# WMS

> WMS stands for warehouse management system; according to the short description of VDI 3601, its task is to manage and optimise a company's internal storage and transport systems.

Original page: https://t10.de/en/glossary/wms
Publisher: total10 GmbH, https://t10.de/en/glossary

[VDI 3601](https://www.vdi.de/mitgliedschaft/vdi-richtlinien/details/vdi-3601-warehouse-management-systeme) is a guideline on warehouse management systems from the VDI, the Association of German Engineers. A related German term is Lagerverwaltungssystem (LVS). The [Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon](https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/lagerverwaltungssystem-lvs-38190), a German business dictionary, defines an LVS as application software that controls and manages all warehouse processes. Gabler lists six basic functions: goods receipt, order processing, picking, warehouse management, shipping and stocktaking. Neither Gabler nor the VDI explicitly equates LVS with WMS.

In this glossary, WMS means the system a logistics provider uses to run its warehouse. Our business applications connect to such a system (see Business application).

Monthly reports compiled by hand from figures copied between systems are one example we have seen in pharma logistics. Where standard software does not fit the process, that is what we build business applications for.

## See also

- [Pharma logistics](https://t10.de/en/glossary/pharma-logistics): Pharma logistics is the term we use for storing, transporting and delivering medicinal products and other pharma-sector goods, such as promotional material and supplies for patients.
- [Business application](https://t10.de/en/glossary/business-application): In general terms, a business application is software used to perform or support business functions.

## Where the term appears

- [Pharma IT services: Non-GxP software](https://t10.de/en/pharma)
- [Non-GxP in pharma: what we build, what we leave out and where our systems stop](https://t10.de/en/blog/non-gxp-pharma-logistics)
- [Straight to the patient, without ever touching their data](https://t10.de/en/blog/ordering-microsites-pharma)
- [Ordering promotional material without losing control](https://t10.de/en/blog/promo-material-ordering-pharma)
- [How expensive reusable boxes stopped going missing](https://t10.de/en/blog/reusable-boxes-pharma)
- [Every order confirmed, without anyone touching it](https://t10.de/en/blog/order-confirmations-pharma)
- [Stock alerts in pharma logistics: the customer asked for a web shop. We thought it through.](https://t10.de/en/blog/stock-alerts-pharma)
- [Proof of delivery in pharma logistics: matched to the client, searchable in a portal](https://t10.de/en/blog/pod-handling-pharma-logistics)
- [Bespoke software & business apps with Symfony](https://t10.de/en/symfony-development)

## Sources

1. [Lagerverwaltungssystem (LVS)](https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/lagerverwaltungssystem-lvs-38190), Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon (Springer Gabler), accessed 2026-11-06
2. [VDI 3601 Warehouse-Management-Systeme](https://www.vdi.de/mitgliedschaft/vdi-richtlinien/details/vdi-3601-warehouse-management-systeme), VDI Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, accessed 2026-11-06