Transformative Upgrade : Enhancing Warehouse Management for a Leading Private Equity Firm in the UK

5x

Efficient Warehouse Operations

2x

Increase in Customer Engagement

100%

Portfolio Companies’ Migration into the centralized WMS
Building a centralized warehouse management system

Transforming Warehousing for a Leading Company

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Customer Overview

One of the largest private equity firms headquartered in the UK acquired portfolio companies in the business of managing warehouses for elite people across the US and Europe. The private equity firm aimed to introduce a pivotal warehouse management system to manage the warehouse operations of all portfolio companies.

Project Overview

In the current system, each of the various portfolio companies utilizes its distinct warehouse management system to oversee internal processes. The private equity firm aimed to consolidate disparate systems and processes across its portfolio companies by implementing a unified warehouse management system. They want to start by building a system that enables users to efficiently search for warehouse items, submit service requests, and transparently track the movement of goods.

Challenges

Building a centralized system with advanced features, migrating multiple Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) into it, and ensuring uninterrupted operation.

  • The primary challenge was to migrate all Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) modules from multiple portfolio companies to a centralized system, while ensuring continuous operation of centralized and individual portfolio systems throughout the transition.
  • Implementing and managing warehouse items is the main priority in the new WMS, with a focus on full text search and handling service requests for warehouse items.
  • Implementing a sophisticated role-based access management system for all types of users that can accommodate all future requests related to roles and permissions, considering the potential of drastic changes in role management.
  • Enabling real-time tracking and damage detection of items during both inward and outward movements.
  • The new system relies on data sources from various WMS of portfolio companies, requiring parallel operation until all modules transition to the centralized system.
  • Onboarding and training users from multiple portfolio companies onto the new centralized system successfully.

Solution

We developed a client portal module as a web and mobile application. It is a part of the centralized Warehouse Management System (WMS).

  • During the transition period until full integration, users had access to operate on both the centrally managed WMS and the WMS of their respective portfolio companies.
  • Since the new system relies on the data from existing portfolio companies, we have implemented an advanced data pipeline that consistently transfers data from all portfolio companies to the databases of the new system.
  • Approximately 80% of the system's functionality is dedicated to searching, categorizing and taking actions on items. Our approach aims to simplify stakeholder training & onboarding by providing a user experience similar to an online marketplace.
  • To enhance our search experience and emulate the features of a marketplace, including full-text search, smart search, image search and filtering, we implemented Elasticsearch as our search engine offering sophisticated query capabilities.
  • Due to the ever-changing nature of stakeholder roles, particularly concerning item access, we have deployed Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to meet current and future requirements seamlessly.
  • Efficiently managing the item movement is crucial, so we have integrated real-time tracking for users to monitor transit. Additionally, we've employed artificial intelligence to identify and flag damage promptly, during movement, alerting users of any issues thereby enhancing transparency.

Benefits

The warehouse management system we custom-designed and developed provides the following benefits to our client:

  • Consolidating multiple portfolio companies' systems into one centralized location reduced the effort required for searching and managing service requests.
  • Enhanced transparency in tracking and managing item movement across various geographical locations led to heightened customer engagement.
  • Breaking silos in processes and data across the portfolio companies with our solution helped the client streamline operations and promote consistency in data management.
  • The client gained better oversight and control over the operations of portfolio companies while enhancing efficiency and improving collaboration and communication.

Industry

  • Logistics
  • Warehouse management

Technology and Integration

  • Java, Elasticsearch, React, Flutter
  • AWS Lambda, AWS RDS, AWS SQS, AWS Fargate, AWS Amazon Rekognition, AWS Lookout, AWS Sagemaker
Roadblocks in centralizing warehouse management system

Conclusion

Eliminating the need to manage multiple warehouse systems across several portfolio companies, we built a centralized warehouse management system and facilitated seamless migration while ensuring uninterrupted operation. This solution drove digital transformation by providing our client with better visibility, control, and enhanced inter-company coordination, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency.

Frequently asked questions

Why do private equity firms prefer a centralized warehouse management system?

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Private equity firms prefer centralized warehouse management system platforms because they give real-time visibility across all portfolio warehouses, standardize operations, and reduce costs. This unified control improves efficiency, speeds post-acquisition integration, and directly increases portfolio value.

What are the biggest risks when consolidating multiple WMS platforms into one system?

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The biggest risks when consolidating multiple WMS platforms are data inconsistency, operational downtime, access-control gaps, and user adoption issues. These risks are best managed through phased migration, parallel system operation, and flexible role-based access control.

How does a centralized WMS improve operational efficiency across portfolio companies?

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A centralized WMS improves operational efficiency by replacing siloed systems with shared workflows, real-time inventory visibility, and standardized processes. This reduces duplicate work, speeds fulfillment, and enables portfolio companies to operate as a single, coordinated network.

Why is advanced search critical in large-scale warehouse management systems?

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Advanced search is critical in large-scale WMS because it lets users instantly find items across massive, multi-location inventories using text, images, and filters. This cuts search time, reduces errors, and keeps warehouse operations fast and accurate at scale.

How does role-based access control support future warehouse growth?

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Role-based access control supports future warehouse growth by managing permissions through roles instead of individuals. This makes it easy to onboard new users, add locations, and adapt to acquisitions or process changes without redesigning access rules

What role does AI play in modern warehouse tracking and damage detection?

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AI improves modern warehouse tracking by monitoring item movement in real time and detecting damage through image and pattern analysis. This enables early alerts, reduces losses, and increases visibility across warehouse operations without manual inspections.

How does real-time item tracking enhance customer engagement?

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Real-time item tracking enhances customer engagement by giving users instant visibility into item status and movement. This builds trust, reduces uncertainty and support requests, and creates a more transparent, responsive customer experience.

Can a centralized WMS scale across regions like the US and Europe?

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Yes. A cloud-native centralized WMS can scale across regions like the US and Europe by supporting multiple warehouses, time zones, and local compliance rules from a single platform, while maintaining consistent performance and visibility.

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