Conceptual framework of warehouse management system with auto suggesting features for FIFO/FEFO implementation towards lean warehousing

Abstract

Nowadays, in the 4.0 industry era, warehouses are essential in supply chain competition. Warehouses ensure that the goods are safely kept throughout the supply chain journey. The current era has created new obstacles in the warehouse sector, which will require new strategies in order to face them. Two of the most popular strategies are the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) and First-Expired First-Out (FEFO) stock-keeping method, which is chosen considering the nature of the materials. These strategies need to be done efficiently in the shortest time possible to reduce waste of time, which is the principle of a lean warehouse, which may be a problem for various companies. One of the solutions to this problem is by using the Warehouse Management System (WMS). The WMS would have to consider the problems that are happening or may happen in the future. It should also support the decision-making of inbound and outbound operations by automatically providing information and suggestions. The suggestions should be able to tell where to put away or pick an item in the warehouse efficiently while also keeping FIFO/FEFO in mind. Thus, this paper provides a conceptual framework that will be required in designing a warehouse management system while analyzing the important aspects that should be considered. Furthermore, this paper will identify how WMS with auto-suggesting features for FIFO/FEFO implementation may solve potential problems that might occur in managing warehouses and create added value toward lean warehousing.