Your craft warehouse picks by batch and expiry, but the ERP add-on treats every carton as identical
A custom warehouse management system for a Wellington operation runs NZD 80,000 to 280,000 over 4 to 8 months. Build custom when your picking and storage logic is specific: batch-and-expiry craft stock, serialised gear, or constrained urban space. Manhattan and tier-one WMS suites are built for vast distribution centres. An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)'s warehouse add-on treats every carton as identical, which is wrong the moment expiry or serial numbers matter.
Your Wellington warehouse isn't a sprawling distribution centre; it's a constrained urban space holding craft product with batch and expiry, or serialised gear that goes out on hire. Your ERP's warehouse module treats stock as identical cartons, so it can't pick the batch nearest expiry first or know which specific camera is on which shelf. Manhattan and the tier-one suites could handle the complexity, but they're sized and priced for operations a hundred times yours and assume warehouse layouts you don't have.
So picking is guided by a person's memory and a clipboard, the oldest batch sits behind the newest, and a serialised asset gets picked for the wrong job. The detail that matters in your warehouse, the batch, the expiry, the serial, is exactly what the generic add-on flattens away.
What warehouse management costs in Wellington
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Directed picking and batch logic core | $80k to $140k | 4 to 5 months |
| With serialised tracking and slotting | $140k to $210k | 5 to 7 months |
| Full WMS with ERP and supply chain integration | $210k to $280k | 6 to 8 months |
The fix: warehouse management built for Wellington, not rented
A custom WMS understands what your warehouse actually holds: batch-and-expiry stock picked first-expiry-first-out, serialised gear located to the shelf, and a layout optimised for a constrained urban space. Picking is directed and verified rather than guided by memory, write-offs from expired stock drop, and the right specific asset goes out for the right job, all without the cost and bulk of an enterprise WMS.
- Picking must respect batch and expiry, not treat stock as identical
- You store serialised gear that must be located precisely
- Constrained space needs real slotting optimisation
- Write-offs from poor stock rotation are hurting margins
- Your stockroom is small and simple with fungible goods
- Good inventory software already covers picking
- You have no batch, expiry, or serial requirements
- You can't fund scanning hardware and process change
The capability list that earns its budget
What we build under warehouse management in Wellington
The engagements Wellington teams bring us most often: 3PL software, warehouse management system (WMS), WMS development, pick pack ship, warehouse automation and barcode and RFID.
How long it takes, phase by phase
Exactly what you get
A warehouse system that respects your stock's reality: directed picking by batch and expiry, serialised gear located to the shelf, and slotting tuned for a space you can't grow. Scanning replaces memory, write-offs fall, and the right specific item goes out for the right job. It connects to your inventory management software, ERP, and supply chain software so receiving, picking, and dispatch all share one truth.
How to choose a developer in Wellington
Hire a team that has built warehouse logic for batch, expiry, and serialised stock, and that right-sizes it for an urban operation. Ask how they'd enforce first-expiry-first-out and locate a specific serialised asset. Wellington's craft producers and gear houses live on exactly that precision, so an enterprise-suite reseller or a generic add-on will not fit.
- Directed picking by batch and expiry, so first-expiry-first-out is enforced not remembered
- Precise location of serialised gear, so the right specific camera or lens is picked
- Layout and slotting optimised for a constrained urban warehouse you can't expand
- Fewer write-offs as old stock stops hiding behind new
- Integration to inventory management software, ERP, and supply chain tools
- A real WMS needs barcode or RFID hardware and a disciplined scanning process
- Mapping and maintaining the warehouse layout in software is ongoing work
- It's a meaningful build; a tiny stockroom may not justify it over good inventory software
- Staff must follow the directed process or the system drifts from the shelves
- !They propose a tier-one WMS for a small urban warehouse. Ask why an enterprise suite fits.
- !They flatten stock to identical cartons. Ask how picking respects batch and expiry.
- !No serialised-location capability. Ask how a specific lens is found on a specific shelf.
- !No scanning-hardware plan. Ask what the receiving and picking process actually looks like.
- !They ignore your space constraints. Ask how slotting is optimised for a small footprint.
If warehouse management is on the roadmap, business intelligence dashboards, lms, internal tools usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why not use Manhattan or an ERP warehouse add-on?
Manhattan is sized and priced for vast distribution centres, and an ERP add-on treats stock as identical cartons. Neither picks by batch and expiry or locates a serialised lens precisely, which is exactly what a Wellington craft producer or gear house needs.
How does first-expiry-first-out work?
The WMS directs pickers to the batch nearest expiry first and verifies the scan, so rotation is enforced rather than left to memory. That stops old stock hiding behind new and cuts the write-offs that poor rotation causes.
Can it track serialised gear?
Yes. Each serialised asset has a precise location down to the shelf or bin, so the right specific camera or lens is picked for the right job, instead of a generic carton-level system that can't tell them apart.