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The different and the same thing in warehouse management system vs inventory management system, what you need to know about?

Introduction
If you are coming from the point of view of Automatic Identification Data Capture (AIDC) industry, you will be led to the view Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Inventory Management System (IMS) carry the same meaning because of the objective of both system from AIDC view is to capturing object identity.


However, if In-depth research studies on the difference between both industry modules, you can easily find out the difference between both. As well as find out the similarities between both.

When your organization warehouse size is still small (able to be virtually view by you and your colleague), warehouse management and inventory management bring not much different for your organization at this moment, however it will be matter when the size of the warehouse grow, your team size grow, your warehouse number grow, or your inventory number grow.

Below is the comparison chart:

Module	Warehouse Management System	Inventory Management System
Object Master Listing	Yes	Yes
Shelf or Bin Master Listing	Yes	Yes
Label Printing Module	Yes	Yes
Receiving Module	Yes	Yes
Delivery Module	Yes	Yes
Return Module	Yes	Yes
Reporting Module	Yes	Yes
User Management Module	Yes	Yes
Picking Optimisation	Yes	Optional
Cross Docking Optimisation	Yes	Optional
Loading Bay Optimisation	Yes	Optional
Picking Labor Optimisation	Yes	Optional
Kitting Optimisation	Yes	Optional
Demand Forecasting	Optional	Yes
Total inventory management	Optional	Yes
Serial Number Management	Optional	Yes

Summaries
Warehouse management control more focus on the individual warehouse operation which include the manpower allocation, shelf or bin arrangement, optimization for all the activity happen in the warehouse. Inventory control will focus on the object moving in and out from the organization premises and give overall inventory object value for the management. However, because of the demand and requirement from the customer, warehouse management software will try to fulfil the customer demand in inventory management requirements and via versa. This is the reason both terms are used interchangeably in the AIDC sector.