WMS vs ERP: What’s the Difference? (And Do You Need Both?)
A WMS runs the warehouse. An ERP runs the business. They overlap in the middle, which is where the confusion — and most of the money wasted on the wrong system — comes from. The short version: an ERP knows you have 400 units. A WMS knows they are in locations B14-3 and D02-1, that […]
What Is Warehousing? A Complete Guide
Warehousing is the part of the supply chain that most people never think about until it goes wrong. It’s simply the storing of goods between the point they’re made or bought and the point they’re sold or shipped on. But calling it “just storage” undersells it. A warehouse isn’t a cupboard — it’s the buffer […]
What Is Warehouse Management? A Complete Guide
Warehouse management is the day-to-day oversight of everything that happens inside a warehouse — receiving goods, storing them, picking orders, packing and dispatching them, and handling returns. It covers the processes, the people, the space and the equipment, and its job is to move goods through accurately, quickly and at a sensible cost. If warehousing […]
What Is Shrink Wrap? (And How It Differs From Stretch Wrap)
Shrink wrap is a plastic film that is placed loosely around a product and then heated, which makes it contract tightly to the shape of whatever is inside. The result is a sealed, close-fitting skin that protects the item, holds multiple pieces together, and shows clearly if anyone has opened it. The word “shrink” is […]
What Is Order Picking? Methods & How to Improve It
Order picking is the process of selecting items from storage to fulfil a customer order. Somebody — or something — travels to a location, takes the right product in the right quantity, and brings it to be packed. It sounds like the simplest activity in a warehouse and it is consistently the most expensive. Picking […]
What Is Dunnage? Types, Uses & Why It Matters
Dunnage is the material packed around goods to stop them moving, rubbing or absorbing shock whilst they travel. Airbags between pallets, foam inserts inside a carton, timber blocking in a container, the corrugated sheet between layers — all dunnage. It is not the packaging itself. The box is packaging; what you put in the box […]
What Is Cross-Docking? How It Works & When to Use It
Cross-docking is moving goods from an inbound vehicle to an outbound vehicle with little or no storage in between. Goods arrive, get sorted, and leave — often within hours, sometimes within minutes. The name comes from the physical layout: goods cross the dock from one side of the building to the other, rather than travelling […]
What Is an ASRS? Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Explained
An ASRS — automated storage and retrieval system — is computer-controlled equipment that puts goods into storage and brings them back out without a person going to fetch them. Cranes, shuttles, robots or carousels move the stock; the operator stays at a fixed station and the goods come to them. The phrase that captures the […]
What Is a WMS (Warehouse Management System)? A Guide
A warehouse management system, or WMS, is software that runs the work inside a warehouse. It holds the location of every unit, tells operators where to put goods and where to pick them from, sequences the tasks, and records every movement as it happens — so the records match the shelves without anyone having to […]
What Is a Warehouse? Types, Features & Uses
A warehouse is a building used to store goods between the point they are produced or received and the point they are needed somewhere else. That definition sounds passive, and the passive version is how warehouses were thought about for most of their history: somewhere to put things. Modern warehousing is closer to the opposite. […]