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For businesses, having the right quantity of inventory in the right location and readily available when needed is a fundamental requirement for operational continuity. As product variety, number of warehouses, and transaction volume increase, tracking inventory using Excel files, paper records, or independent systems becomes challenging. A WMS (Warehouse Management System) enables the digital management of inventory movements and the end-to-end tracking of products within the warehouse.
With WMS, inventory tracking is more than just showing how many products are in the warehouse. Information such as the product's location, batch, arrival time, movement history, user processing, and assigned order or production plan can also be tracked through the system. This structure increases inventory accuracy while ensuring that purchasing, production, quality, and shipping processes operate with more reliable data.
Basic Structure of Inventory Tracking with WMS
1. Defining Product and Inventory Master Records in the System
The first step in inventory tracking with WMS is correctly identifying the products in the system. For each product, a unique product code, description, unit of measurement, product group, barcode information, and other necessary characteristics are entered into the system. This ensures that every material handled within the warehouse can be digitally identified.
In manufacturing businesses, raw materials, semi-finished products, finished products, packaging materials, and auxiliary materials can be managed in separate stock groups. If the product needs to be tracked based on batch, lot, serial number, or expiration date, the relevant tracking rules can be defined in the product card.
2. Creating Goods Receipt and Stock Entry Records
One of the most important starting points for WMS inventory tracking is the goods receiving process. When materials from the supplier arrive at the warehouse, information such as product code, quantity, supplier, batch number, production date, expiration date, or serial number can be recorded in the system.
When goods receipt is complete, a stock entry movement is created on the WMS. This allows the business to see not only the total stock quantity but also the date and source from which the stock entered the warehouse. If barcode or QR code is used, these operations can be performed quickly via handheld terminals.
3. Performing Shelf and Location-Based Stock Tracking
Knowing where a product is located in the warehouse is just as important as knowing that it is in stock. In WMS systems, warehouses can be divided into zones, aisles, shelves, bins, or different location levels. Products are placed in the appropriate locations after receiving the goods and associated with the relevant location in the system.
This allows users to quickly see which shelf a product is on and in what quantity. Especially in large warehouses with thousands of products, location-based inventory tracking reduces product search times and increases operational efficiency.
4. Recording Stock Movements with Barcodes and QR Codes
When WMS systems are used in conjunction with barcode and QR code technologies, the accuracy of inventory movements can be significantly improved. Codes on products, locations, pallets, or boxes can be scanned with a handheld terminal and the transactions transferred to the system.
Barcode verification can be performed when a product is picked up from a shelf, moved to another location, or prepared for shipment. This aims to reduce manual errors such as selecting the wrong product, entering the wrong quantity, or placing the product in the wrong location.
5. Traceability Based on Lot and Serial Number
In industries such as pharmaceuticals, food, chemicals, and cosmetics, simply tracking product quantity may not be sufficient. Different production batches of the same product may need to be separated. WMS can enable inventory management at the batch, lot, or serial number level.
For example, if three different lots of the same raw material are in the warehouse, the quantity, location, entry date, and usage history of each lot can be tracked separately. This structure provides significant advantages in terms of quality control, recall, and backward traceability processes.
How to Manage Inventory Movements and Control Processes with WMS?
6. Real-time Tracking of Intra-Warehouse Transfers
Products can be moved to different locations within the warehouse. Moving a pallet to another shelf or transferring products to a different warehouse area requires keeping stock information up-to-date. Transfer operations performed via WMS allow the old and new locations of the products to be recorded.
These records enable the creation of a stock movement history. This allows us to examine not only the current location of a product but also its past locations when needed.
7. Stock Reservation for Orders and Production
Not every item in stock necessarily represents available stock. Certain products may be reserved for customer orders, production orders, or different operations. WMS helps manage the distinction between current stock and available stock.
For example, if there are 1,000 units of product in the warehouse but 400 units are allocated to open orders, the system can display the available quantity accordingly. This approach helps prevent operational errors, such as planning the same stock for multiple transactions.
8. Managing Inventory Outflow with FIFO and FEFO Rules
With WMS, inventory tracking can also be managed to determine the order in which products are consumed or shipped. In the FIFO approach, the goal is for the first product to enter the warehouse to leave first. In the FEFO approach, the priority is given to using the product with the nearest expiration date.
FEFO (Feedback for Expiration) management is particularly important for raw materials and products with a limited shelf life. Using batch and expiration date information, WMS can indicate to the operator which stock to pick from. This helps reduce product losses and the risk of expired stock.
9. Comparison of Physical Count and System Stock
Even with digital inventory tracking, physical counts are still necessary at regular intervals. WMS can support the implementation of different methods such as periodic counting, cycle counting, product-based counting, or location-based counting.
During the counting process, physical quantities are entered into the system and compared with the current system stock. If a discrepancy is found, the product movement history can be examined to investigate the source of the problem. Incomplete entries, incorrect exits, incorrect location, or product movements that were not recorded are among the possible causes of stock discrepancies.
10. Reporting and Analyzing Inventory Data
One of the key advantages of inventory tracking with WMS is that warehouse data becomes reportable. Businesses can analyze how much of each product they have, how inventory is distributed, which batches are waiting, and which products haven't been handled for a long time.
Indicators such as inventory aging, minimum inventory levels, critical inventory quantities, batch-based inventory status, and warehouse occupancy rates can support managers' purchasing and production decisions. Thus, the warehouse transforms from a mere physical space for storing products into an operations center that generates data and supports planning.
Is real-time inventory tracking possible with WMS?
Since product entry, exit, transfer, and picking operations performed on the WMS are recorded in real-time, inventory information can be kept up-to-date. The use of barcodes and handheld terminals further speeds up this process. This allows managers to access the current stock status in the warehouse more quickly.
How is inventory tracking with WMS different from ERP?
ERP systems holistically manage a business's finance, purchasing, sales, production, and core inventory processes. WMS, on the other hand, provides more detailed control over in-warehouse operations. Shelf and location management, picking processes, in-warehouse transfers, barcode operations, and batch-based physical movement management are among WMS's core areas of expertise.
When ERP and WMS systems work together, inventory information can be shared between systems, from purchase orders and goods receipt to warehousing, production, and shipping.
Why is Batch-Based Inventory Tracking Important with WMS?
Batch-based inventory tracking allows you to know which production or supply lot a particular product came from. In case of a quality problem or recall, only the movements of the relevant batch can be examined. This structure is particularly important for operational and quality purposes in sectors requiring high traceability.
Does WMS help reduce inventory losses?
WMS helps to more easily investigate the causes of inventory losses by enabling the recording of product movements based on user, date, location, and transaction. Through barcode-based transaction and mandatory movement records, the goal is to reduce unregistered product movements.
What are the benefits of using WMS for inventory tracking for a business?
WMS inventory tracking helps improve inventory accuracy, faster product retrieval, batch and serial number traceability, simplifies warehouse counts, and reduces the risk of incorrect shipments. It also supports purchasing and production teams in planning based on more up-to-date inventory information.
Which systems can WMS integrate with?
WMS can integrate with enterprise systems such as ERP, EBR, QMS, and LIMS. Purchasing or production needs created through ERP can initiate WMS operations. Batch information of materials to be used in production can be linked with EBR. Quality processes for unsuitable or blocked stocks can be managed via QMS.
Conclusion
With WMS, inventory tracking enables the digital management of all movements of products, from their entry into the warehouse to their shipment or use in production. Product quantity, location, batch, serial number, reservation, transfer, and counting information can be monitored under a centralized structure.
Accessing accurate inventory information contributes to more reliable purchasing, production, quality, and shipping processes. WMS, especially as product variety and warehouse movement increase, supports the creation of a more controlled and traceable warehouse structure by reducing the risks associated with manual inventory management.
To learn more about Centra solutions and the warehouse management infrastructure suitable for your business, you can contact us through the information request form.
