Warehouse management system (WMS)

The warehouse and the trucks, on one ledger.

Receiving, stock and lots, fulfillment, the dock and the yard — with the TMS built in. Every case, every truck and every invoice on one platform and one sign-in, with a stock history nobody can rewrite.

On hand, lots and recallIn testingThe Dock and yard boardIn testingTMS loads and dispatchAvailable
The WMS runs in a browser on a computer or a tablet. The tablet and phone apps are test builds on company devices, not in any app store.

Illustration · fictional names and data

One pallet, end to end

Follow one pallet from the booking to the invoice.

Sixty cases of corn tortillas for Bluebonnet Foods, through Mesa Ridge Logistics’ Building 2 in Laredo, Texas. Nine steps on one record, from the booking to the books, each with its status today.

The pallet

Item
BBF-1042 Corn tortillas 24 ct
Quantity
60 cases · 1 pallet
Lot
L-24-0917
Owner
Bluebonnet Foods
Carrier
Ridgeline Freight
Building
Building 2 · Laredo, TX
  1. 1Booked · Coming
  2. 2Door · Coming
  3. 3Receipt · Coming
  4. 4Bin · Coming
  5. 5Lot · In testing
  6. 6Reserve · Coming
  7. 7Stage · In testing
  8. 8Ship · In testing
  9. 9Invoice · In testing
  1. Mon 7:10 AMDock office

    Booked into a window

    Ridgeline Freight’s truck gets a 1:00–3:00 PM window for Bluebonnet Foods’ shipment PO-7731, and it joins the day’s Dock and yard board.

  2. 1:12 PMGate · Door 4

    Admitted and sent to Door 4

    The gate checks the driver in and assigns Door 4. The detention clock starts with 120 minutes free, and the board ranks every truck by its wait.

  3. 1:30 PMDoor 4

    Received into quarantine

    Rosa Delgado receives 60 cases against the expected line. They’re on hand as Awaiting inspection, and nobody can promise them until they’re checked.

  4. 2:05 PMAisle A · A-04-02

    Inspected and put away

    Inspection turns the cases Good, and put-away moves them to A-04-02, an address in the building’s own scheme. The receipt closes with any short or over on record.

  5. 2:06 PMOffice

    Lot L-24-0917, owner on record

    The lot names Bluebonnet Foods as the owner and the warehouse as custodian. If Bluebonnet reports a defect, one step quarantines the lot and stops its open reservations.

  6. Tue 9:40 AMOffice

    24 cases reserved for an order

    An order reserves 24 cases from the lot. The same case can’t be promised twice, and a reservation nobody uses expires on its own.

  7. Wed 10:15 AMFloor · tablet browser

    Picked to staging

    Daniel Cruz moves the 24 cases to STAGE-02 from a tablet’s browser. Nothing counts as shipped while it waits by the door.

    In testingFulfillment
  8. 11:30 AMDoor 7

    Shipment confirmed

    Sofia Marin confirms the shipment of the 24 cases at Door 7. Only then do they count as shipped, and a slip is fixed by reversing that exact step, with the original kept in the history.

    In testingFulfillment
  9. Fri 4:00 PMOffice · the books

    Invoiced to Bluebonnet Foods

    Handling for the 24 cases and the month’s pallet storage go on one invoice from saved products, in the same books. The invoice link opens on any phone.

The ledger

The ledger nobody can edit.

Every movement of stock is a new line — received, inspected, put away, picked, shipped — with who did it and when. Nothing is overwritten: a mistake is fixed by a correction that points back at it, and the original line stays where it was.

Illustration · fictional names and data

  • Movements can’t be edited

    In testing

    Not by a user and not by an admin. A correction is a new line that points at the one it fixes.

  • Exact quantities

    In testing

    Cases, pallets, pounds, gallons and nine more units, kept as exact decimals and never rounded.

  • A retry is saved once

    In testing

    A step sent twice over shaky Wi-Fi is recorded once, never as a second pallet.

  • The last pallet goes once

    In testing

    When two people take the last pallet at the same moment, one is recorded and the other is refused: not enough stock.

  • Adjusting is its own permission

    In testing

    Moving stock and adjusting it are separate duties, and admins don’t get adjustment by default.

  • History is never rewritten

    In testing

    When it happened on the floor and when it was recorded are kept apart, and earlier facts stay as they were.

Inventory control

WMS + TMS

The TMS is built in.

The WMS comes with Routes, the same TMS carriers run on ANNEX ORBIS. Build loads and dispatch your own trucks, follow inbound freight on the carrier’s tracking link, and see the dock and the road from one sign-in.

  • Load builder and dispatch board for your own trucksAvailable
  • The carrier’s tracking link for your stop, on any phoneIn testing
  • Arrival and departure at every stop, from the geofenceIn testing
  • Proof at the stop: seal number, BOL signer, pallet countIn testing
  • Inbound ocean bills of lading, handed to the warehouseIn testing
  • The Freight Beacon, riding inside the palletComing

The WMS always comes with the TMS, Accounting and Workforce, on one sign-in.

Illustration · fictional names and data

Where it works

On a computer, a tablet and the floor’s phones.

The WMS runs in the web app, in a browser on a computer or a tablet 768 px and wider. The tablet and phone apps carry the warehouse’s five lists to company devices on the floor.

The WMS, by screen

  • WebIn testingEvery WMS screen — On hand, lots and recall, receipts, reservations, Attention and the Dock and yard board — on a computer or in a tablet’s browser.
  • TabletIn testingThe Warehouse app: On hand, Reservations, Lots, Receiving and Attention, as read-only lists. Test builds on company tablets.
  • MobileIn testingThe same five lists at phone width, as read-only lists. Test builds on company phones.

A phone’s browser, including a phone-size handheld’s, can’t open the WMS; it points to a tablet or a computer.

Illustration · fictional names and data

Status, plainly

Every part of the WMS, with its status.

Available is live in production. In testing is built and running, not yet proven with real customers. Coming is planned or partly built.

    • Receipt review: differences, amendments and correctionsIn testing
    • Inbound ocean bills of lading, handed to a warehouse siteIn testing
    • Purchase-order receipts with quantity and actual costIn testing
    • Receiving-time and quantity-difference measuresIn testing
    • Receive at a door into quarantine, inspect, put away, closeComing
    • A receipt tied to the truck’s yard visitComing
    • Damage and receiving photosComing
  • Store and control

    Inventory control
    • On hand by SKU, address and condition, with usable nowIn testing
    • Condition holds: awaiting inspection, good, damaged, rejectedIn testing
    • The append-only ledger, with exact quantitiesIn testing
    • Items and lots, the owner apart from the custodianIn testing
    • Lot recall: quarantine, release, retire and traceIn testing
    • Storage addresses in your own schemeComing
    • Bin-to-bin moves and reasoned adjustmentsComing
    • Cycle counts, expiry and FEFO, serial numbersComing
  • Fulfil and ship

    Fulfillment
    • Pick to staging, picked damage and confirmed shipmentIn testing
    • Correct any step without rewriting historyIn testing
    • Saved steps that retry safely on flaky Wi-FiIn testing
    • The Attention queue for order disagreementsIn testing
    • Returns of a recorded shipmentIn testing
    • Reserve stock for an order, a job or a projectComing
    • Customer orders linked to stock, confirmed end to endComing
    • Pick lists, waves, packing and the BOL documentComing
    • Trailer load plans with a gross-weight checkComing
  • Dock and yard

    Dock & yard
    • The Dock and yard board, longest wait first, with minutes past free timeIn testing
    • Site maps: doors, gates, offices and the truck pathIn testing
    • Booking, gate check-in, door assignment and releaseComing
    • The door sent to the driver’s phoneComing
    • Dock calendar and carrier self-bookingComing
    • Dock procedures the crew completes before opening the doorComing
  • Transport and the TMS

    Transport & the TMS
    • Load builder and dispatch boardAvailable
    • Carrier tracking links for your stopIn testing
    • Geofence arrival and departure timesIn testing
    • Proof at the stop: seal number, BOL signer, pallet countIn testing
    • Seal, BOL and delivery photosComing
    • The Freight BeaconComing
  • Floor and people

    Floor & people
    • The WMS in a tablet’s browserIn testing
    • Warehouse lists in the tablet and phone appsIn testing
    • Company devices, with who can sign in on eachIn testing
    • Time clock with a site check; schedules and open shiftsIn testing
    • Permissions by dutyIn testing
    • HAL on warehouse pages: asks first, a person approvesIn testing
    • Camera scanning with pallet and bin labelsComing
    • A PIN time clock kioskComing
  • Customers and billing

    3PL & billing
    • Contacts with their email filed on the recordAvailable
    • The books: bank feed, ledger and core reportsAvailable
    • An owner on every lotIn testing
    • Quotes to orders to invoicesIn testing
    • Storage invoices from saved products, and recurring invoicesIn testing
    • E-signature for storage agreementsIn testing
    • Client accounts and automatic storage billingComing
    • A client portalComing
    • Card and ACH paymentsComing
  • Not offered

    • Hardware scanners and label printers
    • Case-to-each conversion
    • Transfers between buildings
    • Replenishment and min/max
    • Inventory valuation and COGS
    • Marketplace and store connections
    • A yard trailer map
    • Forklift records
    • Offline use
    • Spanish-language screens

What we’re building next

Next on the floor and at the dock.

Each one is planned or partly built, and each moves to In testing on its page when it runs.

  • Coming

    Receive and put away on the floor

    Open a receipt at the door, receive into quarantine, inspect, put away and close, from a tablet or a phone.

    Receiving & putaway
  • Coming

    Camera scan-to-receive

    Pallet and bin labels, read with the company phone’s camera to receive, put away and pick.

    Floor & people
  • Coming

    Gate check-in on a tablet

    Admit the driver at the gate, assign the door and send it to the driver’s phone.

    Dock & yard
  • Coming

    Dock calendar and self-booking

    Carriers book their own window from a link, inside your doors’ hours.

    Dock & yard
  • Coming

    Inbound board with live ETAs

    Every truck heading your way, with the carrier’s estimate and an early or late flag.

    Transport & the TMS
  • Coming

    Cycle counts

    Rolling counts on the phone, each difference posted as a reasoned adjustment.

    Inventory control
  • Coming

    Expiry dates and FEFO

    An expiry date on every lot, and first-expiring-first-out picking.

    Inventory control
  • Coming

    Pick lists, waves and the BOL

    Pick lists and waves, packing, and a bill of lading the driver signs on the phone.

    Fulfillment
  • Coming

    Client accounts and a portal

    Each client’s stock and receipts on its own account, storage billed automatically, and a portal of its own.

    3PL & billing

FAQ

Questions warehouses ask

Is this a full WMS or an add-on to the TMS?

It’s a WMS with the TMS built in. The warehouse runs on the TMS, Accounting and Workforce, so your company has all four on one sign-in, and the dock, the trucks and the books share one record. Every capability on these pages carries its status: available, in testing or coming.

Can the floor use phones and handheld scanners?

The WMS runs in a browser on a computer or a tablet 768 px and wider. A phone’s browser, including a phone-size handheld’s, can’t open it. The tablet and phone apps show the warehouse’s lists read-only today, as test builds on company devices. Camera scan-to-receive and labels are coming; hardware scanners and label printers aren’t offered.

We’re a 3PL. Can we keep each client’s stock apart?

Every lot names its owner, separate from you as the custodian, and you invoice each client from saved products like pallet storage. Client accounts, automatic storage billing and a client portal are coming. SKU codes are unique per warehouse today, so two clients can’t share one code.

How do you stop two people promising the same stock?

A reservation holds stock for an order, a job or a project, and the same case can’t be held twice. When two people take the last pallet at the same moment, one is recorded and the other is refused. Picking, staging and shipping reserved stock is in testing; reserving from an order on screen is coming.

Does it track detention at our dock?

The Dock and yard board, in testing, lists today’s trucks with their minutes past free time, longest wait first. Booking, gate check-in, door assignment and release, which start and stop that clock, are coming, and detention isn’t billed from the board.

How do we get started?

Talk to us. We walk through your dock and your floor, then set up your company with you; there’s no self-serve sign-up yet.

Run the warehouse and the trucks on one system.

Tell us how your dock and floor work today. We’ll walk you through the WMS and the TMS on your own building.

Talk to us