5 Ways Your WMS Can Help You Achieve Green Logistics

Warehouse Management System (WMS) sustainability refers to the ability of a WMS to support and promote sustainable practices in the warehousing and logistics industry which it has bigger role in green logistics and customer satisfaction. This includes reducing the environmental impact of warehouse operations, optimizing the use of resources, and promoting social responsibility. Symphony optimises logistics for more than 1 million users every day. Our WMS has optimise warehouses from the basic WMS functions like workflow management for pick/pack/ship, management of in-transit goods, printing shipping labels, scanning verification and merging of pick slips  up to advance features like storage location availability, integration with barcode scanning to PCs, iOS, Android, and Microsoft Tablet, establish stocking and non-stocking locations, prioritise stocking site (able to rank and prioritize stocking areas for more effective selection), product movement tracking, and cross docking (acquire and carry objects without having to put them away) all aim to optimise operation reducing inventory waste, packing waste, CO2 emission through paperless and cloud computing, warehouse space, fuel usage by accurate picking, as well as time and cost in managing the inventory.

Contributing to the overall drive toward Green Logistics is imperative as customers are now becoming more conscious in combating global warming, businesses are thinking of ways to reduce carbon footprint, run greener supply chain, and prioritize sustainability.

There are several ways in which a WMS can promote sustainability:

1. Energy efficiency: Green logistics or also called eco-logistics describes all attempts to measure and minimize the ecological impact of logistics activities. A WMS can help reduce the energy consumption of a warehouse by optimizing lighting and temperature control, as well as scheduling operations to minimize energy use during peak hours. Our Symphony WMS cloud also reduce carbon footprint. Data centers of cloud computing are purpose-built to scale and use energy efficiently, using fewer wattages. Businesses are able to save power against operating servers on-premise and the energy use on air-conditioning the room containing them. With customer focused on environmental issues, Symphony WMS ensures customer expectations are met as well as staying on top of the industry competition. Businesses implementing green logistics improve both business operations and the sustainability of the organization.

2. Resource optimization: WMS also help optimize the use of resources such as labor, equipment, and inventory, reducing waste and improving efficiency. The green logistics goal is to conserve the environment and optimize resources through balance in the planet’s sustainability and business economic activities. Reducing inventory waste by monitoring inventory levels enables businesses better plan and predict demand in the supply chain. Our Symphony Cloud WMS solution provides real-time inventory reporting and analytics, as well as visibility throughout the entire network. Our WMS’ product tracking reporting and analytics gives businesses control and visibility throughout the supply chain as well as support product recalls. This effectively optimised the human resources and raw material utilisation by 60% improving throughput and efficiency. With Symphony WMS, businesses will be able to leverage a variety of green logistics strategies to lower energy consumption, win over customers, cut cost, contribute to the environment as well as secure a strong bottom line to a streamline and efficient warehouse.

3. Green logistics: A WMS can help optimize transportation and routing, reducing emissions and promoting sustainable green logistics practices. Prioritizing stocking sites is one of Symphony WMS sustainability feature which enables the system to build a selection list for the most efficient pick route based on criteria and ratings. Being paperless in using warehouse pickslips and reports which generate CO2 emission during the paper production is another sustainable green logistics practice. Symphony WMS optimises the operation in most of the manual processes such as in data capture, inventory control and data analysis. With Symphony WMS contribution to green logistic, businesses will be able to utilize green logistics strategies which would improves the company’s fuel consumption, streamline operation routes, improved warehouse efficiency and accurate reports.

4. Recycling and waste management: A WMS can help manage waste and promote recycling practices within the warehouse. And implementing Symphony WMS digitalised and optimises the supply chain, delivering better value, accuracy, and speed. Our WMS empowers businesses greater control of its product issue type and management of lead time, resulting in a zero rate of product waste. Minimizing unnecessary packaging wastage by configuring requirement based on the brand owner, products, contract, delivery destination, inventory cube matrix, and packing and labeling instructions. Our Symphony WMS also is able to generate invoices automatically as well as providing accurate, real time packing instruction to the operator minimizing packaging wastage. With Symphony WMS drive to paperless operation, businesses’ green logistics adaptation not only benefits its supply chain speed, waste reduction, less equipment downtime but with more efficient processes as well.

5. Social responsibility: Consumers today feels the responsibility for increasing sustainability falls to businesses now rather than the individual or government and they are willing to pay more for the products that promotes a sustainable supply chain. A WMS can compete with this demand by ensuring a safe and healthy working condition for employees, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting ethical practices. A Product Recall management is essential to warehouses’ social responsibility too. To be able to manage a variety of recall scenarios minimize damage to health and brand reputation. An effective product recall module can help quickly identify the batch number, country of origin, the failure, or contamination by providing a high level of product traceability. With Symphony WMS product recall module, the system can implement a stop issuance and recall orders based on batch tracking and country of origin thereby managing the product recall effectively and efficiently. Business social responsibility is essential to the organizations sustainability to green logistics.

Overall, a sustainable WMS can help reduce the environmental impact of warehouse operations, improve efficiency, and promote responsible practices throughout the supply chain.