A good warehouse management system improves order fulfillment in many ways.

As a manufacturer or distributor, you know that both accuracy and efficiency are important for order fulfillment. Competitors aren’t just others in your industry; customers who are used to the “Amazon” effect expect products to always be in stock and shipped lightning-quick.

With the right warehouse management system, not only can you track and manage your warehouse with better data and insights, but you can monitor and improve your order fulfillment, too. Here’s how.

Eight Warehouse KPIs to Track

Most companies follow a similar order fulfillment process: receive the order, pick/pack, and ship. Depending on the level of automations within your system, you may send notifications to the customer at every stage of the process or only at key points, such as when the order ships. Most companies also offer tracking through their shipping provider, such as UPS or FedEx, and provide updates via email or text.

According to the Association for Supply Chain Management, there are eight key performance indicators (KPIs) to track in your warehouse. These include:

• Fulfillment rate
• Inventory accuracy
• Overall throughput
• Replenishment
• Order accuracy
• Inventory turns
• Dead stock
• Supplier KPIs

Each of these KPIs measures the efficiency of the order fulfillment process. When tracked and measured through your warehouse management system, they provide good insight into how well your company is:

• Managing stock, including inventory accuracy, turns, replenishment, and dead stock
• Fulfilling orders, through order accuracy and fulfillment rates
• Working with suppliers, through supplier KPIs, and overall throughput

Warehouse Management Systems Provide the Metrics that Matter

One of the things I’ve noticed over the years is that many companies track lots of warehouse-related numbers, sometimes to the point of overwhelm. You don’t need to track everything. Just track the numbers that matter.

To avoid tracking anything and everything, and focus only on what matters, it helps to have a purpose-built computer system that supports your industry's warehouse operations and order fulfillment.

Syspro ERP, along with Syspro WMS, does a solid job of tracking the KPIs most companies care about. It covers fulfillment rate, inventory accuracy, order accuracy, and overall throughput through its real‑time visibility, mobile scanning, and workflow automation. These are built into the system’s everyday operations, so you’re not bolting on extra tools just to measure what’s happening on the floor.

Track Stock Movements and Inventory

Syspro keeps a continuous record of stock movements, bin activity, and demand‑driven replenishment rules. Even though Syspro may call them something else, the underlying data is there. You can easily pull it into dashboards or reports. Syspro can also highlight dead stock. The platform will show you which items haven’t moved, and where your aging inventory is currently located.

Monitor Supplier KPIs

One of the things we like about Syspro is that it has strong integrations across its platforms, including Syspro ERP and WMS. That’s how it handles supplier KPIs. The WMS contributes to receiving accuracy, dock‑to‑stock time, and quality‑related data, while the ERP tracks lead times, delivery performance, and other supplier metrics. Together, they give you the big picture of how your suppliers are performing and how their performance impacts your warehouse performance.

And of course, your order fulfillment is only as good as your warehouse, so if your warehouse is running smoothly, chances are good the order fulfillment team can do their job well, too.

Order Fulfillment Is a Critical Process for Your Business

As you can see, when your order fulfillment process hums along, and you’re tracking relevant KPIs, everyone is happy: you, your suppliers, and your customers. You’ve got the big picture and the analytics to back up decisions affecting inventory and fulfillment.

When you add a warehouse management system and monitor both warehouse and order fulfillment metrics, you’re on the right path to making customers happy. A happy customer is good business and can lead to increased profits through repeat business. It’s a win-win.

PositiveVision

Positive Vision is an experienced ERP vendor that has helped organizations improve their supply chain processes. We would be happy to assist you in choosing the right ERP for your business and ensuring a smooth, effective launch. Contact us to speak to one of our product experts about a customized solution today.

Robert Baran

Robert Baran is the founder and President of PositiveVision. He has worked in a variety of positions including system analyst, computer consultant and programmer, project manager, and division manager.