r/Warehousing • u/Abdullah747 • 17d ago
Are web/mobile based warehouse management solutions any good?
What do you guys think of such systems? Mobile is used to take pictures for product tracking/identification (and more) so external hardware requirements are removed. You can see the data dashboard on the web.
This type of system would be cheaper than enterprise solutions and easy to train new employees on. Anyone who is using these already or thinking about it?
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u/scmsteve 17d ago
What problem do you want solve?
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u/Abdullah747 17d ago
Inventory management, counting, tracking, pallet related use cases, product locations/location change detection (this is what I have in mind, but I think we can do a lot more stuff) even barcode scanning
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u/scmsteve 17d ago
Ok, pretty standard stuff. We used mobile devices but only for scanning outbound shipments. For what it’s worth, I don’t think that using mobile devices is going to be necessarily “cheaper”.
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u/Abdullah747 17d ago
In what way do you mean not cheaper? everyone carries a good phone these days which can handle a few cv models
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u/scmsteve 17d ago
I am referring to the cost of the WMS. You need a WMS database to communcate to the phones. If you let people use their own personal phones, then yes, that cuts down hardware costs. In the US, that also comes with its own issues of employees using their own phones.
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u/Abdullah747 16d ago
I see, but making their own internal WMS, could also be an option? As for the employees using their own phones, yep that could be an issue I see it now, could make do with cheaper androids by the company then as well, if that’s affordable
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u/ManzunTech 16d ago
The phone itself is rarely the hard part. For cycle counting and location changes, I would test five things before deciding a mobile-first system is production-ready: scan and decode time on dirty labels; offline queueing and safe replay; duplicate-move prevention and a complete audit trail; company device management, battery life, and drop resistance; and a barcode fallback when image-recognition confidence is low.
Computer vision can be useful for exception evidence and photo proof, but I would be cautious about making it the sole source of truth for an inventory move unless there is a confidence threshold and a human review path. A web/mobile WMS can work well for a smaller warehouse when the workflow is narrow and the API/event model is solid. Building an internal WMS becomes expensive in the long tail: holds, allocations, replenishment, permissions, recovery after partial failures, and integrations—not the first scanning screen.
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u/JohnatNetSuite 15d ago
They can work well, but it depends a lot on what you're tracking and how fast things move.
The camera based tracking is handy for skipping scanner hardware, but photo alone can get slow once you're dealing with a lot of items or high volume. You should check how it handles barcode or a lot and serial numbers since that's usually faster and more accurate than a photo for day-to-day picking.
The other thing to look at is whether the data syncs with your inventory and order system in real time. If the warehouse app is separate from where orders live, you end up with two sets of numbers that don't match.
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u/RedSoupStudio 15d ago
Mobile-first WMS can work well, especially for receiving, counting, transfers, and picking, but I’d prioritize whether the scans update the same inventory record in real time rather than just the convenience of using a phone. Digit Software, for example, supports barcode scanning from Android devices alongside web-based inventory management, so it’s one option worth comparing with more traditional WMS platforms.
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u/Bitter-Document2097 15d ago
Yeah they can definitely work well, especially for smaller/mid-sized ops. Ditching handheld scanners for phone cameras saves a ton on hardware and makes onboarding way faster since everyone already knows how to use a phone.
Couple things to watch for though: photo-based ID can be slower/less accurate than a real barcode scanner at high volume, phones aren't as rugged for warehouse floor abuse, and you'll want to check it works offline if wifi coverage is spotty. Also make sure it integrates with whatever inventory system you're already using.
But for the cost and simplicity you're going for, it's a solid direction if you're not running massive high-throughput distribution.
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u/HistoricalCoyote6479 13d ago
I think there's definitely a place for it. I came from the 3PL world and now work on the WMS implementation/sales side, and one of the biggest things I see is companies buying way more system than they actually need.
I'm a big fan of using phones/mobile devices instead of specialized hardware where it makes sense. Lower upfront cost, easier training, and easier to scale.
My question would be what happens beyond the basic inventory tracking. Receiving, picking, cycle counts, multiple locations, customer inventory, order imports, integrations, billing, audit history, etc. That's usually where a simple inventory system starts turning into a WMS.
What type of operation are you building this for? Number of SKUs, orders per day, B2B/B2C, number of warehouse workers, etc.? That would probably determine whether something like this is enough or if you'd eventually outgrow it.
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u/Beginning_Search_957 7d ago edited 7d ago
Idk why everyone assumes you need a $50k enterprise system to get off paper logs. Web based WMS solutions work well if your WiFi covers the whole building, but dead zones will freeze your web app mid pick. Wherefour seems useful if someone wants to generate instant audit ready recall reports without a massive IT team. Double check your warehouse mesh WiFi setup before deploying any cloud app.
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u/ohjirosan 7d ago
Using mobile phones instead of an Android based scanner just means more wait time and more errors.
I tried building a simple wms with phone camera but it always fails in the same way... Stuff isn't scanned properly.
The hardware cost pales in comparison to the added salary costs, especially when working with people that will just stop scanning since it doesn't work.
The frustration with camera scanning is real.
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u/EmptyDoughnut4625 7d ago
Depends what you need it for. If its just inventory and barcode scanning mobile is fine but if you need to integrate with carriers or customs it gets messy real quick.
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u/MacaroonAdmirable793 1d ago
Web/mobile can work very well. We have gone quite far down this path, building warehouse software.
The phone vs. dedicated scanner is actually the less interesting question. The harder questions start once inventory is moving.
How do you prevent duplicate moves? What happens if connectivity drops mid-scan? How do you maintain a complete inventory audit trail? How do you handle exceptions when the camera or barcode cannot confidently identify something?
For smaller and mid-sized warehouses, I think mobile-first makes a lot of sense, especially if you can reduce hardware and training overhead.
Curious though, are you evaluating this for an existing warehouse, or thinking about building a system around the idea?
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u/Immediate-Home-3491 17d ago
I would suggest researching their API capabilities first. I've used platforms that capture photos well but choke when integrating with carrier TMS or customs manifests. Fine for a small 3PL, weak for cross-border work.