What Is a WCS / WES?
A WCS (warehouse control system) is the software that talks directly to automation hardware: conveyors, sorters, scanners, and robots, making split-second routing decisions. A WES (warehouse execution system) sits a layer higher, orchestrating work: releasing orders in waves, balancing stations, and synchronizing people with machines.
Modern platforms combine both. This is the layer that decides whether your million-dollar automation actually performs, and it is where vendor lock-in hurts the most, which is why MTLI's platform approach is agnostic by design.
What the Software Layer Covers
Equipment control
Direct PLC-level control of conveyors, sorters, and devices with millisecond routing decisions.
Order release and waving
Releasing work to the floor in a sequence that keeps every station and sorter fed without flooding.
Labor and station balancing
Real-time balancing of people and robots so no station starves while another drowns.
WMS / ERP integration
APIs to most WMS and ERP platforms as required, so your system of record stays your system of record.
Open architecture or black box
Delivered your way: open-source environment you can extend, or a managed black-box platform, full custom either way.
Dashboards and analytics
Live throughput, fault, and performance visibility for operators and executives.
How MTLI Works With WCS / WES
Design & Engineering
It starts with your data, not a catalog: throughput, product profile, building, and budget. Our engineers design the right answer, with stamped drawings and permits where structures are involved.
Supply & Procurement
We source across 500+ manufacturer partners worldwide, brand-agnostic, new and used where it makes sense, with volume pricing passed through to you.
Installation & Commissioning
Our own crews install, integrate, and commission, phased around live operations when needed, with an MTLI supervisor on site every day and 98% on-time delivery.
Support & Lifecycle
After handover we stay: preventative maintenance programs, inspections, controls support, and 24/7 options, designed around your uptime targets.
Where MTLI Can Help You
- New automation projects that need one control layer across mixed equipment
- Facilities stuck with a closed system that will not integrate
- Retrofits adding robots or sortation to an existing WMS
- Multi-vendor sites where nothing talks to anything
- Operations that want dashboards instead of radio calls
- Controls modernization on PLC platforms including Siemens, Rockwell, and Schneider Electric
From under $100K to $100M+ turnkey. A specialist calls within one business day.
Common Questions, Answered
Do I need a WES if I have a WMS?
Usually, once automation enters the building. A WMS decides what should happen to inventory; a WES decides how and when the floor executes it. Without that layer, automation runs blind.
Can MTLI's software work with equipment we already own?
Yes. The platform is hardware and software agnostic, integrating AS/RS, conveyors, AMRs, and robot cells from the leading manufacturers with no vendor lock-in.
Open architecture or black box: which should we pick?
Both are on the table, full custom for the customer. Teams with engineering depth often want open architecture; operations that want outcomes without owning code pick the managed route. We deliver either and can API with most software as required.
Who supports the controls after go-live?
MTLI: our controls engineers handle PLC troubleshooting, software updates, and 24/7 support options within a full maintenance program.