The Impact of IT on Logistics – Part 4
Several aspects prompted me to address the topic of the impact of information technology on logistics. One of them was the positive reception of the book entitled \”Informatyka dla logistyki\”, in which I tried to emphasize the serving role of IT in relation to actively \”practiced\” logistics. A dozen or so pleasant e-mail messages and expressions of approval conveyed during direct contacts with Readers allowed me to conclude that this issue can interest a wider group of Readers, this time however in a more specific area of logistics.
Thus, delving into this topic, I concentrate on one of many aspects of logistics, which is warehousing, about which much has already been written characterizing it in technical and organizational terms, and I will not develop these issues. I hope that the content of subsequent columns will constitute a significant supplement to the issues of warehousing processes, but this time perceived from an IT perspective.
In this regard, I assume that every warehouse can operate according to standard principles, provided that these principles are described and applied. Time will tell whether the attempt to characterize the standard for IT systems supporting warehouse management will hit the mark. I hope this will inspire other authors dealing with similar issues at least to start a discussion on the subject. It can be expected that the more polemics associated with this field there are, the sooner or later we will find better IT applications dedicated to operational logistics on the market.
What will we achieve as a result? We will gain a chance for the true integration of supply chains, in which each of their links equipped with any IT system, but operating in accordance with an accepted common standard, will cause every logistic unit generated in one of the links to be correctly interpreted in terms of information in the other link of that chain. It is as if we wrote a musical piece in Warsaw and handed this score over to be performed by the Sydney Opera orchestra. In music, this actually happens and no one is surprised why in a distant and foreign country they can play a musical piece written in our country. Why not apply the same \”trick\” to logistics – a common language for information exchange?
This is one approach to the standard in warehousing, the second is an attempt to establish standard warehousing principles. This time, however, we should talk about warehousing principles intended for implementation in an IT system, and let this system be called WMS (Warehouse Management System) – this name is by no means groundbreaking, such IT solutions already exist. Let us state clearly, however: we are talking about WMS class systems and not GM, ERP, CRM or even SCM. The former are not adequate for the content of this book and the latter is too broad and rather difficult to quantify.