pick lists and then use tablets and smartphones to complete these picks; and finally, to ship orders using TL/LTL/Parcel carriers.
Businesses still operating their warehouses on pencil and paper undergo a tedious process to track inventory, which results in unfulfilled customer orders and lost money. These issues get resolved by digitizing operations, using the Foysonis Cloud WMS and essentially transforming into a software-driven company.
With accurate inventory tracking, the need for safety stock is reduced, which increases inventory turnover and working capital utilization. In addition to reducing safety-stock requirements, a WMS increases available warehouse space by more efficiently locating items in relation to receiving, putaway, picking and shipping areas or locations. This increased efficiency improves productivity and lowers inventory holding costs significantly.
Implementation of a real-time WMS significantly reduces paperwork traditionally associated with warehouse operations as well as ensures timely and accurate flow of inventory and information. Reports, pick tickets, move tickets and packing lists, which are typically maintained as hard copies, are maintained electronically.
A comprehensive WMS facilitates standardization of inventory movements, picking methods and inventory locations. This standardization minimizes reliance on informal practices, resulting in reduced training costs and lower error rates. By streamlining processes from order to delivery, companies more accurately determine product availability and realistic delivery dates. A WMS automatically identifies and releases back-ordered inventory and also reduces returns as a result of increased shipment accuracy. Users can reserve inventory for a customer, thereby ensuring it will not be shipped to anyone else. With these benefits, adopting our solution enables businesses to become industry leaders in reliability and customer satisfaction.
Foysonis will lead in thought Leadership
Our solution draws inspiration from companies like Google, Uber and Facebook. Its goal is to build a simple-to-use WMS solution that scales at Internet size to process billions of transactions and run thousands of warehouses. With on-demand self-service, companies could provision our WMS software to run their warehouses without having to interact with IT service personnel.
To sign up for a free 30-day trial, you need an email address. If our solution meets your needs, Individual, Standard and Premium plans start at $9, $49 and$99 per month and can be paid via credit card. This is the most affordable Cloud WMS solution in the market today.
Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence will provide a software platform that helps businesses analyze historical data, gain insights and create new solutions to optimize each process within a logistics network. Big Data and analytics will change the way companies make decisions in regards to their operations. These next-generation technologies and systems are designed to extract economic value from very large data sets and from a wide variety of data types by enabling high-velocity capture, discovery and analysis.
There is only one player revolutionizing WMS software with these game changing technologies, and it is Foysonis.
