The Great Divide: Conquering the Gap Between Manufacturing & Warehousing Systems
By Keith Moore - Posted September 16, 2021
There are 2 types of supply chain facility maintained by most big shippers. The first type is made up of a few, highly complex production sites—these are usually run by manufacturing teams equipped with manufacturing execution software to help streamline operations. The second type is a much larger number of distribution centers—often run by the logistics and operations teams with the help of 3PLs, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), and possibly a Yard Management System (YMS).
The two types of facility rarely interact. Production sites live in their functional silo, and distribution centers focus on the demand trickling down to them from the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. The fact that there is so little interaction between the two types of facility is interesting because most production facilities have a nearby distribution center to receive finished products (and possibly a raw materials warehouse to source feeder stock to production, too!).
