A practical approach to work-management integration
Understand how Documents Currently Move the Data
You need to understand the way in which data moves through the organization today. In the future
model, the WMS will be integrated with many of the key corporate and third party systems in Figure
3. These systems and work processes are actually integrated today; however, the integration is
performed by employees with documents (e.g., forms and reports), rather than by the systems
themselves with data files and software programs. The current integrated work processes rely on these
documents to capture, move, store and provide views of operational data.
In the previous activity, the project team gained an understanding of the various systems involved in
the solution. During the current activity they should gather and create a library of all documents that
are inputs to or outputs from these systems. These documents will be part of the Information Flow
Diagram storyboard that is created in the next activity.
Your integration effort will eliminate a number of these documents and their related expenses. Use
the document library to track the disposition of each document and how it will be impacted by the
project. Figure 4 provides an example of sample documents and how they maybe impacted by an
integrated WMS solution.
Construct an Information Flow Diagram of the Current Integration Model
Create a storyboard of your current integration model illustrating how documents move key data
between systems. This is not another exercise in building workflow diagrams. You probably have
more of them than you need! The IFD storyboard is fundamentally different from a workflow diagram.
The IFD illustrates data transactions rather than the timing of workflow events. A completed IFD includes all
systems (represented by cylinders) that are impacted by the WMS scope and all documents (represented by
various folders) that move information between the systems. It provides the project team with a clear understanding
of how data moves between systems in the current environment. Use the IFD as a guide through a discussion of each connect
point between the WMS and other systems. The IFD will surface system-interface targets by
illustrating where interfaces are currently performed manually by clerical personnel. Evolve the
current IFD into a model for the future by replacing the
manual transactions with
direct system interfaces.
The result is an integration
model that simplifies the flow
of data throughout the
organization. The example in
Figure 6 addresses the key
business drivers with
interfaces to CIS, General
Ledger, Materials
Management and Plant
Accounting. It also eliminates
the high-volume manual
transactions that occur with
interfaces to GIS, the One-Call Organization, the Telephone Company and HIUPayroll.
Identify the Interface Points and Set Integration Priorities.
It is important to analyze all of the possible interface points between the WMS and other systems.
However, it is even more important to eliminate unnecessary interfaces from the overall scope as
quickly as possible. Interfaces can be costly and to define the scope of the interfaces is just as
important as it was to define the scope of the processes and functionality of the WMS. Don’t target
interfaces just because they are technically possible. Make sure that they make good business sense,
