Custom WMS for Midsize Businesses: Your Key to Long-Term ROI and Operational Freedom
Off-the-shelf warehouse management systems (WMS) seem to offer a great deal on the surface. In exchange for a simple subscription or licensing fee, you immediately get a full-fledged WMS — no development necessary.
An off-the-shelf solution may be easy to implement and relatively affordable at the start, but in five to seven years, you’ll have paid potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars for it. At the same time, you miss out on the long-term ROI and operational freedom that a custom WMS for midsize businesses offers.
Let’s make the case for investing in custom WMS development — even if you’re a midsize business.
Why Midsize Companies Start with a Ready-Made WMS (And Why That’s Fine… for a While)
Off-the-shelf tools like Blue Yonder and SAP EWM have their appeal, whether they come with a subscription fee (SaaS) or require a one-time payment for a licensed WMS. They are:
Affordable at the beginning. You have no upfront WMS implementation cost, save for the licensing or subscription fee. In the short run, those costs are lower than the costs of building a solution from scratch.
Easy to implement and set up. You can start setting up an off-the-shelf tool the same day you pay the fee. The implementation process usually requires no tech expertise, either.
Packed with features. You get a full feature kit in exchange for your fee, which can include advanced AI/ML analytics, IoT data collection, and real-time metrics tracking.
This makes off-the-shelf WMS solutions a good choice for small and mid-sized businesses that experience fast growth and need a WMS that can start streamlining operations immediately. However, as your warehouse operations evolve, you may notice the limitations of an off-the-shelf WMS and how it holds you back.
The Hidden Cost of Subscription-Based WMS
In exchange for all the perks of SaaS warehouse software for midsize companies, you have to make peace with:
Paying for features you don’t use. You can’t pick and choose specific features; you can only select your subscription plan. So, even if you don’t need voice-picking or dock management features, you may end up paying for them.
Being unable to customize key workflows. Since you don’t own the off-the-shelf WMS, you can’t change it the way you see fit — supply chain software customization, if possible, is usually quite limited. So, you may end up having to revamp your processes to match the tool’s workflows.
Grappling with integration limitations. If your vendor doesn’t support a specific system or hardware out of the box, you may have to develop a custom integration. Some WMS vendors don’t support custom integrations, however.
Remaining at the mercy of the vendor’s pricing policy. Vendors can unilaterally decide when to increase their fees per user or location. They can also change the pricing model altogether, adding new fees or changing available features.
With time, these limitations start to outweigh the benefits, and the tradeoff loses its appeal. Yet, you continue paying thousands of dollars a month for the WMS.
With a fee of $4,000/month, you’d end up spending $48,000/year, or $240,000 over five years. That’s roughly the cost of building a custom WMS for your operations — and unlike an off-the-shelf one, you’d actually own your WMS.
The Real Cost of a Custom WMS
Of course, building a custom WMS requires a substantial upfront investment. The price tag can reach $170,000 to $250,000+. However, project costs depend heavily on the solution’s complexity, which is determined by:
Features required
Integrations with other systems and hardware
Technologies used (IoT, AI/ML, etc.)
Data migration complexity
That said, the long-term custom warehouse management system ROI makes the investment worthwhile. It comes in the form of:
Full ownership over the codebase. You can change it how you see fit whenever necessary. You also won’t be taken by surprise by vendor updates.
Total control over the running costs. A custom WMS removes the risk of vendor surprise fees or price bumps. You won’t have to deal with per-user and per-warehouse charges, either.
Complete alignment with real-world processes. Your system’s features, dashboards, roles, and permissions are tailored to the way you do business. It’ll adapt to your business, not the other way around.
Scalability on your terms. You get a fully scalable warehouse system that can support your operations as their volume changes without increases in subscription fees.
How to Prepare for the Switch to a Custom WMS
Migrating from off-the-shelf to tailored WMS solutions isn’t to be taken lightly. First, you need to ensure your custom system is fully aligned with your processes and needs; otherwise, your ROI may suffer. Then, you’ll also need to minimize disruptions and make the transition as smooth as possible.
If you’re ready to replace an off-the-shelf WMS with a custom one, here are the five things to consider before kicking off development.
What Is Missing in Your Current WMS?
Perhaps you lack inventory optimization tools or logistics process automation features, or you need specific integrations or customizations. To get a full picture, note all the key sources of friction with your current WMS and consider feedback from all user categories.
Who Will Own the Transition Internally?
Define the person responsible for overseeing the development and transition to the custom WMS. This specialist will coordinate all work and monitor the project’s progress. During the collaboration with a development partner, this person will also serve as the product owner.
Are Your Workflows Documented?
Having comprehensive workflow documentation will save you a lot of time during the discovery phase. It’ll help identify the features you need in your WMS, such as supply chain digitization. It’ll also facilitate translating your real-world workflows into the system’s user flows.
What Integrations Will Your WMS Need?
Prepare a list of all the integrations your custom WMS will require. Those can include:
Legacy systems: ERP, PIM, warehouse automation software, etc.
Vendor systems: ERP, PIM, yard management, order management software, etc.
Shipping carriers’ systems
Hardware: Barcode and RFID readers, forklifts, robotic shelf loaders, etc.
Are You Prepared to Dedicate Three to Six Months to Development?
Even as your development partner handles design and development, your product owner will be heavily involved in the project, which will increase their workload. Key stakeholders will also be involved, especially during the discovery phase. So, ensure everyone can dedicate enough time and effort to the project.
Why Partner Up with a Development Company to Build a Custom WMS?
To leverage the long-term ROI warehouse software has to offer, you’ll need development expertise to build a custom WMS. Hiring an in-house team typically entails higher costs than outsourcing and increases the project duration.
Hiring a custom software development partner, in turn, provides a number of undeniable benefits:
Effective discovery that ensures alignment. Experienced development partners know the right questions to ask during discovery. That enables them to identify all of your key challenges and expectations from the custom logistics software for midsize enterprises.
Experience with complex systems, integrations, and scaling. Thanks to it, your partner can easily address common WMS development challenges. Those include integrations with legacy systems and long-term system scalability.
Expertise in translating workflows into software. Your partner will already know how to design the user flows and system architecture to fit your warehouse workflows. This translates into a better user experience and business value.
Long-term support and improvement. If you don’t want to hire an in-house team to maintain and update your custom WMS, your development partner can step in.
Final Thoughts
While an off-the-shelf WMS may be easy to set up and affordable at first, its limitations become obvious as your business grows. A custom WMS offers the long-term ROI an off-the-shelf system can’t provide: complete alignment with your workflows and unmatched scalability.
With 200+ successful projects under our belt, Integrio Systems is an established custom software development partner for midsize businesses. Explore how our custom software development expertise can help you implement a custom WMS that delivers long-term ROI.
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