Dynamic WMS Prototype for Effective Warehouse Automation
About Our Client
The Client is an EU-based supply chain company focused on ecommerce fulfillment and product delivery services. The company operates a network of urban warehouses across the major cities of Spain and offers inventory storage, picking, packing, and distribution for its ecommerce clients. The Client continuously advances its proprietary technology stack to provide flexibility in responding to its clients' unique ecommerce fulfillment needs and ensure fast and cost-efficient order delivery.
Warehouse Efficiency Required Improvement
The Client wanted to create a custom warehouse management system (WMS) to automate and optimize the company's unique warehouse operations. The Client's in-house IT team lacked the competencies required to plan and build a full-featured WMS from scratch. The company was looking for a tech partner proficient in custom software development and supply chain IT to provide expert WMS development consulting.
Consulting on Custom WMS Development
Business analysis and requirements engineering
ScienceSoft's WMS consultants proposed to start the collaboration with a discovery phase to better understand the Client’s warehouse management needs and elicit unique requirements for the solution. The team audited the Client’s existing warehouse processes and tools. Also, ScienceSoft arranged a set of onsite sessions with the Client to facilitate stakeholder interviewing and explore the real-life warehouse workflows.
Upon performing a thorough analysis of the Client’s as-is business situation, ScienceSoft's consultants provided the company with a list of precise requirements for the custom WMS and recommendations on improving the efficiency of warehouse operations. Particularly, the Client received expert advice on how to automate the warehouse processes and what hardware equipment to employ to optimize labor expenses and ensure sustainable business growth.
WMS design and planning
After eliciting the requirements, ScienceSoft’s team elaborated the technical vision of the warehouse management solution. The Client received a detailed map of WMS features prioritized for implementation according to their expected value to the business. Also, the company received extensive documentation on functional, technical, process dependencies, as well as a roles and permissions matrix.
Bringing in its best practices in WMS development, ScienceSoft's team covered high-fidelity WMS prototyping. With the interactive prototype, the Client got a clear idea of the functionality, logic, and user journeys the final solution was expected to provide. It allowed the Client to add the input on the required changes and improvements to avoid costly redevelopment. ScienceSoft's experts adapted the solution's UI design to the existing visual style of the Client's corporate solutions, so that the company could benefit from a faster learning curve for its employees and the streamlined WMS adoption.
Finally, ScienceSoft delivered a detailed roadmap for WMS implementation, which comprised cost and time estimates, as well as a risk mitigation strategy and project plan.
A Clear WMS Concept in Just 8 Weeks
The Client received a comprehensive feature map and a dynamic prototype of a custom WMS, as well as a detailed implementation roadmap in 8 weeks. It helped the company promptly start WMS development and minimize project risks. With ScienceSoft's expert help on the best-fitting warehouse automation features and an optimal WMS tech stack, the Client got the opportunity to optimize operational costs and improve warehouse performance.
Technologies and Tools
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, Figma, Jira, Confluence.
Methodologies
Q&A sessions, business requirements analysis, process modeling, UI modeling.
