Selecting the right vendor can make or break a distribution center’s systems integration project. Since it’s the integrator’s job to make sure the warehouse management system is able to “talk” to the facility’s material handling equipment, choosing the right contractor for the job is key to ensuring that the operation gets up and running quickly and stays running without a hitch.

“I look on the integrator as the orchestra leader—someone intimately familiar with each instrument’s role, who knows how to direct and blend those instruments for the best performance and, then, makes it happen,” says John M. Hill, a veteran consultant who now serves as a director at the York, Pa.-based supply chain consultancy St. Onge Co.