What new business initiatives are on hold because of your outdated WMS inventory management system? It’s time to drop the dead weight. From manual tasks that bloat overtime costs and WMS inventory data you can never trust to a failed integration that lost hundreds of orders during Peak Season, customers deserve more than disappointments and excuses.
You can easily avoid those logistics headaches with a robust WMS system built for agile decision-making and real ROI over late implementations and broken vendor promises.
Discover enterprise-wide visibility, streamlined workflows that save on labor and shipping, 150+ integrations, and AI-driven data to improve decision-making.
Key Takeaways
- Legacy systems cost 15-20% of IT budgets just to maintain obsolete technology that actively holds back business growth and competitiveness.
- Modern WMS inventory management systems deliver 90-day implementation versus 18-month cycles, with companies like NRS shipping orders on go-live day.
- Real-time visibility transforms operations – businesses report processing the same orders in hours instead of days with unified inventory tracking.
- Adaptability drives bottom-line growth – companies using flexible WMS inventory management systems see 150% revenue increases while easily pivoting through supply chain disruptions.
- Operational efficiency skyrockets with picking rates jumping from 124 orders/hour to 500 items/hour and 77% reductions in fulfillment costs.
Today’s businesses face unprecedented challenges—from reshoring pressures and tariff uncertainties to labor shortages and sky-high customer expectations. WMS inventory management isn’t just another technology investment—it’s the foundation of your agile competitive strategy.
The real cost of “good enough” warehouse inventory
“Supply chain issues are like water leaks—the longer they go, the greater the damage,” warns Tom Ward, a warehouse inventory technology expert at Deposco. “I’d bet there’s a critical business system that’s actively holding your business back right now. But you’ve chosen—actively or passively—the high cost of ‘doing nothing’.”
Read more: Why warehouse technology upgrades can’t wait.
For Ryan McDermott at Derby Supply Chain Solutions, that realization came when customer demands evolved beyond what their legacy WMS inventory management system could handle.
“Our new customers were doing a lot of retail fulfillment, parcel shipping, ecommerce, pallet in and pallet out… Parcel shipping was the last straw. Our former WMS did not do well in the ecommerce space,” Ryan adds.
They implemented Deposco’s modern WMS inventory software to handle complex omnichannel requirements, and can now process the same number of orders in seven hours vs. two or three days. They’re also setting up new clients in two hours vs weeks—a transformative improvement only possible with next-generation WMS inventory management systems.
WMS inventory management: when everything changes at once
With tariff news shifting overnight and fierce competition, a flexible WMS inventory management system turns new challenges into opportunities for differentiation rather than a potential crisis.
Mike Musheinesh, CEO of Detroit Axle, recently experienced this firsthand when facing 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. His company quickly needed to pivot manufacturing and sourcing strategies while maintaining seamless customer service. Deposco’s flexible, integrated WMS inventory system allows faster pivots, reducing his vulnerability to market disruptions and policy changes. Read more in NY Times.
“What many executives don’t realize,” observes Ward, “is that it costs money to stay put. Businesses allocate approximately 15-20% of their IT budgets to support obsolete systems.” That’s budget that could be invested in growth—if only your WMS inventory system was enabling rather than inhibiting progress.
Modern WMS inventory software changes the game
What separates Deposco’s WMS inventory software from the legacy platforms holding your business back? These three fundamental capabilities transform warehouse operations into strategic advantages:
1. 100% Unified Operations
For businesses like Drive Fulfillment, real-time visibility has been transformative. “The number-one reason I’d recommend Deposco is for transparency,” explains Kristen McGee, Director of Client Engagement at Drive Fulfillment. “The real-time tracking of inventory, shipments, and everything in between has made all of our jobs, including customer service, far easier. And the more time we can spend on strategy, vs. simply answering questions and shutting down one-off requests, the faster we can grow.”
This unified view allows your team to make decisions based on reality—not outdated reports or siloed data. Especially vital in a multichannel situation, a modern WMS inventory management system provides a bridge to order management (OMS), eliminating the information gaps that lead to stockouts, overselling, and disappointed customers.
2. Adaptability (It Writes the Business Case for You)
When facing major supply chain shifts, businesses need WMS inventory systems that bend without breaking, allowing you to quickly adjust to changes like supply disruptions, unexpected demand spikes, or sudden trade policy changes.
For Fortress Building Products, investing in this flexibility directly translated to bottom-line growth while dramatically increasing efficiency and eliminating human error.
“Fortress Building Products has been experiencing tremendous growth,” explains Joe Gagon, the company’s IT Director. “Over the past five years since implementing Deposco we have seen a 150% increase in top line revenue growth. As we continue to grow and look to expand, the Deposco team is there to continue to work with us on these initiatives.”
Without this adaptability in your WMS inventory management system, each market shift becomes a threat rather than an opportunity to outpace competitors.
3. Implementation That Delivers Value, Not Headaches
The old days of 18-month implementation cycles are over. Deposco’s modern cloud-based WMS platform goes live in 90 days or less, providing immediate relief to operational bottlenecks.
Go-live in 90 days, but also ensure you’ll hit your targeted ROI and KPIs that matter most to your business – with expert navigation before, during, and after your investment.
Joey Redwine, Shipping Manager at National Roper’s Supply (NRS), had an implementation experience that would have been unthinkable with legacy inventory systems: “Our implementation with Deposco was amazing. We had three people onsite for go-live and were able to start shipping on the same day! I have never experienced that with any other implementations.”
This rapid time-to-value is critical when market conditions shift suddenly—as they increasingly do. Your WMS inventory system should accelerate your response to market changes, not slow it down with lengthy implementation timelines.
Todd Craig, Deposco’s CMO explains why rapid time-to-value is the top factor in choosing the best WMS.
The human side of WMS inventory systems
Behind every successful WMS platform implementation are people whose work lives have improved dramatically. For Plant Therapy, this meant transforming both efficiency and work satisfaction through their WMS inventory system.
“Our customers expect us to get their order fulfilled within 24 hours. With Deposco we are able to do this sometimes within two or three hours of them placing the order,” shares Heather Taylor, Operations Manager at Plant Therapy. The company increased its picking rate from 124 orders/hour to nearly 500 items/hour while ensuring new pickers hit daily goals within an hour on Day One.
For Educational Development Corporation (EDC), the financial impact was also huge: a 77% reduction in fulfillment costs while being named a Top 10 Fastest-Growing Retailer in the US.
These improvements represent dramatic competitive advantages only possible with modern WMS inventory management.
Selecting a WMS inventory management system
Decision timing: doing nothing costs everything
“Do not fall for the sunk cost fallacy,” advises Ward. “It doesn’t matter how much time, headcount, or money you’ve spent on that system; if it’s not lifting you up, it’s weighing you down.”
Phil Moldavski, Co-Founder of Outerspace, explains his experience with Deposco: “When it came time to look for our cloud-based WMS system, we wanted to look at the full universe of options and find that ‘Goldilocks’ solution for us. We knew there were some smaller, long-tail, ecommerce-only solutions out there. Of course, we knew of the big, old-school legacy players. We needed to thread the needle and find someone who could bring us that enterprise edge but still build it in a modern way. That’s where Deposco stood out to us.”
Without modern warehouse software that delivers this reliability, executives spend valuable time troubleshooting problems instead of driving strategic initiatives.
Choose a partner with proven domain expertise
In a business landscape where change is the only constant, your WMS inventory management system is either enabling agility or creating friction. Not all systems are created equal. The right choice leads to rapid operational savings, new revenue streams, enhanced customer loyalty, and a comprehensive real-time view of your supply chain.
Companies succeed when they choose a WMS inventory management system built on domain expertise and a proven track record of results. Deposco’s platform has flawlessly handled 1.2% of total US commerce in a single peak season—demonstrating the reliability and scalability businesses need in uncertain times.
As Gordon Companies’ VP Nathan Gordon discovered when evaluating their options: “The biggest reason why we chose Deposco was talking to other customers of Deposco, the references. And when they really said that they stress-tested the system and they found it didn’t blink; it could just process huge volumes of orders. That was a clear-cut home run reason why we had to change.”
With multi-year recognition on the Inc. 5000 and product awards from Frost & Sullivan for integrated WMS and OMS applications, the right platform provides the resilience required to thrive amid constant change.