The module proposed twelve steps for implementing a WMS. Pick three steps that you think are the most important and explain why it's critical for organizations to complete them. Justify your argument with information from the module lesson.

(My 3 Steps)

3. Manage Communications and Expectations

Implementation is a people process. From top management to hourly floor personnel, an implementation must have support from all levels to succeed. Since an implementation involves organizational change, it can evoke uncertainty and anxiety. Employees may worry about losing their jobs. Supervisors may resist new ways of doing business. Management may have severe reservations about the investment they approved. If unchecked, these trepidations can sink an implementation even before it gets started.

Open communication is the best mechanism for combating negativity. Communication should start at the selection process and continue through go-live, and it should be well planned and carefully executed. This requires regular status meetings with key players as well as periodic sessions with other personnel. These sessions should encourage open, critical discussions and bring any underlying issues out into the open.

6. Pay Attention to Facilities Preparation

Getting a facility ready for a WMS implementation is a lot of work. Even after accounting for the installation of any new material handling equipment, there are still numerous facilities preparation tasks that must be addressed. These include reconfiguring racks, labeling locations, re-warehousing product, delineating staging areas and installing workstations.

It is easy to lose track of these activities, as the physical aspects of the implementation sometimes seem secondary to computer-related tasks. Facilities preparation takes a great deal of planning, resources and management. Scrimping on any of these components is flirting with disaster. Quality and timeliness are also necessary for success. It doesn't take a systems issue to halt an implementation. Bad bar code labels and improperly located product can cause failures.

10. Plan for Exceptions

During an implementation, people naturally focus on major activities and routine job functions. They know how to pick a "normal" order or put away a "normal" pallet. They know how to perform the basic operations forward and backward. But they are generally unclear about what to do when an exception occurs. What should the picker do if the product is damaged? What steps should be taken to change the carrier on an order after it has been staged on the shipping dock?

Exceptions are like mishaps, they tend to occur at inappropriate times and in batches. They can prevent a major shipment from going out on time or tie up supervisors so that normal operations suffer. Exception handling must be an integral part of an implementation. Exception processing must be designed and tested from both a systems and an operational standpoint. It must then be incorporated into the training program. However, this isn't enough. Exceptions by definition are infrequent. People won't necessarily master them through practice. Exception handling should be documented and targeted toward key users and supervisors who can in turn instruct floor personnel on how to deal with specific situations.