Side by side
| Warehouse management (WMS) | Warehouse execution (WES) | Warehouse control (WCS) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main question | What needs to happen? | Who or what does it now? | How does the machine move? |
| Time horizon | Hours to days | Minutes | Milliseconds to seconds |
| Typical functions | Receiving, putaway, inventory, reservation, picking, packing, shipping | Order release, task allocation, load balancing | Routing, sequencing, machine commands, alarms |
| Talks to | ERP, OMS, carriers, people | WMS, people, WCS | PLCs, AS/RS, conveyors, robots |
| Users | Operators, supervisors, inventory control | Shift managers | Maintenance, control room |
Why three layers became three problems
Each layer was usually bought separately as warehouses automated. The result:
- Three stock pictures that must be reconciled.
- Interfaces that fail at the worst moment, and fault-finding across vendors.
- Three sets of screens and training.
- Slower change: a new process touches every layer.
How Kulmen approaches it
Kulmen holds the business logic, the execution logic and the machine control in one platform, as microservices sharing one record of every load. An operator at a goods-to-person station and the shuttle feeding that station work from the same task.
That is why a site can start operator-led and grow to fully automated without changing systems.