12 Core WMS Tests to Ensure Peak Season Success

Before the holiday rush of Q4, discover the critical, granular tests your WMS must pass. This guide, powered by experience from the warehouse floor and insights from Cycle Labs, details the scenarios for Blue Yonder and other supply chain systems that separate a smooth peak season from a chaotic one.

Having a stable Warehouse Management System (WMS) ensures everything runs smoothly from incoming shipments to the inventory counts and outgoing orders. 

Regression tests are like an extensive check to make sure your WMS is up to par. They help spot major defects before they turn into big and costly problems. As we prepare for the busy Q4, it’s important to know which tests to focus on for keeping things steady and error-free.

So, where do we begin? That’s where the starter suite of WMS tests comes in. Consider it your go-to checklist, covering key areas that need regular attention. These aren’t just any tests. They are carefully selected to maintain seamless operations and support the volume that picks up during the final stretch of the year.

Part 1: Fortifying the Inbound

Before you can ship, you must receive. These tests validate that your inbound process, from the digital handshake to the physical putaway, is operating in perfect sync.

1. Test Case: Download ASN Inbound

• The Mission: This test confirms the handshake with your suppliers. It’s the first step in the visible inbound process.
• Scenario: The test validates that an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) file, sent from a supplier or ERP, is successfully processed by the WMS. It checks that a shipment record is created accurately in the system, with the correct items and quantities, ready and waiting for the physical truck to arrive.
• Automation Payoff: Running this test daily ensures that no integration changes have broken your ability to receive shipment data, preventing blind receipts and dockside chaos.

2. Test Case: ASN Receiving

• The Mission: This test validates the fastest possible dock-to-location path for your most compliant suppliers.
• Scenario: Following a successful ASN download, this scenario simulates an operator scanning a single LPN or pallet ID at the dock door. The WMS instantly recognizes the pallet, verifies its contents against the ASN data, and marks the inventory as received in the system.
• Automation Payoff: Automating the test provides a constant benchmark for your receiving time and confirms readiness for high-volume inbound days.

3. Test Case: Non-ASN Receiving

• The Mission: To validate the essential manual receiving process for shipments that arrive without notice.
• Scenario: This test simulates a receiver at the dock using a radio frequency (RF) device to receive goods against a Purchase Order (PO). The scenario follows the operator as they scan/enter the PO, item, and quantity, generate a new license plate number (LPN), and confirm the receipt, creating live inventory in the system from scratch.
• Automation Payoff: Automating this RF-heavy test saves significant time over manual execution and ensures this critical backup receiving process is always functional.

4. Test Case: Directed Putaway

• The Mission: To ensure that once inventory is received, your system’s logic directs it to the optimal storage location.
• Scenario: This test takes a newly received pallet of goods and follows the system’s direction for storage. It verifies that the system directs the operator to the correct location based on your configured rules.
• Automation Payoff: This guarantees that your storage strategy is being executed correctly, which is key to maintaining an organized warehouse and efficient downstream picking.

Part 2: The Core of Accuracy: Inventory & Replenishment

These tests focus on the inventory processes that keep the heart of your warehouse beating smoothly. They are the automated logic that prevents bottlenecks and maintains inventory accuracy.

5. Test Case: Generate Triggered Replenishment

• The Mission: This test validates that your system is proactively keeping your prime picking locations stocked, which is the number one defense against lost time for pickers.
• Scenario: The scenario simulates a pick that causes the inventory in a forward pick location to drop below its specified minimum. The test then confirms that the system automatically generates a replenishment task from a reserve location to top off the pick face.
• Automation Payoff: This automated check provides confidence that your picking engine will be continuously fed, preventing widespread slowdowns during the busiest shifts.

6. Test Case: End-to-End Directed Counts

• The Mission: To confirm the integrity of your cycle counting process, which is your primary tool for ensuring inventory accuracy without shutting down operations.
• Scenario: This test follows the perfect cycle count: a supervisor generates a count task for a specific location. An operator is directed to that location via RF, enters the counted quantity, and because it matches the system’s quantity, the count is completed and the location is released.
• Automation Payoff: Regularly validating your count process ensures your tool for fixing discrepancies is itself reliable, maintaining trust in your inventory data.

7. Test Case: Inventory Status Change

• The Mission: To confirm that inventory can be accurately moved between different business statuses, protecting it from being allocated incorrectly.
• Scenario: The test identifies an available pallet (e.g., status AVL) and, simulating an inventory control function, changes its status to QC (Quality Control). The test passes by verifying that the inventory is no longer available for allocation in a standard wave.
• Automation Payoff: This guarantees that your quality hold and control processes are systemically sound, preventing quarantined stock from accidentally being shipped to a customer.

8. Test Case: Inventory Adjustment With Approval Limits

• The Mission: To validate the fundamental process of adjusting inventory quantities on the floor for reasons like damage or minor discrepancies.
• Scenario: This happy path scenario simulates an operator with the correct permissions performing an inventory adjustment that is within their approval limits (e.g., marking one case as DMG). The test confirms that the quantity of available stock is reduced correctly and the transaction is logged without requiring managerial approval.
• Automation Payoff: Running this test regularly ensures that your basic inventory accuracy tools are working, allowing for quick corrections on the warehouse floor.

Part 3: Perfecting the Outbound

This is where operations make or break the customer promise. These tests ensure your entire fulfillment chain, from order to allocation to shipment, is a well-oiled machine.

9. Test Case: Download Order Outbound

• The Mission: To confirm that customer orders, the lifeblood of the site, are entering your WMS from your host system cleanly and correctly.
• Scenario: The test validates that an order file or message from your ERP or Order Management System (OMS) is successfully processed by the WMS. It confirms an order is created with the right items, quantities, and shipping address, making it ready for the waving process.
• Automation Payoff: This is the first step of fulfillment. Automating its validation ensures your outbound process is never starved for work due to a silent integration failure.

10. Test Case: Allocate Wave

• The Mission: To validate the “brain” of your outbound operation. This test ensures the system is making the correct decisions about which inventory to assign to which orders.
• Scenario: The test takes an active order and executes a wave. It confirms that inventory is allocated successfully based on your predefined rules (e.g., FIFO/FEFO) and that picking tasks are generated for the warehouse floor.
• Automation Payoff: Waving can be very complex. Automating this test ensures your allocation logic remains sound after any system change, preventing widespread picking errors.

11. Test Case: End-to-End Outbound with Picking

• The Mission: This is the ultimate “golden path” test for fulfillment. It validates the entire physical and systemic journey of an order from allocation to the shipping dock.
• Scenario: This test follows a single order from the moment its picking task is assigned to an RF gun. It simulates the picker being directed to the location, scanning the item, and confirming the pick. The goods are then moved to a pack station for verification and finally staged for loading.
• Automation Payoff: Automating this complex end-to-end scenario is the single best way to build confidence. Running it daily means you know your core fulfillment engine is ready for primetime.

12. Test Case: Trailer Close and Dispatch Trailer

• The Mission: To confirm the final, critical steps of the outbound process: closing the load and informing the enterprise that the order is officially on its way.
• Scenario: The scenario simulates loading the last carton for a shipment onto a trailer. The user then executes the “Close Trailer” and “Dispatch Trailer” functions in the system. The test verifies that all orders on the load are updated to “Shipped” status and that the proper departure messages are generated for your host and transportation systems.
• Automation Payoff: This protects your revenue cycle. Automating this test ensures you are systemically and financially completing every order that you physically ship.

Time to Build Your Foundation

By focusing your efforts on this powerful suite of 12 core tests, you create an efficient and repeatable process for Q4 validation. Automating these scenarios transforms your readiness check from a periodic, time-consuming effort into a constant, effortless background process. This is how you walk into peak season with proven stability and the confidence to deliver.

Dive deeper into how Cycle Labs can assist you with test automation for supply chain systems. Let’s help you gear up for a seamless and efficient holiday season.

 
This post was written by:
Arseniy Grechenkov
Solutions Architect