The study is based on a need in the case company for a new warehouse management system. The case company is a globally operating logistics service provider offering a wide range of services such as warehousing. The goal of the study was to find out the current and future business needs for a warehouse management system so that more precise requirements for this information system can be defined. The research method is one case study with multiple units of analysis inside the case company.
The study consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part is based on theory about warehousing, warehouse management information systems and logistics outsourcing which is the core business of the case company. The theory constructs the basis for the requirements that warehousing and logistics outsourcing set for the warehouse management system. The empirical part comprises of two surveys and interviews. The surveys were designed on the basis of previous surveys in the company, the theoretical part of the research and using the expertise of the case company logistics management. The interviews were based on the survey answers and aimed to widen the knowledge about the business of the company and the business needs for the warehouse management system. The surveys were piloted in one business unit in the company and later in all of the business units of the company during the summer of 2011. After initial processing of the survey answers open interviews were conducted with the management of business units logistics and IT. After the analysis of the research material the criteria for defining a priority list for evaluating warehouse management systems was developed in close cooperation with logistics management of the case company. The priority list consists of warehouse management system features with three priority levels. The primary features include the absolute basic needs that the system in question needs to fill and the secondary and tertiary features that can be used in selecting the system candidates for further evaluation
