WMS REMIX
solution to what they see as a technology problem. They may have capability shortcomings, as their system doesn’t have the functionality to handle the new business they’re trying to bring on. Or, they have a dependency problem, as any change that modifies a workflow has to be routed back through the vendor. It becomes a ticket, a services engagement, or a development cycle, and the 3PL waits. Da Vinci has built its highly configurable platform as a flexible alternative to support what it calls Super Users: floor and operations staff empowered to adjust workflows, billing logic, labels, and reporting themselves, without the need for outside tech support. Enabling Speed This no-code, no-ticket platform gives users the ability to respond quickly and cost-effectively to conditions the 3PL market now faces: rapid client growth, tightening peak-season windows, and diversifying order profiles that mix B2B pallet allocation with B2C small-parcel fulfillment inside the same facility. “A modern system closes the gap by having the robust capabilities to handle diverse workflows and by putting configuration back in the operator’s hands instead of the vendor’s,” says Dan Cavanaugh, CEO and president of Da Vinci. With a labor management system built into the WMS rather than bolted on, Da Vinci tracks labor productivity and costs through streamlined, task-level logging designed not to slow workers down. Tracking labor at the task level and tying it to billing lets a 3PL see productivity and cost by customer and facility, equipping the operation to run leaner while maintaining service levels. Other priorities operators raise consistently include integration complexity with ERP, TMS, and automation systems, which buyers often underestimate when comparing vendors on paper. The WMS can play a new role in managing space utilization,
Da Vinci’s configurable WMS is designed for 3PLs and growing brands, supporting customers with highly variable operational requirements.
where real-time visibility into bin and pallet occupancy is increasingly treated as an alternative to simply leasing more square footage. Compressing Timelines Implementation speed is part of the pitch as well. Da Vinci says its deployments typically run in weeks rather than the year-plus timelines associated with Tier 1 enterprise systems, shortening the runway before a mid-market 3PL sees measurable ROI. None of this suggests WMS selection has gotten simpler. If anything, the range of workflows a single platform is expected to handle—B2B and B2C, multiple units of measure, client-specific billing, peak volume swings—has widened considerably. The operators best positioned, Da Vinci argues, are the ones who can adapt their systems themselves, on their own timeline, rather than waiting in a vendor’s ticket queue. “A strong WMS allows a 3PL to say ‘yes’ to any new client and supports running dozens of client configurations on one platform without the need to call the vendor every time something changes,” Cavanaugh says. MADE4NET: Modern Tech Drives Innovation Warehouse operators are under growing pressure to modernize. Still, as WMS
vendors race to market AI copilots and agentic capabilities, many buyers are shopping for a future their own infrastructure can’t yet support. Many companies still run warehouse management systems built decades ago, some still on AS/400-era platforms, that can’t support the analytics, robotics, or AI capabilities being marketed to them today. “AI readiness isn’t really the first step for most organizations,” says Rishabh Narang, a nearly 15-year veteran of the WMS industry now serving as vice president of product and market strategy at Made4net. “The first step is technology modernization.” That runs counter to the industry’s own sales narrative. As nearly every WMS vendor adds some form of AI messaging to its roadmap, the platform usually isn’t the constraint. The buyer’s underlying architecture is. WMS modernization starts with the cloud. Moving off legacy, on-premise systems is increasingly the first step, not just for AI readiness but also for basic scalability. Cloud infrastructure supports multi-site rollouts, reduces the burden of on-premise setup, upgrades, and maintenance, and enables faster go-lives for growing operations. A cloud-based approach supports a templated model at the company level, with site-specific configuration
76 Inbound Logistics • September 2026
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