Manhattan Associates has announced the Manhattan Active warehouse management system (WMS), a cloud-native enterprise-class offering that uses machine learning to unify every aspect of distribution and never needs upgrading.
 
“Manhattan Active WM is the result of a multi-year collaboration with our customers,” said Brian Kinsella, senior vice president of Atlanta, Georgia, based Manhattan. “We’re delivering a WMS that is always current and never needs to be upgraded, yet is still fully extensible. We’re delivering all new modern mobile experiences for every user who logs in. And, we’re delivering an architecture that expands automatically as volumes ramp up, and that embeds machine learning right into the core of the application.”
 
Following a mobile-first paradigm and brought to life with consumer-grade design, Manhattan Active’s unified control screens allow management team members to visualise, diagnose and take action quickly anywhere in their supply chain. For distribution centres, a mobile app helps with transactional work.
 
Composed of microservices, Manhattan Active is cloud-native. This architecture provides an almost limitless ability to scale up automatically to meet fluctuations in demand. The software is also designed to be easily extended at the data, services and UI level to meet the needs of each business.
 
To speed time to market and reduce training, Manhattan has also incorporated configuration wizards to help businesses of all sizes and complexities streamline the implementation process.
 
“Manhattan Active Warehouse Management gives us a distribution solution that adapts as quickly as our customers’ needs, with frequent and easy access to the latest technologies and new features,” said Miles Tedder, chief operating officer of Pet Supplies Plus. “This takes care of all of the system and software maintenance, allowing us to focus all our energies on serving our customers.”
 
With Manhattan Active, all functions, including labour management and slotting optimisation, have been streamlined and re-engineered to create a single, unified distribution application. It uses machine learning to orchestrate distribution centre automation and the human workforce to optimise the execution of work within the four walls of the distribution centre.
 
The embedded warehouse execution system also coordinates the work between any combination of automation, robotics and labour, and the Manhattan Automation Network provides pre-certified integration to distribution centre robotics providers.
 
“I can’t remember the last time I was so excited following a new product launch briefing,” said Steve Banker, vice president for Arc Advisory Group. “The new cloud architecture, new user interface and significant advancements in optimisation and employee engagement are wonderful. Any one of these improvements would have been impressive. Incorporating all of these enhancements in the new release is astonishing for a product of this scope.”
 
Increased expectations for fulfilment speed and volume are driving organisations to understand and engage their workforce to differentiate and excel. Manhattan has a focus on providing a more individual and rewarding work experience. The company developed Manhattan Active based upon gamification theory and behavioural sciences. The result is said to help improve employee productivity and satisfaction and reduce turnover.