The early 2020s have transformed how many companies operate. Economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and more have driven business leaders to improve operational efficiency. Warehouse management software can help you deliver merchandise to your customers while allowing you to stay flexible and adaptable during shifting market conditions. What kind of warehouse management software is best for you?
This article explores the different types of warehouse management software and enterprise resource management systems and how you can use them to enhance your operations.
What is Warehouse Management Software?
Warehouse management software (WMS) is software widely used in the manufacturing, distribution, automotive, agriculture, and aerospace industries that offers real-time data about inventory control and warehouse operations. Essentially, WMS keeps track of every item that comes in and goes out of the warehouse, all while optimizing operations to increase efficiency.
This software is often a cloud-based system that includes features to track inventory and shipping costs. WMS also helps customers know what product is available in your warehouse or distribution center at any given time. In 2025, WMS has become a non-negotiable tool for your manufacturing or warehousing business.
How Does Warehouse Management Software Work?
WMS helps you automate different parts of your warehouse management operations from processing payments to tracking shipments. Optimizing your warehouse is easy with a comprehensive platform that offers:
- Inventory Management: WMS improves visibility into your supply chain by giving you real-time inventory levels, inventory tracking data, shipping information, and shipping data.
- Order Fulfillment: WMS helps you optimize order fulfillment by showing you the most efficient ways to store, retrieve, and pack merchandise from your warehouse, allowing you to ship orders faster.
- Receiving and Put-Away: WMS can help you plan your warehouse to store merchandise for faster loading and unloading effectively. It also helps you compare goods you’ve received to your purchase orders to better manage inventory levels.
- Labor Management: A WMS with labor management offers insights into your team’s performance so you can effectively schedule, assign tasks, and manage your team’s time.
- Shipping: WMS automatically generates labels and packing strips. It also helps you plan transportation and shipping routes to speed up the delivery.
3 Types of Warehouse Management Systems
The best warehouse management software for you depends on your business and your supply chain process. WMS usually falls into one of three categories.
Standalone WMS
A standalone WMS is a warehouse management system solely focused on tasks associated with warehouse management. These systems are usually located on-site and include features such as inventory management, labor management, and labor management. A standalone WMS won’t usually integrate with other software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. You might choose a standalone system if you run a smaller business and only want to optimize warehouse systems.
Cloud-Based WMS
A cloud-based warehouse management system offers similar features as a standalone system, but it’s located in the cloud. This means people in your company can access the WMS through the internet even if they’re not on-site in the warehouse.
Cloud-based systems often integrate with other software such as labor management, point-of-sale systems, and transportation planning software. Cloud-based systems give you more flexibility to scale as your company grows.
Integrated WMS
An integrated WMS is part of a more complex management system, such as an ERP system, that manages every aspect of your business. An ERP system manages multiple aspects of your operations, including invoicing, accounting, and client relationship management.
Integrated WMS have more functionality and give you an end-to-end view of your supply chain. Since these systems are usually cloud-based, everyone can access real-time data to inform decision-making and better inform customers.
Benefits of Using Software for Warehouse Management
Your business can benefit from a WMS through:
- Improved Efficiency and Productivity: WMS streamlines and digitizes everyday processes and eliminates manual inputting. For example, Surgere’s Pack Spec provides real-time notifications while calculating quotes, dimensions, and post-launch costs which eliminates redundant processes.
- Enhanced Inventory Accuracy: Using a WMS that automatically updates inventory levels with each order gives you better visibility into your backstock. You run less risk of stockouts without carrying excessive inventory.
- Enhanced Customer Service: When your distribution center runs smoothly, your employees have more time to serve customers. Today’s customer expects real-time data and accurate information. WMS helps you keep your customers satisfied, because your employees always know what is available as they respond to customer inquiries.
- Improved Warehouse Space: Warehouse planning is essential to making loading and unloading more efficient. Cloud-based localization tools analyze your warehouse for enhanced safety and better flow. These systems also offer better forecasting to reduce wasted inventory and space.
- Integration With Supply Chain Technology: WMS that integrates with transportation management software helps you track your merchandise from the warehouse to the customer and allows you to optimize routes to move goods faster.
- Minimized Returns and Rejections: WMS automations reduce errors such as shipping the wrong item to a customer. This helps you reduce returns and saves you money in lost sales.
The Future of Modern Warehouse Management Software
As WMS evolves with technology, more companies are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) for intelligent warehouse automation and more accurate analytics. AI in warehouse management can assess past data to help you optimize your inventory, make your shipping practices more sustainable, and plan shipping routes.
RFID tags give you better insight on transit times. These tags are powered by IoT technology and allow you to track merchandise in the warehouse, in shipping containers, and in delivery trucks. You get full visibility of your shipment from start to finish which helps set customer expectations and improves customer service.
Barcode scanning helps you keep inventory levels updated without having to manually input data whenever you ship or receive merchandise.
What’s the Best Warehouse Management Software?
There are many software options for warehouse management. Not all supply chain solutions are created equally. Streamline your warehouse management system with Surgere. Surgere is an industry pioneer leveraging IoT and other technology to revolutionize the supply chain. Our solution expands visibility into your warehouse operations and warehouse transfer processes. Our AI insights help you optimize warehouse operations based on historical data. See it in action by scheduling a demo today.
