I've also been watching webERP hoping that at least a small amount of warehouse functionality would make it into the system eventually. We're such a small shop, I spend my days putting out fires and haven't had a chance to try to dig in and learn the basic structure of the system or I would consider trying to add some of the basics on my own.
The WMS Intro writeup Buz posted looks like a great start to planning some functionality. I just had a few notes to add for anyone who may be working towards this goal:
BARCODE SCANNING
Something that's easy to overlook, but can make a user's experience 100% better: Application IDs!
Add some simple AI processing to the input validation to direct scanned data to the proper field, so users need not "tab around" the screen to get their scanned data in the right place. They're just some codes prefixed to the barcode that tells your app what the data is, and thus your app can decide where (and if) it should go on the form.
The only mobile screen Buz listed in his PDF is fairly basic, but even there it would be useful to verify that it *was* in fact the item number scanned, as opposed to a UPC, etc. - and prevent a "double scan" of the item number from being interpreted as a quantity
LABEL INTEGRATION
The "standard" method for interfacing with label printers would be to use a labeling engine such as Seagull, Loftware, etc. These *would* mean requiring a commercial software package to be used with the webERP, but anyone who needs an ERP can probably spring for a basic edition of a label package. Depending on the package, there are several integration options. Commonly "label definition" files are just dumped to a directory queue and the system polls the directory, determines which printer, and spools it to the printer. The data can be in XML or possibly other structures. Some of the more expensive labeling packages may even offer web services to receive the label requests.
A more basic option (but a little less user friendly) would be to directly send ZPL code to the printer (if it's Zebra compatible, and network accessible). Users requiring customized labels would still need a copy of a labeling package to design that custom label, but after that you just have to send some code to the printer. I've written some stored procedures that output labels from our current ERP that have worked well using this method.
STOCK "ALLOCATION"
As soon as multiple bin locations are allowed in the system, it becomes necessary to identify picking locations on pick slips (if those are being used). It's my opinion that actual allocation to specific shipments would be functionality for far in the future. Early on, a "suggested" bin that has inventory enough to cover the pick would suffice, but some sort of algorithm is still needed to select the location. Our current ERP's functionality here is completely weak, just making this selection alphabetically by bin, and potentially sending pickers to odd places in certain situations. This would be a good place to offer users some customization options.
Travis-
Warehouse management, bin locations, barcode scanning, etc
