A Warehouse Management System (WMS) offers a paperless, nearly error free way to keep track of items in your warehouse. Specifically, the practice of lot tracking can be improved exponentially with a WMS. Lots are of product that share the same manufacturing or run date. Relying on a manual lot tracking process leaves room for mistakes and loss of data, while using a WMS ensures accuracy and proper data storage. Take a look at the comparison of what happens if a product has to be recalled, with and without a WMS:
| Without a WMS | With a WMS | |
| Step 1 | Manually write or type the product’s serial number, leaving room for human error. | Scan the product’s serial number. |
| Step 2 | Manually write or type the lot number, leaving room for human error. | Scan the lot number. |
| Step 3 | Find out the lot has to be recalled. | Find out the lot has to be recalled. |
| Step 4 | Comb through your spreadsheet or notes to find every serial number associated with the recalled lot, and hope that you don’t miss any. | Pull up the lot information on your WMS, and have a complete list in front of you, including location. |
| Step 5 | Search your warehouse for the recalled product, and find out that your spreadsheet is not as accurate as you thought. | Process the recall, knowing that all product has been addressed. Move on with other business. |
| Step 6 | Process the recall, hoping for the best. | |
| Step 7 | A week later, find more recalled product that you missed because it was not properly tracked to begin with. | |
| Step 8 | Kick yourself for not implementing a WMS sooner. |
Are you seeing a pattern? In today’s heavily automated world, a WMS is an absolute must for an efficient warehouse. If your competitors can offer guaranteed product but you can’t, who do you think customers would choose?
Along with a simplified recall process, lot tracking with a WMS can also be set up to flag a product that will soon expire. This ensures that your customers are receiving only the best from you, which gives you a great reputation for reliability. Plus, keeping track of serial numbers in an accurate database, instead of a spreadsheet, gives you peace of mind knowing that every item is present and accounted for.
Check out DPS Zap, our 99.8% accurate WMS, and get organized now!
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