The Material Handling Blog

It’s easy to think of a WES (warehouse execution system) as a “plug-and-play” software solution for islands of automation within a larger overall warehouse system. Just take orders in from the WMS (warehouse management system) or host system, run some logic to sequence those orders in an optimal way and ensure those orders are picked at the right time and place to be shipped on-time. While, at a high level, this essential functionality is at the core of a WES, operations in all other areas of the warehouse must be understood to guarantee a successful implementation and optimize all interconnected processes at a specific site.

Material handling is a very exciting industry to be a part of in 2023. The demand for fast, efficient and reliable storage and fulfillment is higher than ever, which has led to some amazing advancements in technology. Goods to person systems, robotics, automated trailer loading, and automated vehicles are just a few of the amazing technologies that everyone in the industry is talking about. These solutions can add incredible value to a distribution center, but there is a critical piece behind the scenes that can make or break the entire system: software.

In these cases, either the host ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system or the WMS (Warehouse Management System) controls inventory and is the brain of the entire warehouse. The WES (Warehouse Execution System), on the other hand, is responsible for controlling the various islands of automation to complete tasks given by the host or WMS system. This might all seem a bit complicated at first. After all, if the WMS is like a brain, why can’t it just control everything in the warehouse on its own? Are multiple systems really better and more cost-effective than one? As I will explain below, a WES can greatly improve operations where automation is involved in many ways.

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'Business Intelligence' and 'Analytics' are buzzwords in our society. Any google trend search will show the rise of these buzzwords over the last 15 years. Everyone wants to make smart business decisions based on the data that they have; and everyone wants to know that they have made smart business decisions - and how to improve on those decisions. This is especially true in the automated warehousing industry as these systems need to produce an ROI to justify the expense of implementation.