A warehouse is used to store inventory items, including products, materials, and tools. An inventory management system tracks items received, shipped, and distributed, and can be used to replenish, repair, and replace items. A warehouse manager designs and optimizes the system, incorporating asset tracking technology and a primary database. The manager is responsible for determining what information belongs in the database and training workers in the system’s use.
A warehouse is the area used by a business to store inventory items. Inventory normally includes products sold or manufactured by a business and in many cases may include materials and tools used in manufacturing processes. When a business has an inventory management system, that business has implemented a workflow or series of steps that must be taken when inventory items are received, shipped, or distributed to other locations. This system can also be used to track the count and integrity of various items, thereby enabling warehouse managers to determine when to replenish, repair and replace items.
Most business process experts consider a warehouse to be an important part of the supply chain. The supply chain describes all the stages that products go through, starting from manufacturing and ending with introduction into a market. The effectiveness of an inventory management system is impacted and influenced by factors such as production rates, demand levels, and pricing.
An inventory or warehouse manager is typically responsible for designing and optimizing a warehouse management system. He or she may be responsible for keeping up with new technology trends that can improve the efficiency of a system. A manager might also monitor areas where costs can be reduced and determine solutions for improvement.
It is common for a manager to incorporate asset tracking technology into a warehouse management system. Some of the more common types of asset tracking systems involve scanning barcodes or reading radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Each of these technologies allows warehouse workers to scan inventory items to read item information on a computer monitor, such as received date, user notes, and contract information when the scanned items are rented.
This type of warehouse management system requires the use of a primary database. Information about all items in a warehouse is stored in a database. Most warehouses include a number of employees and workstations. Larger companies may need several warehouses that communicate with each other. For these reasons, a database is normally part of a local area network (LAN). A LAN describes the servers, workstations, printers, and all other computer-related components that interact in day-to-day operations in a contained geographic location.
To create an efficient warehouse management system, a manager can decide how to use asset tracking technology. He or she may be responsible for determining what information belongs in a database and what style of notation employees should use when updating files. Managers periodically train and evaluate workers in the use of a system.
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