Working with multiple warehouses
Table of contents
Introduction
If you have multiple warehouses and wish to use Ongoing WMS in all warehouses, you have two options:
- Have separate Ongoing WMSes for each warehouse.
- Have all warehouses use the same Ongoing WMS.
Separate WMS for each warehouse
Conceptually, having a separate WMS for each warehouse is the easiest approach to understand. Two separate WMS systems cannot share any information. Each WMS will have:
- Its own warehouse map,
- Its own users,
- Its own goods owners,
- Its own stock balances,
- And so on.
The people working in one warehouse will not have access to any information from the other warehouse. They will never "step on each other's toes". For instance, if you change a setting in one WMS, then the other WMS will remain unaffected.
Several warehouses using the same WMS
The warehouse map in Ongoing is organized in a hierarchical fashion. The top level in the warehouse map hierarchy is a physical warehouse building. This makes it possible to set up several warehouses in the same WMS.
It is important to note that location names must be unique in the WMS. If you have two warehouses which both contain a location called X, then that cannot be setup in a single WMS. You will have to change the name of the location in one of the warehouses.
If you have several warehouses in the same WMS, each user can be configured to only have access to specific warehouses.
If you have a warehouse client which uses several of your warehouses, then having a single WMS is easier for the client. They can log in to a single WMS and check the stock balances for everything. When placing orders, it is possible to select which warehouse should handle the order.
By using warehouse assignment, you can automatically assign each order to a specific warehouse based on various criteria.
Recommendations
Our recommended approach is to use separate WMS systems for separate warehouses. From a conceptual standpoint, that is easier to deal with.
However, there are cases which call for having multiple warehouses in the same WMS. We have tried to list some of them below.
My warehouses are close together
If your warehouses are physically close together (e.g. several buildings on the same industrial estate), consider having a single WMS. This will make it easier for people to go from one building to another.
Some of my clients use several warehouses
If you have clients which use several of your warehouses, consider having a single WMS. The client will be able to have a unified view of their entire stock balance and all of their orders.