A study of warehouse management system in Singapore.

In order to maintain/enhance Singapore’s competitiveness as the world’s leading logistics hub, this study examines the general use of Warehouse Management System (WMS) in the warehousing sector, with the aim of providing constructive recommendations. This research project was carried out by collecting survey data and conducting interviews with industry working professionals in the data consolidation and analysis phase. The findings indicate that: - The small scale of WMS implementation in Singapore logistics industry is attributed to the substantial representation of small players. Thus, continued funding support from government is desirable in achieving full WMS adoption. Furthermore, merging of small players to become bigger players, together with proper control measures in place, might be beneficial to Singapore. - Average level of warehouse sophistication lies between rudimentary locator and advanced locator, hence there is huge potential for improvement. There are significant differences in warehouse sophistication level between small and medium-large warehouses. Therefore, the small players have extra miles to go in catching up with more sophisticated industry practices. - Generally speaking, WMS used in Singapore are strong in number of functionalities, technology contents and ability to fit into warehouse operations. However, they are weak in ability to integrate and support warehouse automation. As warehouses evolve towards automation, WMS developers can turn such weakness into business opportunity. On the other hand, warehouses should be prudent in choosing WMS packages. - The deployment status of most WMS capabilities is slightly lesser than perceived usefulness. Furthermore, most extended capabilities are rated to have low deployment status and usefulness. Thus, there is enormous room for WMS to further develop and play a stronger role in increasing operational efficiency and productivity in the warehouses. - The future R&D needs for WMS focuses on customer satisfaction, since warehousing itself is a service sector. Therefore, R&D needs for visibility, event management and performance management fall under high-importance, high-urgency activities.