Zen and the Art of WMS Software

The warehouse can offer substantial cost savings, efficiency improvements and reductions in user errors if lean concepts and a Zen flow are adopted properly.

Although most of us tend to think of manufacturing when we hear the word lean, and of Mahayana Buddhism when we hear the word Zen, the primary principles of both translate directly to successful adoptions of warehouse management systems (WMS). Lean principles focus on process flow, optimization, waste elimination, problem solving and continuous improvements. The first principle of lean is flow, which lends itself to the Zen theory of being one with your environment.

Without question, these same principles guide the most successful WMS implementations. Learning how to translate the concepts of lean manufacturing and the Zen theories of flow to the adoption of a warehouse management system will certainly produce fast ROI and undisputable long-term operational improvements.

You don't have to be a Zen practitioner to create "good flow." In the simplest of terms, you just need to think lean. Lean concepts start with process flow, and this concept easily translates to the warehouse. The phrase "being at one with things" is perfect when considering the term flow. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proposed the theory of flow and stated that an individual is in the "flow state" when he becomes "absorbed in his activity" and when the "focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself." He called this "action awareness merging."

Most likely, Csikszentmihalyi was not thinking about warehouse mapping and material management when he was discussing this Zen-like state, but his theory is exactly what warehouse optimization and lean principles are based upon. A well-run, efficient and error-proof warehouse facility is about placing people and products within the right flow.

A Zen-like process flow is lean. It is one where the employee is fully immersed in what he or she is doing. Instead of trying to think about the best method of efficiently moving inventory, the employee is simply doing the task. A WMS package helps facilitate this effortless flow. Not only will this speed the process of moving goods, it will create less opportunity for errors. Achieving this Zen state of employee movement can only be obtained through optimizing the physical aspects of the facility, the placement of materials and the movement of employees.

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