INTELLI-MARK SET TO CATER TO DEMAND FOR IMPROVING WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) -- Information technology solutions company Intelli-Mark Consolidated Sdn Bhd sees strong potential for its Warehouse Management System (WMS) as businesses prepare to improve their warehouse operations following the COVID-19 pandemic and global supply chain crisis.

The WMS software application, provided by subsidiary TheScanHub, allows manufacturers and e-commerce operators to improve warehouse efficiency in a digital way.

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Intelli-Mark business director Tan Hann Yang said 10 companies in Malaysia have successfully implemented its WMS over the years, and it is targeting another six companies this year.

“We are also planning to venture overseas via partnerships with companies in Thailand and Indonesia. However, the partnerships have yet to be finalised,” he told Bernama in an interview.

He said TheScanHub is in the midst of implementing its system in three companies.

“It is just the beginning of the year, so I believe the target for this year is achievable,” Tan said, adding that it will take at least two months to have the system fully implemented.

He said Intelli-Mark expects to increase WMS’ contribution to its revenue from the current 15 per cent to as high as 35 per cent in three years’ time.  

According to Tan, a warehouse management system helps companies to control and manage the day-to-day operation in a warehouse - it guides on the inventories being received, optimises the picking and shipping orders as well as advises on inventory replenishment when the time comes.

“With the WMS in place in the warehouse, it increases the visibility and accuracy of stock level, and it will reduce unnecessary losses for the company.

“The WMS provides almost live data on the warehouse’s stock level. The management is able to locate the stock, as the system tracks every single movement of the stock inside the warehouse -- this is from when the stock comes in to when the stock goes out from the warehouse,” he said.

Tan said that with the ongoing pandemic and global supply chain issues, some companies have started to change their warehouse stocking strategy.

“Last time, a lot of companies adopted the just-in-time (approach) but now, with the globally supply chain crisis, a lot of them have switched to just-in-case.

“Thus, they are going to prepare more, not like previously. This means there is an increase in the warehouse activity, and when the stock increases, they would need a system to make it more effective. This is where the WMS can help.

“In our opinion, businesses need to be better prepared because they do not know what will happen. I hope more companies in Malaysia can digitalise their warehouse operations and get ready to handle their inventories (better),” he said.

Tan explained that one of his company’s customers, which has a stock value amounting to RM80 million in the warehouse, previously needed to write off RM8 million every year when doing the adjustments due to the huge discrepancy between the actual stock and what appears in the inventory system.

“It made the customer very worried and after implementing its WMS, the discrepancy (percentage) was reduced from two digits to a single digit.

“They reduced the stock variance between the system and the actual physical stock from 10 per cent to three per cent during the stock-take, which is when the quantities of stock items are verified; hence, through the system, the customer saved a potential loss of seven per cent on average,” he said.

TheScanHub’s WMS, developed in 2014, caters for manufacturers, e-commerce operators, and third-party logistics companies.

“In my opinion, it may be complicated (to manage warehouse activity) for businesses handling large volumes daily at their warehouse and with hundreds and above items in and out daily, and for warehouses that handle both raw materials and finished goods.

“We will look at how active your (a potential customer’s) warehouse activity is and the stock value. If the value is huge or the daily activities are busy, you may need to invest in WMS,” he added.

-- BERNAMA