"We have used technology to deliver the best of both worlds: a fully customised, 'no-limits' WMS that is built in line with the user's business, but at an off-the-shelf price" says AIDC operations director David Myers.

Supply chain technology innovator AIDC Solutions is launching a new version of its 'AIDC-WHM' warehouse management system, which is now fully RFID-enabled. The company claims a market first for its custom-off-the-shelf (COTS) WMS technology, which uses "fast, flexible, smart" AIDC system building blocks that allow a WMS to be fully tailored for the user but at a significantly lower, packaged software price, according to the company.

The same technology also allows its warehouse management system to be deployed within 25 days from user brief to go-live, say AIDC.

"We have used technology to deliver the best of both worlds: a fully customised, 'no-limits' WMS that is built in line with the user's business rules, processes and priorities, but at an off-the-shelf price" says AIDC operations director David Myers. "AIDC-WHM also captures more supply chain information than many WMS systems, enabling greater improvements in business performance and a faster return on investment".

AIDC-WHM has been developed for use by all manufacturing, distribution and third party logistics organisations. Its technology is open and can be integrated with all enterprise applications, including SAP and other leading ERP systems. AIDC-WHM runs in Windows (or UNIX) and is suitable for single and multi-site, national and international, multi-lingual use. It can be deployed standalone or can exchange information with many other business functions including logistics, production and planning.

RFID - a new option in the latest version of AIDC-WHM - is provided by generating simple labels/tags to support 'slap and ship' compliance, or via fuller RFID integration with warehouse processes.

No limits
Thanks to its underlying technology AIDC-WHM can be fully user defined, with no limits. This gives an organisation the flexibility to define its warehouse layout in line with changing needs to optimise its efficiency, including the ability to prioritise and zone storage areas. Warehouse locations can be specified at multiple levels and defined using multiple parameters, with best storage based on pre-defined location rules where needed.

The system automatically identifies the best picking routes for speedier order fulfilment. Barcoding and mobile terminals can also be used to increase the speed and accuracy of picking and put-away.

AIDC-WHM provides a complete view of all inventory and enables items to be tracked internally and throughout the supply chain, with no limit to the number of item serial or batch numbers that can be generated. A powerful graphical enquiries tool in the system provides a clear, real time view of items in the warehouse, tracking serial and batch numbers and pinpointing the exact location of any item and its values using multiple user-defined categories.