The Warehouse Management System (WMS) Interface allows you to share data in real time between STORIS and a third-party WMS. Use this feature only if you want to interface a third-party WMS with STORIS. At this time, STORIS supports an interface with RedPrairie® Dispatch-WMS software.
STORIS' WMS Interface enables you to run a third-party WMS application while maintaining accurate inventories on STORIS' database. When active, the WMS application replaces STORIS’ current warehouse operation processing. The interface runs based on inventory events affecting ownership or status that occur in either the STORIS or the third-party application. All STORIS processes that impact inventory for designated WMS warehouses are passed to the WMS application for processing and completion. All WMS processes that impact inventory for designated warehouses are passed to the STORIS application for processing.
The WMS application interfaces only with locations set up as WMS warehouse locations in STORIS. When you first designate a warehouse for WMS, STORIS loads any existing product information from the Product Settings into the third-party WMS.
If the Bar Code module is active on your STORIS system and
you transfer a product to or from a WMS warehouse, you must remove the
product’s bar code label and re-label the product. Failure to do
so may cause miscounts resulting in inaccurate inventory values.
If you remove an order from a manifest, you must change the order status
to “EST”, “ASAP” or “CWC”. Otherwise, your third-party WMS will not know
the order has been removed from the manifest.
To keep inventory in sync between STORIS and your third-party WMS, STORIS disables the inventory functions for each WMS location. In this way, STORIS permits the WMS interface to control the inventory functions.
General System Control Settings - The Third-Party Warehouse Management System field indicates whether the WMS Interface is active on your system. To activate the WMS Interface, contact STORIS.
Warehouse/Store Location Settings – To activate a location for the WMS Interface, check the box at the Warehouse Management System Active field. You maintain WMS inventory locations in the third-party WMS. Note that if you check this box and click on Save, you initiate the loading of all merchandise products (except non-inventory) from STORIS into the third-party WMS.
Create a User, Create a User Group - Use the Adjust inventory for locations when WMS is active field in Create a User/Group Actions - Logistics Security settings to control user access to the inventory adjustment functions at WMS-designated warehouses (for example, to maintain synchronicity of inventory counts between STORIS and your third-party WMS). Note that such adjustments do not feed back to your third-party WMS.
Enter a Stock Adjustment - At locations where the WMS Interface is active, this process is available only to users with a check at the Adjust inventory for locations when WMS is active field in Create a User/Group Actions - Logistics Security settings. For WMS locations, use this routine to synchronize the two systems in the event of an error. Use the WMS Tag ID field in the As-Is Status Tab to adjust out-of-sync tag IDs.
View All Serial/Reference Numbers for a Product - Use this screen to view WMS tag IDs for a selected product.
Receive a Purchase Order, Receive without a Purchase Order, Receive a Purchase Order with a Separate Freight Bill - At warehouses for which the WMS Interface is active, these receiving processes are active only for users with a check at the Adjust Inventory at WMS Locations field in the User file.
Enter a Sales Order, Enter an Exchange, Enter a Customer Payment/Refund/Gift Certificate - Because take-with orders complete and relieve inventory as you file them, they are unavailable at locations where the WMS Interface is active. If completing an order at a WMS location, this field is active only if the log-on user has access via the Adjust inventory for locations when WMS is active field in Create a User/Group Actions - Logistics Security settings.
EDI Control Settings - If you activate WMS on your system, ensure that the Flag P/O Printed field is also active.
STORIS and the WMS interface communicate by writing update data to a shared Unidata® directory created by STORIS. This directory contains an EXPORT file (WMS.EXPORT) to hold pending transaction records from STORIS to WMS, as well as an IMPORT file (WMS.IMPORT) containing pending transaction records from WMS to STORIS. The pending transactions are written as Unidata-formatted records.
STORIS writes pending inventory-related transactions to the EXPORT file for all warehouse locations flagged as WMS locations (that is, flagged via the Warehouse Management System Active field in the Warehouse/Store Location Settings).
STORIS writes pending transactions using data formats agreed upon between STORIS and your third-party WMS. Additionally, STORIS writes a copy of pending transactions to an archival file for auditing purposes.
The WMS Interface polls the EXPORT file, thus making the interface more forgiving in periods where communication between the two systems breaks down. If the processing is successful, the WMS Interface deletes the transaction from the EXPORT file.
The WMS Interface writes pending inventory update transactions to the IMPORT file for all transactions that either effect inventory counts or initiate non-inventory updates associated with an inventory action such as sales order delivery completion. The WMS Interface writes the pending transactions using formats agreed-upon between STORIS and your third-party WMS (for example, Red Prairie).
A STORIS WMS phantom runs a program to read the record and perform the proper updates based on the transactional data provided. If the processing is successful, then STORIS deletes the transaction from the IMPORT file. For any transactions whose updates did not successfully complete, an error report generates during the STORIS End-of-Day process. STORIS also provides an interactive screen to review the errors and either resubmit those transactions or remove them from the IMPORT file.
If the WMS Interface is active:
for inter-warehouse transfers, the receiving location cannot be a WMS location.
for quick-pickups, the stocking warehouse location cannot be a WMS location.
"take-with" and Quick Sale orders are not available for WMS locations.
for pick-up exchanges, the system submits only the exchange-out portion for invoicing. The exchange-in portion invoices automatically when you complete the exchange-out portion. That is, the system does not split the exchange.
The WMS Interface requires that the following pieces of information exist for all inventory products in STORIS. These key pieces of information are:
Model Number/SKU
Vendor Code
Vendor Name
Product Description
Product Description 2
Product Special Order Y/N
Product Volume
Product Weight
Product barcode number
WMS Group (new field)
Bulk Product Y/N
For all products except non-inventory products, if you edit any of the above fields in the Product file (or if you create or delete a new product), the WMS interface writes the changes to the WMS EXPORT file.
When
creating new products, if the WMS interface is active on your system,
the program the defaults the shipping volume (if any) from the associated
Product Group into the
Shipping Volume field of the Product
Settings and the Advanced
Product Settings.
For all purchase orders whose receiving location is a WMS location, if you print, transmit or change the PO after the initial transmission, the WMS Interface writes the changes to the WMS EXPORT file.
Deliveries/transfers - STORIS sends delivery-type orders to WMS only after they have been added to a delivery manifest. For auto-transfers (excluding as-is transfers), the information sent to WMS includes the linked order number.
Customer Pickups - STORIS sends customer pickup orders to WMS only after the pickup ticket has been printed.
When creating ship or return-to-vendor (RTV) notifications in your third-party WMS, if you provide a reference/truck number, STORIS can read it in. In this way, you can track inventory for transfers, deliveries, and RTVs within STORIS even if WMS is active for the selected location.
The reference/truck number appears in the Reference Column in the following inquiry screens:
You can also access the reference/truck number for use in the Report Builder. Use the TRUCK_NO dictionary in the PIECE.INVENTORY source file.