Warehouse Management Software for Microsoft Dynamics GP Highlights

There are numerous brands available on the software market, where these WMS functions are implemented.  The question often is posed about the integration between your Corporate ERP (in the case of this paper – Dynamics GP) and the Warehouse Management Software.  If you research the integration options, you may find surprising nuances about warehouse solution implementation cost and its components.  One of the discoveries is probably the fact about parallel distribution ERP logic in WMS and in Great Plains itself, where you have already paid for whatever is now in discussion in Warehouse application selection and future software cost, especially when you are considering to purchase brand name standalone Warehouse application with rich functionality and wide barcode scanners and RFID readers compatibility: Barcode Generator, Systemid, POS Guys,  Symbol, Motorola, Metrologic, Intermec,  Wasp, Datalogic, to give you popular names.  In the ideal situation, if you are large nationwide distributor or wholesaler, we recommend you to hire Warehouse Management consultant just to help you with the WMS platform selection.  Let’s now come to the reviews and recommendations:

1. Should I have WMS working directly out of my Corporate ERP database and application, or should I get it implemented as external system with loose or tight integration?  This is very good question to start with.  First of all – external Warehouse Management applications have to address their market niche, where they need large number of installations to support internal cost of software development, plus various Barcoding, RFID related drivers, etc.  And when rich business logic is implemented, and supported in various scenarios, the question of compatibility with back end Accounting, MRP and ERP systems might be in the secondary focus.  Of course, they cover the most popular Accounting platforms, including Great Plains, but the integration might be done via connectors approach and you may expect integration budget (which might be something identified as TBD in initial proposals, and as you go with implementation, the budget figures might exceed the initial expectations).  On the other hand, there are Warehouse Management extensions, typically available directly from your Corporate ERP ISV partner channel.  Great Plains Dynamics has several ISV organizations, offering warehousing modules, one of them is Alba Spectrum.  Extensions work out of GP company database tables and do not require or require just minimal integration consulting and programming hours.  In addition to that the overlapping of the Distribution and Supply Chain Management business logic is also minimized, as warehouse originated documents go directly to Great Plains Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing and Inventory Control modules transactions.  There might be some minuses to expect.  WMS extensions might have lower implementation base.  But at the same time, if you are picking extensions route – it is probably easier to find the way to the original programmers to have them tune the logic (customize your blend of the Warehouse module in GP Dexterity, to open specific screen for barcode scanning or RFID reading)

2. Interoperability.  If you are global organization (or in other words multinational corporation, and even smaller business expanding internationally), you may have such topics as eCommerce, EDI, customer portal and internet self-service on the top of the list.  Distributions firms traditionally have their customers and suppliers on EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) channel.  New technologies are coming, one of them is B2B and B2C ecommerce, where you have your customer to fill the order (and do customer deposit in B2C scenario) online and then have it immediately available for Allocation directly in your warehouse.  Then, if you have your freight forwarding partner to deliver the merchandize, there should be a web service, allowing you to plug-in Order Status info in the Customer Web Portal self service page.  Alba Spectrum eCommerce module allows has seamless and very tight integration with our Warehouse Management System Extensions

3. Availability internationally.  We are following Great Plains Dynamics availability map.  It is obviously available in the USA, Canada and most of the English speaking countries.  Secondly GP is available in South and Central America (only in Spanish speaking part, where ERP localization is available directly from Microsoft Business Solutions in your country, we recommend you to place the call to your local Microsoft office to discuss the details).  There are also several flavors of Dynamics GP in Arabic World: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Northern Africa

4. For additional information, please feel free to call us 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918 (this number works for international customers) or email us help@albaspectrum.com  We serve you USA/Canada nationwide via remote support (web sessions and phone/Skype conferences).  Local service is available in Western Michigan, Chicagoland, Southern California (LA, Orange County, San Diego), Houston area of the state of Texas