How a WMS can help your business remain lean

Lean warehousing is going to remain a key focus for warehouses today, even as new technology like robotics and AI make headlines. It remains critical because it touches on your ability to run efficiently while controlling costs and meeting customer expectations.

It's essentially an approach to warehouse management that eliminates any processes or activities that use resources but don’t add value, thereby reducing waste while boosting efficiency.

Let’s look a little deeper at lean principles for warehouses and how a warehouse management system can help.

Why lean warehousing is important

Lean manufacturing, supply chain, and business management techniques are all designed to make it more affordable to run your operations. In the context of a warehouse, lean warehouse management typically entails:

• Reducing cycle times (faster order fulfillment from receiving to shipping)
• Optimizing floor and shelving space (using every square foot effectively)
• Managing inventory costs and losses (avoiding excess stock and shrinkage)
• Reducing errors and reworks (getting orders right the first time)
• Freeing up capital (by not overstocking, you have cash for other needs)

A lean warehouse supports your business instead of turning into a money pit with unhappy customers and rising costs; cutting out inefficiencies (like overproduction or storing more inventory than needed) can even lead to faster delivery times and higher customer satisfaction.

It also promotes a safer, more organized workplace, reducing clutter and accidents while boosting employee morale. Some of the best support you’ll have in achieving all this comes from a WMS built for lean operations.

A cluttered, disorganized warehouse wastes time as workers navigate around obstacles and struggle to find items. In contrast, a lean warehouse features clear pathways, organized storage, and optimized layouts that make everything easier to access. This visual difference illustrates how lean warehousing cuts waste and improves efficiency on the warehouse floor.

Learn principles in the warehouse (5S)

One popular framework for getting your warehouse lean is the 5S methodology, a classic lean strategy that aims to make problems more visible. The 5S principles are:

• Sort: Eliminate unnecessary items and clutter from the workspace.
• Set in order: Organize and arrange everything for smooth workflow (a place for everything, and everything in its place).
• Shine: Keep the warehouse clean and well-maintained to promote safety and efficiency.
• Standardize: Establish consistent processes and guidelines so everyone follows best practices.
• Sustain: Maintain and review these standards continuously, fostering a culture of ongoing improvement.

This methodology provides a structured approach to organizing and maintaining the warehouse environment. We’ll stick with 5S’s goal of increased visibility as we discuss three key ways a WMS supports lean warehousing: managing inventory, orders, and scheduling.

Three ways WMS can help achieve lean practices:

Inventory management

A core function of any WMS is to give you complete visibility into your inventory. It helps your team understand exactly what stock is on hand in real time. You can track historical data to ensure you’re only reordering when needed (a just-in-time approach that avoids overstock), and keep tabs on items that might expire so nothing goes to waste. 

A powerful system goes a step beyond just telling you what you have; it actively helps you manage it smarter. You can establish product categories and sort items based on their sales velocity or other attributes.

For example, your WMS might identify fast-moving SKUs and prompt you to place them in prime picking locations closer to dispatch (while slower-moving stock gets stored further away).

This kind of slotting optimization speeds up order fulfillment and reduces unnecessary travel in the warehouse. The WMS can even assist in handling seasonal spikes or sudden demand changes by analyzing trends and suggesting optimal reorder points.

A WMS supports the 'shine' aspect of the 5S model by helping you optimize inventory locations and timely replenishment. When every product has a designated place and inventory levels are kept lean, your warehouse stays organized and hazard-free, reinforcing safety and efficiency.

Order management

Order management and fulfillment also get much easier (and more accurate) with a lean WMS. One major benefit is enforcing the FIFO (first in, first out) rule in picking; having the system direct workers to pick the oldest available stock for each order ensures items don’t sit and spoil or become obsolete.

Many companies have reduced annual spoilage costs by thousands of dollars simply by using a WMS that guarantees workers grab the oldest inventory first, not just what’s closest to the door. This is a clear lean win, as it eliminates the waste of expired or unsellable products.

A lean WMS automates fulfillment tasks like creating pick lists and optimizing routes for pickers in the warehouse. This automation reduces human error and tracks goods in real time, so employees don't have to waste time searching for items or verifying picked orders. A WMS also helps consolidate tasks, such as combining multiple small orders into a single picking route, to fill orders faster and more efficiently.

A WMS excels at standardization,  processing orders using the same optimized steps, making it easier to implement efficient picking methods. These all benefit from having a standard process that the software enforces. Having your WMS drive a uniform process reduces variability in order handling, which leads to fewer errors and a higher rate of perfect orders (and therefore happier customers).

Smart scheduling

Lastly, leveraging the data in your technology stack lets you make scheduling decisions based on facts and forecasts rather than guesswork. This means using your WMS to plan staff shifts, inbound shipments, and outbound delivery schedules in a coordinated way.

A data-driven schedule ensures you have the right number of people and resources at the right times – which boosts productivity and eliminates the waste of overstaffing or bottlenecks from understaffing. In lean terms, this helps your operation achieve the fifth “S”: Sustain, because you’re consistently meeting targets and maintaining smooth flow.

Real-world examples:

For example, you might divide and assign daily work based on shipment types or destinations. A WMS can show you all pending outbound orders and group them by carrier or route (maybe separating less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments from full-truckload (FTL) ones), so you can schedule teams and equipment for each efficiently.

It can also alert you when it’s time to swap or share resources (like pallet jacks or trailers) between different areas or even between facilities, minimizing idle time. On the inbound side, your WMS’s visibility into incoming purchase orders and delivery appointments lets you prepare receiving staff in advance, avoiding last-minute scrambles when a truck arrives.

Another lean benefit of WMS-driven scheduling is the ability to match tasks with employee strengths. Many solutions often track productivity metrics for warehouse staff, e.g. pick rates or accuracy percentages.

With this information, managers can assign the most critical or time-sensitive jobs to the most efficient workers, ensuring high-priority orders go out without delay.

Conversely, you can schedule training or easier tasks for newer employees during slower periods. Putting the right people in the right place at the right time is one of the most effective ways to drive down costs while keeping efficiency high. A smart WMS that supports lean principles is a robust tool to help you do exactly that.

In summary

Lean warehousing is all about continuous improvement and eliminating waste in every form: wasted time, wasted motion, excess inventory, errors, and so on.

A WMS acts as both the brain and nervous system of a lean warehouse, providing the real-time data, control, and visibility you need to implement lean practices effectively and sustain them over the long haul. It’s a powerful way to keep your business running effectively and affordably, even as you grow and face new challenges in the market.