【正文】 tegrator that is very familiar with one of the systems. WMS + everything else = ? As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, a lot of other modules are being added to WMS packages. These would include full financials, light manufacturing, transportation management, purchasing, and sales order management. I don’t see this as a unilateral move of WMS from an addon module to a core system, but rather an optional approach that has applications in specific industries such as 3PLs. Using ERP systems as a point of reference, it is unlikely that this addon functionality will match the functionality of bestofbreed applications available separately. If warehousing/distribution is your core business function and you don’t want to have to deal with the integration issues of incorporating separate financials, order processing, etc. you may find these WMS based business systems are a good fit. Implementation Tips Outside of the standard “don’t underestimate”, “thoroughly test”, “train, train, train” implementation tips that apply to any business software installation ,it’s important to emphasize that WMS are very data dependent and restrictive by design. That is, you need to have all of the various data elements in place for the system to function properly. And, when they are in place, you must operate within the set parameters. 8 When implementing a WMS, you are adding an additional layer of technology onto your system. And with each layer of technology there is additional overhead and additional sources of potential problems. Now don’t take this as a condemnation of Warehouse Management Systems. Coming from a warehousing background I definitely appreciate the functionality WMS have to offer, and, in many warehouses, this functionality is essential to their ability to serve their customers and remain petitive. It’s just important to note that every solution has its downsides and having a good understanding of the potential implications will allow managers to make better decisions related to the levels of technology that best suits their unique environment. 倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)（ WMS ） 倉(cāng)庫(kù)管理系統(tǒng)（ WMS ） 的 演變 與 許多其他軟件解決方案是非常相似的 。1 Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). The evolution of warehouse management systems (WMS) is very similar to that of many other software solutions. Initially a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and plete accounting systems. To use the grandfather of operationsrelated software, MRP, as a parison, material requirements planning (MRP) started as a system for planning raw material requirements in a manufacturing environment. Soon MRP evolved into manufacturing resource planning (MRPII), which took the basic MRP system and added scheduling and capacity planning logic. Eventually MRPII evolved into enterprise resource planning (ERP), incorporating all the MRPII functionality with full financials and customer and vendor management functionality. Now, whether WMS evolving into a warehousefocused ERP system is a good thing or not is up to debate. What is clear is that the expansion of the overlap in functionality between Warehouse Management Systems, Enterprise Resource Planning, Distribution Requirements Planning, Transportation Management Systems, Supply Chain Planning, Advanced Planning and Scheduling, and Manufacturing Execution Systems will only increase the level of confusion among panies looking for software solutions for their operations. Even though WMS continues to gain added functionality, the initial core functionality of a WMS has not really changed. The primary purpose of a WMS is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation and process the associated transactions. Directed picking, directed replenishment, and directed put away are the key to WMS. The detailed setup and processing within a WMS can vary significantly from one software vendor to another, however the basic logic will use a bination of item, location, quantity, unit of measure, and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. At a bare minimum, a WMS should: Have a flexible location system. 2 Utilize userdefined parameters to direct warehouse tasks and use live documents to execute these tasks. Have some builtin level of integr