Gartner defines the customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience (CX) implementation service market as project-based services to help clients develop a CX strategy and transform a customer relationship with consulting expertise. Providers in this market design, build, integrate and deploy process change and technology solutions that improve interactions between organizations and their customers. These services are specific to improving clients’ sales, customer service and marketing operations, and they focus on interactions with customers, including commerce transaction enablement.
Gartner defines a warehouse management system (WMS) as a software application that helps manage and intelligently execute the operations of a warehouse, distribution center (DC) or fulfillment center (FC). WMS operations natively exploit mobile devices along with bar codes and potentially RFID or other scanning/sensing technologies, to form the transactional foundation of warehouse management. This enables efficiencies of directed work activity (optimization) and the delivery of accurate information in near real time. Core WMS capabilities address, among others, the needs to receive, put away, store, count and pick, pack and ship goods. Gartner also includes additional integrated functionality offered by WMS providers beyond core WMS. These extended WMS capabilities can include more advanced capabilities such as managing labor or optimizing the locating of inventory within a facility.
A yard management system (YMS) supports the efficient flow of work, equipment and materials through the normally enclosed area outside of a warehouse, distribution center or manufacturing facility (the yard). It provides an overview of yard operations and supports the planning, direction and control of scheduling, movement, parking, inspection and reassignment of trucks, trailers and containers in the yard. YMSs typically oversee the gate/kiosk, the yard itself, and the inbound and outbound dock door scheduling activities. YMSs are typically sold as extended modules of a WMS or as an independent suite and sometimes as part of a TMS. The gate, yard and dock components may be sold independently or as a combined solution.