AFS Technologies Adds BI to Warehouse Management 
AFS Technologies Inc. is bringing business intelligence to its line of warehouse management software solutions. The company’s BI for WMS (Business Intelligence for Warehouse Management Systems) is designed to provide a powerful tool for warehouse operations.
AFS Technologies Inc. is bringing business intelligence to its line of warehouse management software solutions. The company’s BI for WMS (Business Intelligence for Warehouse Management Systems) is designed to provide a powerful tool for warehouse operations
AFS customers were looking for a BI tool that would easily integrate with WMS solutions for real-time updates, according to Ken Martin, WMS product manager at AFS Technologies, AFS’s BI for WMS includes comprehensive analytical dashboards, data grids and chart views which provide customers “instant feedback” on the condition of their operations, Martin added.
AFS’s BI for WMS dashboards let customers know if the warehouse operations are falling behind, based on key mission-critical criteria (receiving, picking, shipping, etc.), Martin explained. This dashboard data provides insights into a warehouse status in real time, as well as through the end of a work period and even expected delivery times.
“Other BI tools require uploads of daily or weekly data extraction, but BI for WMS immediately updates in real-time as your operations change throughout the day,” said Martin said.
Instead of running multiple reports, AFS’s approach allows managers to see all pertinent operational information using one dashboard -- including shipping, receiving, put-away, inventory control, adjustments, product lines, gains/losses and other details
“AFS’s BI for WMS immediately updates in real-time as your operations change throughout the day.”
Ken Martin
WMS Product Manager
AFS Technologies
Customers also have the option to view summary information or detailed drill downs into specific datasets, he added.
For example, they can see order fulfillment statistics across all warehouses or view an individual warehouse break down by customer and determine how much was shorted, according to officials. Business Intelligence is available as dashboards that will alert customers to immediate issues. Additionally, business intelligence can be viewed in grids and charts that can be easily filtered, conditions saved, and data printed or exported to external sources, such as email or presentations, according to the company.
AFS Warehousing solutions are designed to reduce costs and optimize profits within the four walls of the warehouse and across your supply chain. WMS is rules-based software that allows users to adapt the products to their way of warehouse operations.
AFS BI for WMS is the company’s latest step to bring business analytics and intelligence to its core offerings. The company already offers BI add-ons for its solutions for manufacturers and distributors
Many of the latest AFS products are built on an SOA architecture to provide efficiencies and flexibility to connect to, and interact with, other systems regardless of platform or technologies. In addition to SOA, AFS is also using the Microsoft .NET framework for developing agile and adaptive warehouse management solutions for the new "connected world" of warehousing and logistics management.
