Answer
Pick a small number of baseline metrics and measure them for at least two to four weeks before any new software goes in, since without a real baseline it is impossible to prove the investment worked. Receiving accuracy and pick accuracy are usually the easiest to start with because they connect directly to customer-facing outcomes and are simple to audit through a manual sample count. Scans per hour and time to complete a pick path matter more once a team is trying to justify labor efficiency gains rather than just error reduction.
Buyers should also track manual paperwork volume, since a warehouse that still prints pick sheets or writes adjustment slips by hand as a workaround has not actually finished digitizing the workflow even if scanners are in use. When comparing vendors, ask for real customer data on how much these specific metrics moved after go-live, not generic case study percentages, and ask over what time period the improvement was measured. A vendor who can only offer soft testimonials about ease of use, without any numbers on accuracy or throughput, likely has not been asked to prove impact before.