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Warehouse systems

Warehouse Management Systems Built Around You

Off-the-shelf WMS platforms make your warehouse fit around their software. We build it the other way round: a system shaped to how you actually work, connected to everything it needs to be.

Talk to Rob and Jaseor ring 01474 639 089

You'll be talking to one of us, not a salesperson.

Working with Dev Partners to redesign and modernise our WMS system: the whole process has been thoroughly professional from the outset and a delight to work with.
Seacon

Signs your WMS is costing you more than you think

Most businesses don't realise until they add it up.

  • The reconciliation spreadsheet

    Someone keeps a spreadsheet correcting what the system gets wrong, because it can't handle something fundamental about how you work.

  • Stock levels nobody trusts

    What the system says and what's on the shelf are two different numbers, and your team works around that every day.

  • Integrations that break

    A new carrier, channel or supplier takes weeks and costs money every time, or never quite works.

  • Pick errors every week

    Wrong items, wrong quantities, wrong locations. The system doesn't enforce the right process at the right moment.

  • No single view

    More than one site or depot means logging into several systems or running manual reports.

  • A licence that doesn't earn its keep

    You pay every month and still need the workarounds. Licence plus staff time plus errors is more than it looks.

Most platforms are built for someone else's warehouse

Linnworks, Brightpearl and Veeqo are good products built for ecommerce retail. They work well for standard operations. If yours is standard, buy one and get on with your life.

But we've built warehouse systems for fashion and ecommerce retailers, steel and metals stockholders, paper and print distributors, catering equipment hire companies, building materials suppliers and industrial parts distributors. What they had in common is that no off-the-shelf platform was built with their operation in mind. If you run a steel stockholder, a hire fleet or a bulk materials operation, those tools aren't even in the right conversation.

Over the years we've also built warehouse picking, customer ordering and driver delivery systems for Jones Hire, and taken on and modernised existing warehouse systems.

The screens matter more than the database.

On a warehouse floor, the cost of a clunky system is measured in steps walked and orders mis-picked. We build the screens around how your pickers and packers actually move, and we're happy to stand on the floor with you to get it right.

That's most of the job. The rules live in people's heads, and someone has to go and find them.

What we build

Every warehouse is different. This is the usual starting point, extended to fit.

  • Stock and live visibility

    Inventory across every location, bin and channel, so you stop overselling and stop counting to prove the system wrong.

  • Multi-channel orders

    Orders from Shopify, Amazon, eBay and Etsy in one pick queue, with rules for channel, packaging and carrier.

  • Custom picking

    Zone, batch or wave picking, or any mix, with routes for your layout and logic for fragile, hazardous or oversized items.

  • ERP and back-office connections

    Linked to whatever you already run, so nobody retypes anything. See APIs and integrations.

  • Shopify

    Real-time stock and order sync, with your own logic. See Shopify integrations.

  • Mobile picking and scanning

    Barcode scanning and pick confirmation on standard Android devices, with no proprietary hardware.

  • Reporting

    Built around the numbers that matter to you: pick rate, error rate, stock turn, carrier performance and fulfilment targets.

  • Returns

    Handled as part of the same system, so stock goes back where it should.

Bespoke or off the shelf?

An honest side by side. Off-the-shelf isn't always wrong.

Bespoke WMSLinnworksBrightpearlVeeqo
Fits your workflowsBuilt around youConfigured to fitRetail focusedMulti-channel focus
Custom pickingFully bespokeStandard workflowsBasic workflowsStandard pick and pack
Best forUnusual workflows or complex integrationsMulti-channel retailers with standard fulfilmentMid-market retailAmazon-first sellers
OwnershipYou own the codeSubscriptionSubscriptionAmazon-owned

Three ways we approach it

Not every business needs a ground-up build.

  • A full bespoke WMS

    Built around your operation, usually covering stock, order intake from every channel, picking, carrier integration, returns and reporting. Depending on the operation we add labour management, supplier portals or cross-docking. You own the code, with no licence fee to a platform vendor.

  • Extending what you've got

    Sometimes the system you have just doesn't do one critical thing. We add bespoke modules or build the integrations it doesn't support.

  • Moving off a platform

    If you're on Linnworks, Brightpearl or an in-house system that's become a liability, we can move your data and workflows to something built for where you are now.

Where we've done this

We've built warehouse systems for fashion retailers processing thousands of orders a day, and for steel and metals stockholders managing complex cut-to-order stock. Paper distribution, catering equipment hire and building materials too.

The common thread is that none of them could get what they needed from a standard platform. Not sure which applies to you? Tell us about your setup and we'll say whether bespoke is the right answer, or whether an off-the-shelf platform would serve you better.

How we'd do it

We start on the floor, watching how the work happens. Then we build in two-week steps, each with a fixed price and something your team can use, usually starting with the process that hurts most.

If you've already got a system that mostly works, we'd rather take it on and improve it than throw it away. You own the code, and once it's live we look after it.

Questions we get asked

  • Is bespoke always better than Linnworks or Brightpearl?

    No. For a standard retail operation they're often the right answer, and we'll tell you so.

  • Can you replace our system without stopping the warehouse?

    That's how we'd plan it, moving a piece at a time so the operation carries on.

  • Do we need special scanners?

    No. Mobile picking runs on standard Android devices.

  • We've got an old WMS nobody understands. Can you help?

    Yes. We read it, tell you what's sound, and carry on from there.

Photos of Rob and Jason, who run Dev Partners

Hello, you get us

Rob on the left, Jase on the right. No sales team and no account managers. One of us is on every job, from the first chat to long after it goes live, and the people writing your code sit in the same small team.

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Tell us what you've got

It goes straight to Rob and Jase. You'll hear back from one of us, usually the same day, and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right people.

Book a call with usor ring 01474 639 089

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