For most 3PL warehousing operations, existing WMS options are like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Sure, many large WMS providers offer support for complex robotics workflows or predictive demand management—but how many of them actually make it easy to manage commingled inventory from multiple separate clients?
Our goal at DispatchTrack has always been to turn delivery management into a scalable source of cost efficiency and customer delight, and when warehouse and delivery management interact it can be a real source of friction. In order to help 3PLs and other businesses work towards delivery efficiency even before the order is loaded onto the truck, we could see that we needed to provide a way for businesses to close the loop between warehouse and delivery management.
That’s why, this past May, DispatchTrack announced DT WMS, a warehouse management system purpose-built for the ways that 3PLs actually operate. In this post, we’ll cover the ins and outs of DT WMS, how it’s different from what’s on the market currently, and how it can benefit delivery organizations with complex warehousing needs.
Let’s dive in!
Why Should You Integrate Warehouse Management and Delivery Management?
Warehouse management and delivery management are fundamentally two sides of the same coin. The lifecycle of a customer order begins in the warehouse and it ends when the last mile delivery driver has unloaded the right items, in the right place, in the right condition. Often, the right condition means that something has been not just dropped off but installed or set up. The final mile involves a level of complexity that’s notoriously hard to grapple with, and that complexity is only increased when the handoff from warehouse to delivery isn’t streamlined.
Simply put, by integrating delivery and warehouse management, you can speed up your order cycle times, improve visibility across disparate parts of the supply chain, and ultimately provide a better experience to your customers without a huge amount of administrative burden.
So why don’t more businesses, particularly in the 3PL space, integrate these two functional areas more consistently?
Simply put, it’s because the existing landscape of solutions couldn’t offer an easy way to maintain visibility and chain of custody in warehouses that commingled orders from multiple brands.
Now that DT WMS makes it easy to do just that, for many businesses there’s no reason not to streamline these two processes.
How Is DT WMS Different?
DT WMS offers one platform for the four walls and the final mile
With DT WMS, your warehouse operations and your last mile delivery share one chain of custody, tracked from ASN receipt to proof of delivery—with every warehouse touch translated into invoices and settlements automatically. The result is that 3PLs operate with total visibility for the entire lifecycle of every order.
Eliminate Blind Spots at the Dock
- Unbroken Chain of Custody: Track every item from ASN receipt through warehouse operations, staging, and last-mile delivery—all the way to POD. DT WMS gives you a single, real-time view of all locations.
- Total Client Visibility: Commingled freight is a fact of life for 3PLs, and DT WMS is designed to streamline the process of managing it. Every record is scoped to its client for complete data separation.
- Faster Cycle Times: Turn visibility into velocity. With cross-dock support, freight can even move directly from inbound to outbound without unnecessary putaway, and the system tracks the handoff end to end.
Automate from ASN to Invoice
- AI-powered invoicing: Describe client billing and driver settlement rules in natural language. AI turns it into defined rules that can be applied automatically.
- Automated billing and settlement: As orders flow from warehouse to delivery, our system can automatically turn delivery details into invoices and settlements. The result? Accurate, auditable invoices with a fraction of the effort.
- Auto charge based on real transactions: Receiving, QC, assembly, storage, and staging all flow into billing automatically, reducing revenue leakage significantly.
Optimize Delivery and Warehouse Ops in One Solution
- End-to-end delivery orchestration: Because DT WMS is integrated with DispatchTrack, the warehouse and the last mile share one system—orders flow seamlessly into routing, dispatching, and tracking without anyone manually moving data around.
- Total client visibility: Provide live tracking to clients from dock to door. DT WMS offers unlimited clients per warehouse, each with their own dedicated view of inventory, order status, and SLA performance.
- Full-lifecycle SLA tracking: Gain proactive visibility into commitments before they’re missed—whether the items are in the warehouse or en route to the end customer.
Benefits of Using DT WMS
By leveraging DT WMS and DispatchTrack’s delivery orchestration platform in tandem, businesses that need warehouse management delivery management in one solution can save money and time while improving the experience they offer to their clients and customers.
The operational benefits are significant:
- Smoother handoffs from warehouse to delivery means faster inventory velocity and shorter delivery lead times. Both of these translate directly into cost savings.
- Streamlined IT means that silos and shadow IT are eliminated, resulting in the visibility that logistics operators need to work efficiently.
- AI-powered billing and settlement means that you’ll save countless hours manually grappling with billing rules and decrease your billing error rate, saving you thousands of dollars.
- Rapid onboarding means that your time to value is quick and you can start reaping these benefits immediately.
When you leverage an AI-native platform that’s built to handle 3PL-levels of warehouse complexity and all the ins and outs of last mile logistics in the same solution, the potential for ROI is huge.
Reduce Logistics Costs: Get in Touch Today
If you’re dealing with a gap between how your WMS functions and how your business does—or if you’re not currently leveraging a WMS for your warehouse needs—it’s time to get in touch with DispatchTrack.
Book a demo today and we’ll walk you through the power of DT WMS for closing the loop between warehouse management and delivery management.